SERIES
Sojourn: Toward an Enduring City
2016-09-11T11:00:00-05:00
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever,17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” 23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.
25 “These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you.26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.28 You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.29 And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.30 I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me,31 but I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright (c)2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. http://www.esv.org
Why would an ordinary fisherman leave the stability and familiarity of his business to follow an itinerant preacher? What would lead a monotheistic Jew to look at Jesus and say, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God”? How could a man who denied Jesus preach with courage in the midst of persecution? And what would lead a man to choose being crucified upside down (according to tradition) because he felt unworthy to share the same death as his master? These questions paint a picture of Peter’s sojourn. The answer to each? An encounter with Jesus. Like Peter, we could produce any number of reasons for being hesitant about a journey with Jesus. The risk. The discomfort. The lack of control. But when Jesus opens our eyes to see Him for who He is, everything begins to change. All the great things that once defined us suddenly seem fragile compared to being a child of God. All our conceptions of home start to pale in comparison to an eternal home in the unveiled presence of God.
An encounter with Jesus redefines our identity and reshapes our sense of home. We trade what seems like a stable life in the world for what appears to be an unstable life as a sojourner. Was Peter crazy to follow Jesus? Are we? The journey that seems so uncertain is actually the most secure place for the people of God. Sojourner is only a temporary identity, for we are on our way to an enduring city whose designer and builder is God. The journey is full of struggle, but it won’t last forever. Until it ends, we can rest securely in our permanent identity won for us by Jesus Christ. We are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. We no longer have to define ourselves. The journey of Jesus Christ to love us and give His life for us defines us. And we no longer have to live for ourselves. We live to proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light.
Our theme, “Sojourn: Toward An Enduring City,” will focus on Peter, his life and his letter (1 Peter). But our ultimate focus is not Peter, but Jesus Christ. An encounter with Jesus led Peter to trade a life at home with family and fish for a life with Jesus as a sojourner. The Lord may not call us to leave our “family and fish”, but how might He reshape our identity and our sense of home? Have we embraced our temporary identity as sojourners and exiles? Have we embraced our permanent identity as the people of God? Would you pray that the Lord would unite us and transform us as we encounter Jesus in His Word and sojourn together?