An extended Sunday Sermon edition of Wilderness Wanderings! The texts come from Matthew 6:1-4, from the New International Version of the Bible. Dive In discussion questions are below for further reflection! To see this sermon in the context of the worship service it comes from, find it here on YouTube. Or, head to our website to connect with the worshiping community of Immanuel CRC: immanuelministries.ca

DIVE IN QUESTIONS

1. What stands out to you from hearing these verses? Is God offering an invitation or a challenge to you through those words? Take time to pray about it.

2. Jesus sometimes tells us to let our light shine before others and sometimes to do our acts of righteousness secretly. How can we know the difference?

3. We’ve moved from the “what” to do of righteous living now to the question of “why” we do it. What are the different motivations that people might have for “performing” their righteousness vs. doing it “secretly?”

4. Does Jesus tell us to stop seeking other rewards for giving and generosity? What might he be saying about our desire for rewards? What rewards ought we to desire?

5. How might you live this out this week in the ways that you give of whatever you have (time, help, money, etc.)?

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness… (2 Peter 1:5-6)

Today’s word is “godliness,” and it takes us right back to yesterday’s word of “perseverance.” In particular, it takes us back to the later section of this letter that Pastor Michael quoted yesterday, where Peter writes: “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming” (2 Peter 3:11b-12a).

We have a hope in Christ that keeps our eyes fixed on him, looking forward to his coming again when he will set all things right and make all things new. In anticipation of that day, we are called to persevere—to hang on to our hope and faith through all the trials, sufferings, and everyday burdens of life. That was what we talked about yesterday.

But now Peter says we must do more than just hang on and endure until Jesus returns—we must also live. Not just surviving by living out a life that sources the basic needs of food, clothing, shelter, and work mind you, but living a life that seeks to embody the faith and hope we claim in Christ. We “ought to live holy and godly lives as [we] look forward,” ever straining to become who God has made us to be.

For this, Peter uses the word “godliness.” It’s a word that refers to good deeds that arise from the root of faith and the motivation of love. It’s a word that also refers to spiritual disciplines like prayer and worship. It also refers to a respect for the Creational boundaries and proportions that God has set for our creaturely lives in relationship to self, to others, and to him. Most simply—it is a word that suggest we ought to become like Christ, our God.

To become godly is to really live out that whole “What Would Jesus Do” line. It is to respect the boundaries and fittingness of life and interactions, as Jesus did. It is to tend our relationship with God through practices of prayer, as Jesus did. It is to do good in this world, as Jesus did. To do all this, not only “as” Jesus did, but “because” Jesus did. We seek to become godly as an all-of-life act of devotion to him. Or, as Paul puts it in Romans 12, it is offering our “bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is,” he says, “your true and proper worship.”

Seeking to live a godly life is not something that we do from guilt nor something that we attempt to conjure up out of nothing by sheer force of will. No, as Peter already told us in verse 3: God’s “divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life,” and he has done so “through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”

It is God’s desire and design that we should become like Christ. He is the one who called us to be godly. He is the one who provides, through the Spirit, all that we need to do it. He is the one who brings this Christlike godliness to life within us when we join with him. Finally, he is the one who gives us the hope to lead us on and to assure us that all of this will finally be accomplished: on that day when Christ comes again.

Until then, let us “live holy and godly lives as [we] look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”

As you journey on, go with the blessing of God:

Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master. Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Glory to the Master, now and forever! Amen! (2 Peter 1:2; 3:18 MSG).

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance (2 Peter 1:5,6).

Following Jesus is not a good carrier move. Refusing to be involved in shady practices can cost us promotions. When we refuse to gossip around the proverbial water cooler, colleagues do not warm up to us. Refraining from excessive drinking can lead to defriending. Sometimes we are ostracised for mentioning our faith in Jesus.

Following Jesus is costly. We make financial donations to the church and to other charities. Rather than sleeping in on Sunday’s we gather with our Christian family to worship God. The leadership is always looking for more volunteers; we begrudgingly offer our time and talent. Then there are the neighbours we’d really like to ignore, but they know we are Christians. Sometimes we hear the tune of “They will know we are Christians by our love” being hummed from the other side of the fence. Our decidedly unchristian neighbour is reminding us of our commitment.

Following Jesus is profoundly frustrating. So often, we fail to live up to the calling we have received. We’ve lost count of the times we have renewed our faith and commitment to Jesus. We see ourselves as repeat offenders. We bought unnecessary clothes again. We got angry at our children again. We looked the other way again when someone else was being bullied. Again, we snoozed the alarm and had no time for devotions. Again, we choose not to reach out to a hurting friend.

Jesus did not promise an easy road when calling his disciples. He warns us to count the cost before signing up (Luke 14:25ff). He claimed to have no place to lay his head (Luke 9:53), so we shouldn’t expect one either. Several times the apostles list the suffering they are enduring for the sake of Christ (see 2 Corinthians 11:23ff). What is it that kept them going? How did they persevere? They knew where they were going.

We persevere because we know where we are going. “You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God…in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:11, 13). We persevere in anticipation of hearing the blessed words from Jesus own lips, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21).

In the meantime, we remember the value of suffering: it refines our faith (1 Peter 1:6-7); it perfects our hope (1 Peter 1:8-9, 21); it weans us from sin (1 Peter 4:1-3); it deepens our intimacy with Jesus (1 Peter 4:12-13) and it trains us in holiness (1 Peter 4:16-19).

Of course, suffering might do the exact opposite. It might corrode our faith, shatter our hope, estrange us from Jesus, provoke us to rebellion, plunge us into sin. The question is: do we believe we are on the right path? It’s a matter of faith. “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).

Suffering can teach us hope. To hope for something that this world cannot offer. To look forward to a future that is too glorious for our imaginations to imagine. And hope inspires us to persevere.

So, as you journey on:

Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master. Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ. Glory to the Master, now and forever! Amen! (2 Peter 1:2; 3:18).