Trinity 5
Dear friends in Christ. The theme of these first Sundays in the Trinity season is the Call To The Kingdom. In today’s Gospel we specifically hear: The following day Jesus wanted to go to Galilee, and He found Philip and said to him, "Follow Me". A few weeks ago we heard of the rich young man who thought that he did enough good things and yet felt that something was missing, so he asked Jesus what good thing he has yet to do so that he may have eternal life. Jesus knew that this man’s heart clung to his wealth and riches, so Jesus told him to repent of that sin and turn to and trust in Him alone [Mt. 19.21]: If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure; and come follow Me. Last week’s Gospel taught us that this call to repent of sin continues on throughout our Christian lives as Jesus tells us to get rid of the log from our own eye.
These examples show us that Jesus’ call into His kingdom comes at a price. It’s not as if things can continue on as before. Following Jesus comes at a price. These examples from the Gospel reading these past few weeks teach us that part of the cost of following Jesus is that constant examining our hearts and lives in the light of God’s holy law and recognizing and confessing our sin and by the power of the Holy Spirit, rooting that sin out of our lives. So yes, being a Christian is not just a wonderful “addition” to your life; but like everything comes at a price.
But here is the glorious thing! When the Lord comes to us and by His word calls to us: Follow Me, and by His Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts to follow Him, then that price of fighting against sin, no longer living for self is a sweet price. It is something we are happy and want to do because repentance is a glorious thing—we give Christ our sins and He gives us His holiness/ sinlessness; He gives us eternal life. How then we want to live lives of thanks, praise and service to the Lord. How then we want to endure all things rather than give Him up!
This is precisely the point St. Peter is making in today’s text. Following Christ involves our whole life/ self. Being a Christian is not just one part of who I am; it is who I am. Following Christ influences all we are. As we study what Peter says in these few verses, we will see what is involved in following Christ; and then we will see why we gladly and willingly follow Christ.
1. St. Peter begins: Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be humble-minded; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. Notice, these characteristics, this Christian conduct is not what makes us Christians; we’re not Christians because we do those things. Instead, we do those things because we are Christian. This description of the Christian and his/her conduct begins with the word: Finally. It’s at the end; it’s the result: Finally. What comes before?
We only can follow Jesus because He first said to us: Follow Me. But Jesus’ invitation to follow Him, to be one of His dear Christians, is not just an empty word or phrase—let’s do lunch—instead it is a powerful word/ invitation; it is one in which His Holy Spirit is mightily at work. Earlier Peter [1.22] wrote: Now that by obeying the truth you purified yourselves to love sincerely as brothers, love one another fervently with a pure heart. You were born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish, God’s ever-living Word. We were born again/ from above by the Holy Spirit working through the Word—be it the spoken word or the visible word of holy Baptism—bringing us to faith, faith that receives the forgiveness of sins and righteousness Jesus brought about for us. By Jesus’ very invitation: Follow Me, the Holy Spirit creates in us the gift of faith that obeys the truth. God declares us righteous; we have been purified. Now that for Jesus’ sake we are declared righteous and forgiven, we Christians then are of one mind, have compassion for one another; love as brothers, tenderhearted, humble-minded; not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing. When Christ calls us, and we, in Spirit-worked faith follow, then we are different. That’s the blessed result of following Christ—and it’s also the cost. It’s the cost because we still have our old sinful nature that only wants to love and serve self. Following Christ will come at the price of that constant inner struggle in us against sin, between our old sinful self and the Christian, the new self in us. It will not be easy to follow Christ; our lives will be one of self-denial, turning away from the desires of our old sinful nature—things that seem very natural/ right; things that everybody else is doing.
In the Gospel, Jesus didn’t just call Philip but also Nathanael and Peter and Andrew and the rest of His disciples; in the same way He called each of His dear Christians down through the ages—even you and me. Just as we have the cost of following Christ by struggling against sin, so also do each of our Lord’s Christians. We are all in this together; we are all following Christ together. All of us have experienced the same grace and blessing of our Lord and all of us experience the cost. How vital, then, it is for us—especially those of us in the very same congregation—that these results of our faith, of following Christ be clear to one and all: that we are of one mind, have compassion for one another; love as brothers, tenderhearted, humble-minded. By living out our calling and following Christ we are encouraging our fellow Christian and they are encouraging us. By bearing with and caring for our fellow Christian, our faith, our following Christ, shows itself; our faith is at work in love. It marks who we are as Christians and the unity we have in Christ through baptism.
Because we have been baptized in Christ, we have the mind of Christ. He is in us and we are in Him. So not only do we follow Christ in how we live with our fellow Christian, but also in how we live with non-Christians, with those who are our enemies: not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this. This, too, is part of the cost of following Christ. According to our old sinful nature, our old sinful self, we’d want nothing more than to repay, give them what they deserve, insult for insult, tit for tat. That’s the struggle within us that we far too often must fight against.
But we follow Christ! We have the mind of Christ; His Holy Spirit is guiding and leading us. We are made up differently. Even as difficult as it may be, led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we show the mercy of God who even showers His enemies with blessing [Mt. 5.45]: He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. We follow Christ—even in showing mercy; even when it is difficult. That’s why Christianity is a difficult thing; it goes against every sinful fiber we have in our body; we fight against it to show mercy. The weak gutless thing is the way of the world, of not showing mercy.
Not only does this apply to us showing mercy and love to those who are our enemies, but also in living day by day in a way that’s in harmony with our faith. Following Christ means also to show the obedience that He showed His heavenly Father all during His earthly life. Again, this is the denial of self; this is saying “no” to the sinful desires that rise up in us. Here St. Peter in our text quotes from the psalm: For "He who would love life And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. Following Christ often means doing the opposite of “doing what comes naturally.”
Following Christ, having the mind of Christ, means that, if called upon, we also follow Him in His sufferings. And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. "And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled." A glorious promise is given those who follow Christ, even into suffering: God declares them blessed. St. Peter writes earlier [2.20]: But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. Again, Christianity is no weak, gutless religion; ours is a bold faith that follows Christ and clings to Him, His word, His work, and promise even when, and especially when everything screams the opposite.
Ultimately following Christ means, as Peter writes at the end of our text: But sanctify the Lord, Christ, in your hearts. To sanctify, that is, to keep the Lord Christ holy in our hearts means to follow Him and keep ourselves from sin so that the world has no chance to slander Him through us.
2. All that is involved in following Christ: showing mercy, doing the opposite of what is “natural,” denying self, obedience, following His suffering. That’s the cost/price of following Jesus. But certainly there’s “the other side of the ledger”! How blessed that side is! Jesus sends us His Holy Spirit who works faith in our hearts so that we gladly and willingly follow Him. During our earthly walk with Christ, as we follow Him, the Holy Spirit assures us over and over again of the great blessings that are ours in Christ.
Peter here writes: knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. In eternity, God chose us in His grace and called us in time to receive every heavenly and spiritual blessing in Christ. When called to follow Jesus, we were called out of sin and the world that we might receive the fullness of grace. With the gift of every heavenly and eternal blessing before our eyes, as we enjoy God’s grace upon grace and His superabundant mercy, how then can we consider the cost of following Christ too great? Since God calls us, who were born into the world sinners and His enemies, to inherit His infinite blessing, how then can we not bless those who sin against us and are our enemies? How can we fail to show every kindness and love—especially to our fellow Christian?
In fact, as we see how often we have sinned against our Lord and failed to do His will, failed to show that love and mercy, when we let our old sinful rise to the fore, when we did not deny ourself, when we feared/ obeyed man, not God, how then can we not follow Jesus into His church to hear Him announce to us through the pastor the forgiveness of our sins; follow Jesus into His church so that He can give us His very body and blood with the bread and the wine for the forgiveness of our sin? How these heavenly blessings Christ gives us as we follow Him far surpass any of the “cost” of following Him! As the Lord Christ gives us these blessings and we in faith receive them, how we are all the more empowered and strengthened to follow Him! We have that glorious assurance that God has now, in Christ, declared us righteous. We are certain that nothing can separate us from His love for us in Christ Jesus. We now live under His overruling control of all things for our good and the good of His Church; we live under His care and protection, and say with St. Peter in all boldness and confidence: And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? As Christ has called us, Follow Me, and as we now follow Him in Spirit-worked faith, no one can take away from us God’s grace and mercy, forgiveness, righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Gladly and willingly we now by faith follow Christ!
“Come, follow Me,” Christ says to us! Yes, the cost of following Christ is great! But even greater is the blessing that comes as we follow Him! INJ Amen