Growing up, I was extremely close with my mom’s parents. They were immigrants from Lithuania who came to the U.S. after World War II. Many of my earliest memories involve sleepovers at their house where I could eat as many Hershey kisses as I wanted and drink a coke. I’d often hear them share stories of life before the Soviets or Nazis invaded and how despite all odds, they made a beautiful life after the war – even being married for 69 years. Through all of my interests and mistakes, they were a constant source of love and encouragement to me. My grandma even went so far as to knit a blanket for a great grandchild she would never even meet: Piper.

My grandmother died suddenly in 2019 and one of my biggest regrets in life is not sharing how much she meant to me before her death. I believe she knew but my heart still aches. So when my grandfather’s days in 2020 were numbered, I resolved to do something differently: I’d rather encourage people while they’re still alive than remember them in a eulogy. So on my grandfather’s death bed, I tried to express my deep love and gratitude for him before he died. I shared memories we had together. He couldn’t talk at the time, but his tear-filled eyes told me he understood.

And if the end of a life can wake us up like that, what about the end of everything? My knowledge of their death changed how I lived now. It’s not meant to signal we’re running out of time but rather, the glory that is coming is worth living for now. Peter tells his church under pressure: “The end of all things is near*” In other words, Live and love like it. *near has an asterisk and we’ll get to that soon, I promise.

Christ Suffered so arm yourselves with his resolve (verses 1-2)

The first two verses of today’s passage want us to get ready for battle. What are we fighting? Evil human desires. What’s our weapon? The same attitude that Christ Jesus had when he suffered in his body. What could that mean?

First, this passage starts out with the word “therefore.” Which points us back to last week where Christ suffered once for sins and achieved a cosmic victory over sin, death, and spiritual powers. So, is Peter saying: you’ll also achieve cosmic victory through your suffering?

No, that was Christ’s work alone. But Peter is trying to get us to adopt the mindset of Christ. And what was that mindset? Jesus was really tempted by Satan in the wilderness and by the agony of the cross in front of him, though unlike us, Jesus never sinned. Jesus could have escaped suffering by compromise with Satan or giving into the crowds taunts to come down from the cross. Instead, going back to 1 Peter 2:23, it tells us that Jesus didn’t retaliate – he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He trusted God’s will which led to suffering. At the same time, it also led to Jesus’ resurrection and ultimate victory over sin and death. That’s what we draw our strength from, not within ourselves.

So, Peter is telling us: arm yourself with that attitude. Look to Jesus – resolve to follow God’s will over evil human desires, even though it may lead to suffering. When Peter says that hard line of ‘whoever suffers in the body is done with sin’, he means you become a person who accepts suffering rather than giving into sin. And if you can accept suffering, sin often has no bargaining chips with you. That’s how you fight it.

Does this mean you’re now perfect and never struggle with sin again? By no means! You’ll still be tempted and some days, the temptation will feel stronger than you are. For me, this played out in my own life:

As many of you know, God rescued me from many sins as a young adult. Drunkenness and drug usage was common for my friends and me. But coming to faith in Christ, I had a real challenge: my friends still wanted to do those things and I saw those actions rightfully as sin. Even though I was now a Christian, I still stumbled with those sins when I was with those friends so it was difficult. But, I felt trapped: a lot of them were my only friends at the time and I wanted them to come to faith. So, I still hung out with them for a season.

But eventually, I had to draw a line in the sand: I’d rather lose these friends than continue to give ground to sin. So, I chose Jesus. And it was a real cost because I felt lonelier than ever. I haven’t seen some of those friends in years. I’m still friends with a few others though because our friendship didn’t just revolve around partying. I still share Jesus with them and it has been a real gift to see one of my good friends from high school come to faith in Christ through my sharing.

In my story, please don’t get it twisted: we are to have non-Christian friends and witness to them. But, that’s what loving like the end is near can look like. I couldn’t keep loving the sin. I could keep loving my friends who weren’t believers.

So, a hard question I want you to ponder is this: where have you made peace with a sin because fighting it would cost you something? Sin is a manipulative thing because sin will lead you to worrying more about what other people think than what God thinks. That’s where Peter is heading next.  

God will judge so be encouraged, not embarrassed. (verse 3-6)

These verses reveal something we can relate to: we worry a lot about what other people think of us. Verses 3 and 4 share that 1 Peter’s audience once lived a life doing what pagans do but now, they don’t join in that sin anymore. But, they’re paying the price because they’re having abuse heaped on them. It’s not difficult to imagine some of them wondering: is following Jesus worth it if others don’t even like me?

We haven’t grown past this either. For all of us here, we also care a lot about what others think of us. Because of that, we struggle to see verses 5 and 6 as a reason to hope. We care so much about what other people think that we become embarrassed by what God thinks. Some of you grew up on only fire and brimstone sermons with no grace. But in recovering from that, we’ve swung from all grace and no judgment. So, we end up apologizing or ignoring God’s judgment because we’re afraid of other people’s judgment. Peter turns all that upside down: he says other people’s opinions are temporary, God’s is final.

In verse 5, Peter says: “They will have to give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.” So, other people don’t get the final word about you – they may heap abuse on you for your faith but ultimately, their words don’t get the final say. God’s words do.

Verse 6 is often misread but most commentators believe Peter is referring to people who have heard the gospel, believed it, and have since died. The world judged them as weak or as weirdos for not partaking in sin anymore. But, God judged them as his dearly loved children who are now alive because of what Christ has done. The world’s judgement was flawed, God’s judgment is not.

On the cross, you can see the perfect combination of God’s profound mercy and serious judgment. I want you to see three scenarios:

1.      There is no God. No one ever answers for any wrong they’ve committed. The abuser, the trafficker, the adulterer, and the murderer die in bliss. Every victim’s story ends without justice. This is despair.

2.    There is a God but he does not judge. He sees the abuse, the trafficking, genocide, and he shrugs his shoulders. He resigns and says: “I’m too loving to address this.” God leaves the courtroom. That’s not mercy, it’s indifference in spite of overwhelming evidence that human beings can be exceptionally cruel.

3.    There is a God and he does judge. Every wrong will be named and dealt with. This God takes the judgment upon himself on the Cross. So anyone who comes to him finds mercy, not condemnation. His followers are then equipped to show justice and mercy to a hurting world.

My friends, mercy only means something if judgment is real.

But, here’s the trouble we have to reckon with: what if we’ve been the ones who have heaped abuse on others? What if we’re the ones who judge by earthly standards? Will God judge us? For the Christian, the answer is your sin has already been judged through the merciful and sacrificial death of Christ. Yes, you will stand before the Lord to give an account – but it’s as his dearly loved child, not a condemned criminal. You do not have to fear condemnation (Romans 8:1).

Now that we’ve been shown mercy, that changes things for us. Remember Jesus’ example? When they insulted him, he did not retaliate. He entrusted himself to the perfect judge. That’s our freedom too. Since God will make things right, I don’t have to. I can love the person who mocks me instead of fighting them. I can share Jesus with them because the same mercy that rescued me can rescue them. Because the Judge is coming, I don’t have to settle every score. I’m free to love and that’s loving like the end is near.

Now, if we know the end is near and the judge is coming, how should we really live our lives?

The end is near, so love one another. (verse 7 – 11)

When we hear the “The End of all things is near”, some people panic. Others speculate. And some others get obsessed with charts, books, and every headline a sign. But, Peter  instructs us to be alert and sober-minded or in other words, level-headed and calm. Why? The ending isn’t a puzzle to solve, it’s a reason for us to live differently today. And remember that asterick to the word ‘near’ – here’s the explanation.

When Peter and the early church talked about the end being near, they simply meant the next step in God’s plan was going to be Christ’s return. Instead, the end of all things is near is meant to say: Jesus’ kingdom is established now and the next thing on God’s calendar is his glorious return. Nothing else needs to happen first.

When you obsess, frenzy, or speculate, what’s a spiritual practice that gets even more challenging? Praying. That’s why verse 7 says: be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. A clear head exists for the sake of prayer.

In the next verse, Peter gives us the biggest command and he’s actually quoting from Proverbs 10:12. He says: Above all, love one another deeply because love covers a multitude of sins. Above all means: this is the most important thing for you to get! Why is this mentioned? When you love one another deeply, that love is willing to overlook minor grievances against others. It’s meant to offer forgiveness quickly when needed. But, my friends that does not mean hiding serious sin or abuse either. Love never covers those things that need to be brought into the light. This command is talking about not sweating the small stuff.

This is important for Peter’s audience in the midst of the stress and difficulties of persecution. And it’s important for us because no believer or church is perfect so when any of us makes a mistake, the solution isn’t to just leave without saying a word or ignore others: it’s to love. And with that language of “Above all”, think of it as an umbrella and then underneath are practical commands on what to do:

Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.

In this context, Peter is telling the believers to show hospitality. This isn’t an option – it’s a base-level command for the followers of Christ, even if hospitality doesn’t come naturally. 1 Peter’s audience would have no choice but to show hospitality to each other: why? They met in homes and traveling missionaries needed a place to stay. That’s why hospitality means love for strangers.

For the church to survive, they had to offer hospitality.Was that always easy? No, of course not. That’s why Peter says “Without grumbling” – hospitality costs you something. It costs time in your schedule, your finances, and your home. But if you’ve already chosen to suffer for the sake of fighting sin, you can handle a messy kitchen or imperfect home. And as more and more people continue to turn to AI chatbots for relational needs, imagine how the church can create physical community through hospitality. Imagine the witness we could have through a simple sharing of a meal.

My friends: hospitality isn’t about having a five-course meal, a perfect and clean home, or a Joanna Gaines level of aesthetic. It simply means sitting down with someone and talking, eating, and laughing. For our family, that means we keep Wednesday evenings open for meals with others. We keep food simple (lasagna + garlic knots), we don’t worry about putting our kids toys away, and we don’t put down a tablecloth. And through this experience, our kids have gotten to know so many of you and play with you. We’ve been blessed to hear stories of how marriages started or how people came to faith in Christ.

So, my challenge for you all today is this: before Thanksgiving, have a meal with someone you don’t know well in this church. It doesn’t have to be a meal in your home or it can be pizza on the couch. If you want to do a meal with a family with young kids, bring them pizza – don’t invite them to a restaurant. It can be La Libertad or a coffee at Britton. But, I want you to pick that person today and set it up. Do it right after service. I bet you’ll make someone’s day by asking them. If you don’t know their name, ask them. If the end is near, what else on your calendar could be as important as this?

The other command under the “Love All” umbrella is also simple but extraordinary. Peter shares “each of you” should use whatever gifts you have received to serve others in verse 10. That means the body of Christ isn’t meant to be made up of spectators, every single one of us is called to use our gifts. It’s about being faithful with what God has given us – when we serve in seen ways and unseen ways.

If you don’t serve yet or struggle to know what your gifts are, I’d suggest you open your home or table or couch first. By loving and serving people right there, I have a strong feeling you’ll discover them that way. And Peter says, we don’t conjure up the ability to serve on our own. He says God is the one who provides our strength which is why he goes to say:

So that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. It’s only Jesus who suffered for our sins. It’s only Jesus who took God’s judgment upon himself. And it’s only Jesus whose love for us compels us to love one another. That’s why Peter ends this passage by a doxology where he says:

To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. And this morning, we get to see all of this at the table as we celebrate communion together. We remember the judgement that Christ took for us: his body that was broken for us, his blood that was shed for us. And here’s God’s hospitality: he sets a table for us – people who were once enemies to him and strangers to each other. God didn’t grumble about the cross. And every time we eat this bread and drink this cup, Paul reminds we proclaims the Lord’s death until he comes again. The end is near, friends. So now, come, eat, and live and love like you know this to be true. And if you’re not sure you’ve trusted Christ yet, today’s the day to trust him. And I’m glad you’re here but I’m lovingly asking you to abstain from participating in communion. Come talk to me after service.