IN THE WORLD BUT NOT OF IT Revelation 2:8-9
1 Peter 1:1-2
Revelation 2:8-9 ~ [8]And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the first and the last, which was dead, and is alive. [9] I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich).
1 Peter 1:1-2 ~ [1] Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, [2] Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
In Bible Class last Sunday, we had the joy of reading about the congregation at Smyrna, one of the most beautiful congregations in Scripture. It was a small church, insignificant compared with the pagan temples or Jewish synagogues, and was made up, apparently, not of the well-to-do, but of ordinary working people who were struggling to make a living. Despite their small size and poverty, however, the Savior commends them for holding so fast to His word that they were willingly to suffer persecution if it came to that.
When we read the opening words of St. Peter’s first letter, we cannot escape feeling that he had this congregation in mind along with many others in Asia Minor. He wrote, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout [Asia Minor]. He calls the members of these congregations “scattered chosen strangers.” Some of these strangers were Jews who had escaped the persecution in Palestine and had traveled all the way to Asia Minor to seek an opportunity to worship God without oppression. Some of them had been idolatrous Greeks or Romans, people who had come to faith through the preaching of the Gospel. No matter what their background, they were bound together by the word of God, small groups of despised and struggling Christians scattered all over the land, strangers and pilgrims in a land they refused to make their own.
When we hear about these congregations, we see a similarity and ask, “Could St. Peter also be talking about you and me?” Are we not also strangers, a handful of Christians of diverse backgrounds, scattered in different locations, held together by faith through the same Holy Spirit? Isn’t it true that we are strangers in the land in which we live, struggling to avoid the hideous morality and decadence of the world, sometimes despised and criticized for our faith? When St. Peter wrote this text almost 2,000 years ago, he must have had us in mind, for he was writing to the church of every age, a church of chosen strangers.
Ever since the fall into sin, believers have had to struggle to maintain their faith. Think of the godly descendents of Adam and Eve, like Seth, and Enoch. They were strangers in a wicked world that had forgotten God and His precious word, a world whose only glory was the tower of Babel. Think of the believers at the time of the prophet, Noah. Only eight chosen strangers in the entire world! Or think of Abraham, the father of believers, who spent all his life as a stranger and sojourner, who did not own enough land to bury his wife, but in the end had to buy a cave. As you trace the church through Old Testament, you recognize how it consisted only of a handful of believers who were chosen by God to keep the spark of the promise of Jesus alive. Their number was so small that God Himself did not reckon them as the Jewish nation but rather as chosen, scattered ones who risked their lives for the Gospel.
Remember the prophet Elijah, who, in an attempt to bring comfort and consolation to the scattered few in Palestine, had to spend his life hiding and running from a hostile Jewish queen.
Or think of the great Old Testament Dispersion when a good part of the whole Jewish nation was carried off to Babylonia. How was the promise of Jesus kept alive in this godless country? By a mere handful of strangers, men like Daniel and the three men in the fiery furnace, and bold prophets, men who refused to conform to the wicked world.
The New Testament church is no different. Our Savior went about Palestine, not as an esteemed preacher of morality, but as a despised stranger with a handful of lowly disciples, most of whom were fishermen. Jesus knew what they would have to face, and just before His death He prayed to His Father to care for them, “I have given them Thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” John 17:14. On the first Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus’ resurrection, thousands of people were converted to Christianity in Jerusalem alone, but it was only a short time later when persecution arose, persecution so intense that Stephen lost his life that the remaining few were dispersed all over the ancient world to become chosen strangers in foreign lands.
These are the people that St. Peter addressed in this letter; people he encouraged not to give up their Christian faith. You and I are not much different, for we also are strangers in this life, or we ought to be! The world is not our home. Our stay on this earth is much like that of a stranger passing through a foreign country. We are in the world but not of the world. God brought us into this life so that we could come to faith and grow to trust Him, and to share our hope with an unbelieving world. Nonetheless, He warns us repeatedly not to become entangled with the world in which we live. We are urged to avoid worldly pleasure, worldly lusts, and worldly thinking. You hear it from the Old Testament prophets, you hear it from the New Testament Apostles, you hear it from the lips of your Savior, and you hear it from God’s called servants. We must not forget that we are strangers.
It is very difficult and trying not to conform, not to do all the things the world does. In fact, the whole idea of being a stranger is contrary to worldly thinking. Educators and sociologists contradict themselves. On one hand they say, “Assert yourself and be different,” while at the same time through a national educational system they try to mold young people to think and act the way they want. Scripture clearly says, “Love not the world; Come out from among them and be ye separate.” 2 Corinthians 6:27. For Christian young people this is especially difficult. Peer pressure, that is, the influence of classmates and teammates, has led many a young person into sin. The temptation is always present to conform, to go along with the thinking and morality of the world, and to do what is wrong just because everyone else does it. It is no different with adults. We want to be accepted, and are easily intimidated by the fear of unpopularity, that we fail to stand up for what we are, the chosen people of the Lord.
It is not easy to be a stranger for Christ. It takes courage born of faith. We need the encouragement and admonition of the Word of God, but we also need the comfort. When the Lord through St. Paul urges us to come out and be separate, He adds this phenomenal promise: “I will be a Father unto you and ye shall be my sons and daughters saith the Lord, Almighty.” 2 Corinthians 6:18. Strangers though we are, we have been chosen by Almighty God to be His dear children. Even before Adam and Eve fell into sin, our Lord chose us. From eternity the Lord has known us by name, and has recorded our names in the book of life. He knows who you are and where you are, and as His sons and daughters He promises you His care and protection.
Finally, He knows how much we need each other. He has sent prophets in every age not only to call and comfort with the Gospel, but also to gather through the Holy Spirit. The Psalmist expressed it beautifully when he wrote: “God setteth the solitary in families.” Psalm 68:6. The wonderful fellowship that you and I enjoy in our congregation is no accident. The world may think us strange, but they cannot begin to comprehend the peace of God which passes all human understanding. We are never alone; for we have our Father in heaven and we have each other. Are we strangers? We ought to be. Are we lowly and insignificant? Yes, we are that, too. Are we alone? Never, for we have been chosen by God to be His children, and gathered by the Holy Spirit to encourage each other on our earthly pilgrimage to our heavenly home. There is no more encouraging sentence than the last words of our Savior to the little congregation at Smyrna, “Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.” Revelation 2:10