Every day, across this country, believers and nonbelievers engage in an ancient pagan practice.  I suspect everyone here has engaged in this pagan practice as well.  I know I have.  Every day, someone, somewhere, is presented with a birthday cake with a candle on it. After some version of Happy Birthday is sung, the birthday boy or girl, regardless of age, is invited to make a wish and blow out the candle.  The tradition of birthday wishes stems from ancient pagan and Roman beliefs.  Ancient Greeks and Romans believed that on a person’s birthday, a spirit was present that could ward off evil spirits, making kind wishes, greetings, and gifts available for the coming year.  The ancient Greeks believed the rising smoke from the extinguished candle carried the wishes directly to the gods.  Now that you know you have been acting like a pagan, you probably won’t look at our beloved birthday cake tradition the same way again.

          I raise this point not to lay ruin to a tradition, but to have us focus, for a moment, on the idea of wishful thinking.  That is what we are doing just before the birthday candle is extinguished.  We are engaging in wishful thinking.  Wishful thinking is imagining that something pleasant will come to us.  You might say, “Pastor, is it a problem to wish for good outcomes?”  The answer is, “Of course, not.”  But.  There is always a but, isn’t there?  But wishful thinking, as an approach to life, centers on the formation of beliefs and making decisions based on desires and imagination rather than on evidence, rationality, or reality.  And in our modern culture, wishful thinking is less often expressed as such and more often expressed as hope.  Students who are facing a major exam in school do not say, “I am ‘wishfully thinking’ that I will pass the exam even though I did not study for it.”  They instead say, “I hope I pass the exam even though I did not study for it.”  A woman abused by her husband or significant other says, “I hope he has changed this time.”  That is wishful thinking for sure.  Our culture has confused and distorted hope and wishful thinking, making them the same thing.  They are not. Hope is much different than wishful thinking.

          Our Scripture today from the Apostle Peter begins by addressing hope grounded in truth rather than in wishful thinking.  What did Peter say about hope, and why was what he said based on truth?  What message then do Peter’s words carry for us today?

          Peter began his letter this way, “To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance” (1 Peter 1:1-2).  Peter began by identifying that his letter was written to and for the benefit of Christians.  This is not an open letter to the public.  This is a letter to the elect, people chosen to receive and who believed in God’s Word, Christians.  So we could say Peter is saying, “Dear Believers in God through Jesus Christ.”  He then went on to call them “exiles” scattered across a vast swath of modern-day Turkey.  These early believers, Christians, were, as Peter described, exiles. Exiles in the ancient world were people forced from their homeland, stripped of property rights and all legal protections.  Oftentimes, exile was an alternative to execution.  So, Peter’s letter began, “Dear Believers in God through Jesus Christ, stripped of everything in this world and at risk of mortal death, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”  Peter was saying, “You, my dear believers, people around you see you as having nothing in this world, and yet supernaturally you have an abundance of grace and peace that the world cannot see from God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Son.  You are personally known to God the Father, who created all there is.  You are being sanctified, molded by the Holy Spirit into new beings reflecting the true character of God.  You have been made right, freed from the eternal death penalty of sin, by the completed work of Jesus, who died for you upon the cross. Nonbelievers, people of the world, pagans, think you are despised people because they cannot see that God eternally blesses you.”  This is what Peter’s opening words meant to his readers.  Opening words of joy and encouragement from someone so closely and personally associated with Jesus Christ.

          With words of encouragement and joy, Peter went straight to the heart of the matter, “3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his [God’s] great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope” (1 Peter 1:3a).  Peter wanted his readers to know three truths.

          First, God, the very father of Jesus Christ, has extended mercy.  Like equating wishful thinking to hope, our modern culture has changed the meaning of mercy to equate it with kindness.  If you gave a hungry person a meal, you were not merciful, but you were kind. The person you fed will be comforted and satisfied for a while, but they will become hungry again.  Mercy would be more akin to taking that hungry person, removing them from whatever conditions caused their hunger, and placing them in a position from which they would never experience hunger again.  Mercy is not correcting a deficit like being hungry; it is about permanently enhancing someone’s standing.

          Second, to whom did God extend this mercy, this forever life-changing condition?  Peter says, God has extended it to us.  To us?  Think for a moment how much joy Peter’s words brought to his readers.  Peter, the Rock, a monumental figure so close to Jesus, and they, mere exiles in Asia Minor, were united as “us.”  They and Peter were as one receiving mercy equally from God the Father of Jesus Christ.

          Third, what mercy had God given to Peter and to these exiles?  Peter called that mercy a new birth into a living hope.  Peter and these exiles in Asia Minor were born into this world, like all people, by a physical birth.  As physical beings, they were confined to live by others' rules. They were subject to illness, injury, and disease like everyone else.  They had hunger and thirst.  But now through God’s mercy, they, along with Peter, were born again, and this second birth differed from the first because it was a living hope.  A living hope?  What did Peter mean by those words, a living hope?

          Peter said, “In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade” (1 Peter 1:3b-4a).  Peter distinguished this living hope from wishful thinking.  This living hope was grounded in the truth; it is evidenced by God's power to raise Jesus from the dead.  The resurrection of Jesus grants the believer a new birth of living hope.

          And what is this living hope founded in the truth and evidenced by the resurrection of Jesus? It is, said Peter, an inheritance. In the ancient days, inheritance was something of earthly value given by a father to his children.  That inheritance would be property with defined boundaries, whether land, a building, or precious metals such as gold. The inheritance through God’s mercy that was a living hope was something Peter said could not perish, spoil, or fade. In fact, Peter said, “This inheritance is kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4b).  The inheritance for Peter and these exiles who possess nothing is held in trust outside this world, outside the reach of worldly men in power, and is of such a quality that it never fades or spoils.  Peter would say later that God’s power shields this inheritance.  What is imperishable inheritance?  Peter said it is your salvation (1 Peter 1:5).

          Salvation is a gift of mercy.  Salvation is not taking someone from a deficit condition and making them whole. As I said before, that would be kindness.   If God were going to be kind to these exiles, he would take action to restore their property, possessions, and rights to live out their mortal existence.  It would be a restoration of expectations of their first physical birth.  Instead, God was merciful to Peter and these exiles, giving them a second birth, a spiritual birth with an inherited life secured for them in heaven.  This is salvation.  They were assured of eternal life by the God so powerful that he raised Jesus from the dead.  A God so powerful that he sent his Holy Spirit to be the guardian of Peter and the exile’s new life.  A God so powerful that his Son’s completed work on the cross took care of the sinful nature of Peter and the exiles and made them children of God, qualified to receive the inheritance of salvation.  Peter and the exiles had been elevated far beyond what kindness could ever do.  They had been elevated by what only God’s mercy could do.

          Peter then gave the exiles a command.  Peter said, “13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming” (1 Peter 1:13).  Peter’s command is a simple one.  Do not live your new life like others, with wishful thinking. If you will, “Do not blow out birthday candles wishing for a prosperous new year.”  This is not the life you have now in Jesus.  Set your hope, the assurance of all that will be upon the truth that God knows you, his Holy Spirit is guiding you, and his Son, Jesus, has died for you, been raised from the dead, and will come again that you will be fully with Him.  This is hope given to you in mercy by God and held for you in heaven.  Hold fast to this hope today and every day, even if, or especially when, worldly difficulties or persecution come against your physical life.

          Peter continued, “20 He [Jesus] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. 21 Through him [Jesus] you believe in God, who raised him [Jesus] from the dead and glorified him [Jesus], and so your faith and hope are in God” (1 Peter 1:20-21).  Jesus came to reveal God to you and to me.  Though Jesus died, demonstrating God’s love, Jesus was also raised and glorified by God's power.  So your hope, a living hope, should be placed in the living God, in his power, and in his mercy.

          What then do we take from Peter’s message today for us?  In many ways, we live a very different life from Peter’s original readers. We are not exiles here.  Our faith in Jesus Christ has not cost us our property, jobs, homes, or legal protections.  We are coming this year to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the founding of our nation on the truth that “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” (Declaration of Independence).  Those words would go on to form the nucleus of the first amendment of the United States Constitution that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” (1st Amendment).  The government cannot exile us for practicing our faith.

          So what do we share with the exiles of Asia Minor to whom Peter addressed his letter?  We share a common humanity.  We share a common physical birth.  We are subject to hunger, thirst, fatigue, illness, injury, and, yes, death.  We are subject to jealousy, envy, lust, and anger, causing us to act in sinful ways; ways that are neither kind, compassionate, nor merciful.  They and we have heard the call of Jesus to repent, that is, to turn from our own ways and turn toward God, and receive the good news that our sins can be forgiven.  They heard this call and received a second birth, a supernatural spiritual birth. They became new creations with a living hope held in trust for them by God.

          The question for us today is, have we joined these exiles in receiving the greatest gift possible in this lifetime, and that is a new life that is imperishable and incorruptible, an eternal life with God?  Have we become part of “us” with the likes of the Apostle Peter, John, and Paul?  Are we known to God as an exile from Him or as a child of His who has received his mercy?  Is our life being guided by the Holy Spirit in the ways of the Spirit, which is to display the character of God with “love, joy, peace, patience (or forbearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23)?  Is our life cleansed of unrighteousness because we have accepted the completed work of Jesus upon the cross, and we look forward to his return?  Perhaps your answer to all these questions is “Yes, Pastor, I am a child of God, the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings, and he is here beside me, and his Spirit is within me.”  I am, in that way, an exile and joined with the Apostle Peter.  And to that I would say, “You are truly blessed.”

          To those who would answer “No” to these questions or are not sure what their answers would be, I ask you, “Why are you living your life with wishful thinking, blowing out birthday candles and watching the smoke rise upward, imagining something for your future? Why would you live your life as an exile from God, with no rights, protection, or inheritance?”  Think deeply about the call Jesus has made for you to receive the good news he is offering fully.  If you are not sure what that means, call me so that we can talk and pray together. 

          For those who answered “Yes,” I have one more question.  Is your life based upon the living hope, or are you still holding on to some wishful thinking?”  The living hope we have is a concrete, active expectation rooted in God's faithfulness. It is something tangible you can grasp and hold onto, rather than a vague wish.  The hope Peter spoke about is like a binding together of life with God the Father, God the Spirit, and God the Son into an unbreakable cord that can withstand the stresses of physical life because it is supernatural.  This hope can prevail against all earthly circumstances because this living hope is the imperishable, incorruptible, and eternal inheritance of God’s mercy.  Grab hold of it and do not let it go.  Amen and Amen.