1 Peter Wikipedia, painting by Peter Paul Rubens, 1612.

Peter writes, towards the end of his life, not to the megachurch of Jerusalem, but “To the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…”

Church looks nothing like they thought it would, back in the day. 2-3 gathered in his name is the new normal Literally, scattered to “the ends of the earth” Abundance is not about money, but about grace and peace

Abundance is not about money, because they don’t have any. They are exiles. /watch?v=RBQ-IoHfimQ

I read one study guide that asked participants to ‘name two things you would miss from your old way of life.’ Think about it. Imagine you are the girl in the video. What have you lost?

SH: my hairdresser, my yarn, my air conditioning (note to self: this is a ridiculous list! Try again.)

.... my entire home, all my resources, my work, my church, my PEOPLE! …. my money …. my city?? …. my freedom …. There are not TWO things I would miss.

Exile means EVERYTHING is gone.

If you are the girl in the video…. If you are the guy in the ditch…. If you are the scattered Christians… You have lost EVERYTHING. It is not coming back. You’re not coming back. This is your new normal.

What does your pastor want to say to you?

1 Peter 1:1-9 (The Message) 1-2 I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!

3-5 What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.

6-7 I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.

8-9 You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.

1. God knows who you are and where you are. Even if you’ve been exiled. Downsized. Not where you thought you’d be. Not what you signed up for. Is ANYONE living the life you signed up for????

2.God is always working for good, although it may be a new and different good than what you planned/hoped for. Peter’s exiles had joined a megachurch in Jerusalem. Now they were gathered in tiny communities on the edges of the empire. Big difference! God was still at work. It was still good.

3.God invites us to participate in creating goodness by living in obedience to the resurrected Christ. Our choices have a huge impact on our own lives, and on countless lives around us. Use your power for good.

4.But remember that goodness is not about us. It is a gift granted by the resurrected Christ who is at work far beyond all that we can ask or even imagine.