Bible Passage: 1 Peter 5:6-11
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: May 17, 1967

Bulletin – May 17, 2026 (Confirmation)

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

Central to the Christian faith is the idea of “glory.”  The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Chirst mean glory for all who trust in him.  Most, if not all, Christians would agree on that. But just when does the glorious life begin?  There are some who believe that the Christian life here-and-now will become “glorious” and virtually problem-free.  Maybe you have heard of the “health and wealth” gospel.  Those who believe this believe that Christians will be healthy and rich in this life!  “Name-it-and-claim-it” theology says if you see something and want it, pray for it and God will give it to you.  Martin Luther called such people “theologians of glory.”

Peter was no “theologian of glory.”  Not in that way.  Peter writes to Christians who are suffering.  Their life is not “glorious.”  They are suffering persecution.  They are suffering the attacks of the Devil.  And his readers are not an outlier, a “one-off,” an anomaly.  Peter writes that Christians all over the world are suffering as his readers are.  But Peter is a “theologian of glory” in this sense.  In verse 1 of this chapter Peter calls himself a sharer in the glory that is about to be revealed (5:1)  He very much believes in glory!  A coming glory!  A glory deferred!  And he writes to people he describes as having been called…into his eternal glory (v. 10).  He, his readers, and we are Waiting for the Glory.

Part of waiting for the glory that will be revealed is humility.  Humble yourselves under God’s powerful hand (v. 6)  Why must we humble ourselves?  Because life many times doesn’t make any sense!  It doesn’t make sense to us that Christians should suffer, that they should be hated and persecuted, even killed in certain parts of this world.  It doesn’t make sense to us that the wicked and corrupt seem to keep getting away with it.  It seems at times like crime DOES pay!  This world is a confusing place.  We long for a safe place.  Humble yourself.  Humility begins by repenting of those times you grow frustrated with God’s management of the world.  Humbly seek refuge under the hand of God.  It is, first and foremost, a forgiving hand.  There is forgiveness under this hand for you.

And it is a powerful hand (v. 6).  So powerful that Peter says it will lift you up at the proper time (v. 6)  Ah, more humility needed!  When we are going through a rough time we tell God, “Okay, God.  Now is the proper time for you to fix things!”  But God knows better than I do when and how to bring relief!  Humble yourselves!  The psalmist captured the humility of the Christian when he wrote: My heart is not proud, Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. But I have calmed and quieted myself, I am like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child I am content.  (Psalm 131:1-2)

Peter continues:  Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. (v. 7)  If there is a verse for our time, this is it!  All of the “stressors” in our lives, all of those anxious thoughts we are to throw over to God!  Here a word for our young worshippers, I think this verse can be dear to you.  I read a book recently called The Anxious Generation.  It is about you.  It is about how non-stop internet access and social media and the pressures of growing up with all that “stuff” have made you a very anxious and unsettled generation.  But you, child of God, have a place to take all that “stuff.”  All that anxiety.  Give it to the Lord!  He cares for you.  Pray, “Dear Lord, you take it.  You carry it.  You fix it.  I can’t do it.  But you can.”  Remember the words of the song you learned when you were little?  “Jesus loves me, this I know!  For the Bible tells me so.  Little ones to him belong.  They are weak, but he is strong!  Yes, Jesus loves me!  Yes, Jesus loves me!  Yes, Jesus loves me!  The Bible tells me so.”  We are weak, but he is strong!  Give it all to him!

There is an enemy who is on the prowl and does not want you to enter eternal glory.  So we best have our wits about us, our heads on a swivel, so to speak.  Have sound judgment.  Be alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. (v. 8)  That’s quite the image of the devil!  A prowling, roaring, snarling, drooling hungry lion looking for prey to gulp down.  Since the day of your baptism, you smell like raw meat to a hungry lion.  The devil has been drooling over you, prowling, tempting, deceiving, wanting you to disconnect from your Savior Jesus. I am no match for a lion!  I am no match for the Devil!  But there is a “safe place” for you.  Resist him by being firm in the faith. (v. 9)

Stand firm in the truths of the Christian faith!  Stand firm in Jesus Christ!  Through faith in Jesus, you are clothed and covered in his blood and righteousness.  This is like a bullet-proof vest!  The devil’s accusations cannot penetrate, they cannot draw blood.  They bounce off!  Your song is the song of victory in Revelation 12!  Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.  For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night [that’s the devil, the roaring lion] has been hurled down.  They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 12:10-11)  Who would have thought the way you defeat a prowling lion is with the blood of a Lamb?

And as we wait for our eternal glory in Christ, Peter adds one more word of encouragement.  After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you. (v. 10) Let me read you the last part of that verse from another translation:  …will himself restore, CONFIRM, strengthen, and establish you. (ESV)  God will “confirm” you.  Kind of fitting on this Confirmation Day!  God does the “confirming.”  God keeps us firm in the faith.  God confirms faith through Word and Sacrament!  And he will continue to confirm your faith until that day when faith becomes sight, and you finally enter into the glory you now so eagerly await!

Amen.