We have an expression: “If you are going to talk the talk, you better walk the walk!” It means that you better be real. It means that your words and actions should match–or people will sniff you out as a phony!
And that’s what our Epistle reading is talking about this morning. The Apostle Peter tells us how we must walk the walk of faith, if we are to be real Christians and not a bunch of phonies. Now Peter isn’t saying that such walking in the faith itself saves us. No, he is saying that such walking in the faith is simply part of having the faith. If you are a Christian, you walk the walk of a Christian. It’s the same as Jesus says, “You will recognize them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16).
Yet, if we are going to walk the walk of faith, we must be on that narrow and difficult way that Jesus describes. Jesus says, “Enter through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to destruction is broad and the road is wide, so many people enter through it. But the gate that leads to life is narrow and the road is difficult, and few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
Jesus describes the way a Christian walks as a narrow path. And Peter tells us what Jesus means: The Christian walk is a way that is narrow because it is difficult and dangerous.
So what is so difficult and dangerous about walking on a narrow path? You can fall off it! You can easily stray off the path! And for those who would live in Christ, the narrow path of faith has many dangers along the way.
Peter describes five of them. And he warns us how to keep these dangers from causing you to walk off the narrow way of faith. The dangers are 1) pride, 2) worrying, 3) inattention to the dangers, 4) the Devil, and 5) the suffering a Christian endures because he is a Christian. These are the dangers for those who walk on the narrow path of faith. Every Christian must face them. But fear not, for Peter tells us how we can face these dangers to our faith!
Peter says, “Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, so he may raise you up at the proper time” (1 Peter 5:6). All of us are proud. Sinful pride even infects the most humble among us. That is part of our fallen, sinful nature. It takes hubris to tell God to mind His own business, and then to walk away from His will and do what you want instead.
But each of us does this when we choose to sin. We say by our actions, “I will be god in my world, not You.” And then we make up our own rules and do what we want to do. We say, “No one is going to impose his morality on me! I’m special. My sin is different. My sins can’t be that bad!” Or we may even be so arrogant to say that a sin we are committing is not even a sin! Such is the way of our sinful nature. And such a way of thinking comes, not from humility, but from arrogance!
Peter says, “Humble yourselves.” Why? Because God wants to keep shaping you in His own image. And He will keep doing this unless you allow your pride to drive you from the narrow and difficult way, and you choose to walk another way.
Peter then says, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:7). What a beautiful invitation! But that invitation also reveals another danger for those on the narrow path of faith: your anxieties. So God invites you to cast all your anxieties on Him, because you will have plenty. You will have disappointments and heartaches. You will have doubts. Many events in your life may cause your heart to tremble or your fears to rise.
In your anxiety, you may ask: “Is this Christian faith for real? Am I going to heaven? Will I have to suffer and, if so, am I strong enough to endure?” Questions like these arise in the hearts of believers. So cast all your anxieties on Him. Jesus has already done everything you need for your salvation! You have no need to worry.
That’s a hard truth to keep clear in our minds, as our emotions often doubt that. Yet, we must not miss the truth that, in Christ, everything is already done. He has already won. He won His victory by dying on the cross and rising from the grave. He took your sins on the cross, forgiving you there. He gives you His new life in His resurrection.
Then where are the blessings of this new life you may ask? You are wearing them, for Christ’s holiness covers you. It is inside you, for Christ’s divine nature dwells within you. But, of course, most of God’s blessings await you in eternity.
In the mean time, you will face suffering of one type or another. Yet, you can endure, as long as you cast all your anxieties to Christ, and let Him worry for you. Worrying is one of the faith-snatching traps the devil sets on the path of faith.
Peter continues: “Be sober! (1 Peter 5:8). These words remind us that another danger on the path of faith is inattention. It seems odd that two dangers listed together are worry and inattention. Yet, they are the two extremes that we have: worrying ourselves sick about something, or not taking it seriously at all.
Peter reminds us that these dangers are real and that they may often come when we least expect them. “Be sober!” What does that mean? It means to keep your head clear. It means to see the true dangers lurking along the path of faith. To be sober means to keep your mind firmly anchored in the Word of God. It’s to see the world as the Scriptures teach us to see it, and not as we wish it to be.
And then Peter tells us, “Be on the alert!” (1 Peter 5:8). Always be alert, for the temptations are many that will lure you away from the path of faith. They may sometimes not even feel like temptations. And they will almost never seem as if they are leading you off the path of faith! That is their power to seduce and deceive.
Luther talked of such deception in the Small Catechism, in the Sixth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer. “We pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh may not deceive us and mislead us into false belief, despair, and other great and shameful sins.”
Oh, how many former Christians there are who don’t even realize that they are no longer Christians. They feel the same as they used to. They think they believe the same as they used to. They don’t remember any cataclysmic change. But what has changed is that they do not depend on God. They do not order their lives by His Word or place God anywhere near the top of their priorities or planning.
Some have been deceived into thinking that they can serve two masters: their own agenda and God. Others have been seduced into lives of sin and a spirituality built on false ideas and lies that they suppose are true. In other words, some have fallen for false doctrine. So be sober! Be on the alert!
For the devil is real. He is your enemy. He is planning your destruction. That’s why Peter wrote, “Your enemy, the Devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9).
The enemy is lurking, prowling, hunting–and you are his intended prey. He is powerful and frightening. But the Apostle doesn’t say to be frightened! Instead, he says, “Be sober! Be on the alert! … standing firm in the faith.”
That, of course, means knowing the faith. For how can you resist the Devil’s lies if you don’t know the truth! “Standing firm in the faith” means that you know the faith, you stand in it, and you walk according to that faith.
Yet, standing firm in the faith and resisting the devil will often be uncomfortable. So Peter tells us to be prepared for suffering. “Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers throughout the world. After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will personally complete, confirm, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little” (1 Peter 5:9-10).
I wish I could say otherwise, but it is an uncomfortable truth. You will suffer in some way if you speak and live the Christian faith. How or when, I do not know. But this I do know: you will suffer in some way. God’s Word says it.
But our comfort is that such suffering is not forever. God will end it in time, and take us to Himself. But now, in this life, we share in Christ’s suffering, so we may also share in the glory to come.
Such suffering isn’t pleasant. But this is the narrow way, which Jesus says few are walking. This is the path of faith, which we must walk by the grace of God and in His power, and according to His ways.
For our power and wisdom are never enough. But thank God that He has given us the power in Christ Jesus. Thank God that He has placed our feet on the path of faith. Thank God that He has pointed out–not only the way–but even became the Way for us. So, then, let us walk the path of faith by His power and in His light.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, so he may raise you up at the proper time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. To Him be the glory and the power into the ages of ages. Amen.”
