The Pudding

Scripture:  1 Peter 1:17-23

I love how delightfully weird the English language can be.  Like all languages, English is constantly evolving and as a language, English is not shy from borrowing from all kinds of other sources.  This leads to spellings that do not make a lot of sense, unusual exceptions, and syntax that does not quite fit with the rules of the language.   For these reasons, English is often considered to be a difficult language to learn by non-native speakers. One of the aspects of English that makes it especially tricky to learn are all of the idioms we use.  An idiom is saying to express a more complex thought in a few words, often by referencing something else.   Over time though the idiom will change and it will become completely disconnected from its original context, so that while a native speaker will naturally know what the idiom still means it will seem like nonsense to other people. 

               While there a lot of idioms that this is true of, I think a good example to point to is “the proof is in the pudding.”   This idiom is often used to refer to things that are not pudding, and the idea of looking for proof in pudding is odd to begin with.   It really does not make a lot of sense, but that is because we have largely lost the original meaning.   The phrase traces back to the 17th century, and originally it was “the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”   The word pudding in this context does not refer to tapioca, chocolate, banana, or any of the other sweet puddings we think of today.  Rather it referred to a meat product that was something of a sausage loaf, and one could never be 100% sure what was put into it.   Also, in 17th century the word “proof” meant something more along the lines of “too test”, so the original meaning was much closer to something like the “test of the sausage is how it tastes.”   But because English is delightfully weird, even though the words changed and gain new meaning, the idiom stuck around for centuries and gained new meaning.  Today, the phrase the proof is in the pudding means the effectiveness or truth of something can only be determined by seeing the results firsthand instead of trusting appearances.  

               While this morning’s scripture does not have any actual pudding of any kind found within it, the idiom the “proof is in the pudding” is the same point this morning’s scripture makes.  In this morning’s scripture Peter describes how the grace of Jesus Christ can change and transform our lives, but the proof of this is how we love one another.  When it comes to the transformative power of grace, the proof is in the pudding, and the pudding is the love we have for one another. 

               This morning’s scripture comes from 1 Peter, which claims to be written by the apostle Peter and church tradition has long affirmed that position.   This letter was likely written towards the end of Peter’s life.  The resurrection and the first Pentecost had been decades ago, and Peter had been leading the church since then.   Chapter 1 1 Peter tells us that this letter is addressed to churches   throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.  All of these areas are in modern day Turkey.  This area was a hotbed for early Christianity thanks to the work of Paul and other missionaries.   Peter, as one of the apostles and heads of the church, wrote this letter with the intentions that it would travel around to the various churches in the area.  Unlike some of Paul’s epistles, this letter was not written to address a specific issue in the region, but rather it was meant to encourage a diverse group of people to live as faithful followers of Jesus.
We see that emphasis at the start of this morning’s scripture.  In verse 17 Peter wrote, “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.”  Peter is making a potentially jarring statement here.  In this part of the world during the first century, a large part of a person’s identity was related to where they were from.    Even more so than today, a foreigner was someone who was an other, an outsider, a person who would always be a little out of step and never 100% belong with the locals-with the insiders.   Peter is encouraging these early believers to live like no one else, and he is direct in this encouragement because in verse 18 Peter refers to the insider way of life they were used to as “the empty way of life handed down to your from your ancestors.”

Peter is encouraging the Christians of this region to turn their back on the culture they are used to.  There is good reason for Peter to use this strong language.   The religious landscape of the Roman world was incredibly polytheistic and had space for all kinds of religious expression.   There were a variety of secret societies, mystery cults, or specialized religious orders that people could be a part of devoted to all kinds of different deities.  It was possible for someone to join one of these groups, participate in their rites, and still participate in the greater civic religion of the culture.   Peter is making the point that following Jesus not just another mystery cult or secret society.   Following Jesus is not a club that one joins, and following Jesus is not just a label that someone adds to all of their other labels.  Peter’s point is that following Jesus should be such a defining characteristic of someone’s life, it should be so transformative, that faithfully following him should put us so out of step with the culture around us that we are living like a foreigner.  

               In this morning’s scripture, Peter goes on to explain why this is.  This message of grace and forgiveness was radical in the first century, and it should still be life-altering today.  The reason why these early believers should live like no one else is that because of Jesus we are redeemed from a life that was not connected to God.  It is through Jesus, we are connected to God, have faith in God, and have hope in our heavenly Father that forgives us and accepts us.   This great love of God, proven through the precious blood of Christ, is life changing.   As Peter references in this morning’s scripture, it should be so life changing that we live as if we are born again through the living and enduring word of God.  It should inspire us to live like no one else; it should lead us to live purified and holy lives.    

               What I find most fascinating in this morning’s scripture, is that Peter then lifts up that the proof this changed life, the proof of grace, is how the followers of Jesus love one another.  Peter wrote, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.   The proof in the pudding for the transformative power of grace is in how those who claim to be saved love one another.  This really sticks out to me, because we often talk about the importance of loving our neighbor, which we should do, as followers of Jesus we should have a general love for everyone.  However, according to Peter the proof in the pudding for those outside church walks is how well we love one another.    This is what shows to the world that this faith we hold is not just another empty promise, another grift, or another false hope.  In this morning’s scripture, Peter puts forth that the proof that the love of God is transformative is in how the followers of Christ love on another.  I suppose the question this morning’s scripture puts before us, is how are we doing at that? 

               Unfortunately, this is a question where it is a lot easier to point of examples of Christians or church getting it wrong, because those negative examples are ones that stick out because they leave a negative impression and can sour people to faith. Unfortunately, a lot of people have stories where people found other believers were not living up the ideals of this morning’s scripture, and I think that one my life experiences points to one of the most common ways that we can fall short of loving one another. 

               Right out of college I had a part time youth ministry position in a United Methodist church down south in Corydon, Indiana.   Because we were so young we were a lot closer in age to the teenagers I was working with than any of the adults in the church.  So we tried attending a mid-week young adults’ group at a large non-denominational church about 25 minutes away.  This group did contain all people who were all much closer in age to us.   After attending for several weeks a woman, who was one of the lay leaders of this group, formally introduced herself to us and engaged in conversation.   A month or so later, she did the exact same thing, introducing herself as if meeting us for the first time.  It can be hard to keep names and faces straight, so it was not that big of a deal.  However, the very next week she did it again, introducing herself as if we had never met even though we just had this same conversation for the second time seven days ago.  After that, we ended up not going back to that group or church.  

               I think the vast majority of churches in the world view themselves as nice and friendly, but loving one another is more than just being friendly.   To love one another we have to truly care for one another.   This means we truly take time to focus on the other person, not treat them as a line on a checklist to greet in order to be friendly, but to recognize the person as sibling in Christ who we are called to love life family.  While stories like mine might stick out, the good news is that they are mostly outliers.   For people who attend church regularly the majority, 57%, list one of the reasons why is to be part of a community.  

               This is likely true for many of you, because many of you have found and experienced community right here.  It is likely that several of you can think of people that you have attended church with for years who do truly have a sincere love for you, deeply from the heart.  However, this actually leads to an issue that some commentators have called the Lego problem.  A standard Lego brick has eight pegs with which it can connect with other bricks.  Research has found that most people have no more than eight meaningful relationships with people they attend church with, and once those eight spots are filled, they stop seeking to make meaningful relationships.   They key to loving one another in a way that shows the transformative power of God, is that we do so in a way that is ever expanding.  

One of the ways that the all-encompassing love of Christ should change us is that we should always be willing to add one person.   In his book A Bigger Table, former Pastor John Pavlovitz writes about this.  He wrote about when there were large family gatherings, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, in order to accommodate everyone his father would grab two big leafs that were inserted into the table to make it bigger.  Pavlovitz writes, “We quite literally expanded the table so that we could fit everyone.  We made room we didn’t have before.  This was a regular incarnation of the love of God right in the center of our home, though we never knew to name it as such.  This is the heart of the gospel:  the ever-expanding hospitality of God.  Jesus, after all, was a carpenter.  Building bigger tables was right in his wheelhouse.” 

When we love one another in such a radical way, that we are always willing to pull up one more chair, make the table a little bigger, or expand our circle a little while then we prove the world the transformative power of God’s love.  This is because we show that the love of God is so great, is so incredible, is so all-inclusive, that this room for all.   When we love one another enough to make space to for each other, we embody this all-encompassing love of God. 

In this morning’s scripture, Peter wrote a letter to encourage the early believers of Jesus to live differently than their neighbors.  He encouraged them to live into a faith and hope in God that had been made known to them through Jesus Christ, and the evidence of how they have been saved by God’s love was in how they love one another.   The times have changed, the language has changed, and the culture has changed but Paul’s point is still true today.   The world around us is still in need of God, and it is desperate for the love and acceptance that only comes from our heavenly Father.  One of the best ways we can show this all-inclusive love is how we care for and love one another.  The proof is in the pudding.  So as the people of God, redeemed by Christ Jesus, may you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.