1 Peter 2:13-17

Next up in 1 Peter ...

Is "submit" a bad word?

I suppose people think of someone with a rod beating an innocent person into submission. That's bad! As a side note, if a police officer beat somebody with her stick who was about to commit a murder or some other crime would be justified.

But of course, the idea of submit could be a child taking the parent's word that touching the hot stove is a bad idea. That's good for a child to submit.


image source: http://www.stnicholascenter.org/stnic/images/prop-crozier.jpg

The idea of submission comes up in this part of 1 Peter 2 and in the beginning part of 1 Peter 3.

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.

The wisdom of Scripture here says that government's role is to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. There are many ways that can be accomplished.

In American politics, there is an ongoing debate on the proper role of government. Simply put, the left wants more government, the center less and the right even less.

I do not think there is necessarily a "Christian" view of politics at this level. As I see it, the question is to what end (hopefully, a good one!)? And if to a good end, then what means (as long as it is moral) help achieve those ends?

Thus, for me, my political views are shaped by pragmatic concerns once my Christian ethic tells me the end being achieved is appropriate. As an example, making health care more available is a noble goal. Just think of how many hospitals have Christian affiliations! And so what are some practical means to reach that goal of making health care more available? At this point, my perspectives are guided by practical considerations. Since this is a devotional blog, I won't go into this matter any further!

But what happens when a government fails to live up to this role of to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right?

There have been governments that have done the opposite.

Nazi Germany clearly needed to be opposed and it was and it cost millions of lives to defeat that terrible evil. The Iron Curtain needed to be resisted and for much of the 20th Century, those totalitarian governments oppressed, arrested and executed many people. Over time, with determined resistance within and opposition from without, that system collapsed.

And so in St. Peter's day, the Roman Empire reigned strong. I suppose in some areas the local governors were brutal and perhaps in some areas they actually tried to be just. In any case, the admonition here is to start a revolution by a transformed life: doing good ... live free but don't abuse it ... live as servants ... Show proper respect ... love others ... fear God ... honor authorities.

Think that is good advice for me, living in 21st Century America?

How about where you clicked to this blog?

Lord, have mercy on the rulers and authorities in my nation. Whether they call you Lord or not, may they be granted wisdom to govern justly and effectively. There is a lot of frustration among the citizens of America with the government. Some of it quite understandable. Turn our disappointments into a renewed commitment to live rightly in our daily life toward our neighbors. Help us to do good. Help us to use the freedom and opportunities in the USA for good and not just self-interest. Give me a servant heart. Strengthen the impulse within me to be respectful and loving to others. Guide me to fear you and honor and pray for those who rule. Amen.

1 Peter 2:9-12

Continuing in 1 Peter ...

There is often a pattern to the writings of the Christian Scripture: a statement or series of statements that get at some big picture truth which is then followed by an exhortation of how to live life. This is the idea of ethical monotheism, a phrase I first heard on the radio from Dennis Prager.

Briefly put, ethical monotheism says, if we believe there is a God then we have moral obligations to live accordingly.

And so, Peter, follows this pattern in 1 Peter chapter one and now again in chapter two.

We have the big story of the Living Stone and us as living stones which illustrates what Jesus the Christ has done for us. And now we have the big picture put this way ...

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

We once were on the outside: not chosen, not royal, not holy and not belonging to God.

But because of what Christ has done, we were brought in. This should not lead to a haughty exclusivism but rather a humble gratitude and a gracious sharing of what we have received.

And so indeed, Peter follows up this grand news of belonging when we once didn't with these encouragements on how to live life ...

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada

Living out the faith isn't easy. There is darkness in this world, yet we want to help bring people from that darkness into the marvelous light of God's love. The path for a Jesus follower can be misunderstood, ridiculed, rejected and even persecuted in some places in the world, yet we want to come alongside those in the world just as Jesus did when we misunderstood, ridiculed, rejected and persecuted him. Our calling is to hear the praise and commendation of our God and not the applause of the world or the comforts of our ease.

Lord, have mercy. Bring me from selfishness to living with an awareness of God and others. Bring me from silence to graciously sharing words of love and life. Bring me from fear to standing for what is right in wise ways. Amen.

1 Peter 2:4-8

STONE and stones ...

As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says:
"See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame."
Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,
"The stone the builders rejected
has become the capstone,"
and,
"A stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall."
They stumble because they disobey the message - which is also what they were destined for.

This passage brought to mind when I was new in the faith. I remember pastor Dr. Lin taught us, as a Christian you are a "Christ Junior." My first reaction was that sounds strange. He would elaborate: since he was the ultimate prophet, priest and king, we are small prophets, priests and kings too.

He would explain what that should mean.

As a priest, we need to be praying for people and bringing them to God.

As a prophet, we need to be sharing God's message with people.

As a king, we need to be exerting rulership over the areas of life God has given us responsibility for.

And so in this passage in Peter, we get to see that Jesus is the STONE and we are living stones... stone and stone juniors!

What about THE STONE?

He is living. What a crazy metaphor, eh? Stones are as dead and inanimate as anything we know. And yet, Jesus is the LIVING stone. He is risen from the DEAD!

He is chosen and precious and the one who can be trusted!

What about us, the little stones?

We are living too! We were once dead but Jesus has given us life. So we too are living... living stones.

For what purpose?

built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ ...

Thus, as stone juniors, we are being built into collection of priest juniors.

This imagery must have been very encouraging for people in the congregations who heard this letter from Peter.

But aside from this positive image there is a parallel negative response.

Take a look again ...
As you come to him, the living Stone
... a chosen and precious cornerstone
......... you who believe
......... those who do not believe
... stone the builders rejected
A stone that causes men to stumble

The message of Jesus is a powerful message of life and hope. Yet, he was rejected in his time and his followers over the centuries since have been rejected.

In some cases, the adage, the biggest hinderance to Christianity has been Christians, applies. Sad to say, there is truth to that.

But is the message itself and Jesus himself a hinderance?

As beautiful a life and message that was and is, people stumble because of it.

Lord, have mercy. Help me be a priest that lifts up to you the needs of people around me. I pray for compassion for a chaplain intern as he stands alongside the person in the hospital bed and the family in the waiting room and shows the love of Christ. I pray for strength and wisdom for the doctors in Haiti who minister with their gift and training of medicine in the face of overwhelming need. I pray for us in the USA who have so much that we would give to help those who have so little. I pray for those who in the world who seek to destroy life for you ask us to pray for our enemies. May you break through the darkness that shrinks their hearts. And is it wrong for me to ask that if they do not turn, that the hammer of justice would fall upon them ending their ability to inflict evil and suffering? Lord have mercy. Amen

I Peter 2:1-3

The news from Haiti remains grim.

President Obama has mobilized the resources of the US Government to help and is to be applauded for the swiftness and scale of the effort.

When it comes to disaster relief, politics must always be set aside and indeed, Former President's Clinton and Bush have teamed up to spearhead efforts.

Here is one list of agencies on the ground in Haiti.

Here is another list of groups working to assist Haiti.

There are many agencies doing work there and I hope you will pick one to support.

Please give to any reputable organization you trust. When people need help, we need to step up to the plate and give.

President Bush put it simply, "The most effective way for Americans to help the people of Haiti is to contribute money. That money will go to organizations on the ground and will be -- who will be able to effectively spend it. I know a lot of people want to send blankets or water -- just send your cash. One of the things that the President and I will do is to make sure your money is spent wisely."

And so now, I will go to an organization I have supported on many occasions in the past, World Vision, to donate.

Find one you want to support and please do so!

###

I Peter 2:1-3 ...

Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Sometimes, the Bible has complicated stuff.

Sometimes, it is as plain as day.

Don't need to over think this one, eh?

If we have truly tasted the Lord's goodness in our lives, we have no option but to make every effort to set aside the old ways and grow in the newness of life and salvation He has given us.

Pretty much everything I Peter has been saying thus far has been along these lines.

Perhaps, it will do well to re-cap the ground we have covered in 1 Peter ...

Introduction 1:1-2

Reflection on the grand scope of the new birth and salvation
1. Its future inheritance, 1:3-5
2. Its present suffering, 1:6-9
3. Its anticipation by prophets and angels, 1:10-12

Living life in the Now - Four rounds of exhortation in action/motive pattern
1. Action (prepare your minds...)
motive - God is holy, 1:13-16
2. Action (live in reverent fear...)
motive - Precious blood of Christ, 1:17-21
3. Action (love...)
motive - Born through the living and enduring word of God, 1:22-25
4. Action (rid yourselves of all malice...)
motive - Tasted the Lord's goodness, 2:1-3

Lord, please work in my heart so that I would be your hands and feet in this world. Not only help me to set aside the old ways but make me bold and willing and empowered to live in a new way of love and reverence and alertness to what you are doing. Amen.

1 Peter 1:22-25

Happy New Years! Okay, am about 10 days late...

Anyway, back to the lifetime project of blogging through the Bible...

Coming up on the end of Chapter 1 ...

The Bible does contain elements of "deep thought." But I think foremost there is a linkage between theology and living life.

Here in the latest part of chapter one is a very practical challenge:

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart.

There is the truth of a holy God and what God has done in sending Jesus.

Then there is a response that is called for ... love.

This isn't intellectual rocket science!

But it does require a transformation ...

For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For, "All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.

Do we naturally love without God changing us?

Parental love for children is real. The love of friends is real.

These are beautiful expressions of love and reflect God's desire for how we are to live.

But of course, we have a connection in both cases ... a family tie and some common ground that provides emotional affinity for our friends.

How hard is it love a stranger?

This is where the church as a community can rise or fall. The people listening to this letter from Peter might have some family ties to each other. Some might have friendship connections from daily life. But I would guess that some (many?) would be strangers to each other.

Will they live up to this call to love?

Will having the desire to follow Jesus in common spur a love beyond family and friends?

And, of course, will the call to love extend beyond their own church community?

Indeed, one can marshal evidence of how Christians have failed to love. All too true.

But one must also look at the schools, hospitals, orphanages, support groups and other things that people of faith have started.

And hopefully, my transformed life will be evidence that God is alive as well.

Lord, thank you for Jesus and the transformation he has brought. Help me to live out the command to love. Clear out the hardness of my heart and replace it with a new heart that sees with your eyes and hears with your ears. Amen.

1 Peter 1:17-21

Continuing on ...

Since you call on a Father who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

What jumps out at you?

For me ...

"foreigners here in reverent fear"

and

"chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times."

I think one of the struggles of living out the Christian faith is finding the healthy tension between recognizing a higher calling (we belong to God) which leads us to be foreigners yet not become isolated from this present life in the process.

As an ethnic minority, I have experienced some of that "foreign-ness" in that there is sometimes not full acceptance by the majority culture. Some differences are innocuous and fall into the realm of mere "taste" or "preference." But some differences are real values clashes.

If we are living out the Christian faith, there will be times we feel like "foreigners." For example, today, there is a very aggressive strand of atheism that views Christians as intellectually deficient and the source of many problems in society. For less aggressive atheists, they view Christians as odd people but tolerable as long as they don't say too much.

Because of this, it will be easy to retreat to one's own enclaves.

But, of course, the life of Jesus and his message calls us to influence the lives of others by demonstrating love, calling people to turn back to God and building bridges. Thus, the temptation to retreat to a private precinct is to be resisted.

Its mind blowing to consider "chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times."

The mission of Jesus was planned before the creation of the world? Whoa.

As humans, we think in linear time: creation of world --> fall of humanity --> Jesus.

This passage says that Jesus was chosen to the sacrificial lamb before the creation... before the fall ... before it was necessary (in our sense of linear time)!

Jesus, as the sacrificial lamb, at that moment in human history, is effective not just for those in the first century but for us in the 21st century and for that matter for all time?!

And in God's time line, Jesus' revelation is "the last times."

People sometimes object to the Christian faith because it isn't rational.

In most people's mind, people believe that means Christianity is irrational and thus not true.

I propose for your consideration that that is inaccurate.

Rather, I consider Christianity supra-rational.

Is that a real word?

Yes.

Love cannot be comprehended by reason alone. It involves reason in that we observe the beloved and interact with words and deeds. But the choice of love, the commitment to love, the cherishing of the beloved requires more than reason.

Christianity posits that God is a person who is seeking to reconcile wayward creatures to himself and each other. Since this existentially is about relationships it cannot be exclusively a rational endeavor.

Do you buy it?

Lord, thank you for redeeming me. I was stuck in a futile path. I was alienated. I was without hope. But you have paid a price to transfer me from that lost life. Through Jesus' life, example, teaching, death and resurrection, there is hope and life and love. Help me to live in this truth with reverence. Amen.

1 Peter 1:13-16

Its Christmas!

Can we get an Advent perspective on this reading from 1 Peter?

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy.

When is "when Jesus Christ is revealed?"

At one level, when Jesus came to be born in a manger, he was revealed!

Most didn't notice.

But Jesus will come again ...

Some think this passage describes Jesus return, At that time men will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And he will send his angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of the heavens. If so, there will be no missing it!

And so Peter appears to be encouraging us to set our hope on that future event. But suffice to say, hope and grace has already begun breaking into the world with the arrival of the Christ child!

The hearers of 1 Peter didn't live to see the day of Christ's return. And 2000 years later, we wonder when Jesus will return. Will it happen in our lifetime?

Mark 13:32-36 tells us no one except God knows when Jesus will return.

And what advice did Jesus give while we wait?

Be on guard ...
Be alert ...
Be about our assigned task ...

And Peter echoes Jesus words:
Prepare your minds for action
Be self-controlled
Set your hope on grace
Do not conform to evil desires
Be holy

Thank you Lord for Christmas! Grace has been given in the Christ child, grace is given each day and grace will be given to your people when you return. But for today my prayer is as the words of the Christmas Carol ...

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

Amen.

1 Peter 1:10-12

Continuing in I Peter ...

Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.

Jesus changed everything.

The prophets of old pointing were pointing to that change. But they didn't get to see it in their lifetimes.

The angels "long to look ..." I wonder what does that really mean?


image source: http://www.binoculartips.com/

Imagine if you will, angels in the presence of God and God speaks to them of His plans to initiate a salvation plan through Jesus. The angels wonder, what is going to happen?

God, being God, can see how it will unfold ... down to the details of ...
people sneering at a pregnant Mary...
Joseph feeling the cold shoulders of people who think he's clueless...
Jesus experiencing the joy of people responding...
and the pain of people rejecting...
the agony of bearing the cross...
the power and glory of the resurrection...
the birth of the church...
and how the church will sometime embody the grace God wants to extend to God's delight...
and how the church will all too often fall into self-righteousness and cold heartedness grieving God...
the culmination of all things when God turns the kingdoms of this world into his kingdom...

But the angels, not being God, can't see how the future unfolds.

They wonder what is going to happen?

They know something wonderful is going to happen and so they in their own way, in ways we don't understand, do as God directs them and participate with us in the unfolding of what God is doing?

Thank you Lord that grace has come. Reconciliation with You and our fellow human beings is unfolding. The suffering of Jesus has opened the gates of salvation and that glory flows out and the angels watch with awe and wonder. May this Christmas season see a renewal in my own heart of the amazing thing you have done and a renewal of my commitment to take part in what you are doing in this world. Amen.

I Peter 1:3-9

1 Peter 1:3-9 launches into a uplifting reflection of the end of our stories and how that helps us in the day-to-day.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.


image source: http://www.callbox7.com/a-complete-guide-to-ambulance/

2000 years separate us in the USA from the recipients of this letter from St. Peter. In some ways, we are quite different from those people. I think that the shadow of death hung over them much more than it does today. In a time with no medicine or hospitals, death was probably something the average person saw quite often. A trauma on the street with no ER to rush them too, an infection with no antibiotics and on goes the list of things that could strike someone down that today we could do something about was a potential death sentence for the hearers of St. Peter's letter.

And so the living hope of Jesus would be very powerful. The idea that something that would not perish, spoil or fade would be immensely re-assuring.

How about us today?

Though we have banished many causes of death with medicine and technology, our essential mortality remains.

And so suffering is still as real today as it was then ... maybe here in the USA we can push it from our minds a little more easily ... but it still lingers and haunts in moments ...

In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

... and so suffering remains a fact of life ... but rejoicing is possible ... how?

These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.


image source: http://www.eso.org/public/outreach/eduoff/vt-2004/Background/Infol2/EIS-D1.html

Pain, suffering, grief, death ... these remain constants in the human story. The slave in ancient Egypt worked to near death, the farmer in the early church seeing a loved one dying for reasons he does not know, John Donne wondering for whom the bells were tolling ...

And so we believe that this can be gone through and redeemed.

Humility, compassion, gratitude, trust ... these can come from suffering. These things, worth more than gold, could be won from the dark nights of despair.

Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Lord, through a glass darkly, I see. But I see. And I await the full dawning of the salvation you have begun. Help me to get a taste of the inexpressible and glorious joy. Amen.