Loving Deeply

1 Peter 1:13-25

Our culture defines love in ways too numerous to count. We hear about it in music, we see it portrayed on TV and in the movies, we read it in our literature, and we use slag terms to explain it. And within this cultural context love essentially has been reduced to some level of sexual activity or the exploits of dysfunctional family systems. God begs to differ and in scripture we find love discussed in much different terms. For the believer love is centered around God and is shared by the community of faith. This is the love that makes human society possible and that allows us to hold one another in esteem and affection.

“Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love,” we read in 1 Peter, “love one another deeply from the heart” (1 Peter 1:22). For the author of this passage love arises from a purity of purpose, an obedience to what is true to God's will, and a mutuality that binds people together and does not push them apart. It is only with such purity, obedience, and mutuality that we can then love each other “deeply from the heart.”

I wonder what would happen to pop music if this notion of love as pure, obedient, and mutual became the norm; TV shows and movies if characters actually loved deeply and from the heart. This is a radical thought, I know, but wouldn’t it be interesting to see people responding to one another in the daily activities of life with sincere regard and not just anger or lust. Until that day, the word of God remains a source of encouragement for those who wish to love more fully, more deeply, and in a more godly manner.

Prayer: Lord, help us to love one another as you love us. In the name of Jesus Christ who expresses your love in his life and death. Amen.

Extending the Gospel

]1 Peter 1:13-25

“‘All flesh is like grass,’” we read this morning from 1 Peter, “’and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ 
That word is the good news that was announced to you” (1 Peter 1:24-25). Using a quote from Isaiah 40:8 the writer of 1 Peter essentially claims the prophet’s words as a part of the gospel of Jesus Christ, extending the gospel back into the history of Israel. From a Christian perspective this is very appropriate. As the gospel of John reminds us, “In the beginning was the word…” (John 1:1). Now 1 Peter is using Isaiah to demonstrate the eternal nature of what has always been.

We are approaching the season of Advent, a time when our attention is drawn to the coming of Christ, both as a baby born in Bethlehem and with the dawning of God’s reign. Our culture would like to distract us with lights and sounds and consumer goods, but that same culture, like the grass of the field, will wither and fade. God’s word, God’s will, God’s way continue forever, from the beginning to the end, as the alpha and the omega. 1 Peter helps us remember that there is but one word, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Anything else is destined to fade.

Prayer: Lord God, your good news is everlasting and eternal. Help us to live according to your word and to but our confidence in your alone. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Indescribable!

1 Peter 1:1-12

Justification by grace through faith is one of the hallmarks of the Reformation and one of Martin Luther’s great contributions to Protestant theology. There is nothing we can do to secure our own salvation, Luther assures us. We are completely dependent on God’s grace and on the faith which itself is a gift from God. The author of 1 Peter helps to make this point. “Although you have not seen [Christ], you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9). We are receiving the outcome of our faith. We are being overwhelmed by salvation through God’s grace. When we recognize what God is doing in our lives there is no other possible response but rejoicing “with an indescribable and glorious joy…."

Of course we are not always joyous. We spend much of our time lost in a sort of spiritual malaise where God seems to be the furthest thing from our minds. Is this God’s doing as well? No! This is what we might call “sinful forgetfulness,” what happens when we allow our worldly concerns to creep into our consciousness and to overwhelm our senses. The best antidote to this condition is to regularly exercise our faith with Bible study, corporate worship, prayer, and care for others. When we flex our muscles and keep ourselves focused on God we are less likely to forget or to fall into what John Bunyan calls the “slough of despond (swamp of despair).”

Today (and all days) remind yourself of God’s grace in your life, of the faith that has been given to you, of the joy that comes from knowing Jesus Christ. Remember and be glad “with an indescribable and glorious joy.”

Prayer: Lord, open our eyes to your love and grace and to the faith that you have given us. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Be Prepared (Good Friday)

1 Peter 1:10-20

“Therefore prepare your minds for action; discipline yourselves; set all your hope on the grace that Jesus Christ will bring you when he is revealed” (1 Peter 1:13). It seems a bit odd that the writer of 1 Peter would tell us to “prepare (our) minds for action.” We don’t normally consider our mind as the active part of our bodies. We may prepare our mind, yes, but for reflection, for intellectual work like students preparing for a test. But here we are told to set our minds to act. The next phrases, though, help us better understand. The actions we are to prepare for are discipline and hope. Think of Jesus in the garden on Maundy Thursday. Though he prayed that his passion might be avoided, he was still willing to follow God’s will with perfect obedience. Certainly that took discipline and hope. Certainly it also required Jesus’ full attention.

We live on the resurrection side of Good Friday, but still we face moments of internal crisis: choices to be made, paths to be followed, fears to be addressed. To live as a Christian means preparing our minds for the struggles of faith, means learning discipline, means placing hope. And all of this requires our full attention. The lights and the sounds of the world may distract us, but we must stay focused on what God is doing or, like so many in Jesus’ day, we will miss it altogether.

On this Good Friday I invite us all to seek the mindset needed to stand firm in the faith. There is a cross just ahead, a tomb and a stone, a silent Saturday to endure. Do we have the discipline to see this through for ourselves? Dare we hope for grace from a man who is about to die? The choices are ours. Are our minds prepared?

Prayer: Lord, help us to prepare ourselves for the events that lie ahead, that in faithful discipleship we may live as your people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.