What Does It Mean To Love? ...

There are those who say “Love is cheap.”  To this I ask, “then how could God be love?”  What love motivated God to do for us on Calvary was anything but cheap.  On the contrary, it was everything He had.  The massive power and ability of God to control everything, escape everything, was held in check through the torture, through the pain, all the way into the grave.  He did nothing to save Himself from our punishment, but instead He bore it so we would never have to.  He endured a separation from His Father, the source of all love, that broke His heart and cost Him His life.  All for you.  Everything He had, He would lay down, only for you.  What does it mean to love?  What does it mean to love like God loves?  When Christ gives His disciples the commandment to love one another, how should we translate that into practical terms?  This direction to us was not about warm fuzzy feelings, or empty words spoken in passing without any thought behind them.  To love each other carries far more meaning than that.

Peter carried a passion in his ministry and counsel to the church of his day.  He knew that above all things, the success of early church would be defined by how it loved.  It is no different today.  The success of the gospel message will be defined by how those who proclaim it - love (not with their words, but with their lives).  In our study of Peter’s first letter to the church, we have reviewed the importance Peter placed on a humble submissive approach to the world around us, no matter how evil it might be.  After offering counsel to men and then women about how to reach the un-reached heart, melting it with humility and love, he now refocuses back to those who claim the name of Christ.  His counsel focuses back on what it means to love.

He begins in chapter 3 in verse 8 saying … “Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: [verse 9] Not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but contrariwise blessing; knowing that ye are thereunto called, that ye should inherit a blessing.”  To be of one mind, one must be willing to become part of a collective, part of a family.  We need not lose our identity or sacrifice what makes us unique and adds value to the body of Christ.  But needs be, that we sacrifice the ego that would hold our uniqueness above the value of others.  If we are to be one, we must accept the uniqueness of others as having equal weight with our own contributions.  “Smart” is not the only virtue to value.  “Caring” means more, far more often.  “Approachable” will enable connections where its opposite prevents the sharing of love.  Every attribute, every gift, every unique contribution to the body of Christ carries equal weight, and is equally needed in the cause of Christ.  To be of one mind, we must see that all parts of the body are as critical to the cause of Christ, as is our own particular piece.

In our quest for unity of spirit, of goals to love the unloved, we must not lose sight of the opportunity and blessing of showing Compassion to each other.  To feel deeply for those in pain, to so care about someone else, that what happens to them, happens to you – is to love your neighbor as yourself.  To find pity for your spouse, or children, or parents might be easier, but to find it for your fellow parishioner might be quite a bit harder.  To find pity for an enemy, or for the “man on the street”, to so value his life and experiences that they carry equal weight with your own, is to begin to love like Christ loved.  This kind of love for one another is not natural.  It can only come through submission to Christ that Peter has already given significant attention to. 

Peter then adds the idea of practicing common courtesy to each other.  Imagine how often courtesy, allows the simple basic needs of another to be prioritized ahead of your own.  You are driving down the road, and someone needs to get into your lane – do you let them in front of you to be courteous?  You may find yourself delayed as a result.  If you do it for everyone who has a need it may take you a long time to get anywhere.  Those behind you are sure to be critical.  But those who you permit access ahead of your own need to get somewhere could be grateful.  Courtesy is only a simple practice of putting the needs of someone else ahead of your own.  It is being thoughtful.  A parent takes a small child out to eat at a crowded restaurant.  The child becomes agitated and disruptive, does the parent allow the child to run amok?  Or are they proactively addressing the needs of the child, while minimizing the disruption of the dining experience of others who have paid to eat out as well?  Courtesy, would see the parent take proactive and preventative action, even if it means their own food grows cold.  The experience of others outweighs their own.  That is courtesy seldom seen in the world today.

Then Peter gets back to his theme of what it means to love.  When evil is shown to you, when someone rails against your (whether deserved or not), your response is the choice you are faced with.  You cannot prevent someone else from taking evil against you.  You cannot prevent the hurtful words another may speak about you.  But your response defines your love – even for those who prefer to remain your enemy.  The blessing the Christian inherits in returning love for evil is no small thing.  It is the basis of conversion.  It is the reason to ask “why”?  Think about how your respond to Christ.  You spit in His face, and yet He loves you.  You hurt Him with what you do, yet He forgives you, and holds no memory of your slights.  You begin to wonder, “why” would God love you so much?  What is it about you that is “worth” loving?  You can’t see it.  But somehow He does.  And love begins the work of transformation within you away from the evil you once embraced, and into the unfailing love you have been shown.

Imagine for a minute though, what would have happened if when you spit at God, He happened to spit back.  That would have only been justice.  You throw rocks at Him, so He throws rocks at you.  After all you threw first.  He does not have to use His powers, He could exactly return to you what you have done to Him.  But He does not.  If He did, you would not see love, you would see justice.  People turn from the justice they are due.  No one likes to admit what their actions have earned them.  No one likes to suffer the consequences of the evil seeds they have planted.  Instead, they want to do evil, and see none in return.  Justice does nothing to inspire loyalty, it is only a factual response.  Love however is a mystery.  Why someone would return love for your evil, begins to gnaw at your mind.  It is aggravating not to be able to understand why someone responds to your evil, with good.  That response warrants investigation.  That response must be understood, and so the path of love begins.  The blessing we inherit, may be a small role in the redemption of another soul.  For us to even begin to point an erring soul back to the source of all love, is not inconsequential.  It is us, allowing God, to use us, for the benefit of mankind.

Peter continues in verse 10 … “For he that will love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile: [verse 11] Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.”  Peter wants those who read his words to have a life worth living, a good life.  He is not just deferring a good life until we meet in heaven.  He is establishing how to have one here on earth despite being under unjust rule, and perhaps even the control of slavery and oppression.  To be happy and love life, keep your tongue in check.  Speak no mischief of others, speak no lies, speak no malice.  Instead of seeking evil, seek to escape evil and find something good to say or do instead.  Instead of allowing ego to foster conflict, seek peace.  Be humble enough to embrace peace no matter if you are “right” or not.  Seek peace and unity, speaking truth without malice, or harming others.  Mind how your words are heard, how they might be interpreted, take care so that love is ALWAYS heard in what you speak.  This is the recipe for a happy life in the here and now.  Evil seeds yield only an evil harvest.

Peter continues in verse 12 … “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.  [verse 13] And who is he that will harm you, if ye be followers of that which is good?”  First, it is important to understand that the problems in our prayer-life are not because is listening or ignoring us.  It is instead what we ask for.  Too often we ask for what “we” need, or what “we” want, and what we want is intended solely for our benefit.  The righteous asks for others, the righteous are like Christ seeking how to make the lives of others better in the world.  Those prayers are heard, as it gives God permission to intercede in the life of someone who might not have chosen it, in order that He answer our prayers on their behalf.  Those are the prayers God longs to hear, and answer.  The gimme, gimme, gimme, prayers are all too common, and have only one target to benefit – namely me.  God knows the needs of His people, and loves them.  He spoils His children in showering them what they truly need, even if sometimes it is hard to see that is what is occurring.

The things intended for our harm, will be turned into something that is for our good – because of the love of God for each of us.  It is OK to express our needs to God in our prayers, but remembering He already knows them, He is deeply concerned about them, and He has already made provision for addressing them.  Given that, do you really need to keep kicking the dead horse?  If instead, we focused the energy of our prayers on the deep needs of others, we might find a more productive use of prayer.  It may be that the one in need refuses to bow before our God, and his only hope is that you will do it on his behalf.  It may be that the one trapped in a sin you know they commit, has no desire to be made free from that sin.  Should you silently pray to God for that person, you might find it is both theirs and your own heart melted by love.  The prayers of the righteous carry a faith that already knows their own needs have been addressed before they begin.  They are free to pray for others, and take care to notice what God might wish to do for others, through them.

What does it mean to love?  For Peter, it means you put the eternal life of another so ahead of your own temporary needs and desires, that you become an instrument for their salvation.  It is not about finding warm fuzzy feelings and “chemistry” that would draw you to the homeless and those who reek from life in the gutter.  It is about seeing that mentally challenged chemically imbalanced soul, and seeing the face of God, and the love of God trying so hard to break through and reach that soul.  You may be His only instrument.  You may be His last tool, His last opportunity.  What a tragedy to waste that opportunity because we are so “busy”.  What a tragedy to deny love because those mentally imbalanced homeless souls are “incapable” of understanding what we might have offered.  They may have their problems.  But the love of Christ reaches deep, and heals a multitude of illness.  To pray for that person, to take action to show love to that person, may result in the miracle of healing that might have otherwise never been seen.  For all eternity, what gratitude might you be showing to those who helped bring you to the love of Christ?

What does it mean to love?  For Peter it means that we value unity in the church above the needs of our ego.  It means we value the life of an enemy so highly that we would seek their happiness despite how they treat us before, during, and after what we do for them.  It means we treat our enemies like our God treated us when we were His enemy.  It means we treat our spouse like the infinite unique treasure they have always been.  It means we treat those in authority over us, with respect, kindness, humility and love, even when how they treat us is nothing short of oppression.  It means winning the end game.  Sin will only be defeated when mankind chooses to seek freedom from it through the power of Christ.  Love draws mankind to that point.  Criticism drives man away from it.

Have you been so drawn by the love of Christ, to the point where you are willing to reflect it to others?  Have you asked yourself … what does it mean to love?

 

Thou Shalt Submit [part two] ...

Because of the separation of the second chapter from the third chapter in Peter’s first letter to the church, often verse one of chapter three is read as if it is the start of a new conversation, or a new admonition from Peter’s counsel.  It is not.  It is the continuation of our study on the strategy of submission to conquer evil.  In our previous examination of chapter two, we begin to see how Peter progressively raises the stakes in asking the church to show love, even in the face of evil.  Despite the absolute corruption, malice, and pagan indoctrination of the Roman system of government; Peter offers zero counsel to rebel, and instead asks us to submit to every ordinance of man, for the sake of the gospel.  When we are cheated, we are to be honest and loving in return.  When others speak lies, and accuse us falsely, we are to remain steadfast, upright, and speak no words of reprisal.  In this sense Peter is only reinforcing the teachings of Jesus when He asked us to love our enemies.

But the level of submission Peter asks is more than just our submission to Christ of our will in order to be transformed by the power of His love.  It is to allow that transformation to effect “how” we love others.  As we adopt the love of Christ into us, as it becomes part of us; we begin to lose the distinctions between friends and enemies.  People are only people.  They are to be loved, no matter how they respond to that love.  Those who have responded to the love of Christ might make an effort to return love when it is extended to them.  But the goal is not to see love extended only so that we see love returned.  It is to see love extended no matter what the outcome.  Sinners, after all, are the ones MOST in need of the love of Christ reflected through you.  It is not through violence, that evil can be extinguished from the hearts of man; it is only through a choice to love.  Peter sets a very clear mirror for us from which to examine our progress in our spiritual transformation … how humble can we be in the face of injustice, and how loving can we be in the face of undeserved evil. 

These are not popular words today.  They were no more popular in Peter’s own day.  The natural human condition rebels against oppression and injustice.  Our sentiment today is to resort to violence to achieve “justice”.  It was so in days of old as well.  It is the clarion call of Satan to demand “justice”.  For equality would see an eye taken for an eye, and a life taken for a life – that is justice.  But it is not the way of our God, for our God prefers mercy over justice.  He offers forgiveness rather than the rewards we have truly earned.  He loves us despite what we have done, and offers to free us from the chains that would bind us to repeating the failures of the past.  He pays our penalties Himself so that justice need not be visited upon us.  But to be free, we must be made free.  We must submit ourselves to Christ to be transformed by His love, submitting our decisions, our desires, and thus our actions.  In the last study, we come to realize, that the preferred state of one who loves, is submissive, not aggressive.  To see love win, we must be willing to obey, even when obedience is not what we believe is “fair”.  Instead of rebellion against the corruption of Rome, Peter asks that we honor Roman rule.  Instead of meeting violence with violence, we are to meet it with patience and love.

It is ONLY after men understand what has been asked of them with regards to submission that we can continue with the admonitions found in chapter three.  They are not isolated from each other, with wives asked to submit, and husbands to be made free from submission in general.  No, the prerequisites of submission have had a long prolog in chapter two, and now we continue with this these beginning in verse one of chapter three as Peter writes … “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives;”  The word “likewise” is a reference to how the unbelievers come to know the love of Christ as discussed in the previous examples.  As Christians maintain a spirit of love and charity, and humble obedience even to the unjust edicts of men, they bare witness of a strength outside of themselves.  The transforming power of the love of Christ is made evident in our ability to remain humble and loving in the face of injustice. 

It is ironic that husband’s, and men in general, miss the subtlety of Peters inference.  Peter has just been describing how unjust oppressors discover Christ through the loving response of humble Christians.  Here Peter offers to wives the word “likewise” – perhaps meaning that he understands that husbands too are often unjust in how they treat their wives.  Peter continues that the direct influence of a wife upon her husband is profound.  Loving words spoken in humility by a wife who has discovered the treasure of serving her husband are nearly impossible to ignore.  The hardest man can be melted by the softest woman.  No matter what the husband is compelled to face and deal with in his quest to provide for his family, he cannot ignore the simple, uplifting conversations that love can inspire in a wife who prizes service.  It does not take Biblical brow-beating, or forced exposure to the word of God, to reach the still unconverted heart of the husband.  It only takes consistent love reflected in the consistent conversations of the wife.  The living witness is more powerful than the written word.  For if the word is not alive in you, of what value is it?

Peter continues in verse 2 … “While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. [verse 3] Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; [verse 4] But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.”  In this Peter has destroyed the entire fashion industry.  For as with all things, the inside will matter more than the surface.  To be clear, Peter is not advocating that women become nudists, refrain from cleanliness and good hygene practices, let the hair run wild, abandon make-up – but – wear only a meek and mild spirit.  While these ideas might appeal to some men, it would be unwise to attempt to use this scripture to achieve these goals.  However, Peter is making a clear statement about the priorities of “how” a woman reaches the heart of a man.  Bad news ladies … it is not in the new hair-do, or the myriad of jewelry you wear, or in that “to die for” new outfit on the manikins in the department store window.  It is captured in the counsel already given – it is in respect, upright conversations, humility, and consistency of love shown.  It is in our humility that God is able to reach us, it is why he prizes the meek and quiet spirit so highly, and why it is of such value in a wife.

Keep in mind, Peter is not just looking to impart general marital advice, he is talking specifically here about how a Christian woman reaches the heart of an unconverted husband, that she might introduce her husband to the Christ she serves.  The bond of matrimony is not strong enough to overcome the freewill choice of a spouse.  They cannot be saved because you are righteous.  They are not transformed by the love of Christ, just because you are.  These are individual choices, that each one of us must make.  If only one partner in a marriage makes the choice to be transformed, only one will be ready to live eternally in the city and existence He is currently preparing for us.  There will be no greater sadness than to face that eternity in solitude, because the partner we shared a life with here on earth, was never reached by the love we “could” have shown, and for selfish reasons, simply didn’t.  Peter offers the heart of woman, a method for insuring she is not alone on that great day, but is able to stand with the man she has chosen to love.

Peter continues in verse 5 … “For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: [verse 6] Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.”  Here is where it gets interesting.  Peter writes that this method has worked before.  Holy women in days past have trusted in God to transform their hearts, and make them able to consistently serve and love their own husbands.  Through their influence men were brought to God.  More interesting is the example of Sara who is said to have obeyed Abraham and called him lord.  Could it be, that Abraham was prompted to begin his search to find God, because of the influence of his wife Sara?  Could it be, that the much touted faith of Abraham was strengthened and supported by the largely invisible wife Sara?  There were no sayings regarding the matriarch of the Jewish faith.  Sons of Abraham was a popular designation, daughters of Sara much less so.  Yet does Peter here offer us some insight, that perhaps the mighty man of faith, owed much of this reputation to the consistent humility of his wife whose influence was a powerful one?

Peter continues in verse 7 … “Likewise, ye husbands, dwell with them according to knowledge, giving honour unto the wife, as unto the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life; that your prayers be not hindered.”  Peter again uses the word “likewise”.  Perhaps here he refers to the Abraham reference cited above, a recognition that the influence of our wife on our faith is profound – whether for better or worse.  He counsels husbands to dwell with them according to knowledge.  Do not forget that it is God you serve, and He who you love first, in order that you may then find immeasurable love for your wife through Him.  Husbands are to care for their wives as unto the weaker vessel.  Peter is not demeaning the strength of a Christian woman.  He is instead asking husbands to care for their wives as if handling precious china, something that is tender, can break, can be damaged by inattention or a lack of care.  Things that are irreplaceable must be handled with great care so that they are always valued, and never thrown carelessly aside.

Then Peter raises the stakes again.  He tells us that we are … “being heirs together” of the grace of life.  When once the bonds of matrimony are made, when two choose to become one, they are indeed seen as one.  Yes, each of us must choose to submit to Christ, and be transformed by the power of His love.  But having made that choice, as well as the one to be bound in marriage, we are “heirs” together.  We inherit the life and home in our heavenly destination as one.  When in Eden God determined it was not good for man to be alone, His wisdom was not colored by sin, or its effects.  Man was created and pronounced good.  But the addition of a wife makes him better.  The two individuals who form a family unit are made stronger in the joining than they were by themselves.  Men must understand this.  The knowledge of the eternal implications of our choices cannot be understated.  When God says the word forever, he is not thinking in terms of a 70 year life span.  He is thinking about forever, an existence that extends well beyond this corruptible one.  When we bind ourselves till death do us part, we recognize human frailty, but in so doing deny ourselves the potential of what might still be to come.

The advice Peter offers comes with a warning … “that your prayers be not hindered”.  Service, care and love for our wives, cannot be omitted while we think ourselves as having achieved spiritual enlightenment.  We have chosen to serve and love them, and how we do this, is a reflection of the transformation our Lord has wrought in our hearts.  To pray to God for things we “want”, while ignoring the needs of our wives, is to have our prayers hindered.  It is a reflection of our selfishness in how we pray.  The needs of others should top our prayer list; of those our wives should be first in line.  To ignore the needs of our wife, is to ignore the half of our one-ness.  It is literally to work against our own best interest.  The unity institutionalized in marriage is no trivial or temporary thing.  And as Peter states here we face our next life as joint heirs in the grace our Lord offers us.

Peter’s counsel to submit flies in the face of the untransformed heart.  It does go against our human nature and natural inclinations.  But it stands as the strategy employed by our God to see us saved.  While in this world, Jesus obeyed the laws of the Romans, and made no effort to dethrone them.  He submitted to Roman rule, even when it cost him torture and death.  To remain consistent in meeting evil with love is not something the normal human can expect to maintain.  It can only come through the transforming power of Jesus in our lives.  It can only come as we let Christ remake how we thing, what we value, what we want.  It takes a literal overhaul of our human nature to see the wisdom of Peter’s words.  Those obsessed with justice, cannot understand this approach.  And in the end, those obsessed with justice will never find it.  For “justice” is a very subjective standard, and the true equality it would demand is a price few are willing to pay.

But entrance into heaven, is not based on the justice of what we deserve.  It is instead based on the mercy that would see us transformed from one who earned death repeatedly, to one who would love others and willingly die to see them spared.  This is the example our Lord set for us.  This is the path we are all traveling on.

And Peter had only begun to describe what it is like to love another …

 

Thou Shalt Submit [part one] ...

No, there isn’t any text in scripture that plainly states “thou shalt submit”; perhaps because submission, like love and forgiveness, should also be a freewill choice.  The entirety of the gospel shows us that as we submit to Christ, He transforms our will, our desires, our thinking, our motives, and our actions into His own likeness.  In this we come to realize that submitting to Christ means letting go of even “who” we are to Him to be remade.  We come to realize that we are putting aside what “we want”, in order for Him to change what “we want” into something else, something better.  We come to realize that death-to-self through Christ, becomes a rebirth into a world we can hardly imagine.  When our self-love is taken from us, and replaced with love for others, our perspectives change.  Instead of constantly thinking about how my next words or actions will benefit me, I begin to think how my next words or actions will benefit someone else. 

It is easier to serve someone else, who I have a special regard for, perhaps my wife, or parents, or children.  A little less easy, but it is still possible to serve my in-laws, cousins, extended family, or closest friends.  In short, we develop a pecking-order of those who we love most, down to those we don’t love so much.  And for nearly all of us, George W. Bush, or Barrack Obama scarcely make the list.  Neither does the policeman who pulls us over to write a well-deserved traffic ticket, or the civil court judge who imposes a penalty we would have all too much wanted to avoid.  Authority figures, scarcely ever make the list, of those who we hold in a special regard, and those we love above all others.  We are sort of forced into submitting to their authority and often we resent it.  We have to pay our taxes which support programs we disagree with, or face the penalty of tax evasion if we refuse.  There are penalties that always come with disobedience to authority figures.  When the penalties get “too high” rebellion looms.  Slaves will revolt to gain their freedom; the oppressed will rise up to break the yoke of oppression.  And we Americans cheer this phenomenon as “natural” and “right”.  We value independence, and “justice” for all, even if it must be earned at the point of a sword.

Sadly, many Christians are first and loudest in the call to end injustice through means of violence.  Recent events regarding potential police over-reactions have incited many to take up the clarion call of “no justice, no peace”.  Violence breaks out in communities that can least afford its damaging effects.  We inflict more pain upon each other completely negating the call for reform, and providing justification for the restraining force used against the violence displayed.  This self-destructive cycle accomplishes nothing.  And the injustice faced in our day while very real, is also very limited in scope compared to ages past.  In the days prior to the civil war in this country, “black lives mattered” only in as much as any piece of property owned by the wealthy.  A few hundred years ago, “white lives mattered” only in as much as they agreed with the religion in power, and served the will of the king.  In the days of Peter, “slave lives mattered” not at all, whether white, black, brown, or otherwise.  Roman authority was still absolute, completely corrupt, and fully unbreakable.  Disobedience in the days of Peter carried more penalties than mere financial fines, in his day, the penalty was often very severe and could spread to family and loved ones with no regard for justice, or equity.

Looking objectively at the political conditions in which Peter lived, through our current lens as Americans, we would have encouraged an organized revolution over the oppressive tyranny of Roman Rule.  We call out conditions in North Korea, or Iran, or Sudan as being so horrible that a “regime” change is needed to restore basic “human rights”.  Peter lived under a regime that was far more ruthless, and far more corrupt, and far more universal.  Decentralized authority figures such as provincial governors had the backing of roman garrisons at their command.  The local “police force” were trained killers who had ZERO rules for violent engagement.  Should a local Roman Soldier kill you, or cut off a limb, simply because you were in the wrong place at the wrong time, you had no recourse.  Your meaningless death was not given a second thought, and should your family complain or protest your innocence, they could be immediately slaughtered or sold into slavery.  As Americans, we cannot imagine living under such conditions.  For us, this would have required “liberty or death”.  And those of like mind in the Roman age found death 1000 times more often than any liberty.

But what Peter had to say about living under these oppressive and corrupt conditions boggles the mind of American Christians today, because he said things none of “us” want to hear, let alone do.  In his first letter chapter 2, and verse 11 he begins … “Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; [verse 12] Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.”  First, his readers are not just an audience, they are “dearly loved”.  Our God has offered us everything, even His own life, in exchange for ours so that we might live in a world after this one.  Remembering this level of love for us is important in facing a world steeped in evil.  Next Peter again reminds us, that we are strangers and pilgrims in this world of evil.  After our transformation begins in submitting to Christ, what used to be natural to us, becomes foreign to us.  Peter’s advice then, is to avoid “fleshy lusts”.  Whether he refers to extravagant dietary delicacies, or scantily clad places of disrepute, the advice is the same – avoid indulging self and building appetites of self-indulgence.

But beyond avoiding things that would teach us to please self, our conversations, our words, our speech should also be honest.  Even though we deal with perpetual liars, we are not to engage in their practices.  Even though we deal with perpetual gossips, we are not to participate in gossip.  By contrast, while Gentiles (or those who refuse to believe in Christ yet) are speaking constant evil of us, we speak nothing but love in their regard.  While we are cheated, we do not cheat others in return.  It is our display of love even under these completely unfair conditions that mark us as being changed by Christ.  For only God could so change a human heart, that it would be willing to love during conditions of unfair oppression.  The natural response is to rebel.  The Christ centered response is to return love for evil.  Peter does NOT take up the banner of “no justice, no peace”.  Instead Peter advises taking up the banner of “love and honesty in the face of evil”.  True reform cannot be brought about through violence.  For while we might be able to compel the hands and feet, we do not ever change the heart that motivates them through acts of violent suppression.  Love however, can change the heart, which in turn changes the actions of the hands and feet.

Peter continues in verse 13 … “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; [verse 14] Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.”  Peter here ups the ante.  Not only are we to submit to Christ to be remade, we are also to submit our own will to those who are in authority.  We are to obey “every ordinance of man” for the Lord’s sake.  Not just the king, but his corrupt governors, and officers sent by the governor – we are to obey them all for the Lord’s sake.  You can imagine these were not popular words in the days of Peter, and they are no more popular now.  The idea that we should have to submit to unfair conditions, in an unjust system, run by worldly loving pagans, who would just as soon kill us as look at us, hardly seems like the course any would “want” to pursue.  Yet Peter outlines exactly this course of action – do not rebel, instead submit and further offer love in response to the evil you face.

Peter understands the end-game.  Peter gets the strategy outlined by God to be rid of sin and evil once and for all – you have to love it to death.  God had, and has, the power to simply kill all evil everywhere it exists.  But He does not; because evil cannot be killed or eradicated through violence.  To see evil eliminated, those who engage in it must choose to want something else.  They will never make that choice without a reason, and without a better alternative.  Love is that reason.  Love provides that better alternative.  Peter will never conquer the Roman Empire through force of arms.  Those guys were professional killers.  But melt the heart of that killer soldier with love, and he becomes a soldier in the army of God, looking to redeem lives, not take them any longer.  Peter was not advocating that the authorities in power were “right” or fair or just.  Peter knows they are corrupt, he knows they are governed by hate and greed.  This is NOT an endorsement of the evil empire.  It is however a strategy that can succeed against evil as only love can.  Our submission to Christ first, enables us to submit ourselves even when conditions are unfair to earthly authority.  We need not disobey our God to follow the will of men, but where the edicts of men are merely unpalatable and unfair; our love in the face of their evil has the only chance of seeing reform come to pass.

 Peter continues in verse 15 … “For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: [verse 16] As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. [verse 17] Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.”  Peter here ups the ante again.  For in his advice to submit to earthly authorities, he now adds that this is the very “will of God”.  So many Adventists are content to proclaim the need to obey the commandments of God, yet nearly zero folks espouse complete submission to corrupt earthly authorities as being the will of God.  Peter accurately records the effects of this behavior, it puts to silence the ignorance of foolish men.  The only stark contrast to evil is love.  When we show love in response to evil, it dumbfounds those who witness it.  It is not natural to see love offered in response to evil.  It is supernatural.  It is Christ powered.  It is Christ based. 

Peter tells us to act this way BECAUSE we are ALREADY free.  Our liberty, is the liberty from sin, and the slavery and chains of self-love.  We have already been made free by Christ from choosing to always act in our own best interest.  We are instead free to act in the interests of others.  We are not to misuse our own freedom to act maliciously against others, knowing we would be forgiven of our misdeeds.  Instead we are to remember we were made free to “serve”.  We are “servants” of God.  We serve others like He serves others.  We love our enemies, like He loved us before we were His own.  Peter goes further, in his admonition, that we should Honor ALL men.  Peter tells us to give respect and honor to ALL men, not just the ones we like, or the ones we agree with, or the ones who are nice to us.  Instead we are honor ALL men, whether they deserve honor or not.  We are to honor the police officer who has just over-reacted and taken the life of someone who may not have deserved this fate.  We are to return love to that officer, despite what pain he may have caused.  It is only love that will ever bring peace.  It is only love that will ever bring repentance.  It is only love that will ever bring reform.

We are to “love” the brotherhood.  We are to respect our God.  And we are to Honor our king, or our governmental authorities.  It is love alone that will change our world.  It is love alone that can once and for all time, see evil eliminated.  Violence only begets violence.  Humility allows us to reflect love instead of demanding justice.  Submission demonstrates that we are willing to place our own needs and desires behind those of another.  Submission is not an act of cowardice, rather it is an act of one fully willing to release control, willing to yield that control - for the benefit of another.  God has all the power in the universe, and chooses NOT to use that power to force us into submission.  Rather he offers us love, and offers us freedom, but only if we choose to accept it.  God does not use power and control to achieve submission, He uses love alone. 

Peter continues in verse 18 … “Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. [verse 19] For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. [verse 20] For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.”  Peter once again raises the stakes.  Servants are advised to serve their masters with great respect, whether they are good and gentle, or whether they are not.  We are to treat the “deserving” and the non-deserving equally.  Those bound into service, whether by consent, or by the chains of unjust oppression, are to serve in love regardless.  Again, this is NOT an endorsement of the practice of slavery.  It is however, a proscription of how to act when one is forced into the conditions of slavery.  We are to act with love even if we are persecuted for how we act.  It is of little value to be criticized for the truth of our shortcomings, for we rightly earn disdain for actions taken in self-love.  But to suffer wrongfully, for acts of love to others, is to emulate the sufferings of Christ.

Peter now offers the proof of his assertions in the example of our Lord as he writes in verse 21 … “For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: [verse 22] Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: [verse 23] Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:”  Jesus, who was perfect, and deserved no persecution, was reviled of men.  They railed against Christ, hurling accusation after accusation; but Jesus did not return to them what they deserved.  When they beat Christ, or threw stones at Him, He did not vow to take revenge.  Instead Jesus looked to God the Father to be His judge.  When false accusations were hurled His way, He did not need to prove His own innocence to His accusers, instead He showed them love, and trusted His Father to judge Him in all matters. 

Our path is to follow in His footsteps, we are to live loving others and constantly doing good to all men, even to the unjust who have authority over us.  Christ could have ended the Roman rule in one second.  He could have obliterated their infrastructure, killed their armies universally, wiped out their command structure, and established the Jewish nation as the worldwide power on earth.  The Pharisees would have gladly accepted Him if He would have followed that course.  They simply could not understand why someone who “could” do those things would choose not to.  They simply could not understand why He would actually love those soldiers and wish to see them redeemed as well, instead of dead on a battlefield.  Jesus lived here on earth, never making one single move to right the injustices of the Roman Empire.  He fully submitted Himself to Roman laws, even advocating that we pay taxes that we hate to pay.  He freed no slaves from their physical chains.  Instead He offered to free ALL of us slaves, from the chains of sin. 

Peter continues in verse 24 … “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. [verse 25] For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.”  Christ elected to endure torture for our sakes.  He submitted to Roman rule, even when that authority was unjustly beating and killing Him.  Even in the face of death, Christ submitted.  And with His endurance of evil, we are to be made free from evil.  We are made free from the chains of sin, by the love of God.  We sheep are returned to our Shepherd’s fold.  Notice here Peter finally attributes a church hierarchy, but ascribes the position of Bishop not to himself, but ONLY to Christ.  All of us are sheep.  We do not lead each other, though we are to submit to each other.  We do not lead the world, but instead are advised for the sake of Christ, to submit to the world.  We have only one leader, only one shepherd.  Peter remembered the counsel of Christ, when Jesus asked Peter to feed His sheep, not to steal the herd.  Peter was to help the sheep find spiritual meat, not to replace Christ as their shepherd.  Peter was called to serve.  We are called to do the same.

If it runs counter to your nature to submit yourself, then look to submit to Christ first.  And understand it is only through His transformation of your heart, that you can reflect the love of Christ and submit yourself to earthly authorities for the sake of Christ.  In so doing, and in reflecting God’s love to those who clearly do not deserve it, that evil will finally meet its end.

And the counsel of Peter to submit was not over yet …

 

Little White Lies ...

The concept of degrees of evil is one created by our common sense, and reinforced by our judicial system.  We expect “the punishment to fit the crime”.  Excessive jail sentences, or death penalties imposed for trivial misdemeanors make no sense to us; and cry out that the injustice must be reformed.  Yet our God only lists one “punishment” for sin, more precisely only one “wage” earned by the sinner, and that is death.  To our human sensibilities “punishing” someone for telling a little white lie, or engaging in idle gossip, hardly seems fair, if death is all they earn when so embracing these “minor” evils.  How could the damage caused by sin be so great it must be met with death?  For many, this seeming injustice is enough to cause non-believers to reject the idea of a loving God.  The situation only worsens when people who call themselves “Christian” further the idea of a vengeful God who lives to “punish” evil doers in the name of justice, often coupled tightly with intolerance.  Peter understands this cognitive dissonance, he understands on a personal level how much the weight words carry.  He knows firsthand what seemingly little white lies can do to the soul of one who tells them.  So in his first letter to the churches in Asia Minor, he continues his admonition.

In verse one, he writes … “Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, [verse 2] As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: [verse 3] If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.”  Laying aside all malice and all guile top the list of advice for Peter.  So often, even within the church, our arrogance leads to division, division to resentment, and resentment to malice.  We allow doctrinal disputes, and scriptural interpretation to become such a rigid topic for us, that we learn to despise other believers who refuse to share our particular views.  The malice takes flight in our speech.  Our motives are less hidden as we “talk down” those illiterates who refuse the knowledge we so graciously impart.  If we are unable to win a debate based on logic and fact, we, like Satan before us, introduce guile into the equation.  One third of a perfect heavenly angelic host did not abandon intelligence in their choice to follow Satan.  They fell to self-deception as they preferred to believe a lie that might indulge self, at the cost of the truth that happiness could only be found in loving others.  Lucifer introduced guile and lies into a society who had never known anything but truth.

His technique of mixing truth and distorting truth only slightly was so effective, he used it against Eve in the garden and she fell as well.  For beings who have only known truth, deception is harder to beware against.  So founded in the root of evil; self-love gives birth to deception and guile to advance its cause.  Peter then extends the diagnosis for where the cancer of idle words will spread next.  Hypocrisies, envies, and evil speaking leave the tongue and enter the world.  To cover our own ill motives, based in the self-love or arrogance of our own opinions, we must cover our sin and speak righteously while doing evil.  We state our righteousness, but love only self.  We state our purity of motive, but do nothing for anyone other than self, and those who will return our good deeds.  We become hypocrites to protect a false image of righteousness, because the cancer of self-love has already ruined our hearts.  We envy those who seem to have more than we do.  We begin to want for ourselves, what we perceive they have.  We want more love for ourselves, more admiration of others, more respect, more things.  And again we allow evil speaking of others who we envy and disdain to leave our tongues and enter the world.

The poison our mouths and minds are capable of creating and spewing into the world can have untold effects.  One third of the angels bear personal witness of this.  They were not compelled to join Satan, they were convinced to join him.  He had no pure truth in his logic, but mixed with distortion, and appealing to desires for power, for love, for fulfillment, he handily mastered the art of the lie.  Satan bids us to tell people what they want to hear, rather than what is plainly true.  Satan bids us to think of our own tastes and opinions as matters of fact, rather than matters of perception.  Satan bids us to speak unkindly about those who “deserve it” and those who plainly “have it coming”.  Satan is particularly effective in recruiting Christians to condemn those caught in public sins, particularly those who hold office in the church, or respect in the congregation.  After all, they should really “know better”.  Thus if caught in sin, they certainly “deserve” to be spoken evil of, and have their public sins discussed in a public forum.  Satan bids us to use our understanding of scriptures to condemn others who will not accept the “truths” we have to offer.  In all of his efforts, one result emerges – the cessation of love for others, and the embrace of love for self.

We too easily forget our own need of forgiveness, and general unworthiness of the love Christ has shown to us.  We too easily forget our own ignorance in the ways and truth of Christ when we began our spiritual journey and how far Christ has molded our own minds and ways of thinking from when we first began our walk with Him.  We think ourselves “mature” in our spirituality, but Peter reminds us, our goal was never maturity and independence, but rather the childlike trust of a baby who knows nearly nothing, but the love of its parent.  As newborn babies who crave milk, and cry when they are denied it.  So too, should we crave the WORD of God.  Peter was again not talking specifically about scripture.  Keep in the mind the New Testament about Christ had not even been fully written or assembled yet.  He was talking about craving Christ on a personal level.  He was talking about discovering the Christ foretold in the ancient texts of the Old Testament.  He was talking about realizing that in our infancy is our perfection.  It is not our depth of Biblical study and analysis, but our depth of reflecting the love of Christ that leads us away from words that would do another harm – whether they “deserve” it or not.

Peter was forgiven for the words and lies he spoke in his own denial of association with Christ.  Peter did not “deserve” his forgiveness.  He arguably spoke those lies at a time when Christ needed his love the most.  He abandoned his savior to save his own life.  He left alone the savior of the world, to keep from mere association with Him.  Peter knew the devastating power of a little white lie; for he had told three of them.  Peter told those who asked, what he thought they wanted to hear.  Peter’s lies would not “hurt” anyone, but would rather prevent a murder (likely his own).  For those who ask if it is better to lie or by speaking the truth risk death – ask Peter was it worth it.  Peter deserved the condemnation of Christ.  Peter’s sins were recorded in the New Testament and ALL the disciples knew of his failures.  They could have ridiculed him out of the ministry, except that Christ forgave Peter, and the others knew what tasting the graciousness of Christ’s forgiveness was all about.

Peter knew that the words that leave our tongues reflect the state of love that Christ puts within us.  If our words do harm, if they are callous, if they reflect a disregard for the heart of another – they DO NOT COME from Christ.  It is the territory of the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin.  He needs no help from those who are still steeped in it.  It is NOT an act of love to call someone’s attention to the pain their own sin causes them and everyone else.   That is the opposite of love.  Pain is self-evident.  When it is not, the Holy Spirit is there to open our eyes to it.  Words of condemnation to those who are guilty put only nails in the coffin of sin; they do nothing to free the sinner from its power.  But words of unconditional love that would look to a Savior to be made free from our chains of self-bondage – those words have the power to heal.  The mission of Christ was to heal, and to redeem, not to punish.  The heart of our God is not bent on inflicting punishment, but instead to free us from the punishment we already inflict on ourselves.

There are no little white lies.  There are only lies and deception.  The corruption of truth is never a good thing, it leads always and only to destruction.  There is no evil speech, or speech laced with hate, malice, guile, hypocrisy, or envy that will ever do anyone good.  That kind of speech only has the power to destroy.  Those who engage in it become tools of the destroyer; and liars about the character of our God.  Peter would rather that the reading audience of believers spread across Asia Minor take a different path.  That instead of spending time speaking about the demise of others, and evil deeds they do, that we seek Christ, that we seek the WORD of God.  He would rather we abandon the malice that springs from pride, even in spiritual things, and instead embrace the childlike trust and love of a little baby who whether they know it or not, are completely helpless and fully dependent.

Peter then gives an example of how Christ might be found in the words of the Old Testament, and how the believers might see that Jesus is the continuation of scripture, not its end as he writes in verse 4 … “To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, [verse 5] Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”  The temple of old, was built of stone by Solomon, and the sacrifices offered there were of pure white lambs.  Peter now tells his audience, “they” are the stones of the new church.  No longer must believers emigrate to Jerusalem to find the presence of God in a temple of stone.  Jesus can be found right where they are.  It is no longer the exclusive province of the tribe of Levy, but instead ANYONE who would choose to believe in Christ that becomes a part of a holy priesthood.  It is no longer the blood of innocent lambs, but the love of the Lamb within them, that gives rise to spiritual sacrifices.  We sacrifice the love of self, for the of love others.  We sacrifice our own needs, for those in need.  In so doing, we are members and witnesses of the holy priesthood of those who love like Christ loves.

Peter continues in verse 6 … “Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. [verse 7] Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, [verse 8] And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.”  Christ is the cornerstone of our temple, of our church.  The cornerstone was the basis for the entire remainder of the building to rely upon.  So it is with our Christ.  Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of our faith.  The scriptures without Christ become useless.  The promise without the fulfillment loses all meaning.  Those who submit themselves to Christ are transformed into the obedience of truly loving others like He loves.  But those who refuse to submit to anything less than their own wisdom and knowledge, even when it was based in scriptures, refused to be made obedient.  Instead the cornerstone of our faith and transformation became a stumbling block to them.  It became even offensive to those who will not submit, that the very idea of submission should be the method by which perfection might come.  The disobedient would prefer to rely upon self.  Whether Pharisee, or Islamic Cleric, neither will accept that salvation is outside of the grasp of the will of man.  Both would rather rely upon their words, and their wisdom to find a path to paradise.

Peter continues in verse 9 … “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light: [verse 10] Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.”  Peter, proud Jewish man that he was, now points out a fact that runs counter to 1600 years of Jewish bloodlines and traditions – the people of God are now found everywhere, from every blood line.  Those readers and believers in Asia Minor are now the “people” of God.  No longer is believing a matter of tracing our roots back to Abraham, it is simply found in a declaration for Christ, and a submission to His authority.  Those “foreigners” who had no ties to Jewish bloodlines, were now in the very family of Christ right beside the Jews who had accepted Jesus.  The believers of Christ were certainly peculiar.  They included all races.  They included women and men equally.  They included young and old, and bloodlines mattered for nothing. 

Peter reminds his readers that a holy nation, and a chosen generation of royal priests have a duty to speak truth.  But the truth they are to speak about is the love of Jesus Christ that transforms the heart, and frees us from the chains of self-love, to the freedom of loving only others.  Carrying the responsibility of “priests” in the new faith, the responsibility every single member, every single believer, will now carry – is designed to call to attention the IMPACT of the words they will speak.  People tend to listen to priests.  They seek the council of priests.  They wish to know what God may think or teach on a particular topic.  Peter reminds us that as priests we are to reflect the love that our cornerstone reflected.  When a listening ear bends in our direction, it is not meant to hear little white lies, and speech that could cause another harm.  Instead allow our transformation to so reform our hearts, that the words never even form in our minds, let alone in our mouth.  When we seek only to love others, we care about how our words will be heard.  We care about whether they carry the love in our hearts for those in so desperate a need.

There are none who “deserve” our hateful speech.  There are only those whose need of love from us might be greater than those who have already embraced His love, and are already on His path.  Those guilty souls who war against the love of God, should find no ally in us.  They should never receive hate from us in word or deed, but rather we return love to them, no matter how we are treated.  In offering only love to them, we deny them the fuel our hatred might have provided.  Those who stumble in sin, and are publicly discovered, should find public forgiveness and acceptance.  Our words should ever be to their healing, never to add to their pain, and the pain they might have caused.  When we love others more than we love ourselves, we come to realize that our “truths” are not more important than insuring another knows we love them.  We can afford to allow God to bring the less educated into His knowledge and truth and doctrinal understanding, on the timeline He decides.  It does not have to be now, and on the timeline we would seek to impose.  For those who submit to Christ, we must recognize it may well be us who needs the education, rather than those we deem less than ourselves.

The power of words cannot be understated.  What evil we accept as innocuous is the evil that would destroy us utterly.  What degree of sin we find “minor” has already led to the death of Christ Himself, and to a willingness to kill God by the perpetrators of evil.  The cancer of evil and self-love is absolute, and leads only to death.  But the redemption and power of the love of Christ is absolute as well.  To embrace His love, and allow it to transform us, is to find a new way of thinking, that results in a new way of speaking.

But Peter was not through with his counsel to the churches …

The Theme of Destination ...

In the preamble of his first letter, Peter has identified himself as an apostle of Christ.  He outlined a mini-discourse of the process of salvation, and how the Jesus Christ of his own day, ties back to the hope of the prophets of God who went on before.  Peter is keen to show his readers that the true religion of God is not inconsistent, nor did it only begin at the first advent of Christ, but that like all things, it originates in the love of the Father God Himself.  In what now begins of his exhortation to his readers, Peter is concerned about several themes.  He worries about the infiltration of the concept of “cheap grace” that is - the idea that forgiveness becomes license TO sin, rather than a means of escape FROM sin.  He worries about Christians who believe that gossip, idle conversation, and speaking harmless fun at the expense of another has already done damage to the cause of Christ, and to the souls who engage in these practices.  And he worries that already the church could lose the reputation of being those who value love above all else.  So as he begins, he calls the minds of his readers, to the goal of our transformation, to the destination we all aspire to reach.

Peter continues in verse 13 of chapter one of his first letter exclaiming … “Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.”  The first step on the road to our homeward bound destination of being with Jesus Christ begins with looking towards that event.  We must set the priorities of our lives on being with Christ.  It should be the first thought that occupies our minds, and guides our interactions.  It should become an integral part of our motivation; that will in turn affect our actions.  To be “alert” is to be aware, that our natural state is one of carnal desire, and love of self.  We must not become numb to behavior we have so long indulged, but rather understand its impact on our lives.  It is sobering to understand the pain our sin causes us, the ones we love, the ones who love us, and our God.  It is not a casual or meaningless thing, the behavior behind self-love.  But the intent is not to become lost in our past; rather it is to set our hope on grace.  Our destination is achieved through the transformational power of His grace on our hearts of stone.

Peter continues in verse 14 … “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”  Children do NOT possess the entirety of knowledge this world and experience have to offer.  Our transformation is not about how much we know.  It is not about a mastery over our past and our motives.  Rather it is a surrender to a Parent who is able to protect us, guide us, and teach us – with the full knowledge that our Parent loves us and love alone motivates His actions in our lives.  We obey “without understanding” everything there is to know about why we do it, or why we should.  Obedience becomes the natural result of a trusting child who is sure of their Parent’s love.  We obey without “thinking” about it.  Our lives are not meant to continue in the former path of self-destructive behavior that causes pain to everyone.  They are meant to take the knowledge of the absolute love of Christ, and allow Him to transform who we are, receiving His transformation in the humility and willingness of a small child.

Peter continues in verse 15 … “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; [verse 16] for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”  The quest for perfection, and thereby for a life without the pain sin causes, leads us to the ultimate goal of being like He who has called us.  We are in the very process of learning to love like God loves.  We are in the very process of learning to think like God thinks.  Our motives are to become like His motives.  Our actions are to become like His actions.  We are to become Holy in ALL we do, because holiness or the perfect love of others, is becoming the whole of “who” we are.  Our rebirth into Christianity, our exodus from self-love and chains of slavery to sin, are broken.  We are on the path towards becoming like Jesus Christ in how we love, how we think, and in what we do.  This is our destination.  The end-game for believers is not a city of gold.  Nor is it an eternal life where everything we need has been provided for us already by the heart of a loving God.  No, our destination is bigger than that, it is more important than that.  It begins here, in becoming Holy and perfect, as He our God, is Holy and perfect.

Peter writes in verse 17 … “Since you call on a Father who judges each person’s work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.”  Realizing our perfection is the gift He brings to us, the transformation of literally “who” we are, we should remember this world is simply not our home.  We are travelers here.  We are foreigners in a world that prizes self-love.  Their ways, our own former ways, are to become strange to us.  We are citizens of a different kingdom, one born in the heart, where love for others is paramount.  This love for others is born in the heart of our God.  It defines His holiness.  And through His gift of transformation to us, it infects who we are, to the point where we do not understand the ways of those still steeped in the choice to remain blind and chained to self.  We have respect or “fear” that those who remain in darkness have such a desperate need of the light.  But we ourselves, have no desire to remain in darkness.  Instead we embrace the light of His love, and in turn want to reflect His love to those who still remain in the dark.  We are foreigners in a world of sin, missionaries with a mission to reflect His light by how we love others, into a world that yet to understand unselfish love.

Peter continues in verse 18 … “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, [verse 19] but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”  Here Peter reminds the affluent of this world, that our transformation cannot be bought.  We are NOT redeemed because we “buy” our way into his kingdom with great offerings of gold and silver.  God has no use for our money.  When we realize its complete lack of value, we begin to understand that.  Money then becomes a tool in which we can aid the lives of others.  Its only value becomes in how we can use it for anyone other than ourselves.  At that point, a ten percent tithe, becomes ninety percent too little.  At that point, we grasp the concept of the widow’s mite, who having next to nothing, gladly parted with everything she had, with no thought of how difficult her own life would be leaving that temple with literally nothing in her hands.  The wealth offered us by the hard work of our parents is not the birthright we seek.  The blood of Christ offers us a life unburdened by the desire to amass wealth we can spend on ourselves.  We lose interest in the health of our investments, and unburden ourselves from the cares that accompany the rich of money, and instead take up the concerns of the rich in love for others.

Peter reminds his readers that our gift came from a perfect source as he continues in verse 20 saying … “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. [verse 21] Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”  Jesus Christ volunteered to save us before we were even created.  Imagine the so great love of God, that knowing in advance that we would choose badly the love of self instead of trust in Him, He would create us anyway.  He loved us so much, He did not prevent our very existence.  But instead loved us before we sinned, loved us after we sinned, and gave up His own life to redeem our lives, so He could love us forever.  We understand the love of the Father, through the life and the love of Jesus Christ.

Peter writes in verse 22 … “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. [verse 23] For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”  Here again is the destination we seek and we find.  Here again is what the gospel is all about.  We find obedience, we find the Truth of Jesus Christ, in a deep abiding love in our hearts for one another.  Our rebirth into this way of life, our rebirth into loving like He loves; is not founded on a passing ideology, a specific set of doctrinal interpretations, or flirtation with self-denial based on a strength of will.  It is founded on the enduring WORD of God.  It is founded on Jesus Christ alone.  It is not the texts of the prophets of old, and their interpretation or guidance that can save us.  It is the living God those texts were meant to point us to.  It is not our doctrinal uniqueness, or depth of understanding of the Bible today, that will transform us, it is the Christ, the entirety of scripture points us to that alone can change who we are. 

Our purity and our obedience and our knowledge of Truth (that is of Jesus Christ who is the Truth), are evidenced and made manifest in our deep and abiding love of one another.  The gospel is not based on the truthful condemnation of those who are obviously guilty of the sins we accuse them of.  It is instead based on the redemptive love that would forgive those sins, heal that pain, and embrace that heart, even while it warred against the love that worked to reach it.  The gospel story is not one of punishment for what we deserve.  It is about rewards we do not deserve but receive anyway.  This is the nature of love; willing to die itself, than to see the object of its affection suffer in any way.  Our purity will not be found in the condemnation we heap upon others.  It will be found in our patient love of others when they do NOT deserve that love.  Our obedience will be evidenced as we find ourselves more than willing to forgive the actions of others that deeply hurt us.  We do resent forgiving them; instead we praise the reconciliation that forgiveness is able to accomplish.  Our goal is to see love reign supreme, and we like Christ, are willing to pay any cost to see that happen.

Peter then concludes this portion of his exhortation by reminding us that our current mortality is not what is important as he continues in verse 24 saying … “For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, [verse 25] but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.”  Our bodies age and decay in this foreign land.  But the love we reflect will reap a harvest in a life well beyond this mere existence.  The WORD of God endures forever, and the preaching done for his readers, was ever to point them to this WORD.  It is not scripture that Peters ascribes so much praise unto, it is Jesus Christ who embodies the word of God.  The prophets of old have value in that they foretold the love of God that was made manifest in Jesus Christ.  Without the coming of Jesus Christ, the words of the prophets lack the fulfillment and deep meaning found only in Him.  The reality of Jesus Christ however, makes what was foretold in the past, evidence of a God who knows the future, our future.  We can take hope that the destination of perfect obedience, found in perfect love for others, is based in real promises of Jesus Christ who is forever alive in our hearts as we permit Him access.

But the counsel of Peter was only just beginning …