Christmas Day 2011

The night is cold. As cold as ice. Black trees stand still, pasted against a deeper black sky. The stars stand at attention, waiting, holding their breath, yet motionless in the moonless sky. Moist breath escapes into clouds, quickly rising, leaving behind the cold earth. Wooden staffs, like cold metal in the hand, stand in watch over the rising stench of sheep. All is quiet. All is still. The sound of one's breathing is lost in the dull and lonely landscape. And then... a light, brighter than the sun, descends and hovers midair above the ground and declares, "Peace. Do not fear." The radiating warmth of this celestial being begins to melt the fears and slow the beating hearts. But only just begins before he declares his message. "Unto you a child is born. Unto you a son is given." Fear and beating heart return. "In David's City you will find Him." Did he just say 'lying in a manger'? But the question dies on the lips as every anxiously-waiting star begins to race to join the bright one. As they come closer, they increase in speed and heat, and by now it is quite warm. The host is blinding. In a pool of water, one sees the reflection on hands and knees. The sky is full of luminosity. The sky has come alive. All heaven has broken loose. But the light isn't the only sensation, nor is the warmth, nor the rushing wind from beating wings. The music. The music is beyond anything ever heard before. The song seems to fill the air beyond its natural capacity for sound. For a brief moment, the sky has no ceiling, and the lords and ladies of the heavens join the angels' song. Terrifying glory explodes in harmonic beauty and real, pre-earthly joy erupts in resplendent wonder. Unable to stand, the shepherds lie prostrate on the grassy hillside. Hoping the awesome immortal creatures would quickly depart, lest their mortal bodies expire, incapable of receiving such unmediated glory, they forever find themselves longing to hear that brief chorus one more time. As the heavenly host completes their song, or perhaps simply takes their singing elsewhere, darkness once again fills their fields. And yet, was it quite as dark as it was before?

I am almost convinced that Luke thought he needed to add the words the shepherds said to one another after the angels departed. Not having been there, I'm sure he wasn't able to grasp fully the horrifying intensity of the experience. I imagine the shepherds lying stupefied in their fields, unable to move. When they do finally get up, I can't imagine a calm discussion about what to do next. I imagine shared looks of incredulity, followed by all-out sprinting. It is hard to run and belly laugh and weep at the same time, but they must have managed somehow.

We have been to services. We have read the texts. We have had only a very small taste of an experience distantly related to that of the shepherds on that cold night so long ago. And yet we fully know the joy they felt. We have been told the whole story, the good news that even the heavenly choir longs to look into. It is telling that anytime good news is heard, singing is sure to follow. Good news requires good song. And as we sing, as we throw back our heads and raise our voices to the heavens, we invite the angelic choir to join in our praising. As they join their voices to ours, we realize that all of creation has been singing without rest since that cold moonless night. We are the late comers, bringing our small and humble voices to creation's community sing. We join our heavenly governors and lift our hands and praise the Child laying in the manger.

Advent 2011

It is Advent. We have a tree. There are lights on it. It shines in the corner of our living room, invading the darkness behind the two windows on either side. It makes our living room glow. We love this season. On the first Sunday of Advent, we get a tree and my job is to find every "Christmas Decorations" box that tries to stay out of the way 11 months of the year in our garage. Jen then delights to open them all and find the right combination of lights and ornaments and decorations to express our whims and fancies for the given year. This season we have included red balls to an otherwise silver and gold theme. I think it is perfect. It brings cheer to our guests, and Lord willing, to those who walk passed our unveiled windows. That is our hope, at least, that our house and our space would speak something of what sentimentalists call "The True Meaning of Christmas." We want to shy away from sentimentalism, but the sentimentalists' only problem is being an 'ist.' Sentiments are in themselves real and good. If we do not feel different during the Christmas Season, there is something wrong with us, as in malfunctioning organs. This is the season for celebrating the Incarnation of God. Those three words alone are enough to give one goosebumps. How does an infinite and eternal God become incarnate? How does that work? How can He who spoke galaxies into existence with no more than a mere breath, enter into the virginal womb of a teenage girl living in Nazareth on a certain day on the calendar roughly 2000 years ago? This God then is born, with flesh that can be broken, and blood that can be spilt. And then the entire sky full of stars, who, it turns out, have been angels this whole time, descends to sing about it to a flock of sheep and their shepherds. If that weren't enough, one of the angels sticks around for a couple years, and leads a group of magicians from the east to the very house where this God-Child was living. Not to mention all the dreams and annunciations and prophecies and blessings and foretellings and men going mute and babies jumping in wombs for joy...

How often, I wonder, do we read these chapters with glossy eyes, and miss the "Oh my Freaking Word!!" aspect of this story? Perhaps we have wanted to protect ourselves from the Precious Moments Christmas Specials, having grown sick of the Hallmark Cards we see everywhere. Perhaps, though, in reacting to this, as we should, we have swung the other way and divorced our true sentiments from the season. Perhaps not. Perhaps we can still wish someone Merry Christmas and have an echo of the angels song hanging in the air. Perhaps we can welcome family and friends into our homes, not only bearing gifts like the magicians, but desiring to worship the Christ-Child through the gifts as well. Perhaps we do decorate, hanging mistletoe where we are reminded to kiss the Son. I pray we can. I pray we do.

I pray we all celebrate this season like Christians, and that means with red-faced joy. May our songs be loud, may our greetings be warm, and may our eggnog be strong. Let us love our family, let us love our neighbor, and let us love our Lord. It is the season to feel things and to feel them deeply. Feel the joy of salvation, feel the peace of incarnate reconciliation, feel the hope of the Second Coming. Let your heart lift at the sound of a carol, and let your step keep time with the angels song.

Happy Christmas every one. God has blessed us all.

Musings on 1 Peter (3:17)

17: We have been encouraged to live well before all men. To live in such a way that warrants the question, "Why do you have such hope?" is to live the life of the Spirit. Psalm 118 speaks of the stone that the builders rejected, the stone that became the chief cornerstone. This stone is the one which the whole building rests upon. This stone determines our own position in the building. This building - made with living stones, little peters, both broken and unyeilding, fallen and firm, wretched and redeemed, sinner and saint  - this building will rise and will stand in the face of a cruel and wicked world. Can we not expect eggs to be thrown, windows to be broken, graffiti on the walls? We live in a world that hates Christ. As Christians, as little Christs, will not the world hate us as well? Will they not see our testimony of hope and despise us, ridicule us, revile us for it? Why would they not? To their eyes it is foolishness. In the light of their wisdom it is nonsense. To live by dying, understandably, does not at first seem like a good idea. It is not a safe place for the one protecting his own skin. But what the world does not understand is that we all live by dying. Either others die to our needs and demands - in which case, a tyrant emerges - or we die at the needs of others. Something must give. We, by the Spirit's leading, have chosen a life of selfless giving. This flies in the face of self-preservation, and therefore the world labels it suicide. But it is at precisely this point that they fail to understand how God's world works, not having eyes of faith. All the world is a tomb; this they understand well enough. But it is an empty one. And that has changed everything. Creation, fallen and broken, longs to see the physical and temporal restoration of all things, a restoration that has begun in the hearts and lives of the people created to inhabit it. To the blind world, we are rejoicing in a mausoleum. We are setting up shop in the cemetery. "Why?" they say. "What do you hope to accomplish?" "Spring," we reply. Spring. To the eyes of winter, spring seems ridiculous. The bare branches, shivering in the snow, will laugh at ideas of warmth and foliage. And so they persecute. They scorn. They despise. Even if the faithless world leaves us alone, we still must deal with a fallen wintered world, where bodies break and the ice grows strong. It is the testing ground of our hope. Do we really believe in a spring? Do we really believe that the tomb is empty, that all will be resurrected? Do we think Christ-like in all things, for the joy set before us? Do we endure our cross? Or do we complain, and whimper, and actually consider our sufferings - these momentary light afflictions - as something worthy to be compared to the indescribable glory to come? To put flesh on Paul's words, it is like preparing for a ten-year, all- expense-paid vacation to your dream-location. A few seconds before you board the plane, you get a toothache. Not even a very bad one at that. In those brief moments, would we despair of ever seeing our waiting paradise? Would we say to ourselves, "It just isn't worth it. It just hurts too much. Maybe there won't be a vacation. Maybe there is no such thing as a dream-location at all,"? Of course not. The joy of a ten-year paid-vacation would be overwhelming. So overwhelming that a little toothache would probably go completely unnoticed. Now, I do not wish to make light of our present sufferings. They are many, and they are real. But neither do I want to make more of them than the apostle Paul does. And when it comes to toothaches, he had the worst. We are going to suffer, because Christ suffered, and we are not better than our Master. It is better to suffer for the right reasons than for the wrong ones. Suffer for hope rather than for stupidity. Suffer for trusting in truth rather than doubting what is real. When we suffer for righteousness' sake, we suffer the blows on the outside. By the mercy of God, we are given armor for this, and its name is Hope and Joy. But if we suffer for wallowing in our own filth, we suffer the blows on the inside, and no armor in the world can protect us from that. In the mire, we call our sin by another name. We spew our own filth onto those that rub us the wrong way, on those that expose the sin we are hiding. So trust not in yourself. Hope in God. Spring will come. These branches will bear fruit. The Sun has already risen, and the snow has already begun to melt.

Psalm 36

Sin is a talker. Sin saddles up next to the wicked and whispers sweet nothings into their ear. David says of the wicked, "Sin speaks deep in his heart." There is no God, it says. These words tickle the ears and comfort the hearts of unrepentant sinners. No God, no consequence for action. No God, perfect liberty to live in such a way that pleases and gratifies every desire. "My sin can never be found out," they say. "My sin cannot be hated." An interesting and telling fear. Innate in every human is the need to be loved and respected. The lack of these two gifts, often self-induced, leads to all manner of rebellion, under the name of 'compensation.' We convince ourselves that our own actions and personalities cannot be hated or despised. The problem could never reside in us. More sweet nothings spoken deep in our heart. Aptly named, for they are sweet to the ear, but have no substance. We lie to ourselves, convinced by our own sin, that no one will hate our iniquity. It is the rare individual who works evil out of pure apathy. The common sinner will truly believe his sin will be seen as noble and true. David speaks rightly, "he has ceased to act wisely." A nice way of saying he has descended into nonsense. He who becomes wise in his own eyes becomes a fool in the eyes of everyone else. The deceived sinner turns inward, seeing no one else, trusting no one else. He lies awake at night, trusting his own counsel. He has lost all discernment.

What a contrast with the mercy of our heavenly Father! David makes the difference plain to see. The wicked turn inward, almost collapsing into themselves. The steadfast love of the Lord however, "extends to the heavens, Your faithfulness to the clouds." As high as the mountains reach, so too His righteousness; as deep and as unfathomable as the great ocean depths, so too are His judgements. The salvation of the Lord spans His creation, to both man and beast. This point exemplifies the nature of both sin and righteousness. All sin is inward focused. Love and righteousness are entirely outward in their trajectories. Sin lies in bed at night, plotting pettily. Righteousness sheds light on all, brings light to all, becomes light in all that dwell in truth. It seeks not only the wellbeing of others, but of all creation. It views this world as a garden to be tended, as a gift to be enjoyed, and as a city to be filled.

David encourages us with the truth that there is no where we can go where the faithfulness of God has not already gone. Whether it be the uttermost depths of the sea, or the furtherest reaches of the stars, He is there, and there He loves. This love is precious precisely at this point. It is a treasure more valuable the gold. For in His love we rest, we feast, we drink, we see. In the shadow of wings we take refuge. On the abundance of His house, we feast. From the river of delights, we drink. In His light, we see light. The children of mankind partake of the fountain of life, life that is breathed and spoken.

Father we ask that you would continue to show us your steadfast love and your righteousness. We only know you because you have known us. We are only upright in heart, because we dwell in Christ. Keep us Lord, from the arrogant one, and do not let the wicked drive us away from Your presence. Indeed, how could they for You are all places. All places are before Your face. And there the evil cannot stand. Wickedness and injustice have no strength in their knees. They collapse before you, unable to stand before you. They seek to use their borrowed strength to rise against you, but they cannot. In this truth we rest, knowing our cause will be heard, and our righteousness, which is Christ, will be upheld. Blessed by the Name of the Lord. And Amen.

Thanksgiving Day 2011

Thanksgiving Day. The parade is on the TV, Reformation-era Thanksgiving hymns are on the stereo, and two eager carcasses are bubbling away on the stove in a warm bath of onion-apple water and brandy. I lean over to my wife and tell her "thanks honey." She asks what for, and I reply, "I don't know. It's just Thanksgiving." She chuckles, and I get back to finishing the dishes. As I'm loading silverware into the dishwasher rack, I'm thinking about what I just said. What is gratitude without reason? Honestly, it isn't anything. It's just words. Thanksgiving must have a reason because it is a response, not the initial act. I am thankful for something and to someone for services rendered unto me. I am thankful to my wife for her love, and her patience, to name just two from the warehouse of reasons. If I am to be truly grateful, I must know what it is I am grateful for, what it was that someone did for me.

In this regard, Thanksgiving Day is not unlike every Sunday of the year. In fact, Thanksgiving Day is only possible because of the year's abundance of Sundays. Every Lord's Day we celebrate what our Fathers called The Eucharist, a greek word simply meaning "I Thank." This term was applied to the Table because it is at precisely there that we, as God's guests, say thank you to our Host. We have been invited into the household of God. Our feet have been washed. We have entered the door. We have sat at His feet with Martha's sister and listened to His word. We are now called to the table: "Dinner is ready!" comes the longed-for voice. At the table we find a feast of bread and wine spread before us. And we are bid, "Come and eat. This is given for you." The only response is to say "Thank you" and eat.

Those two carcasses bubbling away on the stove speak volumes of the true meaning of Thanks. Every "thank you" finds that it is a response to some form of sacrifice. Someone did something for you that took, at the very least, time that could have been used doing something else. Instead, they sacrificed that time for your benefit, and in response we say "thank you." Every true and loving sacrifice finds, at its root, the cross. Death for life. In the death of the God-Man there is life, for in His death, death died. Death is no longer our enemy, but our mode of life. As we love others more than ourselves, we are picking up our cross, we are dying daily. It no longer carries the stigma of fear and the unknown. Rather, death now has become the very way of life. It is the very basis for our thanksgiving.

And so I give thanks for the turkey. I give thanks for the carcass that, even in death, is giving us not only mere sustenance, but depth of flavor and rich joy. It is by means of death that we live and enjoy our table today. It is by means of the Death, and the subsequent conquering of Death, that we live and enjoy life at all. So let us live. Let us enjoy. By doing so we say, "Thank you."

Musings on 1 Peter (3:15-16)

15-16: Have no fear, Peter encourages us. Do not fear the one at whose hand you suffer, for you endure in the hands of one far stronger. In the inner man honor Christ. With not only your outward actions, but with the inward thoughts of the heart, honor Christ. In honoring Him we acknowledge that He is God, and that we are not; we confess our complete dependence on Him, owning our own inability to live uprightly in our own strength; and we trust the story that He is telling through the different chapters of our life, knowing, as we do, the last page of the book. We honor Him as holy. We acknowledge Him to be set apart, a name above all names, the name which every tongue will confess, and in front of whom every knee will bow. He is the Lord, and there is no other. We confess our own unholiness, our falling short of the standard. But we trust that His righteousness, and the beauty of His holiness covers us, and transforms us into sons and daughters worthy of the Name, made holy and set apart for service under His banner. It is through acknowledging, confessing, and trusting that we are able to give a defense of the hope that resides in us.

We are to be ready at all times to defend the faith to those who question our hope. This presupposes a transparent cup, where the outside allows outsiders to see what the cup contains. If our external lives do not give anyone the notion to ask about our hope, we are failing to honor Christ the Lord as holy. If to the watching world we look no different than every hopeless son of Adam among their ranks, then we need to take a hard look at the inside of our cup, and ask if there really is hope within. What hope do we have that our lives have purpose, that our suffering has meaning, that every day is drawing us closer to a three times Holy God who has declared Himself our Father? Do we live in such a way that such hope is plain to see? We are children of the Living God who made all things. He is in the process of making all things new. He has taken us out of the kingdom of darkness and placed us in the kingdom of everlasting light. If there is no hope in Him, there is no hope anywhere. But indeed there is hope, for we belong to Him. Therefore be at ease to live in such a way that banks on that hope. This hope is not a wishing well, it is a foundation of solid stone. It will hold the house of life through wind and storm. And this is the defense that we give when onlookers see our house standing firm against the rain. Why do we hope, they ask? What reasons do we have for hoping against all hope that our lives will not crumble into nothingness and eternal void? Our defense is this: First, we are already nothing. In our own shirts we are of no importance. We can crumble no further than our father Adam already did. Secondly, there is no void, for the God of Heaven and Earth has filled every conceivable and inconceivable space with the beauty of His holiness. The risen Christ has turned the world upside down and emptied its pockets. Light has filled the dark corners. The mountains have been brought low, and the valleys are lifted up. The world is a different place. It has a new center of gravity. He sits enthroned in Heaven, and He has called us friend. Who can help but hope? This is our defense. This is the reason for the hope that is within us. We are in the middle act of a three act comedy. Everything is jumbled and confused. The villain is still at large. Not all wrongs have yet been made right. But they will. The sun rises and we know that day is here. The Son has risen, the Day is upon us. Therefore Christian, hope. As the with the passing of night, so too with our sufferings. After winter, spring.

But be gentle in your reasoning. Trust the sovereignty of God in the manner of your defense. Show respect to all, so that through the purity and grace of your response, the Lord might put to shame those who slander your good name, and revile your upright behavior. It is not our job or our place to convince the unbelieving world that we are in the right. We can no more convince an unbelieving heart than turn coal into diamonds using nothing but our words. Our words carry little power, only reflected power. The One who holds all things by the power of His word, His words have creative power. His words become galaxies of stars, thick with matter. Only such a Voice can speak life where once was death, flesh where once was stone. Our role is to defend with a cheerful and gentle heart. If we do so trusting God for the outcome, the burden of saving people will be lifted from our shoulders and we will be free to simply share what God has done for us. If we are reviled for trusting in such a God then we put to shame those who revile, for their taunting carries no water. They reduce themselves to a playground bully, insecure in their own skin, forced to find fault in others, lest they are overwhelmed by the emptiness within. But this is exactly why we defend our hope in the face of such harassment. God brings low those who lift themselves up. In bringing them low He exposes their need for grace, their need for the hope that is within us. Then we see that He has placed us in just the right spot to not only defend the hope, but also offer it to the lowly. In such a way, the Father brings all His children home.

Musings on 1 Peter (3:10-14)

10-12: On the heels of Peter's exhortation to love one another and to strive to be a blessing to others, he quotes Psalm 34 as a proof text to show why this kind of outward living works. In song like poetry, David declares that whoever desires to love life and see good days, he should not speak evil, nor deceive others. In other words, do not let your tongue stray into self glorifying speech. Speaking evil of others or deceiving others can only have one purpose, and that is to tear others down, and lift yourself up. To slander and lie is at the root of self worship, not because it desires to hurt others, primarily, though it does. It is the root of self worship because it is necessary to prop oneself up in the eyes of others, to raise oneself to the level of the divine. And the slanders and lies always begin at home. We slander ourselves, and deceive ourselves first, when we attempt such a thing. To be a created child of God is a noble and high honor, to be received with gratitude and grace. When we lift ourselves up we are actually casting ourselves down into the mire, thereby slandering our own noble nature, and deceiving ourselves that we are something better now that we have been self-liberated from the authority of others. It is a lie, a terrible lie that has ruined many a family and many a man. Therefore Peter says, love. Do not speak evil. But this love is not the hippie bumper sticker love, that says love for love's sake. That is rubbish. When Peter calls us to love, he calls us to gospel living, which is a call to death. For only out of gospel death can true life emerge. We die to self, we die to our own passions and desires. We live unto Christ through others, and thereby find joy.

"Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it." Again, don't be evil. To be evil is to be ugly. Evil is an adjective. Evil describes what your heart attitude is, regardless of what the action looks like from the outside. Evil is the apt word to describe everything done apart from faith in the risen Jesus Christ. So turn from it. You have been purchased by the blood of the Son of the Almighty God, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. You have been cleansed. You are no longer forced by nature to act in an ugly way. Seek beauty. Seek peace with all, as far as it depends on you. Pursue Peace, real Peace. Again, we do not speak of bumper sticker definitions. Peace without justice, peace without recompense is no peace at all. If Jesus Christ had not taken upon Himself the full and complete judgement that was rightfully mine, there could be no peace. There is no reconciliation apart from confession and forgiveness. If it is true vertically speaking, it is true of the horizontal. If it is true of our relationship with the Creator God, it is true of our relationship with fellow creatures. Therefore seek Peace, the peace that is real, the peace that calls sin sin and seeks to eradicate it like a tumor. A doctor who sees an abnormal growth does not seek peace with his patient by ignoring the cancerous tissue. Peace means surgery, and now, before it grows. Therefore pursue peace, even though the pursuit is not peaceful. The pursuit will often mean strife, and struggle. Surgery hurts. Incisions bleed. But again, this is gospel. The way out of the tomb is through the grave. Do good. Seek peace.

Why? Why do all this? You speak of hurt and bleeding and dying and discomfort. Why should I pursue peace when it comes at such a cost? Why should I do good, when it might bring pain? Because the Lord watches the righteous. The Lord God sees your heart and understands the workings of your will. He who sustains us and holds us and continues to speak us into existence (whether we honor Him or not, interestingly), is the master of turning pain into joy, sorrow into laughter, mourning into a song of life. He is the one who conquered death and sat on its head. The Lord of life watches our way, and provides light and rest to those who walk according to His instructions. His ears are open to those who trust in Him. He listens to those who are in distress. He takes your feeblest efforts to do good, and pursue peace, and transforms them into works of mercy and of grace. He sees the heart, and honors the will. Those who seek to do ill, the Lord has turned against. It is neither prudent nor wise to disparage the hand that holds your life together, to dishonor the Spirit who allows your lungs the very breath they use to curse. Turn from doing evil, and hold fast to what is good. For the the Lord lifts up those who seek the good of others, those who see in others the face of God.

13-14: Who is there to bring harm if we are zealous to do good? This is Peter's version of Paul's "If God is for us, who can stand against us?" Neither question states that there will be no one standing against us, or that no one will bring harm and suffering into our lives. We live in a fallen world. Pain, suffering, sin, harmful opposition, they are not maybes but inevitables. We live in a world made by God, inhabited by people who hate their Maker. Strife and conflict resulting in difficulties are not a question of if, but of when. At the very least we have conflict happening within our own persons. Not only are our bodies decaying, paying tribute to our fallen world, but our natural desires as sons and daughters of Adam give us who are redeemed by the blood of Christ enough trouble for a lifetime. Beyond our own persons we live in communities where God is not honored as God, nor is He given thanks. People living with mutually exclusive world views will run into hardships. Pain and suffering will be a constant theme, to one degree or another. So no, the question does not mean to imply that there actually might not be anyone out there who might hurt us. Rather that God is God in all, and through all.

Peter's under layering hope here is that God, our Father, is the Author of all things. This necessarily includes any pain and suffering that might result from a life of faith. If God, our Father, calls us to do good, to be zealous to do good, and if this same Father and Author is writing into our story the pain and suffering that accompanies doing good in a sinful world, then we have nothing to fear. In the back of Peter's mind is the time he heard Jesus say, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." What can man do to us in other words? If we strive to do good in all things, and resistance rises, what really do we have to fear? Death? Pah. We belong to Him who conquered death, and made him our servant, an usher standing in the narthex of the cathedral of eternal joys. And really, thats man's only weapon. They can inflict pain, they can torture, they can do really awful things, things that should not be taken lightly. There are horrendous atrocities that occur against the Bride of Christ in this very day and age. In the final analysis, however, all they can do is scrape the surface. They cannot dislodge that which rests in the hands of God Almighty.

Therefore, do not fear. Do not let your hearts be troubled. For you are blessed in suffering for righteousness sake. For it is not your righteousness that you are suffering for. Rather it is the righteousness of the Son of Man, to whom we owe our lives, our freedom, the very air we breathe. His righteousness has delivered us, body and soul from Hell. It is His righteousness that is the bedrock of our hope. For His sake we endure all manner of things. Why? The reason is simple. It is the story that the Author of Life is telling. We are living, breathing characters in a grand drama that is unfolding in time. The great Playwright has chosen us, crafted us, and is positioning us in His story. We are simply called to live in obedience to His story, to love His story, to embrace His story. This great drama is the lifting up of the Son of Man. Every knee will bow. Every tongue will confess. Jesus is Lord. He has been given a kingdom, dominion, power and authority in Heaven and on Earth. He is the King. And He is drawing all men to Himself. This is the story we are in. By His grace we participate in this, by living and breathing the story. Every character, if they are to be interesting, and intriguing to the reader, must endure trials. It is the means to growth and maturity. We are dynamic characters, placed in the middle of pain and suffering, not that we might get lost in it, but that we might learn to endure, learn to rejoice, learn to be content in all things. For we are being prepared for an eternal weight of glory. This preparation takes place in the sight of all men, so that they might hunger for it. So that in witnessing our response to the story they might long to know the Author. This is the basis of evangelism. It is expressed in whatever gifts we have been given, and whatever station we have been given to. As a body working together in unison through our different giftings, we disciple the nations, baptizing and teaching them to obey all that we have been commanded.

Therefore do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in Christ. He sits enthroned in Heaven, governing all things. Every moment of every day is a moment of interaction with the Almighty, a moment in which we see Him work, a moment in which we confess our dependance on Jesus.

Musings on 1 Peter (3:8-9)

8-9: Peter next takes a step back and addresses all of us as one body. "Live like Christians," he says. "Live as you were called to live. Do not act as though you were an unbeliever, as those who speak evil, or revile." We are called to bless, Peter says, and to bless others in and through every aspect of our lives. It is in blessing others that we ourselves are blessed. How do we do this? Peter draws our attention to five different ways. First, be unified in mind. This is difficult for us. We all come from different stations, different backgrounds, with different personalities, etc. In this way Peter calls us to unity as a summation of what he has been talking about this entire chapter. Masters and servants, citizens and governors, husbands and wives, be all of you of the same mind. In other words, no matter what role you play in the grand drama of God's story, have gospel minds. Both masters and servants, have gospel minds. Husbands and wives together, have gospel minds. Together share the same hope and glory of who God is, and what He has called you to do, no matter the reality that He has called you to different roles. Bless one another in the way He has gifted and positioned you to do.

Next we are called to sympathize with one another. Literally we are to step into one another's shoes. As the whole body suffers when one part suffers, so we must manifest this in our body life. If we do not feel the pain or suffering of other 'body parts' it is a valid question to ask if we are truly members of that body. Do we hold one another up in prayer and encouragement? Do we seek the good of others before our own? Do we come along side and weep with those who weep? Or do we insist on speaking the truth without love, declaring what we 'know' to be right without any regard to the frame of the brother or sister? One song puts it this way, "Don't read me pointless poems friend/Don't diagnose, don't condescend/Though you may be right to disagree/I need someone to weep with me." What character are we playing? Are we the one to diagnose and condescend, even though we are right? I forget who, but someone talks about a deeper right. The deeper right lays aside all judgments and sermons and simply enters into the grief and suffering of a brother. God's truth is bigger than us. We do not need to defend every last jot and tittle in the face of family suffering. There will be time for that another day.

Love the brethren. In other words, love one another as if you were family, because you are. In an age of broken homes, and destroyed families, it is not as easy to convey the meaning of this type of love. But regardless, we must love the brethren. What does this mean? I think one of the primary aspects of this type of love is simply joy. Do you enjoy your family? Do you enjoy the presence of the brethren? Or is your love more academic? Do you affirm your love for them in your head, and through a simple handshake on Sunday mornings? Or do you actually enjoy their company? Do you seek them out? Do you, so far as depends on you, seek to bless them out of pure joy? Love that does not include this is not love; it is tolerance. Enjoy the brethren is the heart behind Peter's exhortation here. Love them, and love being with them. So far as it depends upon you.

Be tender-hearted. There are not many words more rich with readymade implications than this. It is the word that describes a mother's first experience with her newborn child. Feelings of love, adoration, care, concern, and nurture. An immediate disposition of self sacrifice, of selfless giving for the sake of the other. A common theme runs through all Christian virtues, not least of all this one. That theme is anti-pride, death to self for the life of another. We saw it above in the relationships and roles we are to inhabit and perform. We see the epitome of anti-pride hanging on the cross. It was not with a hard heart the Jesus bore our sins. How can we do otherwise, when the sins against us are petty in comparison with the sins Jesus bore?

Finally be of a humble mind. Some manuscripts have friendly mind, but I think it amounts to the same thing. Does your mind, and therefore the extension of your mind, i.e. thoughts, words, and deeds, does your mind think of others first, or of your own self first. I like the idea of a friendly mind. A mind that is outward focused. A mind that is not overly concerned with self. That is the essence of humility after all. Humble people are not dour people. Humble people are friendly, joyful, and caring. They simply don't care about themselves, apart from the obvious necessities of food and hygiene. Even there though the humble is quick to invite you over for dinner, and pays attention to their appearance for the sake of the comfort of others. It boils down to this. Have this mind in you also. What did Christ do? What mind did He have? Should we not do the same?

Musings on 1 Peter (3:1-7)

1-2: I am a young husband. Because of this I am approaching these verses with not a small amount of fear and trepidation. It is at this point I would like to remind the reader of the title above: "Musings." I am ill-equipped to teach with any real authority on these verses. I am more like a boy on the beach, dirty with sand and sea water, dried kelp stuck in between my toes, contemplating what clean skin after a shower would feel like. None of us is perfect in these things, however, and we wont be until glory. All of life to a certain extent is spent in the same place as the boy on the beach. It is in this that I take hope and proceed in musing on these first few verses.

Peter calls all wives to submit to their husbands. It is the same submission that we have been discussing above, Christian to human institutions, servant to master. The point there, as is here, is that the one submitting is no less equal to the one they are submitting to in God's eyes. They have equal value and equal worth, because they are both image bearers and servants of the King. What we have been talking about is a hierarchical world, one in which by God's design some lead, and others follow. Again, it is this way because God Himself embodies this, and all of the created order is a reflection of who the Creator is. Therefore, wives submit to your husbands. Not because they are worthy to submit to, not because there is something special in them. Peter anticipates this when he goes on to say that it is likely that your submission will be the very thing that God uses to bring about repentance and salvation in the disobedient heart of the husband. Here we find a marvelous paradox. True submission, true following will anticipate true leadership. If a husband is lousy, and we usually are, a submissive wife will often be the key player in bringing about repentance, and true headship. This is so because true following and true submission are in reality first and foremost a description of the follower's position before God. If you are not submitting to God, you cannot submit to your husband. We submit to God first, and manifest this through our willing and cheerful obedience to what He has told us to do. Therefore wives submitting to their husbands is in itself the cheerful act of submitting to the Higher Authority. (I am purposefully leaving out of this discussion the extreme cases of domestic violence, and hardened husbands; situations where a submissive wife should prove her submission to the Higher Authority by leaving her husband, and finding shelter among friends. These situations are very real, and require a different teacher to effectively offer light on that dark path.)

Therefore, wives be subject to your own husbands. God is the author of our lives. God has given us each the spouse we need to be shaped and molded into the image of Christ. When a husband is not obedient to the Word, Peter tells wives that it will not be their words that save their husbands. It will not be their pleadings or their requests, but their conduct, their pure and respectful actions. This takes tremendous faith on the part of wives. It acknowledges that God is the author and perfecter of faith, not us. He is the author of the faith that will fill an unbelieving husband. As Author it will be in His time and in His way. Wives are simply called to be subject to them, showing respect through pure conduct. It is not the respectability of the husband they are honoring. It is the authority of their God they are submitting to, trusting in His goodness and in His wisdom. It is the same phrase we discussed above, entrusting oneself to Him who judges justly. It is not within our power to make husbands more respectable. That is a work of the Spirit. Wives who desire this must depend fully on the work of the Lord, and thereby show their submissive hearts.

3-6: Peter anticipates one way in which wives might be tempted to misunderstand this calling. It is easy to do for it is the way the world works. On the heels of telling wives to submit, he asks that they not consider their worth, nor their glory to be in the main external. "Do not let your adorning be external-the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear-..." The world would say that to win a man, a woman must be externally pretty, wear seductive clothing, and act in a way becoming of such external trappings. But this is not how Christians are to act, nor even to think: "but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God's sight is very precious."Again we see our priorities need adjusting. God must be honored first. This is not done with braided hair, and gold bracelets while the heart is far from Him. Jesus called the Pharisees who thought this way, white washed tombs. We might call women who think this way gilded headstones. There is a way that seems right unto man, but it leads to death. In honoring God first, we address the main problem, which is our sin. When our sin has been dealt with by the blood of the Cross, we see how God uses inward submission to transform the whole man.
Wives are called to be beautifully adorned, but it is the gentle and quiet spirit that God finds precious. It differs from external prettiness in three ways. First it is imperishable. A gentle and quiet spirit will last for eternity, where as what the world considers beautiful is like a delicate flower; it blooms and promptly begins to fade. Secondly, inward beauty actually accomplishes things. Inward beauty, Peter says, is what will win people, men in particular, to Christ. It is the example of godly submission that declares the gospel. What the world calls beauty cannot do that. In fact it does just the opposite when pursued for its own ends, becoming an idol. Thirdly, inward beauty will always make true external beauty possible, and inevitable. This is most obvious in elderly mothers in the Lord. By the world's standards, they are not pretty, or beautiful. Their skin is wrinkled with age; their hair has gone grey if not blue; and gravity effects their bodies more than the body of a younger person. By the world's standard, this is not beauty. But here again we see the foolishness of the world, and the wisdom of God. Elderly sister saints, having lived lifetimes defined by inward beauty, with gentle and quiet spirits, are the most beautiful people this world can know. To look on them is to be warmed from the inside out. The beauty inside has transformed the wrinkles and gravity stricken body into gems of untold worth. It is the power of the gospel at work. It is the glory of earthenware vessels.

Peter calls on history to exemplify his admonitions. Sarah, and the women of old, showed this type of submission, trusting in God. Again it is faith that defines this type of life. Faith that the sinner of a husband you have will be transformed into the likeness of Christ, just as you hope and trust the Spirit to work in you. Going on mere outward experiences, there is not much to gladden the heart. Husbands screw up, and will continue to do so until glory. But the wife who in faith, submits in her heart and with her hands to God first, and husband second, finds that she can live without being afraid of what her husband might do. She knows that she belongs to Him who is the Author and perfecter of all faith, including the faith defining her husband's life. It boils down to trust. Do we trust God to be faithful, even when we are faithless? Do we trust Him to continue to work in our lives? Do we trust Him pick us up whenever we fall? We should, because He will.

7: Husbands do not get off as easily. Even though Peter gives them only one verse, it is quite a verse. First Peter begins by drawing an analogy to what he has been saying concerning faith, submission and obedience.'Likewise' he says, or 'in the same way'. Husbands must live this life just like their wives, submitting in cheerful obedience to the will and commands of God. This takes great faith, for there is a way that seems right to men. But God calls us back to Himself, to start there, and in the fear of the Lord, proceed. Peter calls husbands to live with their wives with knowledge, or with understanding. It is the greek word that, roughly translated means 'to click'. The lightbulb going on is a picture of this word. This is how husbands are called to live with their wives; i.e. in such a way that everything about them, not least of all their thoughts and emotions, clicks. We are to know who our wives are, understand what and why they are thinking what they are thinking. This is a tall order for husbands, because their thoughts are higher than our thoughts, their ways above our ways. But Peter calls us to grow up. The culture of this world delights in prolonged immaturity. It is one of Satan's primary weapons. 'If we can convince the men that they need not think, or mature, or grow in wisdom,' Satan tells his minions, 'then we can interfere with His plan for them.' Men have been told that women are inscrutable ever since we were little. "Just deal with it" is the attitude taken, which results in eye rolling disrespect on our part, and frustrated sorrow in our wives. But if God, through Peter, calls us to live with our wives with knowledge, and not just the hopeless pursuit of knowledge, then it must be achievable. We must actually be able to do it. If we are able, it will take patience, attention, listening, strength, and most of all, the will to do it. We must not be apathetic to who our wives are. It sounds harsh to say that aloud. To say it that way, makes us cringe and swear we have never been apathetic toward our wives. But we are. Constantly. Whenever we would rather watch the TV then spend time focused on their needs. Whenever we would rather put our nose in a book than take the time and energy to discover how she is doing. "Except a grain of wheat fall to the ground and die, it abideth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." Husbands must die to self. Husbands must die to their own desires and needs. Husbands must die. Else they will abide alone, in the shell of their half-hearted marriage.

Peter continues. We must show our wives honor as a weaker vessel. As created beings, we have all been made to bear in a small and finite way, the attributes and image of God. Together, male and female He made them in His image. The feminine and and masculine together in correct arrangement showcase the fullest image we on earth can bear. Both sexes image both sides but with greater emphasis on one or the other. Generally speaking, men are created to be strong, enduring, leaders. Women are created be loving, compassionate helpers. Men and women have been given frames that aid and are suitable to our different callings. Men are given strong and hard bodies, whereas women are given bodies that grow and nurture others. The two bodies are as different in form as they are in function. Peter recognizes this and understands the female glory that is held in their weaker, less physically strong, frame. Husbands recognize this too, and should not take advantage. We must not strong arm our wives, even though we are physically able to do it. In respecting and honoring their weaker frame, we respect and honor the purpose and image they bear. In respecting them and lifting them up we honor and glorify the Maker, by honoring His great intentions and design. In dishonoring women in domineering and tyrannical ways, we dishonor God Himself, and seek to declare our rebellion from His wise and perfect ways. In obedience we consider our wives as Christ considered His bride. She (we) were helpless and weak, and Christ did not strong arm us into servitude. Rather He considered us, while dead in our sin, as worth saving by means of His own brutal death. This is how we show honor to the weaker vessel. We must die.

Peter concludes this thought with an odd phrase, "so that your prayers may not be hindered." To the thick of mind (husbands) these two thoughts don't belong in the same verse. Honor your wives, we can grasp, even if eventually. But to hear that 'hindered' prayers are a consequence of not doing so, we choke on our academic whisky. You mean to tell me that God takes this stuff seriously? Yes He does. Why? Of all the equally valid reasons that are out there, the one Peter uses is this: They are our co-heirs of the grace of life. They have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb as have we. They are sisters in the most real sense. And if we say we love God but hate our sister, we are liars, and the truth is not in us. If they are sisters, and share in the inheritance of life, then the same Spirit that dwells in us also dwells in them. If we refuse to honor the Spirit residing in our wives, why would the Spirit of God honor us? Christ gives us one another, and in doing so gives us Himself. We each are members of His body. How can a foot dishonor a hand, and expect to receive honor from the head? We are thick, as mentioned above, in that we do not connect these dots. Worse then thick, we are propping ourselves up as gods, even if unintentionally, in not showing honor to our wives, in not loving them as Christ loves His wife. Again, and always, the answer is to die. Husbands must die. We must die to our own ambitions, our own desires, our own thoughts of direction and purpose. Only then will the grace of Christ raise to new life our own complete persons. And when He does, He will do so in the context of our neighbors, in the context of our families, and in the context of our wives.

Musings on 1 Peter (2:18-25)

18-20: We are a people, a holy nation, called to suffer for the sake of the gospel. If the world hated our Lord, then it will hate us. We are not immune to suffering. We live in a world plagued by the curse of the fall. Everything we do is made more difficult by the fall. Difficulties are hard and heavy, and they cause us to suffer, laden with weight and trial. But Peter calls us to endure, for this is what grace means. We have been shown grace, grace beyond comprehension, grace beyond our wildest dreams. Peter defines grace this way here: enduring while suffering unjustly. If we suffer as a consequence of our own stupidity, then what credit is that? It is when we suffer for doing good, for acting wisely, or for standing for truth, that is where we showcase grace. On the job site, do we showcase grace? In the home, do we showcase grace?

We live in a necessarily hierarchical world. What does that mean? God has, in His wisdom, created the world in such a way that some would have rule over others. It is not a value statement to say this. Each person is created in the image of God and loved by Him on an individual level. But to keep the world running smoothly, some must have authority over others. In the home, the husband leads the wife; on the job site, the foreman leads the workers; in the church, the elders shepherd the flock. This is so because our Triune God Himself models this for us. The Son submits to the word of the Father, and the Spirit obeys the will of the Father and the Son. They are each equal in their Divinity and equal in worth and power, but submit to one another in love, as if in a grand cosmic dance. One leads, the other follows. It is a beautiful thing, and the source of beauty in the world. We uglify creation when we ham handedly force our clumsy egalitarian mantras onto every situation. If all the contestants are given a gold medal at the end of the race, then there is no point in running, no matter whose self-esteem we artificially boosted. But beauty is found in the leading and submitting paradigm. It is the elegant waltzing couple, gracefully floating across the floor, in precise and practiced steps, made to look effortless.

Some lead, others follow. It is the nature of the world. It is also a fallen world, where leaders do not lead well, and followers do not follow well. Grace, as Peter defines it here, is following well when others do not lead as they should: when masters beat their slaves for doing good, when employers punish employees for acting wisely, when husbands brow beat their wives for being prudent. For sure, it is sin and it is wrong for those who lead to act in such a way. But believe God, and trust in Him. They will be held accountable for their actions. You, in the ways in which you are a follower, showcase grace. Submit, Peter says, to those who have authority over you, remember their authority is not theirs by natural right, but by God's wisdom and determination. Therefore, let us be subject to those we are underneath, and endure with joy, knowing that in doing so, we are proclaiming God's grace.

21-23: Enduring while suffering unjustly is not just something to be prepared for in case it happens sometime. It is a life we are called to. Again, "If the world hated Me, they will hate you also." Jesus Himself, paved the road for this type of gracious living. He suffered cruelly at the hands of wicked leaders. Not only did He suffer, He did so on our behalf, taking upon Himself the greater suffering that we deserved. He was unjustly murdered. We have been shown mercy through His healing wounds. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross. Peter says He did this in part to leave us an example. It is as if Jesus said to us, "Children, you cannot endure the suffering you deserve. I will bear that for you. In doing so I will pave the way for you to follow, guided and strengthened by My Spirit who I give to you. In Him you will be able to suffer the little things that life will bring. Many of them you will not deserve. Did I deserve the suffering I bore? Do not be anxious for them. Endure with Joy, seeing the end that is set before you. Follow after me. Pick up your Cross. Fear not, My burden is light."

The remarkable phrase in verse 23 is this: "but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly." Jesus had perspective. He knew that He suffered unjustly under the hands of small men. He knew His trials were "unfair." He knew they were not deserved. But He continued to entrust Himself to the One who judges justly. God is God. He judges the earth with equity. He also works on His timetable. Often we want the fire bolts of judgement to descend right now. We want God to act on our timetable. But He is God, we are not. He sees the end from the beginning. That is where we are required to trust. We believe that God is both just and the Judge. As God, He knows what He is doing. As Just, He will act well. As Judge, He will bring justice to every situation. These three things we must rest in. We must trust God to be God. A rather silly thing to have to say to ourselves, but we need to. God will be God whether we trust in Him or not. But trusting Him gives feet and wings to endurance.

24-25: Our father, Adam, fell at a tree. It was by a tree that the curse of sin and death entered the world. It was a tree that bore the tempting serpent. In the glorious providence of God, salvation came by means of that tree. The serpent was cast down, and God Himself was nailed in his place. The serpent had looked down from the tree, questioning Gods word. The Word looked up from the tree, trusting in Him who judges justly. The tree which offered the tempting fruit, now bore the fallen fruit of temptation. The tree at which our whole human race was wounded and cursed, now brought the healing sap. Christ reversed the effects of the fall. At His death, death itself began to work backwards. But Jesus did not die so that we might live. He died so that we too might die, but live again in His resurrection. We must die to sin, for Jesus died for our sin. We must now live in righteousness, for Jesus was raised to new life. By His wounds we have been healed. We were once lost sheep, straying far from the comfort of our shepherd. But we have been found. We have been brought back home.

Musings on 1 Peter (2:13-17)

13-15: Peter continues to exhort us to live well in front of others. Submit, he tells us. It is not for our sakes, or for the sake of authorities either. We do not obey those above us in order to be praised, or well rewarded by them. We do not obey our earthly authorities because they possess in themselves the right to govern. We obey for the Lord's sake, whether it be the emperor, the king, the president, the prime minister, the governor, etc. We obey because the Lord tells us to. It is the Lord we are obeying. In this we recognize that all earthly authorities derive their power, not from the people, or from position, but from God. He sets kings on their thrones, and He brings them down. He establishes crowns and courts, and He dismantles dominions. Because all authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Jesus. That means our current administration answers to Jesus. Our state and local authorities answer to Jesus. He owns them. He has given them authority to administer justice, to punish those who do evil, and to praise those who do good. When this does not happen, and evil is praised and good punished, those responsible will be called before the Supreme Judge, and will be held accountable for all their misdeeds. But it is not first and foremost our concern. We do not need to defend the King. He needs no lawyers. He has the power to judge, and will do so righteously. Therefore when we see injustice done, especially at a level where we can do very little, we can have a foundation of peace. We can rest knowing that justice will win. Recompense will be made.

By God's great wisdom, it is through rest and peace, and quiet living that true justice grows. The ignorance of foolish people will be silenced by our good works. The good work to be done in this context is to be subject to the powers that be. In our submission, and in our obedience to the one who rules the ruler, we prove the wisdom of the world to be ineffective in the pursuit of change. We cannot effect lasting change. For we are simple sinners, and wherever we go, there we are. But the one who rules the heavens and the earth, the one who declares, "Behold, I am making all things new," He can bring real, and lasting change. He can bring real and lasting justice. And so we trust in Him. Our weapons are not carnal. Our weapons are not merely political. They are Spirit and Truth. They encompass politics only in that they encompass all of life. We trust in the Lord of politics, the Lord of capitols, the Lord of legislations. Therefore, Christian, submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution. It is quiet submission that will turn the world upside down.

16-17: Our basis for living quiet lives is that we are in reality free. Though our external circumstances seem to be enslaving, what with taxes and regulations and inflation, we are at the core of reality, free. This requires some perspective to understand. If we really believe that Christ is Lord of heaven and earth, that indeed all authority has been given to Him, then everything we see is under His dominion. If everything is under His dominion, then that means everything. Every bill that is passed, every law that is established, every decision made by every cabinet in every country in the world. Let that sink in. Ponder the truth of that statement and how really real it is. It is not some sunday school truth that we nod at when we are six, only to realize when we are adults that, of course, its more complicated than that. Jesus is Lord. It is that simple. No fine print, no reading between the lines, not misunderstood subtext. Jesus is Lord. And here is the beautiful thing. We belong to Jesus. Here comes the perspective. If Jesus is Lord, and we belong to Jesus, and in Him is freedom, then we are free. The word Freedom has unfortunately been hijacked by our modern sensibilities. We have come to understand freedom as complete and utter autonomy, final say, total ability to choose our own destiny. Nothing could be more absurd. Not even God has this kind of freedom. He Himself is bound by His own Holiness, bound by His own nature. So we too are bound by our nature. We can only do two things: either obey God in conformance to how we were built, or rebel, and live life according to our fallen natures. Either way we are living bound lives. If we rebel, and live unto our own fleshly inclinations, then our very fabric begins to unravel, until nothing is left of us except a clump of dusty thread. But if we live by the power of the Spirit in a manner consistent with how we were created to live, then glory and freedom and peace are ours.

Peter defines freedom here as serving God. This is our creational design. To serve in the house of God as sons and daughters. True sons and daughters do not live as if some other house is their own, and follow the governance of some other father. True children serve their Father with joy, and in so doing find their freedom. Some, those whose hearts are carnal, would see the freedom grace brings, as an invitation to live in another father's house. There end is destruction. You cannot serve two masters. We are sons and daughters, a holy people, kings and queens in the House of the Lord. If that is true, then that is true now. As a plumber you are a king in the kingdom. As a nurse, you are a queen in the Holy City. Our freedom is real, for we really do belong to Jesus, and Jesus really is Lord of all. It is with this confidence that Peter tells us to, "Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor." God is God. He does not share His throne with anyone. This means the emperors of our day are simply subordinates, vice-presidents at best. Therefore Christian, know that with Jesus on the Throne, we live our lives unto Him. In this we have the ability to honor our fellows, for they are put there by the King. If God deems it prudent to place a certain someone on the throne, or in the oval office, we fear God by honoring the emperor. Our freedom does not hinge on the whims of a vice regent. Our freedom is secure in Christ. In honoring the emperor we recognize and publicly declare that he is there only because Someone higher placed him there. Only if God is God can you honor the emperor, or love your neighbor. He is. So honor and love. We need fear no man.

The Fourth Day

From outside the bright and unending light
The Spoken and the Speaker called to one
Another; it was so. In pure delight
The firmament gave birth to mighty sons
And daughters, too; empty space now undone.
Seven children did the Speaker make, to
Govern times and seasons; their course begun,
They will reign until the day earth, made new,
Is, of time, no longer in need. "TO YOU

MIGHTY SOLIS," He said, "I give the day.
You are the Son of Light, giver of Gold,
And wisdom, chasing mists of doubt away.
Like a man, strong in valiant youth, take hold
The reins your chariot offers and be bold
In your conquest of the sky. Come, Bridegroom,
Leave your nuptial tent and search out the cold
Surface of earth, her power to chill consume.
Kiss the earth with warm joy; bring her to bloom.

"LADY LUNA, silver huntress," said He,
"To you I give the long night, serve her well.
Though you wax and wane, through melancholy
Moods show inconstancy, and some compel
To madness, you impart through dewy spell
Rhythm and maturity, granting sleep
'And drench of dream' to weary heads. Farewell
To day and with him, hurried thoughts that creep
Across the mind. Mother, My children keep.

"SYLVAN MARTIS, to you I give mankind,"
Said He, "And all his efforts to succeed
In life. He will strive, mastery to find,
That his world may be without any need.
War will rise, for impossible indeed
This is apart from Me. With iron staff
You will teach him the art of planting seed;
Hands will work, discerning true wheat from chaff.
Come Harvest, hearts will cheer, red cheeks will laugh.

"BRIGHT VENERIS," He said, "Sweet Morning Star,
I give to you love and society.
Your beauty shining copper-like on far,
Distant fecund fields, in chaste piety,
Will bring them children in variety.
Awake to love, these I have formed from clay;
Teach them to care, and with propriety
To hold one another dear. I today
Have shown you love; love which they must obey.

"SWIFT MERCURIUS, "said He, "with winged foot
You will fly. To you I give mankind's Speech
That by your art they may learn to love what
I have Said. By words and sounds you will teach
Them the depth of creation's Beauty. Each
Of my words, the quicksilver-like glory,
Fill the earth; your words, they will use to preach
My grace, to train their youth, to bless the hoary
Haired heads; to live and to love the story.

"JOCUND JOVIS," He said, "To you I give
Life and laughter, and vernal jollity.
Winter is gone; teach your subjects to live
In light of the Great Feast. Eternity
Will be their end. With ripe hilarity
Share with them the Joke: red wine served in tin;
Mighty king, as bells sing and banners flee
Before the wind, teach my children to grin,
To laugh, and to love, for Me they will win.

"WISE OLD SATURNIS, Father Time, "He said,
"To you I give the leaden weight of age.
The fruit of the branch must yellow, and, dead,
Fall to the ground. But my children will wage
War with death. This they must not do. Assuage
Their fears. Tell them of seeds and how they grow,
For thus their bodies enter the next stage.
Bearing resurrected fruit they must go
To the four winds, and your full purpose show.

THUS HE SPAKE, and thus they were: sevenfold
Deities to rule the life-filled heaven.
They govern times and seasons from of old;
They are the captains of His Host. Seven
Lords and Ladies, formed for the sake of men.
Servants of all, they only bow the knee
To One. Before Him they have always been,
And in His presence they find they are free
To be what they were created to be.

For in Him is all Light; Golden and wise,
He keeps those who sleep 'neath the silver light.
He is true Man. With fire in His eyes,
Glistening love, and true solid delight,
He sends for His Bride, and all through the night
Feasts in the laughter and joy of His love.
For by Death He has bought her; death she might
Have tasted but for His grace. By the Dove
Death has died. Glory be to God above.

Day to day pours out speech that must be heard,
Their voice goes out through all the wind-blown earth.
Night to night reveals knowledge of the Word;
His heavens proclaim to all their worth.
His glory is seen in their very birth,
For He holds all of His creation dear.
There is no speech nor are there words whose mirth
Is not heard, by those who, in hearing, hear.
This is their song, sung in joy and in fear.

This song sung in seven part harmony
Joins the great dance, and calls all to the floor
To circle Him in great polyphony,
With ever increasing speed they adore
The risen Lamb who as King sits before
The Great Ancient of Days. Faster they dance;
Quicker, quicker they move. As planets soar
Through their planned steps, we are given the chance
To gaze with wonder on their great expanse.

We behold their steps, their mighty reel.
By the light of their dance we reap and sow;
We love and laugh, we sleep and die; and feel
They were given so upward we might grow.
Therefore, Praise God from Whom all blessings flow
He is the only one in whom we boast.
Praise Him all creatures who are here below
Praise Him above, all you Heavenly Host
Praise the great Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Musings on 1 Peter (2:4-12)

4-5: We are called to come to Jesus. There is no option. Peter treats it as a done deal. As you come, he says. He does not say if you come, but when you come. We must come to Jesus. He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the one who shapes and molds us. He is the Master mason, taking the living stones of our lives, fitting them perfectly into His house. We are the very materials He uses to build His dwelling place, His spiritual home. As we come to Jesus we realize that we have been rejected by man. The world does not know what to do with love. It has no place for joy in its blueprints. But we are living stones, precious and chosen by God Himself, so that we might serve Him in His house. As priests we offer ourselves as living sacrifices, which is our spiritual worship. And through the completed work of Christ, our service becomes acceptable to God. This means our entire lives. Every moment of the day, every decision that we make, every thought that we have, must be taken captive, and be rendered as blood on the alter. We die, daily. We sacrifice the will of our flesh, and say no. It is malice that must die. Envy and slander, must die. Hypocrisy and deceit, die. We are no longer stones the world would be comfortable using. We are living stones, made suitable for use in the kingdom. Made suitable by the blood of the Lamb, who desires our service. If that isn't incredible to think about, I'm not sure what is. The Creator God, the Triune Majesty desires our service, not as slaves, but as precious and chosen heirs, as if we had something to contribute. He has made us His priesthood, and His temple. He has made us partakers of His very nature, inviting us into the very circle of His glory. It is no wonder Peter says As you come. How could we say no?

6-8: Scripture bears witness to this great edifice that is being built. The apostles and prophets laid the foundation with Christ as the chief cornerstone. From Him all lines are drawn, and on Him our foundation is secure. Christ is the Stone, and in Him we are living stones, chosen and precious. We will not be put to shame. The prophet knew that the gospel was foolishness to the world's mindset. He knew that it would be a stumbling block to those who do not believe. He comforts us then, insisting that those who trust in Christ, those who become stones themselves will not be put to shame. Their faith will not be in vain. The God they put their trust in will not be shown to be a sham at the last day. His word is sure. We believe in His word. Therefore we have honor. They who refuse to believe will stumble and fall. They stumble because they do not obey the word of the Lord, and the Chief stone has become a rock of offense. They will be put to shame. The god of their world will be shown to be a sham, for there is but one God in Heaven, and His Son Jesus Christ. We belong to Him.

9-10: But you. Words of mercy and of grace. But you. Those who disobey will fall. But you. We are a chosen race, the new humanity in Christ. When Christ rose from the grave, He became the first fruits of the new creation. He ascended into the heavenly throne room, sitting at the right hand of the Father, ruling over His inheritance. To Him had been given honor and glory, dominion and authority, in heaven and on earth so that all peoples, nations and languages should serve Him. He sits on His throne and declares, Behold, I make all things new. He sits there now, and behold He is making all things new. He has begun with us, His Bride. Through us He is recreating the world. Once we were not a people, we were formless and void. Once we had not received mercy, like the earth without the light of the sun. But now we are a people, for He has spoken it with power. Now we have received mercy for the Son has risen and shines on our hearts and our hands. A second Adam has come. A second Eve has been brought forth, in water and blood, from His pierced side. A chosen race, made up of every color; a royal priesthood, both male and female, kings and queens; a holy nation, set apart with every language spoken; a people for His own possession we are. And we are called with purpose. We have been shown mercy and grace so that we might proclaim the Glory of God. We have been called out of darkness. We have been placed in marvelous light. We were once formless and void, and God spoke light into our very souls, and there was light. It is the excellencies of His majesty and power and grace that we proclaim. This is why we have been called. This is why we have been brought into His house, as priests and kings: so that we shout with our lives the living majesty of our God. We do not do this first and foremost with our own particular voice. Before all else we do this as a chosen people. Together we are the nation of God, and it is as a nation that we bear witness to His mercies. It is the reason we have been called, and when God calls, He does so with power and authority. Therefore we will not fail, for we are but the mouthpiece of God, and it His Spirit that goes forth drawing all men to Himself. We simply obey, honoring God and giving thanks with our lives, watching the leaven run through the loaf; watching the mustard seed grow into a tree so large, all the birds of the air find their dwelling place within its branches.

11-12: Peter reminds us that our home is Christ. Our center is found in Him. We are exiles here in this land, dispersed and yet still a people. We have not lost our identity though we be scattered across the land. In fact we identify more clearly with Christ as a dispersed people; a people sent to the corners of the earth, for in our dispersion we see our purpose. Here we find one of Heaven's paradoxes. As a sojourning people, sent from our home city to fill the earth, we find that we do indeed belong here. He who says this world is not our home and therefore we do not belong here draws a false conclusion. The earth was created for man, much like the sabbath, and so it is for man to enjoy. We were not created for Heaven, though that is where we find our head. Earth is the natural place for us to be, enjoying the fruit of its bounty. Though we be citizens of a better country, we have been given this land as a possession; and behold, it is very good. Therefore we can live our lives here with peace, knowing that we can feel settled here, on earth. We can plant vineyards, and harvest grain. We can build cathedrals and invest in our children. In fact it is in doing these very things that we bear witness to those who are spiritual gentiles, of the glories of our Creator. In their presence we abstain from the passions of the flesh. In their presence we do battle with our proclivity to sin. Keep your conduct in their presence honorable, Peter exhorts, so that when they slander you, they are without footing. When they revile us, and we show them love, the love our Lord has shown us, then they will know that we are truly disciples of Jesus, and they will glorify God. Our good deeds are to be seen. But not so that we may be glorified. Our good deeds do nothing but point to the mercy and goodness of God. For in our natural state, we are no better than those who revile. As children of grace good works have been placed before us, so that we might walk in them. This is our testimony to the world. It is with lives like this that we exhort the ends of the earth with the gospel of Jesus.

Musings on 1 Peter (2:1-3)

Chapter 2
1-3: We come to Christ as newborn babes. When we are reborn in the Spirit, we begin again in spiritual infancy. This is the way God works. For those who would be proud, God humbles them, and brings them low. We were proud in our rebellion. We were stiff-necked like our brothers of old. We were haughty and looked down at others, considering them and their needs to be beneath us. But when God grabs hold of us in that state, in His grace, He does not destroy, but rather, brings us low. He in effect says, “My child, you may begin again.” But this time He does not leave us on our own. He has filled us with His Holy Spirit, enabling us to taste the Lord and discern His goodness. Therefore, having indeed tasted that the Lord is good, Peter calls us to put away all malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy and slander. These are the tools of the old man. They are the utensils that he uses to prop himself up. They once were ours, but are no longer fitting to our new position as children in the house of the Living God. Let us spend some time on each one.

We are to put away all malice. We can no longer think of ourselves as more important than others. We can no longer look at others and see fellow contestants in the contest of self-exaltation. If we consider others to be simply co-contestants, constantly in our way as we pursue our own self-determined ends, we will only view them with an eye of contempt. Other people can do nothing other than impose their needs on us. Even a benign conversation is a small need the other person has that only we at that moment can fulfill. If we see that moment as a competitive move, as a grasping at our trophy, then we can only see them as enemies, and our hearts will be full of malice. Our only thought will be to obstruct them in some way so that they will fail in their perceived attempt to glorify themselves over us. But we are new creations. This is not what is going on. It is our flesh that blinds us to the reality of the real needs others have. It is our flesh that convinces us that in order to come out on top, we must first make sure everyone else comes out on the bottom. But we are to put away this attitude. It is not becoming, nor is it beautiful. It is ugly and petty. God’s way is much better. Jesus says that he who wishes to be first, should make himself last. God exalts the humble, but He brings down the haughty. Therefore let us humble ourselves, putting away all malice, and consider others to be more important than ourselves. If we do this, we just might see that it is God’s path to the ultimate trophy, the crown of life.

We are to put away all deceit. There are two types of deceit. There is the deception that we inflict on others, and there is deception that we inflict on ourselves. They naturally go hand in hand; there is no way to do one without the other. They are both expressions of dishonesty and we cannot be honest with one party while being dishonest with the other. Again, it is the flesh that tells us to deceive. We deceive others because we fear them. We are afraid of what they might think of us if they really knew what was going on inside our hearts. So we put up masks, making others think of us differently than if they knew the truth about who we really were. At the foundation of this fear is shame. We know our hearts, deep down. We know the disgusting thoughts that float in our mind, often uncontested. We feel that if we don’t keep up our façade, others might be ashamed of us as well, and would despise us. The devil, and therefore our flesh, hates nothing more than ridicule. Satan, and therefore our flesh as well, must have the fear and awe of others. Hence he is called the deceiver. Hence we in our flesh deceive others. We put up magnificent shows hoping beyond all hope that others will be so impressed with the outside of our cup they will assume the inside is just as grand. But magnificent as the outside may be, it is still a show. It is still a deception. And this is where we are deceiving ourselves as well. Everyone already knows it’s a sham. Everyone already knows it’s a façade because they feel the need to do it as well. We deceive ourselves most when we feel we are deceiving others well. There will always be some who fall for the trick. But we cannot deceive everyone all of the time. For God is watching, and He can never be hoodwinked into thinking you are someone other than you. Therefore Peter says, put away all deceit. Live life before God in front of others. Be ashamed of your flesh, but confess it, and rest on the complete forgiveness of Christ. There is not one sin that we commit that is not a forgiven sin. Therefore be free. Honor God and give Him thanks. We need not wear the mask anymore.

We are to put away all hypocrisy. This is one of the easiest sins to fall into. It has become cliché to ask if we can walk the walk now that we talk the talk. Inward belief and outward actions are the two sides of one coin. What our heart truly believes, our hands will do. What our hands do give true expression to what our heart truly believes. Our tongue plays no part except to either testify to the agreement between heart and hand, or to cover up the real intentions. If our tongue speaks consistently with the heart and hand, and makes no show to deceive others, then we are free of hypocrisy. But if the tongue seeks to cover up the intentions of the heart, making our hands look like they are doing something different than what we know them to be doing, then we are speaking out of both sides of our mouth. Hypocrisy says one thing, and does another. It is the war between the Spirit and flesh with flesh winning a battle. It is difficult to live honestly before God and before ourselves. Our flesh wants to glorify self, and our spirit wants to glorify God, our hearts and hands being the battlefield. We will always be tempted to hypocritical deceptions, because our flesh does not want transparency with others or with God. But Peter tells us to put it away, and so we must be able to. How do we do this? First we must remember what the Lord tasted like. Was He bitter or sour? Did He go down roughly? No. We have tasted the Lord, and indeed He is good. It is the goodness and grace of God that must transform our minds and hearts and be manifested in our hands. The heart attitude of forgiven-ness is a flame that we must continually fan, or else the coals will smolder. Has Christ covered all my sins? Yes. Am I fully and freely a child of God? Yes. Have I been given the Spirit to fight my battles alongside me? Yes. Then rest, Christian. Confess your sins regularly. Be at peace with the grace that has been shown to you in Christ. There is no room for hypocrisy in a grateful heart.

We are to put away all envy. It is really pettiness here that we must deal with. Envy desires the glory that comes with something someone else possesses, at the expense of the other person. In our flesh we cannot abide others being glorified while we sit by and watch. Our flesh convinces us that it is not fair, that it is we who deserve the accolades. But this is simply foolishness. It is triviality. We have been given every spiritual blessing in heaven. We have been given a host of physical blessings on earth. Eyes that see, ears that hear, noses that smell, tongues that taste, skin that feels, hearts that beat, lungs that pull in air, imaginations that can create worlds, minds that can process information and knowledge, souls that can enjoy created delights. All this freely given to us from a Father who loves us, and created us to enjoy His world. And we envy the promotion of our coworker. Is it not silly? Deep down at the bottom? So Peter tells us to put it away. Don’t, in other words. It’s almost easy if our minds and hearts are in the right place. A heart full of gratitude leaves no room for envy either.

Finally, we are to put away all slander. Slander is envy in action. It too is petty. We feel robbed of deserved glory when another receives what we feel is rightfully ours. And so we spread lies about them; we put them down, so that others will feel about them the same way we do, disgusted by the attention shown to them. This rarely works how we want it to however. Like deceit, we are only deceiving ourselves when we make this play. Our desire is that the people we tell lies to will suddenly feel we are the ones who deserve the glory instead of the ones we are slandering. But it cannot succeed. The minute we start slandering others we look aggressive and vindictive, and downright stupid. We cannot hope to win for ourselves the glory we sought to take away from others. Our intentions are plain for all to see. Therefore Peter says, put away all slander. Do not use your tongue as a weapon of self-glorification. It cannot work. As Jesus says, love your enemy, and seek to do them good. Remember who you are as a child of God.

How are we to put these things away? How are we to say no to the tools our flesh is so comfortable with? The answer is easy. It is the doing that presents difficulties. We must immerse ourselves in Christ. This means regular interaction with the Word. This means reading and grappling with our Bibles. This means regular worship with the Body, for this is where we meet Christ and dine with Him. This means regular times of prayer, both personally and with others. Put simply, we are to live a body centered life. Here is where we learn to live in the presence of others without resorting to malice and slander. It is in the warm and forgiving atmosphere of Christ's own family that we gradually come to find freedom from the old ways of life. It is living in the presence of the King and His kin that we find ourselves being renewed and transformed.

We are infants when we first come to Jesus. We are to long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word. We cannot digest the meaty truths that are revealed to us in Scripture right away. We need Christ and Him crucified. But we are to feed on the milk so that we may grow up into our salvation. One of the great failures of our modern culture is to downplay and marginalize maturity. Our elders are sidelined and ignored, and the youth dictate the trends and dynamics of our culture. We do not fear, or honor, or hold in awe anyone based on age or their wisdom. This mentality has crept into the Church to the point that we don't feel the need to go beyond the pure milk of the Word. But Peter calls us to grow up, and so we should.

Therefore put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. These tools no longer belong in our belt. Around our waist there is only room for love, joy and peace; for patience, kindness, and gentleness; for goodness, faithfulness and self-control. Let us strive for these things. Let us strive for Christ.

Musings on 1 Peter (1:13-25)

13-16: With mercy as a backdrop, we move forward with gratitude. Having been given life, we must live it. Life looks different than death. Life takes action. Life works and acts. Not that works and acts are the basis for salvation. May it never be. But good works have been prepared beforehand that we might walk in them. We must work out our salvation, and we only work out what God is already working in. Therefore, Peter says, get up! Get ready! Set your Hope on Christ. Keep Jesus as your center. Rest fully in the grace that has been showered upon you. This requires sober thinking. We must concentrate, and understand it, chew on it and mentally digest it. For grace is a strange thing indeed to the unregenerate heart and mind. It doesn’t make sense. Even to the redeemed, grace has a way of undoing us. It is powerful, and strong. Therefore, be sober-minded, and set your hope fully on the grace that Christ offers. Grace is eternal. Grace has been extended to us from the beginning. Even the act of creation is an act of grace, an act of bestowing and giving. We have received grace upon grace. And yet we still are waiting for more grace at the appearance of Jesus. We have the grace of His second coming to look forward to. Then we shall know Him. Then we shall see Him face to face.

As we wait with eager expectation, we must be formed by the preaching of the word. Our lives are living testimonies of God’s grace. We bear witness of God’s grace with holy living. We are but children in the Lord, and as such are to be obedient to the desires of our Father. Much like earthly fathers know more than their children, and give them commands to follow in order to teach them to grow well, so our Heavenly Father has given us commands to obey, that we might grow straight and true. How can we who have been given a knowledge of the Lord, and have experienced His grace, return to acting as if we knew nothing of what we’ve been taught? How can we return to lives of ignorance? We can see now that it was not simple ignorance, but vile rebellion. How can we who have been shown such mercy, return to lives of disobedience? Is it not the core of ingratitude? Should we not say thank you in how we speak to one another? Should not our actions at work say thank you to a Father who provides? Should we not say thank you with the attitudes we harbor in our heart regarding life’s circumstances? Every breath we take is gift and mercy. Every moment of the day is a moment in which the Lord blesses us with grace and mercy. Should not every breath we take and every moment of the day be an opportunity for us to express our gratitude? In fact it is. We express either gratitude or ingratitude with every step we take. There are only two ways of doing/saying/thinking things. Either we do/speak/think by faith, or we do/say/think apart from faith, and anything not done in faith is sin. There is no middle road. Every thought/word/deed must be taken captive to the obedience of Christ; otherwise it is allowing ourselves to be conformed to the passions of our former ignorance. Our Father is Holy. He is Holiness. We are to be like Him. We were created to be like Him, made in His image. But in the garden we despised the gift. Therefore a new image was needed. The image of God had been defiled. So God made Himself in our image. In Christ we have the first fruits of redeemed mankind. And so now we are remade in the image of Jesus, the image of an obedient and faithful Son. Therefore let all our conduct be reflective of the new life we have been given; let it be a reflection of the image we have been recreated to bear. Let us be holy, as our Father in heaven is Holy. By the power of the Spirit, we can.

17-19: The Lord God Almighty sits enthroned in the capitol city of Heaven. He judges the nations of men. He rules with a rod of iron, brings justice to the poor, and is the strong right arm of the weak. We call on Him as a Father, as our Father, for so He is. He created us. He brought us into being out of nothing. He formed us in our mother’s womb. Therefore let us fear Him. Let us honor Him as God and give Him thanks. Let us not despise His word, nor trample underfoot the vineyard of His mercy. For we were nothing, and He gave us everything. We were a pile of bones, and He wrapped us with sinews and flesh. We were empty of life, and He breathed into us the fresh wind of the Spirit. We were sons of Adam, and He has purchased us with the priceless blood of His Son, so that we might be the adopted heirs of His riches. The spotless blood of the Lamb of God cleansed us of our iniquities, purchased for us freedom, and redeemed us from the futile ways of our forefathers. Therefore, again, let us fear our God with every fiber of our being. Let us honor and obey His word. How else do we say thank you?

20-21: Our God is eternally triune. Father, Son and Spirit. From before time existed, God has dwelt in community and in fellowship. This is why He is love. The monotheistic god cannot be love in himself, for there is no one outside himself to love. And true love is never self-love. True love always has both a subject and an object. True love always flows out. In the mystery that is the Trinity, our one God exists as three Persons, able to show love for one another. In the Trinity love is modeled for us. Love was shown in the manifestation of the eternal Son of God in Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He took on flesh and dwelt among us to show perfect love, to show the greatest love. In Love He laid down His life for His friend, His bride, His Church. The Father showed love in honoring the sacrifice His Son had made; raising Him in new life, He defeated the enemy’s last stronghold. He gave the Son glory so that we might find our faith and our hope in Him. For no man can thwart the plans and intentions of God.

22-25: We have been made new. We have been washed with the purified water of the Spirit. We have dedicated our lives to obedience and faithfulness. Therefore let us love one another. With obedience comes love. Love for God and love for each other. We are family, united by a stronger blood than our own. Let us love one another with a pure heart as well. Peter knows the inclinations of our flesh. He knows we lean toward selfish desires, even as redeemed children of God. Our desire to love will be beset with temptations to demand love in return. But that is not our calling. We are to love with a pure heart, a heart that truly loves others for the sake of others, and not for anything we might receive in return. Peter calls us to love with purity because we have been born again. It does not fit the born again to love selfishly. The husband, newly married, cannot return to pursuing other women. It does not fit. It is off-key and out of tune. Furthermore, we have been reborn from imperishable seed. We were previously born of our mothers like the withering flower of the field; delicate and beautiful, but unable to last. We are now reborn of the living and abiding Word, who was with God in the beginning, and who was God. In Him we will abide forever. Unlike the flower of the field, the one who abides in the Lord will never fall, but will flourish for eternity. This Word is the good news that was preached to us. This is our Gospel hope.

Musings on 1 Peter (1:1-12)

Chapter One
1-2: Peter has written a letter. He has written a letter of encouragement to his brothers who can no longer live in their homeland. The people of God have been sent into the world. The end of an age is approaching; the end of temple worship is at hand. No longer will God’s people center around a particular place in geography. No longer will His children journey to a certain city on a map. They have been “dispersed” among the nations. And this, according to Peter, was accomplished by the foreknowledge of God the Father, so that they may be sanctified by the Spirit. The priestly people have been sprinkled with a blood better than bulls and goats, and therefore have been washed for worship. They have been prepared to kiss the Son, and obey His Word. They have been prepared to receive in abundance both grace and peace.

This is a good thing. This is a good place to be. This is a fertile field where the grace of God and the Peace of salvation can abound, and find increase. It is in the dispersion that we see God provide. It is in exile that we find our true home. For our home is no longer a place. It is no longer a destination. Our Home is a Person. Our Home is Christ. It is our purpose that we find here, surrounded by fields ready to be sown. Our theater for observing God’s abundance is on earth, but our Center is in Heaven. That is where we have citizenship. Therefore our calling is this: To go to all the nations with the grace and peace that has been bestowed upon us, and that is being multiplied within us. Being sent out of our ‘homeland’ we have been made priests, sanctified for ministry. We are to bring the nations before Him who dwells on the Mercy Seat. We hold healing and salvation in our hands, for we hold the blood that washes clean the covering that is cast over all peoples.

Still, life is difficult. We often find ourselves in spiritual, emotional or physical wastelands. Often we feel like exiles; sent away from the comforts and securities of home, be it our physical or emotional home. We have seasons of dryness; deserts, with oases few and far between. But this is where Peter encourages us. Though we find ourselves home-starved, and weary, we have been sent out by the foreknowledge of God our Father, for the sake of obedience to the Son, through the sanctification of the Spirit. This means our dispersion is purposeful. We are to remember that in Christ, we are never far from Home, because He is our Home. We are never truly exiled because the nations belong to Christ. We can never be completely undone because the circumstances we find ourselves in belong to the one who made us, remade us, and ordained us in the ministry of His life. Having been purposed for this world, we can understand our place in it. Struggles, trials, difficult circumstances are all avenues for the sanctifying work of the Spirit. They become the fire and the anvil and the hammer, as we are being shaped and honed. Being dispersed reminds us that the things of this world are not to be our primary focus. We have been foreknowingly sent into the world, exiled in strange and alien countries so that we may proclaim the glory of God. We do this with our lives, our actions, our words, our habits, our time, and our thoughts. As we find our home in Christ, our lives take on the shape of our home; as we focus on our center, our lives become centered on the Truth. This life is the life that is taken to the nations. This is the act of obedience that Peter speaks of. Not only are we sprinkled by the blood, being priests and living sacrifices, but we are to sprinkle the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit, teaching them to obey all that we have been commanded. And behold, He is with us, even to the end of the age.

3-5: What joy we find in Christ. May our lives truly say, “Blessed be our God and Father.” It was His mercy that brought us life. It was His love that brought us hope. In the resurrection, and only in the resurrection, is found living hope, hope that does not die. Wishful thinking dies away. Hope, true hope, will never pass away, for it is grounded in the death of death, and therefore cannot die. Not only have we been raised to new life in this hope, we have been given an inheritance that cannot die either. Our inheritance sits at the right hand of the Father, and has already died once. The promise land of eternal life is freely given, and cannot pass away. Nor can we, for we are being guarded through faith, through the faithfulness of Christ, for a salvation that will come. Full and final salvation awaits, and is the answer to every question that arises in the desert. Behold, the day of the Lord is coming. It makes every season worth it. It makes every trial and every struggle seem bearable, nay, hopeful.

Peter’s encouragement begs us to have this hope now, in the middle of the trials, in the middle of the struggles. To have the perspective of heaven means to see everything that happens here and now as a preparation for that day. These are the months and weeks and days leading up to the Royal Wedding. All preparations are being made. The heads of state are being notified. Invitations are going out. The Bride is being fashioned and beautified. All of it points to the day that is coming. Not one day of preparation is without purpose or importance. The Bride, pressured and stressed, sees the joy that is coming, understands the trajectory of it all, and rests in the faithfulness of the groom to be there at the altar on that coming day. To see Him there makes it all worthwhile. That is our unfailing hope.

6-7: In this we rejoice. We find joy in hope. When hope is sure, there is no room for despair. Even though the externals of this world and its circumstances are painful, difficult, or seemingly impossible. We have all been grieved by various trials. We have all seen and felt and undergone painful and trying events. Whether it be a loved one dying, loss of income, estranged friendships, infertility, family tragedy or whatever; life is hard, life is real, and the hardship and pain is real too. But the trials really do have purpose. Its one thing to say that, and another thing to have that be the mold that forms our attitudes while in the midst of the trial. But Peter declares that these trials, these very real hardships are testing the genuineness of our faith. This is not for God’s benefit either by the way. God knows if our faith is genuine. God knows better than we do ourselves. If our faith is genuine, our faith can only be strengthened that we might see God strengthening it. This changes us. It does not prove anything to God. God is proving something to us. This can only result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Peter may be referring here to the final coming of Christ, when all shall be revealed. But I believe it is also true that when we are being tested, and the genuineness of our faith is being proved, Jesus Christ is being revealed…in us! And this is what we give praise to God for. What started as a lump of clay, is now being fashioned and formed by the Master Potter into glorious vessels of mercy. It is no longer we who live, but Christ who lives in and through us. This is the purpose of trials: that Christ may be revealed in us, that Christ might be shown to the world through our lives. This tested faith takes on more value than gold, which perishes though tested with fire. It is more valuable because it will not perish. It will go on, into eternity.

8-9: We have not seen Jesus face to face. Not then, not now. But we love Him. We believe in Him. This can only be a work of the Spirit. How can an unregenerate heart love someone they have never known? How can an unregenerate soul believe in someone they have never seen? Our hearts truly have been made new. How else could even the idea of loving and believing in Jesus sound plausible? Truly we have been reborn through the Spirit. In this love and through our faith, which is pure gift, not something we have accomplished, but rather something we have obtained, through this faith we have seen salvation. We have tasted life. Salvation has been given to us. And because of the pure grace of it, the undiluted mercy shown to us by God our Father, we find ourselves unable to adequately express the joy that fills our hearts. It is inexpressible. Joy cannot be explained or diagramed. It can only be eaten, laughed, shared, cried, drunk. Words fail our finite tongues. Raising a glass begins to scratch the surface of what this joy means. It means glory. Our lives now take on the weight and the purpose of glory. Our Father glorifies the Son and the Son glorifies the Father, and the Spirit together is worshipped and glorified with the Father and the Son. We now partake in that glory, for we partake of the Father, in Christ, through the Spirit. It is what we are saved to. This glory then fills our lives, transforming us from one level to the next, overflowing into our workplaces, our neighborhoods, and our markets. This salvation, this joy, this glory becomes the center that defines our lives. It becomes the mold that shapes our reactions to trials of varying degrees of difficulty. Salvation and glory and joy are the liquid that the sponge that is our life soaks in, so that when squeezed, the liquid of glory and joy comes rushing out. This is our gospel witness. This is true evangelism.

10-12: This story is not a new one. It has been foretold from the beginning. The seed of the woman would destroy the seed of the serpent. Throughout history we see the two lines warring and attacking one another, with the seed of the woman always coming out on top. The prophets saw this, and proclaimed the Word of the Lord, declaring the coming sufferings of Christ along with His subsequent glories. Here we are again. Glory is not an add-on. Glory is not like a sticker that you put on your window. Glory does not adorn anything. Glory is the product of trial. Christ suffered, tremendously. Because of His suffering He obtained glory. We who are in Christ, participated then, through faith, in the sufferings He underwent on the cross. We also live out the cross in our daily lives, bearing the pain and trials of living in a sin cursed world. But we also, through faith, obtained the glories of resurrected life with Christ as He ascended and took His throne above. We also, having taken up our cross daily, and having died daily to the temptations of our flesh, join in the glory of the resurrection now. It was revealed to the prophets that we were the reason Christ would come and suffer. Their writings were intended for our elder brothers the Jews, so that they may obtain hope. We, as true Israel, are served by the prophets therefore in being the recipients of the good news which was preached to us. This gospel was brought to us through the Holy Spirit who was sent from Heaven. This story of grace is so marvelous, so stupendous, so ridiculously beautiful that angels long to understand the theme. They long to see what it is God is doing. They are desperate to look into the book of grace that is being enacted daily in our lives. We have experienced something that no other creature, in heaven or on earth, can experience. That something is mercy.