Please remember that you bless us with your presence, and may the Holy Spirit bring you His wisdom and His understanding.
[1 Peter 2:11-17] – Living in a Pagan World – What is our world like today compared with our Colonial days? These were the thoughts of our founders: “As citizens we are to be ambassadors for Christ as if God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” [2 Cor. 5:20] The God-given function of the State, “is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath upon the one who practices evil.” [1 Peter 2:13-14; Rom. 13:4; 1 Tim 2:1-2] Imagine trying to say that today in a civic meeting or a court of law. What did Jesus preach when encountering the ‘world’ in Israel? “But I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Rem-ember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent.” [Rev.2:4-5]
“We are the ‘house’ in which God dwells.” With a rewriting of the sentence to read: "We are the 'house' in which God dwells; and Jesus is its cornerstone." Remember that from last week? Please think of the sentence as an entry into Contemplative prayer. – I am still trying to get my mind around the power of those words. If that is who we are – what are our priorities? How do we behave? How do we live within the cultures of today? Do we understand who we really are within God’s great world changing purposes? Is it necessary to learn to live accordingly? Is it important for whom we vote? For centuries the folks of Israel had to learn to live their faith, hope and communal life while being ruled by non-Jews. Pagans as they would later be called. Pagans cared nothing for the Jewish faith. Do pagans now rule in Washington, DC? The pagans did not share the hopes of the Jews and they mocked their communal life. Peter even uses the word dispersion. [1.1] and this forms what Peter is now saying; which is subtle, balanced and important to contemplate. Peter appears to be a stern moralist, saying, Hold back from fleshly desires. The world then, as now, seems to say, “the more one can gratify fleshly desires the better.” The only thing restraining us is having enough money (affordability of food and drink) and fear (creating a jealous rival/spouse).
Peter is clear, he is not anti sex, food or drink; each has its appropriate time and place. As humans, if we were to submit to our desires, we would indulge in many stupid and dehumanizing activities. Think of that and realize self-control is vital. Peter wants us to recognize our ‘true life’, a new self. [1:1-5; 2:4-10] Here is Peter’s astute observation: You are God’s new Temple, but you are dispersed among the nations. And then: You must not behave as they do, otherwise your real purpose – to reveal to them who God is and what He has done; [2:9] will be squashed before it has even begun. With Jesus a new religion began and the topical response was, ‘just like all the others.’ But, in spite of all the persecutions, Christians displayed a new way of life. Some Christians began to see themselves above ordinary life and that they were above every day right and wrong. Peter affirmed, ‘twas not so, the world needs to see that your conduct is honorable. He reminds us again we do not know when Christ will reappear; and we want the pagans to say, Yup, you were right, not; Yup, those Christians truly made a mess of what they were supposed to do. We must let the pagans see a genuine way of living. [v. 13-17] In the past we have seen tyranny in Germany, Russia, N Korea, Iran and China leading the pack around the world. In other parts of the world, we are more apt to see ‘emperors’, but actually any heavy-handed authoritarianism is wrong: obviously wrong, obviously corrupt, obviously not what God wanted. Meanwhile, in scripture we see a consistent attack on all those human rulers who abuse their power.
Many now know, as the Jews knew, that tyrants could behave abominably towards God’s faithful people. However, it is God’s will that His created human earth should be ruled and governed by human authorities. Order is preferred over chaos, even though order can turn into tyranny and this could lead us into a form of ‘revolutionary’ politics. (1st or 21st C) Peter advocates another approach. Be subject to ruling authorities, but by your good behavior you shame those who want to criticize you. That is how God established His presence and His rule ‘on earth as in heaven.’ Oppressive tyranny and violent revolution are not the only alternatives. Serving God via living a peaceful, wise, good life is ultimately more revolutionary than simply overthrowing one corrupt regime and replacing it with another which will eventually perpetuate the axiom that history repeats itself.
Peter does not imagine this will be easy or that miraculously and instantaneously others will respect the followers of Jesus. On the contrary, Christians will be called to suffer, some greatly, and some unjustly – patterned after Jesus Himself. But all that happens within Peter’s solid, biblical advice and toward which our moral and social compasses will swing back toward regardless of what interruptions might happen. Christians are to respect allpeople. They are to love the family. They are to share with other Christians anything that is needed. They must put God first in all things. And they must pay respect to the leader. That is a big bite to chew. But how does one eat an elephant?
‘Respect’ does not mean one must agree with all the ruler says or does. But God has appointed him/her for the moment. Recall what Jesus said to Pontius Pilate [John 19:11] “You would have no power over me, if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” In some ways the political climate in most of the world has changed substantially from Jesus’ time. This might lead us to misunderstand Peter and imagine him to be happy to be in collusion with tyrants and claim him to be naïve. Such is not the case, stay tuned. Amen
Love, hank
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