Guarded (1 Peter 1:1-12)

Monday, March 31, 2008

Psalms 1,2,3; 1 Peter 1:1-12


Due to a little bit of demand (as opposed to popular demand) I'm going to continue with the Restoration Project beyond Matthew. I'm going to give a try at commenting devotionally on the epistle readings for the Daily Office lectionary this Easter season. Already I see that I would much rather break 1 Peter up into smaller sections, but we'll give it a go.

[Secondly, what a disappointment that Davidson could not overcome Kansas. It came down to the very last shot, which is saying so much for the little Presbyterian school from just north of Charlotte, NC - but what a great and fun story! ]

+ + + + +

"you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."
(1 Peter 1:5)

Leading up to Peter's comments about the necessity of being grieved through various trials, he first speaks of a series of truths about God's people scattered around Asia. It's important to hear and hold onto these before we mull over the reality and necessity of fiery trials.

First, they are elect, or chosen, exiles according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood. To begin with, in his salutation, Peter invokes the "Trinity" and uses covenantal language - election, exile, sanctification (being "set apart"), obedience, blood - as he addresses these believers, sprinkling themes he will refer to throughout his letter to them.

These first two verses are so rich, and deserve much thought and meditative prayer. But we move on. Peter blesses God that, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus, to an imperishable inheritance kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Peter will immediately move on to speak of trials and their strengthening, purifying effect on our faith. But first he says we are guarded by God's power. The power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead, the power of the sanctifying Holy Spirit who implants the life and hope of God within us, this power guards us. There is a sense here that those of us who are not safe at home in God's eternal city, the new Jerusalem, who are scattered as exiles in this world, nevertheless are still guarded by God for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. We who have been chosen, set apart and cleansed, will be saved.

Whatever trials we face - pain, confusion, questioning; the loss of people or what seemed so promising; difficulty, persecution, even death - we are being guarded by God's power to the end that we will be saved through the trials and from the trials. And whatever "fire" we do pass through has been permitted past the guardianship of the Father, and the Son, and the Spirit, as a necessity, in order that we might trust him more deeply and fully, and know more and more of him, and through it all, in the end, that our faith in its fired purity and brilliance will result in praise and honor and glory to him who

• chose us
• set us apart for himself and for obedience to Jesus
• bought and cleansed us with his blood
• gave us new birth through Jesus' resurrection
  
• gave us a living hope
• gave us an imperishable inheritance
• guards us by his power
  
• purifies our faith through our trials

Yes, faith is a big factor in these opening verses. But clearly, it is trust/belief in someone who has done some things on our behalf totally apart from our ability, nobility, goodness, power, or even desire to do so. It is neither blind, nor generated by us as a way to cope. It is the result of having been chosen and sanctified and sprinkled with the blood of the covenant; it is the amen of the great mercy and the new birth and the living hope and the imperishable inheritance and the guardianship of God. It is a gift and a grace.

This whole section concludes with Peter saying that angels "long" (or lust, literally) to look into this message of the gospel of God in Christ. This too is how our faith is purified and strengthened to his honor and glory - it is as we consider again and again the beauty of the Lord and all he has done. As we remember the story for which we have been captured. And as we look at him who loves us so much he went through the ultimate fiery trial on our behalf, and who promises to be with us in ours (Isaiah 43:2; Daniel 3; Hebrews 12:5-6).

[ cf. Psalms 1, 2, 3]

week of March 30

Prayer for 2nd Sunday of Easter

Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ's Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Readings for week of March 30

30 Acts 2:14a,22-32; Ps 111; 1 Peter 1:3-9; John 20:19-31
31 1,2,3; Exod. 14:5-31; 1 Peter 1:1-12; John 14:1-17
April
1 5, 6; Exod. 15:1-21; 1 Peter 1:13-25; John 14:18-31
2 119:1-24; Exod. 15:22-16:10; 1 Pet 2:1-10; John 15:1-11
3 18:1-20; Exod. 16:10-22; 89:19-52; Matthew 7:7-12
4 16,17; Exod. 16:23-36; 1 Pet. 3:13-4:6; John 16:1-15
5 20, 21:1-14; Exod. 17:1-16; 1 Pet. 4:7-19; John 16:16-33

see you Monday

I'm going to take a few more days off, but I will probably post devotions on the 1 Peter readings beginning next Monday.

Peace

God with us (Mt 28:16-20)

Thursday of Holy Week, March 27, 2008

Matthew 28:16-20

"And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age."
(Matthew 28:20)

Matthew's last verse brings back the promise of chapter 1:23 -
"Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel"
(which means, God with us).

Though we never hear him called "Immanuel" - we have here in the conclusion of the gospel a wrapping together of the coming of the Son of God (3:17), the son of David, the son of Abraham (1:1), the Christ, the son of the living God (16:16). "He has risen, as he said" (28:6). He will always be "God with us," as he said.

And he is with us even in this going before us to meet us in the place to which he calls us, and goes forth with us in the work he has given us to do - making disciples, baptizing them into the life of the Trinity, and teaching them to obey his commands (the commands we not only teach with our mouths but demonstrate with our actions - by our obedience).

This life with him and work with him is a corporate enterprise. It's not just me and Jesus. Even as we are to immerse people into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, into the life of the Trinity, the holy community, so we are called to this work together, in bands of disciples who experience his presence in their midst, who worship him, listen to him, and obey him together.

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them."
(Matthew 18:20)

Christ has died, Christ is risen... (Mt 28:1-16)

Easter, 2008

Matthew 28:1-16


My message Easter Sunday began by focusing on the message of the angel: "Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified."

First, we seek him who was crucified. These woman were eyewitnesses of his death and of his burial. Their following Jesus led them to the cross, and their seeking Jesus brought them to the tomb. This is where we have to start too - with the end of our hopes and dreams, of our understanding of how things could or should have been, the end of our living life our own way, with letting go and total surrender.

And yet this leads to the message, "He is not here, for he has risen, as he said... and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him."

This all ties in with the Colossians reading for Easter Sunday:
"Since you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God..." (3:1-4)

We seek him who was crucified, who is risen, and who is going before us. We seek the things that "are above." This means things that are of God and of the life of the risen Lord Jesus, things that have their life and source from God in heaven and not from a human, worldly or devilish source (cf. James 3:13-18). Paul goes on to say in Colossians 3 that the things that are above look like compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness, love and peace - which, in fact, are very "earthly," or this worldly, in the sense that they are to be manifested in this real world with real people.

Jesus is indeed alive and going before us. We have life and future and hope in him. In his resurrection he has conquered sin and death and every enemy that seeks to kill, steal and destroy the people God created and loves. As we do our business at the cross and at the tomb, and as we experience new life in relationship with Jesus Christ, we are called out and into his future. He is going before us. He has work for us to do, joining him in his continuing mission. Let us seek him, let us worship him, let us go forth in the name of Christ.

resting on the Sabbath (Mt 27:57-66)

Holy Saturday, March 22, 2008

Psalm 17; Matthew 27:57-66


Prayer for Holy Saturday
O God, Creator of heaven and earth: Grant that, as the crucified body of your dear Son was laid in the tomb and rested on this holy Sabbath, so we may await with him the coming of the third day, and rise with him to newness of life; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Whoever mocks and reviles Jesus, whoever plots and conspires against the Lord, his purposes, or his people will in the end be frustrated and fail. Whether disciples (Judas), religious (chief priests, elders, scribes, Pharisees, Caiaphas), populous (crowds, the "world"), political (Pilate), prisoners (the crucified robbers), or the powerful (Roman soldiers) - we can rest in Jesus. We can trust in the Lord, and his victorious suffering and triumphant death. He has made a public spectacle of them and triumphed over them all in his cross. He will make all things right, and we shall rise with him.

As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness.
(Psalm 17:15)

Faithful cross, Noble tree (Mt 27:1-56))

Good Friday, March 21, 2008

Psalm 16; Matthew 27:1-56


Prayer for Good Friday
Almighty God, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our Lord Jesus Christ was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.


Anthems before the Cross

(1)
We glory in your cross, O Lord,
and praise and glorify your holy resurrection;
for by virtue of your cross joy has come to the whole world.

May God be merciful to us and bless us,
show us the light of his countenance, and come to us.

Let your ways be known upon earth,
your saving health among all nations.

Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.

We glory in your cross, O Lord,
and praise and glorify your holy resurrection;
for by virtue of your cross joy has come to the whole world.

(2)
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

If we have died with him, we shall also live with him;
if we endure, we shall also reign with him.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

(3)
O Savior of the world,
who by thy cross and precious blood hast redeemed us;
Save us and help us, we humbly beseech thee, O Lord.


Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle
(I love this hymn)

Sing, my tongue, the glorious battle; of the mighty conflict sing;
tell the triumph of the victim, to his cross thy tribute bring.
Jesus Christ, the world’s Redeemer from that cross now reigns as King.

Thirty years among us dwelling, his appointed time fulfilled,
born for this, he meets his passion, this the Savior freely willed:
on the cross the Lamb is lifted, where his precious blood is spilled.

He endures the nail, the spitting, vinegar, and spear, and reed;
from that holy body broken blood and water forth proceed:
earth, and stars, and sky, and ocean, by that flood from stain are freed.

Faithful cross! Above all other, one and only noble tree!
None in foliage, none in blossom, none in fruit thy peer may be:
sweetest wood and sweetest iron! sweetest weight is hung on thee.

Bend thy boughs, O tree of glory! Thy relaxing sinews bend;
for awhile the ancient rigor that thy birth bestowed suspend;
and the King of heavenly beauty gently on thine arms extend.

Praise and honor to the Father, praise and honor to the Son,
praise and honor to the Spirit, ever Three and ever One:
one in might and one in glory while eternal ages run.

Closing prayer of the Good Friday liturgy

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, we pray you to set your passion, cross, and death between your judgment and our souls, now and in the hour of our death. Give mercy and grace to the living; pardon and rest to the dead; to your holy Church peace and concord; and to us sinners everlasting life and glory; for with the Father and the Holy Spirit you live and reign, one God, now and for ever. Amen.


"You will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption."
(Psalm 16:10; Acts 2:27)