Links for today’s readings:
Read: Ezekiel 39 Listen: (4:51)
Read: 1 Peter 2 Listen: (3:48)
Links for this weekend’s readings:
Read: Ezekiel 40 Listen: (8:21), Read: 1 Peter 3 Listen: (3:30)
Read: Ezekiel 41 Listen: (4:40), Read: 1 Peter 4 Listen: (2:50)
Scripture Focus: 1 Peter 2.11-17
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.
Reflection: Exceptional Emperors
By John Tillman
When we think about difficult commands in the Bible, we might first think of the Old Testament. Sacrificial practices, laws about “unclean” things, sabbath rules, or other ritualistic regulations seem overly complex and strange to us. Commands to conquer or destroy enemies, wipe out opposing nations, or execute people for adultery or idolatry seem brutal.
But with a quick scan of human history, we don’t actually have difficulty with those types of commands. We excel at creating and enforcing overly complex systems of rules. Just look at the United States tax code. We also don’t typically have a problem adopting brutality and violence when faced with nations, people groups, or ideas we fear. Recent history shows that fear makes fanaticism and might makes right, even in modern “enlightened” times.
Cultural prejudices tell us the most difficult to follow commands are in the Old Testament, but the commands we fail most often to obey are from Jesus and the New Testament writers.
Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Forgive repeatedly. Do not resist insults. Take up your cross. These, and others like them, are the hardest commands of Jesus and the entire Bible. They are hard for us and were hard for the disciples, including Peter.
Peter was a natural fighter, not a forgiver. He was quick to blurt out curses and quick to draw a sword. Jesus went “the extra mile” several times to get these lessons into Peter’s head.
Peter was slow to learn these commands, but he did learn them. He demonstrates this with his own exceptionally hard commands.
Submit to human authorities. Even pagan ones.
Show proper respect to everyone. Even enemies.
Honor the emperor. Even if it is Nero.
We may think our political situation is bad. Perhaps your candidate lost and the other candidate won. Perhaps you think the winner is exceptionally bad. Peter’s situation was worse. No authorities Christians typically face today are as anti-Christian as the Greco-Roman pagans Peter’s readers faced.
Nero was an exceptionally bad emperor but Peter made no exception for the character his readers must demonstrate. We do not have exceptions for our character based on living under a bad “emperor.”
Exceptionally wicked times or emperors, do not justify exceptions to following the way of Jesus.
Good deeds silence enemies faster than returning evil for evil.
Our character under adversity shines God’s glory brighter than victories.
From John: Divine Hours prayers will return next week. For the remainder of this week we will close with the “Election Prayers” that have been in our Echo Prayer feed for the last few years.
Election Prayers:
Pray that in any unrest or conflict that Christians would distinguish themselves from the culture by being able to protest without violence or threat and by being able to give a listening and compassionate ear to even the most strident of opposition.
Pray that we would not be guilty of name-calling or any unwholesome or dehumanizing language.
Pray that what comes from our speech would demonstrate the truth in love no matter what happens around us.
Pray that Christians would not be part of sinful gloating, of boasting, or threatening others over political wins or losses.
Pray that all parties and individuals would reject violence or threats of violence and seek justice for victims of political violence.
Read more about Different Kind of Exile
Peter’s words about living in a pagan society have always been applicable, but they seem especially appropriate to our times
Read more about Repurposed Weapons
Our world, and Satan who rules it, wants us to be their weapons…Tragically, we are often deceived and march to war
