November 24, 2014

Peter as Pastor - 1 Peter 2 (Post 23)

Church.  What comes to mind when you read or hear that word?  Your images, whether positive or negative, come from your own experiences, or from what you have read, or from what you have seen portrayed through media.  Your images also are effected by what country you live in, or, if you are in the United States, what part of this country you live in.  Church.  Rather than take our information from our messed up, fallen world and cultures, why not glean information from Peter, the apostle appointed by Jesus Himself to begin her building?  Peter explains to his readers what the reality of "church" is.  Let's listen.

Read 1 Peter 2: 4 - 12

What can we learn about the church?  

1.  The church is community.  Peter calls it a spiritual house whose foundation and corner stone is Jesus Himself.  It really is not any physical building - not the grand cathedrals or the quaint country houses that have provided meeting places for the people of God.  It is a spiritual house.  And the building blocks are not stones or bricks or wood, but individual believers.  Cranfield writes:
"The free-lance Christian, who would be a Christian but is too superior to belong to the visible church upon earth in one of its forms, is simply a contradiction in terms."
None of us are naive about 'church'.  I know well that our churches made up of humans are messy at best.  I know they fail often.  I know they disappoint.  I know they fall short of the ideal.  I know her members sin and bring reproach on her name.  I know some have been judgmental and practiced exclusivity and exclusion. Yet they are to be the visible form of what is a spiritual reality.  And I also know Christ left this earth physically and left the church to live out His life in their unique places.  I know they matter.  And I know that each of us, as believers, need her. And she needs us.  After all, a brick by itself is pretty useless.  One cannot build a building with a solo brick.  

Church is community.  Are you part of one?

2.  The church is a community of priests.  All of her people are to be priests.  Peter said we are to be a holy priesthood.  Remember that Peter was a Jewish man and as such, would have been schooled in the Mosaic law and history.  His language here echoes back to God's words to Moses about the Israelites.  The Israelites had a purpose ... God-given ... and God described it to Moses atop Mount Sinai with these words:
"Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation."   (Exodus 19: 5 - 6)
So what is a priest?  Centuries of church history and denominational differences have created a false sense of the word.  We see it more as a special rank than a universal position.  We see it more as a seminary appointed task than the privileged place of service for all believers.  Our eyesight is skewed.  What is a priest?  
 
          a.  A priest is one with access to God.  And every believer has access to the throne of God.  The Hebrews writer said:
"Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence ..."  (Hebrews 4:16)
You can do that ... yourself ... because Jesus is your High Priest and has given you, as a priest, access.  He is your mediator.  He opened the door ...

          b.  Not only may we go before God on our own behalf, we can bring others before that very throne as well.  In Latin, the word 'priest' is 'pontifex' - which means bridge-builder.  You can bring all the ones you love and care about before God ... and talk with Him about them ... and trust Him with them.  Do you?  Are you a priest for them?

          c.  A priest presents the offerings before God.  That was his work.  So what are our 'offerings'? Our work - all for God.  Our worship - all about God.  Our self - a living sacrifice to God. (Romans 12:1).  Have you presented offering to God today?

Church is made up of priests.  If you are a believer, you are one.  
Do you do the work of a priest?

3.  The church has a purpose.  Peter said it was "to declare the praises of Him who called you ..." Yes, there will be teaching and caring for the poor.  There will be evangelizing and supporting one another.  There will be training children and caring for her elderly.  But ALL is to the praise of God. ALL is because of His work in each of our lives.  ALL.  

Are you, as a living stone in the church, fulfilling your purpose?  If not, why not?

In spite of the portrayal that most movies give of "Christians", it is the most beautiful way to live a life.  Peter uses picturesque language in these verses to describe exactly what being a Christian means.  He said, 

Being Christian means you have been removed from the place of darkness and placed securely in the place of light.  Living in the light ... 

Being Christian means you have been removed from meaningless, insignificant existence and placed securely in the place of significance.  My life matters ...

Being Christian means you have been removed from having to live without mercy and placed securely in the place of mercy.  Mercy from God ... toward you.  

Church.  The following excerpt came from a blog post from the Woodmont Hills Church of Christ during the Lenten season, 2014:
The greatest buildings on earth will one day crumble to the ground.  Nothing built by man lasts forever.  Because the temple God is building is made of living stones, it will never be destroyed.  It will never crumble and it will never need renovation.  And we who believe are part of it.  Every Christian is part of God's temple.

You can always tell when a new building is being constructed by the massive scaffolding that encircles the new building as it rises from the ground.  As long as you see the scaffolding, you know the building isn't finished.  The scaffolding is the last thing to go.  But when it is removed, you know the building is finished.  Every local church is part of the visible scaffolding around the invisible temple God has been building.  When the final living stone has been placed in the temple, the scaffolding will come tumbling down, the trumpet will sound, the archangel will shout, and we will get the see the grand work God has been doing for the last twenty centuries.

Church ... it is indeed a beautiful word!


November 15, 2014

Peter as Pastor - 1 Peter 1

We don't have the privilege of knowing anything about Peter's day by day activities once the Biblical narrative turned to Paul and the Gentiles.  We don't know exactly when Peter left Jerusalem, but we know that he did.  Did he ever cross paths with Paul outside of Jerusalem?  We don't know.  Did he spend time in the cities where Paul established churches?  We don't know.  According to early Christian sources, both Peter and Paul were executed within a few years of the Roman fire under Emperor Nero which was in 64 A.D.  People suspected Nero himself as the arsonist, but a scapegoat was found in the unpopular religious sect - the Christians - who were social outcasts and already suspected of wicked practices.  Horrible executions and persecution began to take place.  

So Peter writes.  He writes to believers ... he writes out of the love of a pastor's heart to help people who were experiencing troubled times and for whom worse things lay ahead.  He writes, not to correct theological heresy, but to strengthen men and women who were in danger of losing their lives because of their faith.  Let's listen in ... he offers wisdom for you and I in our lives and for our time as well.

Read 1 Peter 1  

Reflect on these precious things that this pastor wants you to know:

1.  Peter wants you to know that God, Himself, birthed you!  And He birthed you into a hope that is alive - living - never to die.  He also birthed you into an inheritance that is perfect and pure.  

2.  Peter wants you to know that trials and trouble refine you - they test your faith and prove it to be strong and stable.  

3.  Peter gives 5 declarative command statements in verses 13 - 16.  Watch the progression -

          a.  prepare your minds
          b.  discipline yourselves
          c.  set ALL your hope on the grace revealed in Jesus
          d.  don't conform to previous desires
          e.  be holy in all your conduct

          See the way they link together?  Mental preparation leads to personal discipline which effects behaviors.  

4.  Peter wants you to know that holiness in life matters.  Why?  Because God is holy and we have been birthed by Him.  What does that look like, according to Peter?  Consider 3 things:

           First:  A holy life is a life of obedience.  When God speaks, His children obey.  
Jeannette Clift George wrote:  "Our will and God's sovereignty meet at the option of obedience."  
She also wrote:  "I expect from God a far reaching assignment and He says, 'First clean out your desk!'  Sometimes the nearest obedience is the the hardest thing to do."

Obedience is so closely linked to faithfulness.  

            Second:  A holy life is a life of reverence toward God.  It recognizes the presence of God in every moment.  It is an attitude of the mind.  It is the mind that is always in the presence of God.  

            Third:  A holy life is a life of love.  It is visible.  It is active.  It is fervent.  

So, believer, face what is in front of you today.  You can.  Because you are secure in the presence of God.  He walks with you.  His Spirit is in you.