Daily Liturgy and Scripture

Is this kind of leadership seen anywhere else in the church? Those called to be leaders are not called to be kings, but to be humble servants of those around them. This is good news for the younger members of the church, because the bond of love that is given by the Spirit is what drives those in authority. Only Jesus could have brought something like this about.

As Peter closes out the book, he again emphasizes the importance of holy living. Of course, this is not what punches our ticket to Heaven, but it is critical to be a follower of Christ. We are given gifts to serve God and one another, and we should also submit to both one another and Christ. Peter has covered this ground before, the bizarre Kingdom of Heaven that honors those who honor others above themselves. The end result is a life that gets attention, and life life of Christ can be fully known by others.

The submission that Peter asked us to learn in the previous passage now becomes more important, because it trains us for the suffering we must endure. This is what Christ did, and we are his followers. John Stott once said, ““If we Christians compromised less, we would undoubtedly suffer more.” This is certainly food for thought, but it’s also consistent with the pattern of Jesus. To be uncompromising, we will encounter resistance. This isn’t refusing to listen and pushing others away because they disagree. In this Kingdom, we are gentle, kind, and loving. That type of combination takes a lifetime to learn.

To follow Christ is to learn humility and submission. This isn’t just for one group of people over another. Peter’s point is that we should all learn it in the places where we are: slaves to masters, wives to husbands, husbands to wives, and all of us to the government authorities. This isn’t some hierarchy that Peter lays out so we can see who should be the boss of someone else. The point is those who are learning submission, not requiring special circumstances or some high holy ritual. It can be practiced right where we are.

There is no denying the identity of Christ, and Peter here calls him the “cornerstone.” He also calls believers living stones, and those stones depend on the cornerstone for their support. Such should be true of our lives if we are following Christ. It’s not an easy way, or everyone would do it.

Today we start 1 Peter, a short book written by one of the best-known of the apostles. He’s talking about persecution and enduring, but also being bought by the blood of Christ. Peter should know this better than anyone. He certainly suffered persecution, and even denied knowing Jesus during his life. He’s also the one who stood up to preach at Pentecost and the author of this letter to churches in Asia. It’s not the mistakes along the way that define us, thank goodness. It’s how we finish the race.

A note about the Old Testament reading: Kings and Chronicles tell many of the same stories, they were just written at different times in Hebrew history. If you think this sounds familiar today, you probably remember it from our Chronicles readings. But on to James! Actually aware from James, since today is the end of the book. This has been a lot of holiness living, which is important to the Christian walk. James comes back around, in the end, to humility: warnings against relying on riches, encouragement for patience, and enduring in prayer. All of these bring us to a posture of servanthood, the same posture that Christ modeled.

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” seems kind of goofy. Almost like we’re doing all the work, because we have to coax God over. That’s not how it works. The Spirit of God lives in us, so he is always there. Our job is to apply ourselves to the work of recognizing him, and that awareness creates a unique fellowship. Not only with God, but with one another.

(Short reading today!) Some things in the Bible can be found in common sense, and “watch your mouth” seems like one of them. Moments like this remind us that being a follower of Jesus isn’t wrapped up in complicated theology, it’s human. There are things that make us better people, as Jesus chose to become a person. Speaking kindness to one another is certainly one of those.

What we do doesn’t earn God’s love, but it does show our love for him. Just as the Spirit produces fruit such as love, peace, patience, and kindness, our lives should be defined by the love of God and the moving of that Spirit. That Spirit is life, and the life of God should be shared.