Good morning and welcome to Thursday’s podcast. My name is Alan and today we continue our little jaunt through Peter’s second letter. Today we have reached chapter 2 and verses 1-12.

REFLECTION:

You can hear the full reading at the end of this reflection, but for now, we will read verses 9 and 10. Before that a little context:

This is a tough passage. Peter begins by talking about false prophets who bring swift destruction on themselves, before outlining some of God’s judgements that we read about in the Old Testament. He ends with the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah and how God rescued Lot – Abraham’s nephew – from a depraved and lawless society… here’s today’s reading:

if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.  This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.

On Monday and Tuesday we considered the enemy within and the enemy without: the desires of our flesh and the work of the devil. On Wednesday we considered Peter, his life and ministry and how, overcoming his failure, winning the war against the devil, God used him powerfully as he simply bore witness to the majesty of Jesus – as he told people what he had seen and heard of God.

Today we find ourselves wrestling with judgment and punishment – Yippee!  Before we go any further I want to be clear…

There will be a day of judgment.

We will be judged.

This is undisputed in the New Testament.

God will judge, he will right every wrong, he will reset the world, there will be justice… and it will be good.

I have been blessed to have a family. I have a rather wonderful wife and 3 children. The eldest is about to leave for university. Now imagine there was some bad stuff going on between my children – I know it seems very unlikely, but believe me we have had our fair share – one is being mean, the other is stealing their sibling’s stuff. Imagine if Helen and I just let it go – if we did nothing.  Chaos would ensue. It would be horrible.

Instead we have tried our best to discipline our children. No, not punishment and beatings but discipline… we have tried to train our kids to do the right thing. We have tried to let them feel the consequences of their actions. No, not punishment and beatings, but fractured relationships, anger, broken trust and the possibility of reprisals – justice being taken into the hands of their slighted siblings.

We have had to judge between them.

Have we always got this right? Far from it! Have I had to apologise for getting it wrong? Oh yes, many times.

The point is that without justice there is brokenness, and without God’s justice there is a cycle of fear, hurt and revenge.

As Christians we are called to live a different way. Not turning a blind eye to injustice, not covering over sin as if it doesn’t matter but taking responsibility for our actions, admitting our faults, making amends, ministering forgiveness, seeking reconciliation, allowing room for God’s justice and not seeking revenge.

All this within our own families and within our Christian communities, but it doesn’t stop there. No, we have also been given the task of being salt and light in this world. We have a part to play in standing against injustice, working for greater equality, ministering forgiveness and working for reconciliation, allowing space for God’s justice and so breaking the cycle of fear, hate and punishment.

You see, we will all face judgment… “This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh and despise authority.” – those who do what they want and reject God’s way by the way they live their lives.

Yes we have Jesus alongside us, yes his love casts out a multitude of sins, yes his grace is sufficient for us, yes we have been set free…

So let’s live up to our calling not take it for gr...