Lives of Humility

Therefore, beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by him at peace, without spot or blemish; 15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation.

- 2 Peter 3: 14 – 15a

The generation who had known Jesus in the flesh and who had heard him say they would see the Son of Man returning in glory and power expected it would be in their lifetime. But it was not. Their followers likewise thought the time was near, but death intervened, and teachers came along questioning the promise. They told these early Christians that knowing Jesus as Christ didn’t require them to live expectantly and righteously. Echoing the Epicureans who argued God was totally beyond the earthly realm and uninvolved with the affairs of men, these teachers encouraged the followers to reengage the local society and reap the benefits of the Empire. They need not fear imminent judgement. The writer of second Peter adamantly counsels otherwise. The coming is in God’s time, and, as Jesus had said, it would be as unknown as the arrival of a “thief in the night.” Those who truly knew Jesus as Lord must be prepared and blameless. As they waited, they were to strive for a life worthy of Christ. In the in-between time they who knew of God’s salvific work in Christ could grow into persons ready to become citizens of the new heaven and new earth. The delay perhaps provided the opportunity to increase righteousness on earth and expand repentance among the population as a whole. Being Christian was more than affirming a set of beliefs; it demanded a disciplined and moral life.

We obviously live in the same relationship with the Parousia as did those to whom the letter was written. And perhaps we too entertain the notion that our faith makes no real demand on our life choices. Judgment, end times, are ideas simply for the fringes. Even if we think less of a coming eschaton, does not our affirmation of the Lordship of Christ and a God who is making all things new require a response worked out in the way we live our lives? We are often aware that our lives fall short of what we would desire and certainly short of what we as redeemed in Christ would expect.

The question to us, it seems, is much the same as the one the writer poses for the early church congregations:

Will Christ find you faithful when he comes?

Are you using the waiting time to do the work of preparing the earth for the reign of God?

Is your relationship with God and with humanity, right?

Interestingly when we think of times of expectancy, we may remember that when we concentrated so on the end to come time seemed to crawl. However, when we engaged ourselves in other activities, sometimes those of preparation for the coming event, the time seemed to move swiftly by. I suspect most women who have carried a child are aware of that paradox. Those who have longed to be finished with schooling in belief that “being adult” would free them, perhaps as they look back, realize that the time had its necessary preparatory purpose. Ponder perhaps what in your life, what in our life, is necessary to welcome Christ’s return. Try walking humbling with our God.

Lord, let our waiting response be acceptable in your sight. Amen.

Caroline Martin

RH Covenant Partner