In The Meantime

In the meantime…In the meantime means, until something expected happens, or while something else is happening: “Your computer won't arrive until Thursday. In the meantime, you can use the one at the volunteer desk” or “Meanwhile back at the ranch…”. Meanwhile and meantime can both be nouns or adverbs and are interchangeable. "Meantime" is more frequently seen as a noun: "in the meantime" or "for the meantime." "Meanwhile" is usually seen as an adverb, "meanwhile, back at the ranch.” Don’t confuse it with, “for the time being”. That phrase means “for a limited period”: “Leave the ironing for the time being - I'll do it later.” Meantime, is extended expectation! That is exactly what Peter is discussing in our text this morning.

On July 18, 64 A.D., the city of Rome ignited in flames and burned for six days while the emperor Nero supposedly played his fiddle. Historians tell us that it’s likely that Nero started the fire but when it blazed out of control, the citizens became hostile, so he blamed the Christians for starting it. This unleashed a fire of persecution against believers that spread to other parts of the Roman Empire. Nero was nasty to Christians! History records that he covered Christ followers in tar and set them ablaze while they were still alive, using them as torches to provide light for his garden parties. He also covered Christians in the skins of wild animals and sent out his hunting dogs to track them down and tear them to pieces. He nailed some to crosses, lacerated others with hot knives, and even fed some to lions for sport. Christian groups under Nero weren’t losing their status; they were losing their lives. It was into this hostile culture that Peter wrote the letters we know as 1st and 2nd Peter. They are filled with hope and instruction on how to live, in the meantime!

TEXT

“…GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE. (6) Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, (7) casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you. (8) Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (9) But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world. (10) After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

(1 Peter 5:5-10)

Peter’s epistle is addressed to believers going through hardships; the meantime between their conversion and being present with the Lord! For many of them, it was a VERY mean-time! They didn’t know what to do!

On December 31, 2019, the government of China confirmed that health authorities were treating dozens of cases of pneumonia of an unknown cause. By January 20, 2020, the first confirmed cases outside mainland China occurred in Japan, South Korea and Thailand. The next day, a U.S. citizen in Washington state, developed symptoms after returning from a trip to China. On February 11, the W.H.O. proposed an official name for the disease, Covid-19, an acronym that stands for coronavirus disease 2019. By the next day, the death toll in China reached 1,113 and the total number of confirmed cases rose to 44,653. There were 393 cases outside of China, in 24 countries. On February 29, authorities announced a patient near Seattle had died from the coronavirus. On March 13, President Trump officially declared a national emergency, two days later, the C.D.C. advised no gatherings of 50 or more people in the United States over the following eight weeks; including weddings, festivals, parades, concerts, sporting events conferences and churches. The following day, President Trump advised limits of 10 or less. Schools closed. People were told to stay at home. By April 2, the pandemic had infected more than one million people in 171 countries, across six continents, killing at least 51,000 and in just a few weeks, the pandemic put nearly 10 million Americans out of work, including the staggering 6.6 million people who applied for unemployment benefits in the last week of March. It’s July 12, 2020 and experts warn that we are still “knee-deep in the first wave” of this pandemic. U.S. deaths have exceeded 130,000 from nearly 3 MILLION confirmed cases, at times reporting 50,000 new cases in a single day. It’s a serious situation that fills our evening news, occupies our thoughts and alters our daily norm. What do we do while we wait? What should we do in the meantime? While Peter’s exhortation was for different circumstances, I believe it fits us today.