Making every effort toward godliness
II Peter 1
Soon after Sue and I arrived here 20 years ago, we began to print a simple church directory each year, mostly so that we all had a way to connect with each other. Soon long-time members began to say they were having trouble putting names with the faces of new people and new people were saying they didn’t know who the long-time people were, so we got a Polaroid camera and began to include pictures of people. Today, we use a digital camera, computer, and a copier to produce our directories. And we give the directories to newer people to help them get acquainted with names and faces. Who knows, maybe some day you will be able to press your finger on the picture and you will hear the person’s voice, too!
Every year, the directory changes a lot; it is hard to keep up. People move, change phone numbers, add to their families, new faces show up, and some pass away. But, sadly, if you go through past directories, you will see that lots of people who could be with us no longer are. Every so often, I see people on the streets of Lima who once made a profession of faith, received baptism, and became members of this congregation, but are now wandering about, totally disconnected from this body of believers, engaging in immoral behavior, and seemingly unconcerned that their lives are in eternal danger. And I wonder what happened to them that they slipped away and eventually decided to turn their backs on God. What more should they have done? What more could we have done?
The disaster in New Orleans this past week reminds us what can happen when people live in a city that is built below sea-level. When the storms come, and the winds blow, the city gets inundated with salt water, sewage, chemicals, and muck that destroys not just houses and belongings, but in many cases snuffs out lives as well. And only those who are willing and able to get to higher ground are saved.
In some ways our lives are like that. We can choose to live in the mud and the crud that our society offers or we can get out of the gutter and live on a higher plane. A car salesman here in town describes his life as a journey from the guttermost to the uttermost. An old hymn we used to sing said, “I’m pressing on the upward way. New heights I’m gaining every day.” That should be a picture of the Christian experience as we move forward and upward. One image of the church that Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount is that of a city set on a hill, where it cannot be hid. The church should draw people upward, toward higher ground. Unfortunately, even the church, in its human weakness, has failed often in being what it should be.
Our scripture today draws our attention to the fundamental truth that God empowers us to live ethical, holy, upright lives in a corrupt world. We are focusing on the second letter that Peter wrote. As we read this letter, we soon see that Peter was very concerned that some Christians were sliding down the slippery slope of unholy, immoral, corrupt living, completely forgetting that God had provided the resources to live above the standards that the world around them was setting.
Motivation. What is going on with Peter that he felt compelled to write this letter?
1. The Holy Spirit moved him. If you look at v. 21 you will see that a message from God’s spokesperson is more than a whim. Peter underscores the divine importance of God’s word to us. That word came through the Holy Spirit and men and women spoke as the Holy Spirit moved them. Peter stands in that line of people who articulate God’s plan and purposes. So Peter’s message is not just a human message, it is a divine message with eternal consequences.
2. Peter is coming to the end of his earthly ministry. In v. 14,15, you will see that Peter has the end of his ministry in view. He uses the word “departure,” which in Greek is the word Exodus. When the Israelites departed from Egypt, they headed for the promised land. For Peter, death is not the end, but a departure from this world to God’s promised land. He is feeling some urgency about this message because the Lord has told him that it will come soon. And Peter wants to leave with his readers those values and convictions that will help them live as effective Christians in a troubled world. He wants them to be able to recall what they already know after he is gone. These are things they already know, but he wants to remind them (12), he wants to refresh their memories (13) and he wants them to recall what he has said (15).
So he is looking forward and backward at the same time. It is a good perspective to have. Some of you older ones already know what it is like to downsize so you can live comfortably in a smaller house. One man I talked with this week told me that he has sold his major possessions and has made his funeral arrangements. A man in his 90s once told us, “The older I get, the less I think about my material possessions.” Peter knew his time of ministry was short and he wanted to make the most of it, so he wrote this letter to these Christians.
3. Peter understood what it means to waver. Do you remember what happened to Peter at the time of Jesus’ trial? Peter himself was on trial; his own faith was tested. And he denied Jesus. How often did Peter say, “No. Lord, I will never leave you.” Or “Yes, Lord. I’ll keep my eyes open and pray with you.” But what happened? His faith wavered. He failed the test. But that is not the end of the story. Later, this turbulent man turned back to Jesus. And here in II Peter 1:12 he uses the word “established,” a word that comes out of his own experience of wavering. In Luke 22:32, Jesus told him, “I have prayed for you that your own faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned back (have become established) strengthen your brothers.” Now he applies that word to his readers in the hope that they are now so firmly rooted in Christ that they will not waver. In v. 10 he urges them to “be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this you will never stumble.” Peter carried this experience with him the rest of his life. I’m sure he reflected on it often. Listen to the words of his prayer for them at the end of I Peter (5:10).
Message. What is the message that Peter wants to leave with them? Let’s go back now to the first part of this chapter.
1. Divine resources are available. I’m sure some of you choked up this past week or even shed tears as you saw the pictures of hungry, thirsty, stranded people in New Orleans. Some were on roof tops. Some were standing in flood waters. Many could not get food or water or even a ride on a bus to a shelter. There were not enough resources at the right place to get them out of their desperate situation. Peter wants his readers to know that God’s resources are more than adequate. V.3 says that God’s divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness. In other words, God can and will get you out of the desperate spiritual situation you may find yourself in. You don’t have to walk around in the muck and the dirt and the corruption of the world we live in. He says you can escape from it and become participants of the divine nature.
• Do you find yourself being sucked in by our society’s emphasis on material things, overwhelmed by the need to pay for things you don’t need with money you don’t have? You can escape. One man told me this past week that many of the deaths in the Gulf were unnecessary. People disobeyed orders to leave so they could hang on to their properties. “And for what,” he asked. “They died in the process.” Here are three things you can do. 1) Set priorities using Christian principles. 2) Make a budget. 3) Use self-control. I gave seen many people blow their checks the first day and have nothing left for the next week. We are all stewards of God’s gifts, whether we have a little or a lot.
• Do you find yourself being sucked in by our society’s obsession with sex and sexual innuendo in, movies, magazines, and sitcoms? Where does all that come from? Peter doesn’t mince words. He calls it fleshly lust (4). And unfortunately it is not much better today. You can escape. Here are some things you can do. 1) Decide ahead of time which movies or TV programs uphold the values you live by. If they head south, walk out of the theatre or turn them off. 2) Look for wholesome books, music, magazines, activities. 3) Make friends with people who are following Christ.
• Do you find yourself sucked in by our society’s emphasis on violence as though guns and military force are the only way to solve problems in our world? And it shows up in our homes, our streets, and our schools. Here are some things you can do. 1) Avoid TV programs and video games that glorify violence. 2) Learn about non-violent responses to problems. 3) Study the responses of Jesus the Prince of Peace.
Peter says there is a way out. The buses are waiting. The tables are loaded. Fresh water is ready. Everything is there. God has provided. And if you are a follower of Jesus, you have tapped into those resources. You have been delivered from sin. And your life has been changed.
2. Memory keeps faith alive. Every so often we hear of a person whose memory has failed and he has ended up somewhere without I.D., can’t remember who he is, where he came from or where he is going.
On a bitterly, cold day last January a man called Norman appeared on our porch dressed in tennis shoes, sweats, and a light-weight jacket. He had been on the cold and snowy streets, unable to find his way back to where he had started.
Norman described a place that sounded like the senior day-care center, so I took him there in the car. When we arrived, he declared that was not where he started from. We retraced several blocks, trying to find landmarks he could recognize, but without success. “I’m lost,” he said over and over. He knew who he was, but he had forgotten how to get back to his starting place.
How did he get in this predicament? He told me he had been released from 45 years of incarceration just 24 hours earlier. He arrived in Lima on a bus, stayed at the Men’s Rescue Home, and then went to some other facility, but he could not remember the name of the place. Eventually,, I took him to the police station. The officer listened, then said, “I wonder if you are talking about Lutheran Social Services.”
“Yeh. Lutheran. That’s it,” Norman said. So, we went to their office and got him back to his temporary place just in time for lunch.
Peter’s concern for the Christians he is writing to is that they are suffering spiritual amnesia. They had forgotten who they were. In verse 9 he says that people who are not living like Christians “are forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.” Have you ever started doing something and then you saw another church member or suddenly remembered, “Hey. I’m a Christian. I shouldn’t be doing this.” Peter’s concern is that people can forget what God has done in their lives, that God has changed them. That is why he uses words like remind, refresh, and recall. The fact is, if you don’t know who you are, you don’t know how to behave. Memory keeps your faith alive. That is why we have rituals, so we can remember what God has done and who we are. That’s why we meet together, so we don’t forget who we are. That’s why we study the scriptures again and again.
One of this congregation’s purposes is to nurture God’s people through teaching. In our statement about this purpose we say, “The Word of God is the starting place for us. If we don’t study God’s word, how can we follow it? If we don’t follow it, how can we share it? And if we don’t share it, how can we help someone live like Jesus? Anyone involved in education knows that teaching requires not just new stuff, but review and relearning. Remembering keeps our faith alive. That’s why we encourage people to participate in Sunday School.
3. Effort leads to moral character. When Pat Robertson recently suggested assassination for the leader of Venezuela, people around the world gasped. They knew that was not a Christ-like thing to do. Later, he apologized, but the fact is, people who are not Christians sometimes see more clearly than Christians do how poorly we are following Christ.
In this letter, Peter makes clear that a Christian responds to God’s amazing grace by living a godly lifestyle. What God has done for you should make a difference in your life. And Peter provides a list of behaviors that demonstrate that you are a child of God. He gives the reason first--God’s provisions, and then the result—godly behaviors. “For this very reason,” he says in v. 5. And he lists seven traits which build upon each other. We don’t have time to examine this ladder of ethical and moral characteristics. Let me suggest that you take the time at home to reflect on each of these in your own life.
What I do want to say yet is that Christian character is not for couch potatoes. Note that Peter says in v. 5 we are to “make every effort” and again in v.10 “be all the more eager” to apply ourselves. Living godly lives requires willingness and determination, which evidently Peter’s readers were lacking.
The picture here is first of God’s ample and lavish provisions. God has covered the cost of those provisions through Jesus. In response, Christians are to be lavish in the way they invest themselves in the development of moral character, bending every effort, so that the world will have the best window possible to see what God’s grace is like. The Christian life is not as someone has said, “an initial spasm followed by chronic inertia.” No, it is a constant building and growing process.
If you are a follower of Jesus and your life does not demonstrate more Christ-likeness than it did a year ago, ask yourself if you have become nearsighted and blind and forgetful of what God has done for you.
We are going to sing, “I’m pressing on the upward way.” After the first verse, if you feel a particular need to take an additional step of growth, feel free to bring that need to the altar and dedicate yourself once more to make every effort to live a life pleasing to God.
