What's the Point? 31 March 2008

1 Peter 1:1-12
Monday, 31 March 2008

Some people like to hear all of the details and then the punchline of a story. I'm not one of those people. Tell me the diagnosis, the outcome, the bottomline, and then I can ask for the details I find most relevant. This doesn't mean I'm not interested in the story or in the telling of it. On the contrary, I am both engaged by and concerned about it, so much so that I can't wait to hear the point. I'm anxious to know how it turns out.

Today, we transition out of the Gospels and into the Epistle of Peter. This represents a movement from simply telling the story of Jesus' life, ministry, death, and resurrection to understanding how that story is to be lived out in those of us who call ourselves believers. The introduction to the epistle succinctly documents God's intention for us. God has given us birth into a living hope through Christ's resurrection and has laid up an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance for us. In contemporary terms, God has brought us into the family and set up a trust fund for us. When we see our lives in these terms, we recognize that just as Jesus' suffering had a purpose, the Christian's trials also lead to a larger point : a saved life of unfettered, unspeakable joy here and glory ahead.

To be sure, suffering and trial meant something different for the earliest Christians than it does for us today. Most of us do not face the constant threat of execution because of our testimony and witness. But even while the circumstances differ from age to age, and even from individual to individual, everyone who seeks to do what's right faces tribulation and trial sometimes. Yet believers also share the common experience of being kept by God's power, a power the keeps us secure in our trial and inspires and emboldens our praise. The details may have changed but the point has not. In Christ, Christians of all ages are ultimate overcomers and more than conquerors.

Sing "Joy Unspeakable"

Let us pray:
Generous God, we ourselves sometimes wonder how we can experience such fullness of joy in a world so confused and tumultuous. Then we are reminded that the joy you have given did not come from the world or its circumstances; it came with the love and the life we know in Christ. Thank you for the salvation of our souls, the transformation of our minds, the uplifting of our spirits, and even the regulation of our emotions. Grant us the grace to endure these temporary trials, even as we look forward to our imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance, in and through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.