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The end is nigh... (v
7)
Last month I was handed a copy of an
article about a planet known as Planet X. Apparently Planet X is the
little known tenth planet in our solar system. It's five times the size of
earth, with a hundred times the mass. Its highly elliptical orbit carries
it far out into space, far beyond our known solar system. But every 3,600
years it returns to the inner solar system and crosses earth's orbit.
According to the article, Planet X was discovered by modern astronomers in
1982, but its existence has been kept from the public because the next
time the planet crosses earth's orbit, scientists expect it to cause
global flooding, massive destruction, the end of the world as we know it.
Guess when this will occur? The 15th or 16th of May, 2003. You've got just
over a month to get ready...Do you believe this? I don't. I'm a bit
cynical of all these sort of predictions, because all through history
people have been predicting that "the end is nigh." And they've all been
wrong.
So what are we to make of this passage? The apostle Peter, writing two
thousand years ago, says: "The end of all things is near. Therefore be
clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray" (v 7). Now, the
world did not end shortly after Peter gave this warning. So Peter was
wrong? No. The believers to whom he was writing were about to enter a
traumatic period of increased persecution. So life as they'd known it
would soon be a distant memory. But there's another sense in which Peter
was right to claim that the end was near. When I practised law, I remember
appearing in a lengthy trial in the High Court. After all the legal
counsel had presented submissions, examined witnesses and made closing
statements, it was time for the judge to give his decision. We awaited it
with anticipation. As it turned out, the judge took several weeks to write
his decision, but once that trial was over he could have given it at any
time. From our perspective, his judgment was always "near." In the same
way, after the death, resurrection and ascension of Christ and the birth
of the church at Pentecost, all the key elements which on God's agenda had
to be accomplished before Christ's return were achieved. So Jesus could
come at any time. The end is near. And regardless of whether or not Jesus
returns soon, none of us know the day or hour when we will die and have to
give an account to him. So in a personal sense, for each one of us, the
end is always near. Peter is right to say that we should be ready and
alert, that we should live in the light of eternity.
Love one another deeply (v 8)
How do we do that? First Peter says in v 8, "Above all, love each other
deeply." Love your fellow Christians deeply. I usually find it reasonably
easy to love God's people. Most of you have been so touched by God's grace
and are such decent people that loving you is not too hard. If I were a
statistician - like Rien Wills - I'd estimate that about 85% of people in
churches are impossible not to love. Another 12% are easy to love. They
have their quirks - like all of us - but if you focus on the positive, you
can love them. But it's that last 2% that are the real challenge. And
somehow, wherever you go, whichever church you join, there's always that
2%, isn't there? There's always a ... (you can fill in the name). It's
tempting to consign that 2% to the "too-hard basket" and to pat ourselves
on the back and say, "Well, 98% is actually pretty good." But God says to
us, "No it's not. It's the 2% that I'm talking about." The word that Peter
uses here - love each other "deeply" - carries the idea of something that
is stretched. Peter says our love must stretch to cover everyone, all the
time, even when it's an effort. The Good Shepherd wasn't satisfied with
99%. He gave everything for the one lost sheep. And so should we. But how
do you love like that?
In the Journeys video last Sunday night Rob Harley told a story about how
back in 1977 a little six-year old girl called Lynley Stewart went missing
from her home in Johnsonville. It turned out that she had been abducted
and murdered by a fourteen-year-old boy who lived just a few houses up
from the Stewarts. Keith Stewart, Lynley's dad, was as heartbroken as any
father could be. But he was a Christian, and something inside him said
that he had to go around and talk to the boy's father. Witnesses say it
was one of the most moving experiences of their lives. Keith extended his
hand to this other grieving father, gave him his unconditional
forgiveness, and prayed with him. Years later, the young boy who committed
the murder became a follower of Jesus. As an adult and now a father
himself, he asked to meet with Keith. Lynley's father and Lynley's killer
met, shook hands, and agreed that as Christian brothers no trace of
bitterness would remain. How did Keith summon the ability to love and
forgive like this? When asked, he simply shook his head and said that it
had to be God. With God, we can love the 2%. But as long as we say, "It's
because of who they are, and what they do. If they changed a bit, then I
could love them," we've missed the point of what Peter is saying. "Love
each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
Offer hospitality to one another cheerfully (v 9)
Peter then in v 9 gives a specific example of how we can express love for
one another. He says: "Offer hospitality to one another without
grumbling." The survival of the early church frequently depended on
hospitality, both within particular congregations (in the willingness of
people to open their homes as house churches) and among the different
congregations (in the willingness of people to receive into their homes
travelling missionaries and displaced believers who had been forced by
persecution to flee their homes.) The problem was that in the ancient
world practising hospitality was difficult. There were no dishwashers and
microwaves and supermarkets. And yet expectations were high. Hospitality
could be very costly, because many people could barely make ends meet
without the burden of additional mouths to feed. And so, all too often,
behind the welcoming smiles and generous helpings lurked bitterness and
resentment. It reminds me of that little saying, "Some people make you
feel at home. Others make you wish you were." In response, Peter urges
these believers to offer hospitality "without grumbling."
We live in a time when hospitality is again very important to the life of
a church. People move around a lot in cities today, and are often quite
disconnected. Visitors are often walking through those doors. There are
others here who often walk out those doors still feeling disconnected.
They need hospitality. Whether you've been here only a few months or many
years, why not take the risk and open your home, your lives to someone
else. It doesn't have to be a Joyce Bellingham special. Most people today
would be delighted with a simple meal, or a cup of coffee. It's the
sharing of time that's the real gift, the real sacrifice today. And a few
hours can make an eternal difference.
Use your gifts to serve one another faithfully (vv 10-11)
But with the end near, Peter says that our love needs to go beyond
hospitality. In v 10 he says: "Each one should use whatever gift he has
received to serve others." In Peter's time, a well-to-do citizen would
often appoint one of his slaves to be his steward, to administer his
business and property interests and provide for the needs of his family
and household. In a sense, we are all stewards to whom God has entrusted
part of his property in the form of different spiritual gifts and
abilities. And Peter says that we must "administer" or use those gifts as
God would use them - for the benefit of other members in God's family, to
build up the body of Christ until he returns.
You might be thinking, "The only problem is I don't seem to have received
a gift." Well, you may not have received one of the more prominent and
flashy gifts, but Peter says that "each one" of us has received a
spiritual gift. Later this year we plan to run a Network course to help
people discover their spiritual gifts and passions, their place in the
family of God. But maybe you know what your gift or ability is, but you're
afraid to use it, afraid you might fail. The greatest failure by far is to
not use that gift, to not step out of the boat, and then have to give an
account to God as an unfaithful steward. John Ortberg tells about her
grandmother, and how as a girl she was given a set of exquisite china. Her
family was not wealthy, and the china was quite valuable, so she only got
one piece at a time as a gift on birthdays and other special occasions.
Now whenever she received a piece of china - because it was so valuable,
because if it was used it might get broken - she would wrap it very
carefully in tissue, put it in a box and store it in the attic for a very
special occasion... No occasion that special ever came along. She went to
her grave with the greatest gift of her life unopened and unused.
There are two ways to respond to the gifts we believe God may have given
us. The first way it to say, "This gift, if it's mine, is so valuable, it
can't be risked." The second way is to say, "This gift is so valuable it
must be risked." This morning there is a list of service opportunities
sitting on a table in the foyer. However you have been wired up, there's
something you can do for the benefit of God's family. Why not take a look
on your way out, and sign up for something today? Take the risk, open the
box, use the gift that God's given you to serve and love his people. And
Peter says that as you do, you'll bring glory and honour to God. And one
day, when the end of all things has come, you'll be able to stand before
God and hear him say, "Well done, my good and faithful servant."
Study Questions
1. Can you recall hearing prophecies about when the world will end? How is
Peter's warning different?
2. "Love covers over a multitude of sins." What do you think Peter means?
3. Do you struggle with "the 2 per cent"? Who might God be calling you to
love more deeply? What steps can you take this week to obey him?
4. Who first made you feel welcome in this or some other church community?
What did they do? How could you now exercise a ministry of hospitality?
5. What spiritual gifts or abilities has God given you? If you could do
anything to serve God's people and bring honour to God, what would it be?
Are you using your gift in that area to benefit the family of God?
6. If you are uncertain, what steps could you take to discover how and
where God wants you to serve his people?
Study Resources
Bugbee, Cousins & Hybels, Network: Understanding God's Design for you in
the Church (Zondervan: Grand Rapids, 1994). A great resource for small
groups.
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