Monday
1 Peter 1.1 Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia…”
None of your informal “Hi”, the casual greeting of the digital age. This letter comes from Apostle Peter, and its recipients are geographically all over the place. Those early Christians are special people – God’s elect, therefore chosen for blessing; strangers in the world so they can expect to be either ignored or given a hard time; scattered so separated into small communities trying to find ways of being faithful to Jesus. Not much has changed. Those following Jesus are still strangers, a scattered minority, but – God’s elect, “kept by the power of God.” That’s you, and me.
Tuesday
1 Peter 1.2 “Chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying power of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood.”
Each Christian is held within the triple lock of God’s electing grace, the Spirit’s working in our lives, and the cleansing power of the blood of Christ. This is both privilege and calling, to blessing and service. We are chosen ‘for obedience to Jesus Christ”. It is the sanctifying work of the Spirit that enables and empowers that glad obedience. Peter is telling Christians faced with all the pressures of a suspicious and powerful culture, you’re not on your own. Through Christ you are drawn into the eternal purposes of the Triune God – and “you are kept by the power of God.”
Wednesday
1 Peter 1.2 “Grace and peace be yours in abundance.”
Or as in another translation, “Grace and peace be yours to the fullest measure.” Grace and peace, as much as you can contain, and then God expands our capacity. Grace is God’s self-giving in Christ, undeserved, utterly unlooked for, free, but always seeking the response of an answering love of grateful glad obedience. Peace is that pervasive sense that nothing can separate from God’s love, and that God’s grace is sufficient whatever comes our way. These are the signs of God’s work within and amongst the people of God. Elect, strangers, scattered, but graced with peace.
Thursday
1 Peter 1.3 “Praise be to the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”
Praise is one of the highlighted words in the Christian vocabulary. Likewise mercy is one of the key words of the Christian Gospel. Paul says, “Because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy made us alive with Christ…” God’s mercy is experienced as forgiveness, a renewed heart, a cleansed conscience, in other words a new birth into a living hope. Peter and Paul had their differences, but on the meaning of the cross and resurrection they used the same terminology – mercy and hope.
Friday
1 Peter 1.4 “…and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you.”
I wonder if Peter was remembering the words of Jesus about having treasure in heaven where thieves can’t steal it, and rust doesn’t corrode it? There is nowhere safer than heaven for all that is most important to us. Our inheritance in Christ is “untouched by death, unstained by evil, unimpaired by time.” This is the kind of assurance we sing of in a hymn like “Blessed Assurance, Jesus is mine”! Peter is building up the faith and hope of a community wondering what kind of future lies ahead. It’s one in which all that matters most is secure, because “kept in heaven.”
Saturday
1 Peter 1 “…who through faith are shielded by God’s power till the coming of salvation that is ready to be revealed at the last time.”
Kept by the power of God, through faith shielded by God’s power, our inheritance guarded in heaven. Despite all the odds loaded against these small Christian communities, immersed in the power of the Roman Empire, exposed to massive temples and the cultural pressures of not conforming, they are ultimately, and finally safe. The elect of God, kept by the power of God, sanctified by the Spirit, sprinkled with the blood of Christ which is a defiant statement of identity – this is who we are, and Christ is to whom we belong. Salvation will surely come – till then we are safe.
Sunday
1 Peter 1.6 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
Peter knows about suffering first-hand. His own psychological and spiritual collapse after denying Jesus; then witnessing the trial and execution of Jesus, his death and burial. Then there was the morning the earth moved with the news of Jesus risen, and that meeting of the guilty and broken-hearted Peter with One who simply asked, “Do you love me?” “God has not promised, sun without rain, joy without sorrow, peace without pain.” Peter could have written that – and we each know the truth of that mixture of suffering and joy that is our life. Read 1 Peter 1.1-5 again. You’re safe.
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