Peace
Notes
Transcript
Time is Limitless
Time is Limitless
In this passage, Peter reminds us of a most loving expression, beloved. Beloved is a wonderful word of love. When used it is a message that exudes love and affection. Peter then goes into the thought of time. We are limited in time, God is not.
2 Peter 3:8 (NRSV)
8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. In the early church, after the resurrection, people were claiming that the Lord was unresponsive, gone to sleep. This was a common claim from people who did not believe. Before the first coming of the Lord, Elijah battled with the priest of Baal .
The Prophets of Baal Defeated
20 So Ahab sent to all the people of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “How long will you go limping between two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him.” And the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD, but Baal’s prophets are 450 men. 23 Let two bulls be given to us, and let them choose one bull for themselves and cut it in pieces and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. And I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood and put no fire to it. 24 And you call upon the name of your god, and I will call upon the name of the LORD, and the God who answers by fire, he is God.” And all the people answered, “It is well spoken.” 25 Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many, and call upon the name of your god, but put no fire to it.” 26 And they took the bull that was given them, and they prepared it and called upon the name of Baal from morning until noon, saying, “O Baal, answer us!” But there was no voice, and no one answered. And they limped around the altar that they had made. 27 And at noon Elijah mocked them, saying, “Cry aloud, for he is a god. Either he is musing, or he is relieving himself, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened.”
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Ki 18:20–27). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
I bring this to your attention this morning to remind you that this idea of God being asleep is not a new experience or thought. If God is not answering your prayers you assume that He is asleep. Elijah does all this to show the people of Baal that they are worshipping a godless being. Their god was not asleep but nothing at all. But later after Christ had come and gone home, the people began to wonder if He had gone to sleep.
Impatience rules the day and the answer is God has gone into a state of ineffectiveness. Peter says no. 2 Peter 3:9 (NRSV)
9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to repentance. Doesn’t patience sometimes get covered up by our impatience?
2 Peter 3:10 (NRSV)
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. Matthew 24:44–51 (NRSV)
44 Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.
The Faithful or the Unfaithful Slave
(Lk 12:41–48)
45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time? 46 Blessed is that slave whom his master will find at work when he arrives. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put that one in charge of all his possessions. 48 But if that wicked slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed,’ 49 and he begins to beat his fellow slaves, and eats and drinks with drunkards, 50 the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know. 51 He will cut him in pieces and put him with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
The message Peter shares with us is one of Holy conduct. When Jesus talked about the people being robbed He was talking about people falling asleep, as though they had time. We do not have the luxury of time. Proverbs 27:1 (NRSV)
27 Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring. James 4:13–14 (NRSV)
Boasting about Tomorrow
13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town and spend a year there, doing business and making money.” 14 Yet you do not even know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
2 Peter 3:11 (NRSV)
11 Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in leading lives of holiness and godliness, 2 Peter 3:12 (NRSV)
12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire?
During these days of Advent, just like every year past, we celebrate the Coming of the Baby Jesus, as we should, but let us remember the reason for His coming. His return will not be pleasant for all; it will be about burning for some. The danger, as Peter explains, is in the ignoring the time restrictions of this human form and living as though we have forever to be Holy.
2 Peter 3:13 (NRSV)
13 But, in accordance with his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home. We gather here today to remember the promise. We gather here today to receive the elements of a Holy God and remember that we must be a Holy nation of God’s people. What can we do in this season? Wake up o sleeper and know that Jesus is Lord, Savior, and Redeemer.