12 December 2006

We continue in 1 Peter.

Beloved, I urge you as aliens and exiles to abstain from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul.. Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God when he comes to judge. (2:11-12)

Now we are talking about style. How is it that aliens will live within their society? We will live as ones blessed and called God's people. We will live under the gracious Reign of God as we have seen it put to life in Jesus. That grace will be a part of our encounters with others and that may make people look twice at us. They will look once because this love of God in Christ, Jesus, is an alien way of life. They will look at us again because it will either draw their attention and they will want to be a part of such a life - or - they will not want such a living form of grace to be alive within their communities. When we take this gracious alien life out into the streets of our lives, do not be fooled. It is not something that the world likes. The way of Jesus, that is alien to the world, is one that is often held off at arms length or rejected. Just think about all the ways the good news has invited people to welcome the outsider. Every time we move to welcome, the world and even elements of the church that want nothing to do with real grace will not want us to continue.

Connection: We are being urged to be those aliens right within the daily routine that can look so much like everyone else but we have been invited to share another journey through the day. Yes, it will be greeted and it will be rejected. We will never know how the way of Jesus will be greeted therefore we are those aliens who simply go about the life we know - no matter what.

Come, O God of Grace, and shape us again with your loving presence. It can be so easy to turn and walk along another way but it is your grace that has sustained us this far so we ask that your Spirit of encouragement continue to pull us within the life of your Reign. Amen.