5 December 2006

Today we continue in 1 Peter.

If you invoke as Father the one who judges all people impartially according to their deeds, live in reverent fear during the time of your exile. You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish. He was destined before the foundation of the world, but was revealed at the end of the ages for your sake. Through him you have come to trust in God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are set on God. (1:17-21)

Once again, it is possible to move through this reading and come out thinking that our favor before God is due to what we do. But in the context of this entire piece, remember that everything is grounded on the action of God in Christ, Jesus. That action (the ransom) takes us out of the domain of the world and its power and its way of working and places us into another life that has been handed to us freely. This new life is a life. That is why the recipients of this letter are considered aliens and exiles - living on the edge of what is the acceptable norm of the world. The lives we live - that which we do - is done not in the face of fear (as in, you better watch it or you'll get it!) - but in the face of the one whose loving sacrifice produces utter awe (fear) when we are grasped by it. I often wonder why we continue to translate such a powerful word as awe as "fear." For the most part, fear doesn't move in my mind quickly to awe when I first see it. We stand in awe of what God has done and continues to do among us - what a gracious gift. We are drawn to that gift and it begins to transform us.

Connection: What will this God whose love is abundant and eternal cause to spring up within your life today?

By your grace, O God, you not only seek us out and claim us, you hold us and shape us and then send us out as your beloved who are able to gift the world around us with the living presence of that love. In this season of Advent, we long for your coming again and again so as to help us make this love available to all. Amen.