Did anyone ever sit you down and warn you about the world when you were growing up? There is a scene in the first Harry Potter : (The Boy who Lived) where Harry has only recently learned that he is a wizard. Up to this point he had no idea that a whole magical world existed around him, or that his parents had actually been murdered by an evil wizard. Everything is new and there is so much he doesn’t know. Harry asks all kinds of questions of Hagrid, a huge man who had been sent to bring Harry to school and to introduce him to this world that he (Harry) is actually part of. Hagrid warns Harry that not all wizards are good, in fact some are downright evil. In some ways that sets the backdrop for the rest of the stories as Harry finds himself in a series of adventures fighting evil wizards, trying to do good.
Peter is Hagrid in this chapter. He is old and well experienced. God has done much through and in him. He has talked the talk and walked the walk. He has fallen and been forgiven. He has failed and received grace. He has seen the people of God act in purity, truth, love, and beauty. He has also seen people who have tried to take advantage of the people of God. He has seen people suffer and die for the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection. He has also seen people twist the truth of God’s Word to fit their own desires.
He has seen it. Now, he sits down and warns his young Christian friends who are still learning the ways of this struggle, “Not every teacher who claims to be from God is good. There are liars out there. There are people who will take advantage of the naïve. There are cons who will tell you what you want to here in order to get your money. There are worse than that who will teach you that God’s Word does not mean what it says or say what it means.”
This message is for us. We walk through a veritable mine field of false teachings, half truths, worldly temptations, false religions, and other things that would look to remove us from God’s truth and love. Be alert. There is a sick human propensity that the proverbs describe graphically: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” We are prone to return to our sin. Watch out for the temptations and flee from them!
The good news in this is found in verse 9: “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.”
Jesus is our savior. He came once for all to die for us and rescue us from our sin. But that once for all does not mean that he no longer intervenes in our world. God does not sit back in a somewhat bored mood to watch what unfolds in our lives. Nor does he loom over us watch for every mistake we make so he can zap us. No God is active in this world and he brings salvation into our lives through the Word, the Sacraments, people who carry His Word and act on it, and he even uses worldly circumstances to rescue us.
We are not alone as we struggle in this life. God is with us. In fact, that was a major part of why Jesus came into this world. He is, as Isaiah says, Immanuel – God with Us – and Jesus says, “Lo, I am with you always . . . .”
Peter is Hagrid in this chapter. He is old and well experienced. God has done much through and in him. He has talked the talk and walked the walk. He has fallen and been forgiven. He has failed and received grace. He has seen the people of God act in purity, truth, love, and beauty. He has also seen people who have tried to take advantage of the people of God. He has seen people suffer and die for the truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection. He has also seen people twist the truth of God’s Word to fit their own desires.
He has seen it. Now, he sits down and warns his young Christian friends who are still learning the ways of this struggle, “Not every teacher who claims to be from God is good. There are liars out there. There are people who will take advantage of the naïve. There are cons who will tell you what you want to here in order to get your money. There are worse than that who will teach you that God’s Word does not mean what it says or say what it means.”
This message is for us. We walk through a veritable mine field of false teachings, half truths, worldly temptations, false religions, and other things that would look to remove us from God’s truth and love. Be alert. There is a sick human propensity that the proverbs describe graphically: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” We are prone to return to our sin. Watch out for the temptations and flee from them!
The good news in this is found in verse 9: “The Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment.”
Jesus is our savior. He came once for all to die for us and rescue us from our sin. But that once for all does not mean that he no longer intervenes in our world. God does not sit back in a somewhat bored mood to watch what unfolds in our lives. Nor does he loom over us watch for every mistake we make so he can zap us. No God is active in this world and he brings salvation into our lives through the Word, the Sacraments, people who carry His Word and act on it, and he even uses worldly circumstances to rescue us.
We are not alone as we struggle in this life. God is with us. In fact, that was a major part of why Jesus came into this world. He is, as Isaiah says, Immanuel – God with Us – and Jesus says, “Lo, I am with you always . . . .”
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