Listen here.
Welcome to Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the
appointed Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten
from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Hudson, OH.
Thank you for being with me today.
As we move through the Advent season we continue to hear God’s
call to repentance – which is more than just sorrow at our sin or a general
sense of guilt – it is turning away from sin by the power of the Holy Spirit to
live as God calls us to live. We also continue to hear reminders that Jesus
will come again, and that is part of our motivation to turn from sin: not to
gain entrance into heaven or to earn God’s love, but God’s salvation changes
us. It changes what matters so that we value the things of God most highly and
desire to live in a manner worthy of our Savior.
The epistle reading for the 2nd Sunday of Advent,
2 Peter 3:8-14, brings these things to mind, too. Let’s read it.
The Reading: 2 Peter 3:8-14 (ESV)
But do not overlook this one fact,
beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand
years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as
some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should
perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the
Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar,
and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the
works that are done on it will be exposed.
11 Since all these things
are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of
holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of
the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved,
and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to
his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved,
since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or
blemish, and at peace.
Comments
I heard a sermon
recently that talked about the way we celebrate Christmas. The preacher said
that we celebrate Christmas as though we were waiting for Jesus to come the
first time, and that’s a lot like a couple who are preparing to celebrate their
50th Anniversary taking the four weeks before their anniversary and
pretending like they’re not married. I think this is a good analogy for how
crazy our Christmas celebrations are sometimes. In reality Advent is the time
we wait for Jesus’ second coming, and we wait with hope and joy because of his
first coming; his Incarnation and birth.
And we do well to remember how long it took for Jesus to
come the first time. Do you remember when the first promise of a savior was
given? It was right after the fall into sin in Genesis 3. It was thousands of
years between that promise and Jesus’ birth. However, in Galatians it tells us
that the timing of Jesus’ Incarnation was exactly right.
In the same way as we wait for the last day, God’s timing
will be exactly right. No one expected the first coming. No one will expect the
second coming. And when it happens it will be for the completion of our salvation,
for the Lord is not being slow, but being patient continuing to call us to
repentance and faith in Jesus.
That being understood, Peter asks an important question:
What kind of people should we be? We know Jesus will return in judgement. We
also know that we have been saved because he came and shed His blood to atone
for our sins. Therefore we should live like people who are saved. We should
live in repentance – turning away from sin – or as Peter says, waiting,
diligent to be found in Jesus without spot or blemish, and at peace.
So we wait. We prepare. We repent. We are diligent to live
in a manner worthy of our Savior, even as we trust in Him to bring us safely to
the day when we won’t need to be diligent, and we will simply live holy lives
in eternal peace.
Prayers
Lord God, You do not feel time the way we do, and You are so
patient longing for all people to come to repentance. Thank You for showing Your
patience to us and for the faith You have given us that our Savior Jesus has
come and will come again for our salvation. Please forgive us for neglecting
Jesus’ second coming and for living as though He was never going to return. Help
us to wait, alert, diligent, living lives without spot or blemish, and please
give us peace. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.
Memory Verse: 2
Peter 3:13 - But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a
new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Pet. 3:13 ESV)
Thank you so much for using Devotions for Worship, I pray
that our time together has blessed you and given you something to meditate on –
some reminder of God’s grace to rattle around in your brain – for the rest of
the day.
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God bless you!
Comments