"The end of all things is near. Therfore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. Off ospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has reveived to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. If anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4.7-11)
Peter writes in verse 7: “The end of all things is near.” This brings us to our second and last point. The end of all things is near therefore we the church (as a pilgrim people) must live a distinctive and prophetic way of life.
Do you know that the church – by simply being – by simply meeting and gathering – is a prophetic voice in the world? It may not seem that way from time to time. But only the church can declare two truths that every person needs to hear. First of all, everyone needs to know that God has not abandoned the world. That is one truth every person must hear. The other truth the church declares is that God will judge the world. Two truths. Both of them stand or fall together. We cannot afford to proclaim one without the other. Both are absolutely vital and everyone must hear them.
They must hear the first truth so that they may know that there is a sovereign God of supreme love and power who created them and the world and everything in it. They must know that there is a God who is sacrificially committed to a dying world – so much so that he gave his only Son Jesus Christ. They must know that Jesus Christ is the one who suffered that they may be healed of their sin and spiritual blindness. They must hear about Jesus the Saviour-King.
But they must also hear that Jesus the Saviour-King is also the Righteous Lord. He cannot permit injustices like rape and murder and unjust violence and adultery and pride to go unpunished. For he is utterly holy and righteous and just. It cannot be that all the heinous evils of the world will go unpunished in the end. It cannot be that all the terribly wrongs of history will not be put right. There must be judgement. But the truth is everyone of us is implicated in the evil of the world; we are all sinners and therefore accountable to God. People must know that there is a judgement to come. No stain of sin, not a hint of evil, or of pain or of suffering can have a part in the New Creation God will bring into being through his Son.
How will the church communicate two such vital truths to a world so full of death, chaos and hopelessness? How is the prophetic voice of the church going to reach a dying culture? Peter spells it out. The end of all things is near therefore we must be:
- clear-minded and self-controlled (verse 7). In other words, have a clear-eyed grasp of the gospel. Know the truth. Be self-controlled so that you can pray. We cannot pray if we are filled with agitation or envy or anger. We cannot pray if we loose control in the chaotic pursuit of self-centred pleasure or if we become drunk and loose the run of ourselves
The end of all things is near therefore above all:
- love one another deeply (verse 8). Paul says in Romans (13.10) that love is the fulfilment of the law. All the commandments are summed up in this one: “Love your neighbour as yourself” (Leviticus 19.18). In John 13.35 Jesus says: “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” Love is the most vital and distinct mark of the church. As Peter says, love covers over a multitude of sins. Our love for one another enables us to forgive one another and self-sacrificially serve one another. This love will express itself in very practical ways, not least of which is:
- offering hospitality to oneanother without groaning (verse 9). It doesn’t get much more practical then this, does it? Peter commands us to open our homes to one another, to share what we have with one another in a spirit of service and love. It is quite incredible; Peter begins by emphasising the imminent end of all things and then in the same breath he commands us to invite each-other over for a cup of tea. The reality of the eschaton intrudes into the most practical, seemingly mundane acts of service. By offering hospitality without groaning we anticipate the eternal Kingdom to come. By living in the manner Peter calls us to we live out the reality of the Kingdom to come in the flesh, in space-time now.
The end of all things is near therefore:
- each one should use whatever gift has been given to serve eachother. There is an overwhelming variety of gifts and temperaments here at Immanuel. Everyone of us is unique and gifted with a particular ability and perspective nobody else shares. It’s worth saying here too that the lists of spiritual gifts that we find in the pastoral epistles are not exhaustive but merely suggestive. It’s impossible to neatly classify the dizzying array of gifts we all possess between us. Having been created in the image of God we each possess different gifts and abilities; it may be intellectual passion, artistic creativity, administrative brilliance or musical genius. All these gifts with which we are endowed by creation are touched by the Holy Spirit when we are created anew in Christ.
We have been gifted so that we may serve one another. Our gifts are only discovered in service and never in introspection. In other words, it is only in the context of community and fellowship that we discover our gifts. We don’t discover them by sitting in solitude and studying our inner selves. As we gather in community others will recognise and encourage our the gifts they recognise in us. A major reason for gathering as church is to enable us to serve one another with the gifts we have. “Each one of us should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms” (verse 10).
As Peter says (4.11) we can only serve eachother in the strength God provides. In our own power we quickly grow weary of serving one other and we become either burnt out or fed up. If we love and serve one another in God’s strength as Peter commands then the prophetic voice of the church will sound out in the midst of the city. The quality of our mutual love, the richness of our communal life and the truth we have to share will impact lives and rescue people out of the flood of dissipation into the fullness of life in Christ Jesus.
Only the church can point ahead to where the universe is going. The gospel alone provides the answers people hunger for. For what were we created? We were created and called “so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ” (verse 11b). Only the church can proclaim this message. Only we can proclaim it as we choose to live out our earthly every-day life not for evil human desires but for the will of God.
May God give us the wisdom, the passion and the desire to do just that. May we arm ourselves with the attitude of Christ so that we may suffer in the world for the sake of pointing to him; the only Saviour-King, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Signing Off For Now -
The Scribbling Apprentice
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