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THE RECIPIENTS OF PETER'S FIRST LETTER!
Do you have any minor irritations in your life? Do
you have anything in your life that prompts you to grumble just a little bit
but not enough to get you in trouble with anyone? One of the minor
irritations in my life, and certainly in Linda's life, occurs when the telephone
rings and the person at the other end of line simply starts talking as if I would
immediately recognize their voice.
I'm trying to pay attention to what they are saying,
but half my mind, if not all it, is trying to figure out who in the world is
on the other end. As they continue to speak, I'm kicking myself for not
knowing someone who I evidently should obviously know just by the sound of their
voice. I'm also mentally kicking them for not having the courtesy to identify
themselves.1
If I'm lucky ( a word I hesitate to use as Christian)
they will quickly remember to identify themselves. If not, I'm put in the
embarrassing position of having to ask - to whom am I speaking? Once
I know the identity of the person I'm listening to than I can focus on what they
are saying and I can put their words into a broader context - which will undoubtedly
help me to fully understand the message. It will also help me to
place some sort of value on the message. I mean a call from President Bush
asking me for a favor is one thing, a call from my neighbor asking for a similar
favor is something else. The former I would consider a prank call, the
latter an opportunity to serve my neighbor!
Well in the New Testament, with the exception
of the book of Hebrews, we don't have this problem. The authors, with only
one exception, clearly identify themselves.2
We see this in the first verse of I Peter. Peter
identifies himself as the one who is taking the time to write a brief word of
encouragement (See 5:12) to others. We know up front who is at the other
end. This is remarkable for two reasons.
First, it is clear that Peter was the leader among
the apostles and was the founding pastor of First Church in Jerusalem. Without
a doubt he was the most influential figure in the early church. Others,
whether they knew Christ or not, held him in high regard. With his charismatic
personality, with his strong will, and with the spiritual power he had within
him, he could have easily promoted himself to a life of ease with little or no
regard for those who were struggling with every facet of life.
Instead, he turned the reigns of First Church
over to James, the half-brother of Jesus, and traveled about the country to visit
the saints (See Acts 9:32). We don't know the extent of his travels
but it is clear from I Corinthians 1:12 and 9:5 that Peter evidently touched-base
with the church in Corinth. We also know, from sources other than the Bible,
that he was crucified in Rome. Evidently, he and his wife traveled extensively
to visit the saints and, perhaps, planted a few churches in the process.
Now think about what it means to receive a letter
from someone like Peter. Or, look at it this way. You're ill,
you're not doing well and you end up in the hospital. I drop in to see
how you're doing and to pray with you. Then Les Hirst, our pastor of seniors,
drops in and also prays with you. Your family is appreciative but
not surprised. Then, out of the blue, Billy Graham takes time out of his
schedule and comes by to see you. Which visit do you remember the most? Which
meant the most to you? Which one most reminded you that you really are
special? Which one would be like receiving a letter from Peter?
The fact that Peter would take time to write a
brief letter of encouragement is remarkable in itself. But there is a second
reason as to why this is remarkable. It is remarkable because there is
no indication that he knew the saints scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia personally. I mean it is not like Billy Graham visited
you in the hospital because he was a longtime friend of the family. It
is because you and he belong to the same family - the family of God. And
for him, that is reason enough.
So why did Peter, with the help of Silas, write
this letter? As it turns out, we don't have to guess as to the reason. It
is summed up for us in his closing remarks. In I Peter 5:10 - 14 we read:
And the God of all grace, who called you to his
eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself
restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power
for ever and ever. Amen.
With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful
brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this
is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.3
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you,
sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another
with a kiss of love.
Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Peter is confident that the God of all grace,
the God whose grace is sufficient for every type of situation, will restore and/or
repair each of us so that we are fully fit to enjoy eternal joy in his presence. In
the meantime, our job is to stand fast in the truths of his Word.
So Peter, who knows something about struggling
and falling down, writes to strengthen the saints. He may not know any
of them, but he knows better than anyone else how important it is to have someone
come alongside and lift you out of the pit. For if Jesus had not lifted
him up, he would of spent his life on the Sea of Galilee haunted by the fact
that things might have been different if he had just stood firm in the midst
of trouble.
And make no mistake about it these saints were
in trouble. They were in trouble for reasons that are simply par for the
course. As a result of believing the gospel, whether it was presented to
them by Peter or by Jewish believers who had been scattered, they found themselves
at odds with the Roman empire, the city or village in which they lived, their
place of employment, and their neighbors.
The were at odds with their culture because as
believers they stopped worshiping the various gods of the empire, their city,
their trade guild, and their family. This change in behavior meant they
were unpatriotic.
You get a slight hint of what it means to be unpatriotic
when someone near you refuses to stand up when the national anthem is played
and/or refuses to say the pledge. Invariably, fingers are pointed at such
a person and his or her loyalty is questioned. This attitude of hostility
may result in others simply questioning the actions of such a person or it may
result in open hostility.
In Peter's day to not worship the gods of the
culture was a mark of disloyalty. This meant Christians were considered
to be disloyal to their city, unprofessional in their trade since guild meetings
usually took place in pagan temples, and haters of their family since household
worship was thought to hold the family together.
This hostility was aggravated by the notion that
the culture wasn't really asking Christians to actually believe in the gods but
to simply offer token worship as a sign of their familial and civic allegiance. Those
who were so obstinate so as to refuse this simple duty had to be "haters
of mankind."
In addition to being at odds with their culture
the recipients of this letter had good reason to believe that they had pretty
much been forgotten by the church. As we have already noted, they knew
that they didn't belong to the world. That is, they knew they were in the
world but not of the world. But it is quite possible, in light of
what Peter wrote to them in verses like 2:9, that they didn't quite feel like
they were full-fledged citizens of the kingdom of God. Living north of
the Taurus mountain range, north of the most heavily traveled routes of commerce,
they were isolated from receiving anything from the church that would have been
of encouragement to them. Hence, and this is only my guess, they
were beginning to question not only their true identity, but the worth of their
true identity.
Maybe that is how you feel. Maybe by choice
or by circumstances you are on the outskirts of the kingdom. As a Christian
you know you don't share the same values as your neighbors; you don't share the
same work-ethic as your coworkers; and you are certainly not instep with the
culture in which you are immersed. But because of your work schedule,
or for some other reason, you are isolated from receiving encouragement from
the body of Christ.
If so, I Peter is not only for you but for all
of us. It's for all us because in our waywardness we all tend to drift
to the outskirts of the kingdom. Peter's letters will bring us back to
the center of God's good and perfect will. They will remind
us of what we already have in Christ. They will remind us of the perils
that lie on the outskirts. And, his two letters will encourage us to be
obedient in a wide variety of circumstances.
In the first few
verses we read:
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God's elect,
strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia
and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ
and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
To appreciate these initial verses we need to
keep in mind that this letter was written, for the most part, to Gentiles. Within
the letter we learn that the recipients had been released from the futile way
of life which they had learned from their fathers (1:18). The recipients
were once not a people were now the people of God (2:10). And, in
previous times the recipients had spent their days and nights doing what pagans
do with their days and nights (4:3).
Now look at the first two verses again. The
amazing thing about these two verses is that Peter takes words and phrases that
had originally been applied to God's people - the Israelites - and applies them
to these Gentiles. Peter calls the people to whom he is addressing this
letter the elect - God's chosen people. Regardless of the theological twist
you put on these words, the fact remains that these words sound very much like
the words Moses applied to the Israelites in the book of Deuteronomy. For
in Deuteronomy 7:6 we read,
"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen
you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured
possession."
Then too, there is another word here that once
exclusively belonged to Israel. The address literally reads: "To
the elect strangers of the Diaspora throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia,
and Bithynia." Diaspora, which is sometimes translated as dispersion
or scattered was the technical name for the Jews scattered in exile outside the
bounds of Palestine. Sometimes they were forcibly removed and sometimes
they scattered of their own free will. Either way, they were known as the
Diaspora. But now this term is applied to a scattered group of Gentiles
on the outskirts of God's kingdom.
I've been chosen a time or two and I must confess
that, for the most part, I have always been chosen last. I can remember
those junior high days when the P. E. teacher would choose two of the best and
instruct them to choose sides. This was a great moment for those who were
athletic, but for those of us who were scrawny and totally lacking in ability
it was a miserable time to be alive.
But suppose someone came along and chose you not
because you were naturally outstanding but because they loved you and, on top
of that, they had the ability to do mighty things on your behalf. They
even had the ability to transform you into a mighty warrior. Then, choosing
doesn't seem like the pits. In fact, it seems just the opposite! In
my wildest dreams it seems like Tom Landry chose me out of the draft and said, "Come
with me and I will make you an unbelievable quarterback." In fact,
that is exactly what happened. He chose me and made be an unbelievable
quarterback!
There is tremendous encouragement in these words
for the word eklektos was a word used to describe anything that was especially
chosen. It was used to describe specially chosen fruit. It was used
to describe especially chosen clothes that were well made. It was also
used too describe hand-picked troops. But there is also a challenge,
or a reminder here. We were chosen for a purpose. We were chosen
to be obedient and in being obedient to fulfill God's purposes in and through
our life.
Oh man! I knew there was a catch. This is
where we want to suggest to God that he might want to choose someone else. Because
in actual fact we've never been good at doing what we're supposed to be doing. But
at this point we still don't get it. In God's choosing us, he also chose
to consecrate us by the work of the Holy Spirit within us. It is the Spirit
who awakens our longings to be on God's side. It is the Spirit who frees
us from the grip of sin. It is the Spirit who works obedience into us. And
it is this Spirit who equips us to do God's work on the outskirts of his kingdom. Wow! Now
being chosen sounds like a very good thing.
1 My mother, for example, never identified herself when
she called me. Of course, I was her son and she rightly expected me to
automatically know that it was her on the other end of the line. But
what my mom never took into account was that after I was married, Linda became
my personal secretary and she, as part of her duties, answered the phone. Naturally,
she didn't automatically know it was my mom and, as you can guess, this was
quite irritating. Which explains why I am now my own personal secretary. As
for Linda, she only lasted for one week - as my personal secretary.
2 I, II, and III John are not an exception as everyone understood
that these letters were from John. Perhaps because he was the only apostle
still living at the time!
3 Some try to reconcile the Peter they find in the gospel
accounts - the one who habitually put his foot in his mouth - with the Peter
who supposedly wrote the book of I Peter. They look at the Peter
who normally blurted out the first thing that came into his mind and
deduce that whoever wrote the book of I Peter, it wasn't Peter.
The book of Acts, however, serves as the best
defense of Peter's authorship for I and II Peter. In clear Greek, Luke
shows Peter as a capable and articulate spokesperson for the early church. It
tells us that the local authorities, the very ones who would have been the
quickest to find fault with him, were astonished at his graciousness, at his
persuasiveness, and at his self-controlled speech. The history
of the early church gives us every reason to believe that the author of I Peter
is - Peter.
PETER: THE MAN AND HIS LETTERS 11/25/07 1
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