December 7, 2008
(Advent 2 B – Holiday Essentials)
2 Peter 3:8-14
"PATIENCE & PREPARATION"
There are 18 days left before Christmas. So what? Well, it's coming up soon, but there is still some time to get ready for it. When I say there's 18 days until Christmas – I'm not expecting anyone here to scream, jump up, run out of the church and immediately head to the mall. On the other hand, it's not July. In July people think, "Christmas – psshhh – I don't think THAT far ahead! When December rolls around, then I'll start getting ready for Christmas."
Our sermon for today is about the proper balance between those 2 extremes. Our HOLIDAY ESSENTIAL item for this Sunday is the proper mixture of patience and preparation. In our 2nd Lesson (2 Peter 3:8-14) the Lord pulls those 2 concepts together for us. In verses 8-9 first of all, we see the Lord's PATIENCE:
2 Peter 3:8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Patience is an ESSENTIAL part of God's saving plans. Verse 15 of this chapter says, "Our Lord's patience means salvation." The Gospel news of Jesus Christ – the perfect Saviour – who lay down His life as a sacrifice of atonement to cancel out all our guilt so we could have the gift of salvation by faith – THAT saving message is still reaching more lost souls, and (by the power of the Spirit) building up God's family of believers. That's why His glorious 2nd coming hasn't taken place yet. He's not SLOW – He's PATIENT. Waiting isn't hard for Him. To Him a thousand years are like a day.
Waiting isn't hard for HIM – but it's hard for us. And, our impatience can easily get us in trouble. Many Christians back in the 1st century AD thought Jesus' Second Coming would happen while the Apostles were still alive. Some people liquidated everything they had thinking the End would happen right away. God used Peter to bring them more into balance – yes, the End is on its way – but patience – the Lord is going to build His family first, and He'll take all the time He needs to do that.
Impatience causes us problems as well – especially at this time of year. I think we've all lost patience with children / parents / spouses / siblings / relatives . . . . and, I'll bet many of us have lost patience with God too. Especially when suffering through something that makes no sense to us. At that time we may wonder why God isn't stepping in and doing things we the way WE would like them to be done. When we lose patience, often those around us do as well. Could you imagine how terrifying it would be if God lost patience with us? If He yelled at us, "Quit whining and complaining about every little thing – I'm sick and tired of your lazy, selfish, petty attitudes, your apathy and lack of love and devotion to me and those around you – get out of my sight!"
He'd be completely justified in losing His patience with us, but thanks to Jesus we've been completely justified. (Justified being the word the NIV translation chose to reflect the Greek word meaning: declared to be innocent / holy / righteous by God Himself.) God poured out His anger on Jesus, and Jesus' perfection is ours by faith. Repentance is a STATE OF BEING that God brings us into where we acknowledge our guilt and sin and receive Jesus' forgiveness and perfection. As one member said, "Justification means it's just as if I never sinned." Because of Christ alone God is PATIENT with us. That inspires us to be patient with others as we patiently wait for Him to build His family before Christ comes again.
God wants that patient attitude balanced with a state of readiness and preparation for his coming again – as we see in the following verses: 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.
Speed its coming?? Hasn't that Day already been set in stone? Well – yes and no. Let's say the End doesn't come in your lifetime, so you will have to experience death. Has that day of your death been set in stone? Well – yes and no – depending upon how you look at it. The Lord knows the exact moment it will come. But, we can speed its coming by how we live / what we put into our bodies / how we drive / what risks we take. God knows how it's all going to play out – He's TIMELESS, and He's always watching over us – and at the same time He encourages us to make good decisions and use the time we have wisely.
Likewise when God's people make good decisions and get to work sharing the Gospel – we speed the coming of Jesus' return. That's an interesting perspective on things, isn't it? God wants us to keep these things in balance as we step ever closer to the End – that Day is coming!
12b That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.
It's an incredible blessing to have patience balanced with preparation as we approach the End. We have a wonderful future waiting for us in Jesus' presence – keeping our eyes focused on that future is priceless when we're faced with struggles and hardships here. God's Word brings things into focus and helps us keep things balanced as we struggle through this difficult life. Unfortunately all too often we (like the people of Peter's day) get that balance all out of whack. They were unbalanced to the one extreme – we are unbalanced to the other extreme – and God's Word helps us both.
I haven't seen anyone in our church quit their job, liquidate all their assets, get rid of all their stuff, drop all the money they got from it in the offering place – then sit on the pew and say, "Ok Lord – take me home!" When you see that relative at Christmas I don't expect you to grab him and smack him and say, "When are you going to wake up and realize you're a wretched sinner and you need a Saviour?! Jesus is the only way for you to be saved and escape the fires of hell – quite avoiding Him!! The End is near!"
They'd check your eggnog for rum if you acted that way. We tend to be imbalanced on the other side of the equation. "Maybe next year I'll get a better opportunity to talk about Jesus with him. He doesn't like it when I invite him to church, I'll quit asking and hope that maybe one day he'll be interested. Until then, I'll just put it off." Spiritually we're thinking it's the middle of July, when in reality there's "18 days" left. It's time to get PREPARED for Jesus' Coming.
"Wait a minute – is Pastor saying we're not prepared for Jesus' glorious return?" No – don't misunderstand me here. The believer with the repentant heart stands in a state of readiness – kept in the Faith by the Means of Grace that bring Jesus' forgiveness to us and keep us bonded to Him.
So how are we weak in the area of preparation? Well – think about it this way: If on Christmas Day 2008 Jesus decided His birthday is a good day to return in Judgment – what would you do during these 18 days that you've been putting off?
Have you heard of the Latin phrase: carpe diem? Seize the day! Take God's encouragement from these verses and SEIZE THE DAY! What do you want to accomplish with the "18 days" or so that you have left? It's time to get those items done.
§ It's time to get rid of that grudge and that anger, and make up with your loved one.
§ It's time to set aside some time / energy / money for helping others hear the Gospel message.
§ It's time to get involved with what your congregation is doing to share Jesus with others.
§ It's time to apologize and be sorry instead of trying to be right.
§ It's time to have a conversation with your relative (the "smacking him around" is optional – use your discretion).
§ It's time to focus on HOLIDAY ESSENTIALS instead of Holiday incidentals.
§ It's time to live holy and godly loves as we look forward to the Day of God – balancing patience and preparation – making the most of every opportunity to bring Christ to others, and so, speed its coming. Come Lord Jesus – Amen.
