Printer Friendly VersionThis seventh Sunday of Easter is usually set aside as a day
to celebrate and remember the ascension of Jesus. On the day when we reflect
on the Lord’s final words of preparation and encouragement to the disciples,
it should not be surprising that the lectionary text from 1 Peter contains
last words of instruction and encouragement to the Early Church.
On the Day of Ascension we reflect on the future. The future
is always a problem because it is as though we are always walking backward
into it. When you walk backward you can see where you have come from but you
cannot really see what is coming ahead of you. No one really knows what tomorrow
holds for any of us.
On the Day of Ascension we are also reminded of Christ’s
absent-presence. As we await His return and the final inauguration of the
kingdom of God, we as His church are left wrestling with the paradoxical reality
that although He is present with us through the power of the Spirit and in
the sacramental reality of the Church (the Body of Christ), He is yet bodily
absent from us.
So how are we to live into the open future in this time of Christ’s
absent presence?
Peter closes his letter acknowledging the enormous problem still
confronting the Early Church: the future. Neither Peter nor those reading
his letter knew what the future held. The future could bring an immediate
end to suffering or it could bring trials that make those the Church had been
enduring seem pale by comparison.
Exacerbating the problem is the realization that the forces
that shape the future for the Early Church are not neutral but are often adversarial.
Peter reminds his readers that their adversary prowls around “like a
roaring lion” (5:8). Until the final judgment of Christ comes, the forces
of good and evil will continue to bring moments of grace that are foretastes
of God’s kingdom and moments of sin and brokenness that serve as stark
reminders that the kingdom is not yet fully here.
In this in-between time God has called believers “to his
eternal glory in Christ” (v. 10). We believe by faith that although
we walk blindly into the future that God’s sovereign love will get the
final word in all things. The glorious reign of the Lamb of God is not just
a future hope but a current reality that God calls believers to live in and
toward.
As He redeems all things toward the glory of Christ He will
“restore” (v. 10) believers, meaning He will transform or renew
the character of the faithful through their suffering. God will also “establish”,
strengthen, or support His church. He will “strengthen them” so
His people will be able to face whatever the future brings, and He will “settle”
them. He will make them a people who cannot be moved no matter what comes
against them.
I think often of the radical changes that have taken place over
the last century or so. I have several pictures in my office of my grandfather
as a little boy on the small ranch he grew up on in Nebraska. When I look
at those pictures I wonder if he could have ever imagined all the changes
that would take place in his lifetime. Not only is the world such a radically
different place, but could he have imagined as a little boy what it would
be like for his mother to die at a young age, what his future in ministry
would be like, who his wife, his children and grandchildren would be, and
so on? His whole future was lying before him unknown and un-experienced.
That is true for all of us. We do not know what the future holds
but we know that God is working now and will be working into our future to
bring about His glory in us.
It is important to recognize that our response to the open future
given by Peter is a communal one. The emphasis of the entire epistle and the
plural verbs used throughout this particular passage emphasize our need for
the community of faith. In a verse that falls between the two sections of
the lectionary reading, Peter writes that, “the time has come for judgment
to begin with the household of God” (4:17, NRSV). It is critical we
understand that Peter’s instructions in this letter are intended for
the Church to obey as one communal body.
Therefore together we are to walk into the future in humility
(5:5) maintaining our teachable servant spirit with God the Father. We are
to free ourselves from worry and rest in His love by casting our cares upon
Him (v. 7). The Church must stay vigilant and disciplined (5:8) always aware
that the possibility of sin creating division and destruction is always at
hand. However, the people of God can stay prepared by remaining steadfast
in faith (5:9), standing united with the Church universal. And finally, we
can rejoice and give praise to God (4:13; 5:11) because in and through Christ
He is using every “fiery ordeal” (4:12) to bring about in us the
purity of life and character that He most desires.
Ascension Sunday is an opportunity for the Church to remember
that although we do not know what the future holds, we do indeed know the
One who holds the resolution and redemption of the future in His hands. That
does not mean that as the song goes, “our future’s so bright,
we’ve got to wear shades.” The future may be bright but it also
may be very difficult.
I love Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter. The anonymous author
of Hebrews gives us that great definition of faith, “Now faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Yet
the author seems to realize that definitions are a little too abstract for
most people, and so he gives us several examples of faith. I have always found
the first three very instructive. He starts with Abel, Enoch, and Noah as
models of faith.
I probably would have skipped Abel, for his story is not overly
positive. The writer of Hebrews tells Abel’s history this way: “he
died.” Abel did all of the right things, but died anyway. Enoch, on
the other hand, walked with God, lived a long life, and simply walked into
the next realm of being. Noah’s life and future was turbulent to say
the least, but Noah (pardon the pun) was able to ride the waves of the future’s
ups and downs and walk with God in faith.
Perhaps these three are good models after all for living by
faith into an open future. Some of us may have painful, tragic, and perhaps
even brief futures like Abel. Some of us may have primarily blessed and beautiful
lives that resemble Enoch walking with God. Most likely the majority of us
will have futures filled with ups and downs like Noah. But the point in each
case is that God is at work and in each life their faith in God still speaks.
In these final words from Peter’s first epistle we are pointed to the
God who is at work moving all things toward His glorious future and we find
words of wisdom for learning how to both trust God’s sovereign and creative
love as well as how to be prepared spiritually as the Body of Christ to face
whatever challenges or trials may come our way.
I personally do not believe God caused the suffering of the Early Church nor is He the source of our current sufferings. But I deeply believe He is able to redeem and transform the “fiery ordeals” we often find ourselves facing into His refining fire that forms His character and nature in us. To Him be glory.
