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^“12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” NIV

‘The consequence of having seen God is madness, not in the sense that one becomes mentally ill, no, but that a kind of madness is set between you and others: people cannot nor will not understand you.’ Soren Kierkegaard.

No-one, naturally-speaking, wants to be persecuted for their faith. But no-one should ‘’be surprised’’ if they are. It is to be expected.

Here is a pattern we find in the New Testament: Suffering first – then glory. We see the principle exemplified in Jesus. As He said to the two on the way to Emmaus:

‘’Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?’’ (Luke 24:26).

The glory is, ultimately, resurrection beyond death (Easter Sunday following Good Friday). But Peter writes about a foretaste of that glory even now for those suffering for their faith (14).

Jesus, in the sermon on the mount, pronounced a special blessing on the persecuted. It’s counter-intuitive to want to have a hard life. Who would? But many who go through the mill for their faith testify to this special blessing, and they wouldn’t trade it for anything.

^“10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so 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. ” NIV

10‘’God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.’’ (New Living Translation).

Just a further word on this passage. I was reminded of something I read recently in ‘The Care of Souls’ by Harold L. Senkbeil:

‘I can guarantee you’ll be strung out, tapped out, and burned out in the ministry very quickly if you don’t grasp this one central truth: By your own strength or power you can do absolutely nothing as a servant of Christ and steward of his mysteries. I’ve seen it over and over again: A bright, gifted young pastor is driven to despair and the brink of emotional and spiritual collapse simply because he set out to do ministry relying on his own ingenuity and internal resources. Please get this straight: It’s not that you do part of the work and God does the rest; it’s not that you do a little bit and God does a whole lot. Rather, in Christ’s church the Holy Spirit does everything…from beginning to end, the life of the Christian is a gift of God’s Spirit.’

He wasn’t meaning that there is nothing for us to do. But he was underlining our total dependence on God’s Spirit.

I read an article the other day by Lee Eclov. In it he wrote about the importance of ‘Wordwork’ for pastors. He described how in his previous church he had set up a group simply to pray for his ministry of preaching. That’s how important he deemed it.

We must have God’s power in our ministries, whatever they may be, otherwise all we do will amount to nothing.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, please show us how to use the gifts you have given us in your strength, for your glory, and for the good of others.

^“10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so 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.” NIV

We believe in ‘the priesthood of all believers’ – in every member ministry. We have believed it for years, and sought to practice it, however imperfectly. But in a time as disruptive as this we have to visit the truth afresh. Again, let’s try to avoid asking, ‘When can we get back to how things were?’ Instead, we ask, ‘What does this make possible?’

Nothing has altered the fact that you have God-given gifts to be used for the strengthening of His church and the glorifying of His Name. (Two are mentioned here as examples, but there are many others). You may not be able to use them in exactly the same way you used to, but you can still use them. Ask God to show you how, and where and when. Give it some thought. Take time to reflect and assess.

Somebody made the observation, ‘If I were walking by a lake and I saw a child drowning, and if I were to jump in to rescue the infant, it would be foolish to ask afterwards which part of my body was most needed in the rescue. All my body would be needed.’

That truth holds good. We need the whole body of Christ to get the job done, and you have your own special part to play. That is as true today as it ever was.

Whatever gifts we have received, we are to use them in God’s strength and for His glory.

‘’That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!’’ The Message.

^“9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.” NIV

How should we live in the last days? As we have seen:

• Prayerfully;
• And now:
• Hospitably – using our homes to glorify God and serve the church.

This thought struck me yesterday: how much of the Bible is about being in a church building on a Sunday? Answer: none of it! Because there were no church buildings for the first 400 hundred years or so of the Christian church. They largely met in homes, and sometimes in the temple courts or other public buildings.

The Bible story is an every day story. It is not just about Sabbath days (or Sundays). It’s about God, and it’s about people knowing God, walking with God, and, yes, often failing God then coming back to Him, on all days of the week, including Sundays.

Don’t misunderstand what I’m saying, please. Sundays are important. Gathering together to meet is important. But maybe we’ve become too fixated on meeting ‘in church’ on Sunday. Church is every day, and in the ‘new normal’ may be, just may be, the use of the home will become even more necessary and strategic.

The testimony of the persecuted church in some lands seems to be that when they have had to leave public gathering for private meetings the church has multiplied exponentially.

Again, maybe they question should not be, ‘When can we get back to what we had?’but ‘What does this situation make possible?’

‘To love the world to me’s no chore, my big problem’s the man next door.’NIV

Even more to the point, it might be the guy (or gal) in the next pew.

Biblical love is a muscular thing. It’s not for softies. It’s hard work. Loving involves forgiving, and it’s not easy. In fact, it’s impossible apart from God’s help.

We concluded yesterday by thinking about how we are called to community, but it’s not always easy to ‘do’ community. Yet we have significant opportunities to grow through its challenges.

Kierkegaard, writing about Peter, said: ’To love is to love the person one sees. As the apostle John reminds us: ‘’He who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.’’ (1 Jn.4:20)…Christ’s love for Peter was so boundless that in loving Peter he accomplished loving the person one sees…Christ did not break off his friendship with Peter, and then renew it again when Peter had become a different man. No, he preserved the friendship and in this way helped Peter to become another man. Do you think Peter would ever have been won again without such faithful love?’

PRAYER: Lord, none of us is yet the finished article. Please give us your love for one another – a love that endures.

^“8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” NIV

‘’Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything.’’ The Message.

A monk, speaking about Benedict, said the saint took the image Scripture uses to speak about Christ Himself: ‘’ ‘A bruised reed he will not break, a smouldering wick he will not quench.’ Humanity is already fragile. We need to treat it with care, with concern, with delicacy.’’

I heard an interview recently with a man who talked about a time when he was going through an emotional crisis. He asked a friend, ‘When will things return to normal?’ She replied, ‘Ian, that’s the wrong question. You should be asking, ‘What does this now make possible?’

That’s an important question for the church right now. We can bemoan the loss of what used to be; grieve over what we can’t do (and to some extent that is necessary and important); or we can seize the opportunities in this new moment.

We are the church now. We are not waiting to get back inside a building to be the church…surely? We are the church right this moment; we are the church today. It seems to me that everything Peter writes here about being the church in the last days is still possible to us. (It also applies to those basic characteristics of the church found in Acts 2:42-47). We may have to find different ways of working it out in practice, but it’s all do-able. Loving is for today. So pick up that phone; write that card or letter; invite that allowable number of people over to sit in your garden (keeping the safe social distancing rules of course). But let’s look for legitimate, and perhaps new and creative ways of being and growing community.What does it mean to love people today? Don’t be twiddling your thumbs in a waiting room for some building to open. ‘What does this now make possible?’

I want to commend you for all you have been doing for weeks now (some of those weeks may have felt long and weary, I know), to stay connected. You’ve been remarkable in your continuing fellowship. But, if I can paraphrase Paul in one of his letters, I just want to say, ‘This is great! Now do it more and more!!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer taught that ‘the church exists as a brotherhood established by Christ, even if it doesn’t feel like it in a given moment. The martyred Lutheran pastor taught that struggles within the community are a gift of God’s grace, because they force its members to reckon with the reality of their kinship, despite their brokenness. A community that cannot face its faults and love each other through to healing is not truly Christian.’ (Rod Dreher).

PRAYER: Lord, such love is possible only by your grace. Please show us all the ways you want us to express your love to one another in these times. Help us not to be ‘glass half-empty’ people. Enable us to focus on what this moment makes possible.

⁷ The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.” NIV

‘’ The end of the world is coming soon. Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.’’ (NLT).

 I feel unable to pull out of this particular station just yet.

There are three other things I want to say:

1. Prayer is fundamental to a fully committed life: ‘…no matter what a Christian’s circumstances, he cannot live faithfully if God is only a part of his life, bracketed away from the rest. In the end, either Christ is at the Center of our lives, or the Self and all its idolatries are. There is no middle ground. With His help, we can piece together the fragments of our lives and order them around Him, but it will not be easy, and we can’t do it alone.’ (Rod Dreher: ‘The Benedictine Option’,pp.75,76). I believe Rod is correct in his assessment, and note his inference that prayer must lie at the heart of such a surrendered life.
2. Prayer is of paramount importance for the gathered church. As Peter writes about life in the last days, his first emphasis is on qualities which will help us to pray. This reminds me of Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 2:1 where he writes: ‘’I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – ‘’ In these words he underlines the priority of prayer in public worship. It’s the most important thing we can do when we come together as a church.
3. Prayer will enable us to see the way ahead. As denominational leaders begin to share documents designed to help local church leaders prepare for easing out of lockdown, it becomes obvious that any return to physical meeting will be a complex process. At least, that’s how it looks to me. I don’t believe that there will be any single plan which is universally applicable to every single congregation; no ‘one size fits all’ template. This is a time for local church leaders to pray, and for churches to pray for their leaders. In prayer we will find our answers; in prayer we will receive the wisdom we lack and so desperately need. In prayer we can find the way forward. Yes, we must apply our minds; we must think. Yes, we must discuss, and take advice. Yes, we must work hard and ensure we fulfill every necessary obligation. But above all, let us pray.

^“7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray.” NIV

There’s nothing new about this, but whenever you find a ‘’Therefore’’ in the Bible, you need to look back to see what it’s there for. This ‘’Therefore’’ relates to the sentence we looked at yesterday:

‘’The end of all things is near.’’

 So the question before us is, ‘How should we live in the last days?’

The first answer is: ‘Prayerfully.’

Indeed, we need to clear the ground so that we can pray; deal with stuff; sweep away debris; unblock the well

Matthew Henry’s words are helpful regarding this text:

‘Those who would pray to purpose must watch unto prayer. They must watch over their own spirits, watch all fit opportunities, and do their duty in the best manner they can…The right ordering of the body is of great use to promote the good of the soul. When the appetites and inclinations of the body are restrained and governed by God’s word and true reason, and the interests of the body are submitted to the interests and necessities of the soul, then it is not the soul’s enemy, but its friend and helper.’

 ‘’Stay wide-awake in prayer’’ is how this is rendered in ‘The Message’.

Perhaps Peter was recalling how he and James and John went to sleep in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus had asked them to stay awake with him in prayer (Mark 14:37-40). It has been suggested that it was perhaps because Peter failed to pray in the garden that he later fell into temptation and denied his Lord.

The 1960’s media theorist, Marshall McLuhan, himself a practicing Christian, once said that everyone he knew who lost their faith began by ceasing to pray.

Many people acknowledge that there is a certain kind of fatigue that seems to go hand-in-hand with this crisis season. There’s a creeping lethargy which can gradually have a suppressing and choking effect on the spirit. Like weeds, it could steadily take over the garden of your soul.In these days of great crisis, don’t let the devil rock you to sleep in his cradle.

How ought we to live in the last days? Prayerfully!

PRAYER: Lord, teach us to pray.