2 Peter 3:8-14 Prepare
2 Peter 3:8-14 (Evangelical Heritage Version)
8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: For the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness. Instead, he is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be dissolved as they burn with great heat, and the earth and what was done on it will be burned up. 11Therefore, since all these things will be destroyed, what kind of people ought you to be, living in holiness and godliness, 12as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God? That day will cause the heavens to be set on fire and destroyed, and the elements to melt as they burn with great heat. 13But according to his promise we look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
14Therefore, dear friends, as you look forward to these things, make every effort to be found in peace, spotless and blameless in his sight.
Prepare
I.
Christmas is coming. Christmas Eve is two weeks from today. Are you prepared?
Some husbands think that being prepared for Christmas means thinking about the schedule for that day. Church at 9:00 a.m. No Bible class that day, so I can drop the wife off at home by 10:30 at the latest. The Lions’ game is at 1 p.m., and so is the Packers’ game, so that gives every one of us husbands 2½ hours to get to the store, pick the perfect gift, have it gift-wrapped, and be back home in time for kickoff.
Grade school children are convinced they are prepared for Christmas, too. Rather than procrastinating, like their dads, Christmas seems like it is so far off. They want to get to next Sunday’s children’s service, then get to the last day of school before the Christmas break. It seems like that day will never come, let alone Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
Parents with small children see that two weeks much differently. There’s a sense of panic. Even the husbands who figure they have plenty of time to buy their wives a gift are worried that it’s already too late to find what their child wants for Christmas. There is so much that still has to get done!
To those who are a little bit older, two weeks seems like the blink of an eye. Even as they wait to celebrate this Christmas, they wonder at how quickly all the Christmas pasts have gone by.
The Advent season is about Jesus’ coming. Our theme of the day for this Second Sunday in Advent said: The King shall come. Prepare to meet him. These days, Christian people tend to blend Advent and Christmas together just a bit. Advent has become all about getting prepared for the birth of Christ—preparing to celebrate Jesus’ first coming.
You may have noticed that Peter isn’t talking about preparing to celebrate Jesus’ birth in today’s Second Reading. Peter had been preaching the Good News about Jesus for tens of years since Jesus ascended into heaven. More than thirty years had gone by before he wrote his letters.
Did it seem like the blink of an eye, or like lots of time had gone by? It had already been tens of years. People talk about things that happened decades ago as if that were a long time, but in the grand scheme of things, a few decades are nothing.
Before the verses of our today’s reading Peter said: “First, know this: In the last days scoffers will come with their mocking, following their own lusts. 4They will say, ‘Where is this promised coming of his? For from the time that our fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they have from the beginning of the creation’” (2 Peter 3:3-4, EHV). Here it was, only three decades since Jesus ascended, and questions were arising about the second coming of Christ.
You can see the comedians of 2000 years ago on stage doing their stand-up routines. “Hah! My father and my grandfather told me all about how things were in the olden days, and nothing has changed in all that time. These silly Christians have been waiting around for something that is never going to happen.” Stand-up comedians mock Christians to this day. Now it isn’t just tens of years we have been waiting for Jesus to return, it’s nearly 2,000 years. Still, he hasn’t come. Things continue as they have from the beginning of creation.
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: For the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day” (2 Peter 3:8, EHV). Time is immaterial to God. He created time, he is not bound by time.
Tens of years have gone by. Hundreds, even thousands, of years have gone by. Sure, we can say that God isn’t bound by time, but he still hasn’t returned. Some of us want to see the Lord get on with it and come down now in all his glory just to put the stand-up comics in their place.
Or maybe we’re on the other side of the coin. Don’t be in too big a hurry to return, Lord. I want to do some things in this life first. I want to see my children or grandchildren grow up. There are so many interesting places in the world that are on my bucket list. I want to see those places and do those things first. Then you can come back, Lord.
II.
“The Lord is not slow to do what he promised, as some consider slowness. Instead, he is patient for your sakes, not wanting anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, EHV).
There is a reason Jesus hasn’t come back yet. It has nothing to do with the special places you still want to visit or the things you still want to do. It has nothing to do with God’s attitude toward the stand-up comics.
It may have something to do with the comedians and the other mockers, however. In fact, it does. God doesn’t want them to perish. God wants them to still have time for repentance.
Today’s Gospel spoke about John the Baptist. He must have been quite a sight: wild-looking; unkempt, perhaps; odd choices in clothing styles and food sources. Rather than detracting, John’s oddities seemed to draw people in. Perhaps it was just curiosity; perhaps they wanted to mock him, just like they would mock believers in Peter’s congregation decades later. Still, they came. He preached “...a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” (Mark 1:4, EHV). They needed to prepare their hearts for the coming King. They needed to recognize that their own actions and their temple sacrifices were not enough to make them right with God.
They needed something far better. “He preached, ‘One more powerful than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the strap of his sandals! 8I baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit’” (Mark 1:7-8, EHV). Jesus himself would do what was needed.
God’s patience in his delay, even to this day, is for the same reason John was preaching. People now need to hear about Jesus even as the people who came out to hear him at the Jordan river. If he had come yesterday, some would have been lost that Jesus came to save. Jesus died for them, too. God will demonstrate his patience for their sakes.
III.
Eventually, however, God’s time will be right. “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will pass away with a roar, the elements will be dissolved as they burn with great heat, and the earth and what was done on it will be burned up... 12That day will cause the heavens to be set on fire and destroyed, and the elements to melt as they burn with great heat” (2 Peter 3:10, 12, EHV).
How many epic places have you crossed off your bucket list? I’ve been to quite a few, and have some more on my list. The Last Day will come with a roar and all those places will be gone—burned up. The elements themselves will be dissolved, Peter says. It won’t just be the places; more importantly, what was done on the earth will be burned up. Sin has caused no end of problems. Everything has been affected. Paul even said creation herself groans with what sin has brought about. Sin has caused no end of problems, but there will be an end to those problems.
“But according to his promise we look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13, EHV). None of us can even begin to imagine the epic sights to see in the new heavens and the new earth. This present world is filled with such beauty, but it will pale in comparison to the new home God has promised. It will pale in comparison because of one overriding factor—righteousness will dwell there.
Since you are a 21st Century Christian who blends Advent into Christmas, you are thinking all about the focus on the Christchild. God sent his Son into the world as a little baby to live a righteous and holy life so he could be the perfect substitute for us. He was willing to die to pay the debt for our imperfection and unrighteousness.
IV.
Looking from our perspective here, right now, hundreds and even thousands of years after Jesus spoke about his second coming, “Since all these things will be destroyed, what kind of people ought you to be, living in holiness and godliness, 12as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God?” (2 Peter 3:11-12, EHV). Peter wants us to be people who are prepared. He wants us to be people who get our priorities in order.
We are people who recognize the sacrifice Jesus made for us. We are people who look forward with eagerness and anticipation for him to return. We are people who want to spend time with God and with his Word that brings us the message of the salvation Jesus won for us.
“Therefore, dear friends, as you look forward to these things, make every effort to be found in peace, spotless and blameless in his sight” (2 Peter 3:14, EHV).
Spotless and blameless in God’s sight? On our own, that would be impossible. It only happens through the blood of Jesus Christ, who cleanses us from all our sins. God looks at us through the lens of Jesus and sees us as perfect and holy—spotless and blameless.
That is what gives us peace. The angels sang of peace over the fields outside Bethlehem. They weren’t talking about the kind of peace that comes with a cease-fire. They weren’t talking about the peace you are hoping will happen among your family members at all your Christmas gatherings. They were talking about peace between you and God, a peace that passes all human understanding, a peace that happens because your sins are forgiven. A peace that will give you a place in the new heavens and the new earth.
Are you prepared? Not for the mad rush to buy Christmas gifts or getting everything in order for your family get-togethers, but for the return of the Lord Jesus? Keep your focus on Jesus as you prepare. Not only the baby Jesus lying in the manger, but the risen and ascended Lord of all who will be coming back for us soon. Amen.