Pondering First Peter (2)

 

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens…”

 

I am amazed at how little we consider the question, “Who were the writers of the New Testament letters writing to?” This is such a foundational question that if we don’t know the answer we will not know how to read these letters, and it is, in some measure, because we don’t ask the question and answer it correctly that we misread much of the New Testament. Well – meaning Christian leaders woefully lead their people astray by not submitting themselves to the clear Biblical answer to the question, “Who were the writers of the New Testament letters writing to?” This is a tragedy of the first order for it enslaves the People of God by shackling them with the identity of slavery to sin rather than affirming their true identity as the holy sons and daughters of the Living God in Jesus Christ. (Romans 6:8 – 11; 8:12 – 39).

 

Consider Peter’s affirmations in 1 Peter 1:1 – 9, ponder the assurances that the apostle gives to his readers. How many do you see? How many more do you see as you continue to read through 2:10? Why O why would we want to rob our brothers and sisters of their glorious inheritance and identity in Jesus Christ? Why would we want to rob ourselves of our collective identity as God’s holy priesthood, His Living Temple (see also Ephesians 2:19 – 22), His Holy Nation, God’s own possession?

 

Are we residing as aliens? In 2:11 Peter also writes, “Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers…” Is this our mindset? Are we on pilgrimage? Are we on a journey from here to There? Are we passing through this life and its surroundings to our eternal Destination in Jesus Christ?

 

In Hebrews 11:8 we read that Abraham “by faith” lived “as an alien,” and that our forefathers (11:13 – 14) “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own.”

 

Are we “making it clear” to those around us that we are “looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God”? (Hebrews 11:10). When people see us, when they come to know us, do they identify us as tourists who are passing through this life?

 

Now when I write “tourists” I mean it only in the sense of passing through, of this world not being our home; I do not mean it in the sense of leisure (though we do rest in God). For we are on mission to those around us with the love and grace of Jesus Christ; we are called to serve our generation with the Word of the Gospel and the works of God – not living for ourselves but for Christ and others.

 

The thing about tourists is that you can often recognize them, which is why I’m using the word right now as an illustration. Living in the Boston area, I often saw tourists – they had cameras and maps. Growing up in the Washington, D.C. area and frequenting its many galleries and museums, I saw tourists; they were often in groups, having cameras and maps. Tourists can have a distinctive look about them which locals easily identify. As God’s People, do we have a distinctive look? Do we have a distinctive speech?

 

Unlike average tourists, we are not here to observe and to be entertained, but to give to others, to leave people and places better than when we arrived. Unlike most tourists, we are not here to take things home with us, but to bring others with us to our heavenly home in Jesus Christ. We are not to be tourists laden down with baggage, but we are to travel light so that we may focus on eternal things, on people – giving ourselves away to others as we breathe the Divine atmosphere of our heavenly home in Christ.

 

As strangers and pilgrims we travel with a heavenly passport in Jesus Christ, knowing that our “citizenship is in heaven” (Phil. 3:20).

 

Why then do we live as if this world were our home? Why do we adopt the identities of this world? Why do we deceive ourselves into thinking that certain nations are the equivalent of the Kingdom of God? Why do we allow ourselves to be manipulated as slaves to the political, social, religious, and economic agendas of this present age?

 

Well…Peter is writing to aliens, to strangers and pilgrims…

 

Am I one of them?

 

Are you?