This morning’s Scriptures are: Psalms 5 & 6; Exodus 15:1-21; 1 Peter 1:13-25; John 14:18-31
This morning’s Canticles are: Pascha Nostrum (“Christ Our Passover,” BCP, p. 83); following the OT reading, Canticle 13 (“A Song of Praise,” BCP, p. 90); following the Epistle reading, Canticle 18 (“A Song to the Lamb,” Revelation 4:11; 5:9-10, 13, BCP, p. 93)
Observations today based on three phrases in today’s passage in 1 Peter:
…not with perishable things… — 1 Peter 1:18. Sweet irony. Peter reminds us of the transience of our existence: “during the time of your exile.” But then he turns right around and puts that “exile” in the context of God’s eternal plan to prosper us. Peter speaks of the “imperishability” of things working to end the exile, and, in particular, of the revealing of God’s Son who was “known (i.e., loved) before the world was made” (verse 20, Jerusalem Bible).
With all of today’s reminders of how brief our years here are—bodies stored in morgues because funerals can’t keep up with the deaths, with daily death counts from a single disease in the hundreds—it is good to be reminded that God’s good intentions for health and salvation extend from eternity to eternity.
That’s why it is important to begin the day as you have, re-immersing yourself in the story of creation; of the fall; of a multi-staged course of redemption running from promises in the Garden, to the calling of the nation Israel (thus, today’s “Song of Moses,” in Exodus 15), to the crowning events of Good Friday and Easter, to the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit through the Church (for which Jesus prepared his disciples in today’s John 14 passage); and ultimately of the great drama climaxing in the Lord’s return to bring “a new heavens and a new earth.”
…but with the precious blood of Christ… — 1 Peter 1:19. It’s a remarkable thing that, as Peter notes in verse 17, the Judge of all things has invited us to call him Father. Think about that: the Judge of heaven’s courtroom has come from behind the bench, and invited us to come home with him, to take his name as our own, to become a part of his family. Setting aside his “impartiality” (an impartiality that, given who we are, should have consigned every one of us to the remotest, coldest darkness), the Lord of heaven and earth has loved us and “chosen and destined” us to be his children (see 1 Peter 1:1). He doesn’t want to squash us. He wants to welcome us home. So much so, that he has opened the coffers of heaven to make that possible.
In the strange biblical economy, one thing is more valuable than anything humans might value: the “precious blood of Christ.” Peter might have named anything else: diamonds, plutonium, yachts, mansions … doesn’t matter. The point is: you were loved so much that God spent that which was infinitely more valuable than anything you could reckon valuable, just so he could set aside his impartiality as Judge to become your Dad. Your Dad. Notice the end of verse 20: “for you.” That “you” there is “you,” personally, by name, warts and all. Heaven’s coffers poured out because God values you enough to spend whatever it takes to get you out of jail and into his own home.
Now that you have purified your souls… — 1 Peter 1:22. A friend once told me he was grateful for mixed motives, because, he said, “If I didn’t have mixed motives, I wouldn’t have any motives at all.” I can relate. Still, the whole direction of Christ’s life in us is to move us past mixed motives, to a pure and unadulterated passion for him. Peter says it comes from “a heart that has been cleansed” (my rendering of verse 22’s katharas kardias, somewhat dully rendered in the NRSV as “from the heart”). That kind of heart produces, in turn, “brotherly love that is unaffected” (literally, “unhypocritical”).
It’s painful right now to watch some leaders who seem unclear about which is more important: the long-term benefit of people or their own short-term advantage? There’s a lot of that in each and every one of us.
The good news is that, if you belong to Christ, he’s not going to leave it that way. He has committed himself to eliminating the double mindedness, the mixed motives, and the hidden agendas that infect us all. The best way for us to cooperate with the process is to see ourselves the way the Lord sees us: purified of soul, cleansed of heart, and equipped with a capacity for unaffected brotherly love. And then to look around and ask: how can I be that today?
Collect for the Second Sunday of Easter. Almighty and everlasting God, who in the Paschal mystery established the new covenant of reconciliation: Grant that all who have been reborn into the fellowship of Christ’s Body may show forth in their lives what they profess by their faith; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Be blessed this day.
Reggie Kidd+