2 Peter 3:10-18
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare.
Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.
So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
Luke 21:25-36
“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
He told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees. When they sprout leaves, you can see for yourselves and know that summer is near. Even so, when you see these things happening, you know that the kingdom of God is near.
“I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”
Living in the light of eternity
At the end of August, I turned eighty-five. And for me, it was a time of reflection. First, gratitude for God's blessings on me, undeserved throughout my life. Wonderful time to say thank you. but also a time to reflect on my mortality.
Eighty-five, how many years have I got left? It reminded me a bit of Thomas Kemp's great hymn, where he says this,
Redeem thy mis-spent time that's past,
Live this day as if 'twere thy last;
T'improve thy talents take due care,
'Gainst the great day thy self prepare.
Very sobering words.
So to our New Testament lesson for today, the epistle from 2 Peter. Now I know you are doing this series, or have done it, in the benefice, and tonight is your last sermon on this letter. Just a little bit of background.
Peter is writing to followers of Jesus scattered throughout Asia Minor, which is now, of course, Western Turkey. He addresses them very warmly. Dear friends, he calls them. He knew them, probably. Now, he himself was soon to meet his end at the hands of Nero in Rome. So he knew all about getting ready for, if you like, the end. And he wants to encourage them to live in the light of eternity and be ready for that great day. We've heard it expressed in our two lessons today.
Now in this letter he particularly stresses the corruption of his society at the time. He speaks of scoffers, false teachers, corrupt dealers of sinful nature, people being slaves of depravity. Now it goes without saying that we live in a secular society, and I've sometimes said that certainly since the early 1960s, we are governed by the unholy trinity of materialism. This material world is all there is. There's no God, so invest in the now. Possessions, wealth and all the rest of it. Next, individualism. Not individuality, but individualism. What's right for you is right for you. What's right for me is right for me. Never mind anybody else. And then relativism. There are no absolutes. Just do as you please.
Well that's been around for some time and we're terribly aware of that pressure so in the light of all of that Peter says first of all make every effort. Before I retired I read a very helpful book called The Highway Code of Retirement it's by David Winter who was head of religious broadcasting at the BBC, got ordained later and died quite recently. And I got to know this lovely man. And he has the Ten Commandments of Retirement. And one of them is, keep self-effort going, keep disciplined in your life. Church going, serving others, all that sort of stuff. And I realised too that when I retired, I could easily have just become a bit slack in my devotional life. And I determined that I would continue reading the Bible every day and so on.
So Peter says, for example, in chapter 1, make every effort to add to your faith goodness, kindness, knowledge, self-control, service of others, perseverance, godliness, kindness, and love. Make every effort. Don't give up. Be self-disciplined. And in our lesson for tonight, therefore, dear friends, once again, make every effort to be strong in your faith. Don't take God's love for granted. That's a good one. Self-discipline. Keep at it.
Next, he says, live in the light of the coming of the Lord. Now, how does God come to us? He comes through our friends, he comes in nature, he comes as we worship, he comes in all sorts of ways. C.S. Lewis once said God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us through our conscience, shouts to us through our pain. Suffering is God's loud speaker to rouse the deaf world. God is always coming to us and he speaks to us in so many ways. Live therefore in the light of eternity now.
As I was thinking about this, on holiday I read a wonderful book by John Stott The Incomparable Christ. In this book he shares about a number of people over the years who've been greatly influenced by Jesus in different ways. And one of them was the Earl of Shaftesbury, Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury. He was born in 1801. His parents ignored him. He had a terrible childhood. But a wonderful nanny talked to him about Jesus and he started to have a faith as a young boy. He went to Harrow and there he had a very disturbing but life-changing experience. He saw a funeral procession of a pauper. The men who were carrying the coffin were drunk and they dropped the coffin and they laughed and swore. He was devastated when he saw that. And he decided to devote his life to caring for the poor. He entered Parliament, aged only 25, and he pioneered a whole lot of laws through Parliament. So, for example, the Coal Mines Act of 1842, reducing the hours that people worked in the coalfields, the Ten Hour Factory Act, similarly, the so-called Lunacy Act, where he made the treatment of people with psychiatric needs much more humane. He founded the Ragged School Union, and so on.
Now, what motivated him? Well, I'll tell you what it was. The second coming, the end, the second coming of Jesus. And I quote from his biographer. During 1830, he became firmly and virtually convinced of the second coming of Christ. It entered into all his thoughts and feelings, wrote Edwin Hodder. It stimulated him in the midst of all his labours. It gave tone and colour to all his hopes for the future. He was living in the light of eternity. A great, great man — the poor man's earl, I thought of him.
So, says Peter, live each day as if thy last. And then he says, thank God for those who have encouraged you in your journey of faith. And he ends his letter like that. He says, remember St. Paul, all his teaching. Thank God for people like that.
I wonder who's encouraged you in your journey of faith. I've had many encouragements. I came to a living faith when I was 16 on a boys' scripture union house party camp and I am so grateful for the leaders who encouraged me. I went to university; so grateful for the churches there and the people, fellow students, who encouraged me. I became ordained and had two wonderful training vicars on a council estate parish in Chatham. They were wonderful, they encouraged me in my faith. And then at the tender age of 40 I got married and I have a wonderful wife who encourages me. She's also my severest critic, I need that as well, but what an encourager that I have in her; and then my children and so on.
I'm also a member of a wonderful book group. We're about, we're seven men, all getting on a bit, retired clergy and others, and we meet every so often. We don't necessarily read Christian books and whoever chooses a book sends us questions beforehand and we meet together and we discuss it over a cup of tea and so on. But it's more than just a book group. It's a group of encouragement. And we've learnt to be vulnerable with each other and to share our joys and sorrows and to pray for one another. I personally find that incredibly encouraging. In fact, David Winter, Ten Commandments of Retirement, includes friendships. Friendships are so important when we don't have work colleagues. And I personally owe so much to people like that.
So it is that Peter, writing to these Christians, many of whom were facing persecution, says, first, let's live in the light of eternity, one day at a time. We don't know when actually we're going to leave this life behind. It can come any time. Second, let's resist the temptations of our secular world. Let's not compromise our faith. Let's be self-disciplined in our prayer, our study, and all the rest of it. And then, finally, let's thank God for all those who've encouraged us in our journey of faith. And let's be encouragers to one another. Amen.