December 4, 2022 Preaching | Bro. Jay Singson
It’s December once again. The start of the Christmas season for many people around the world. A time for DISCUSSION QUESTIONS decors, gift giving, and yearend celebrations. It’s a season
filled with revelry, that it often becomes tempting even for us Christians to forget the real story of Christmas.
Last Sunday, Bro. Jay called us to be true to the spirit of Christmas by celebrating the Man who is at the center of this event, our Lord Jesus Christ.He is a Man also talked in great detail in 1 Peter, and in this present-day period when we celebrate His first coming and anticipate His return, Peter encourages us to focus on the kind of life we ought to live – one that is truly blessed even in the midst of trials, the good life.
So, what do we need to do to live the good life? The apostle Peter calls us to do three things:
#1 Cultivate the right heart attitudes. To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble (v8). Peter puts together a list of 5 heart attitudes that must describe each and every one of us, so that we can all model what he wants us to become. He gives us practical advice on how we should relate with members of the church and other people around us so we can outwardly reflect Jesus’ presence in our lives. We are called to be united in the midst of diversity, to empathize with the joys and sorrows of others even when it’s difficult, to love as brothers and sisters, to have a deep level of concern that is moved to action, and to follow Jesus’ example on humility.
#2 Cultivate the right attitude towards hostility. Do not return evil for evil or insult for insult, but give a blessing instead; for we were called for the very purpose that you would inherit a blessing (v9). When others are hostile, Peter calls us not to retaliate in the same way. When our whole body is tempted to fire back, he calls us to return good for evil. It is an ask that’s counterintuitive and most definitely easier said than done. Yet, Peter reminds us that we are called for this very purpose. We are called to respond differently in a way that blesses others, and in doing so inherit a blessing as well.
#3 Cultivate a hunger for God’s blessing. For, “The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.He must turn away from evil and do good; He must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are towards the righteous, and His ears attend to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against evildoers” (v10-12). These are direct quotations from Psalm 34, when David was being pursued by king Saul who wanted him dead. It is in this tumultuous period that he writes his prescription to a wonderful and blessed life. In quoting David, Peter asks us to control our tongues and guard our speech, to turn away from sin, to do good, and pursue peace. It’s a difficult ask in a world where this is often seen as a pathway to being trampled on. Yet God gives us comfort that He will hear us and protect us, that He will be on our side and bless us in our journey to becoming the very person He wants us to be.
We have shining examples of early Christians pursuing the good life despite persecution and trials. Tertulian wrote, “These Christians are very strange people. They meet, together, in an empty room to worship… They do not have an image… They speak of One by the name of Jesus, who is absent, but whom they seem to be expecting at any time… And my, how they love Him and how they love one another”. The good life is a different, at times a strange, kind of life. But it is one that we are called to pursue and make evident in our very lives today.