Living At Your Best - In Purity and Peace

A Reflection for Monday, December 2, 2024 by Rev. Emily Wickstrom

This is part of a series called prayerful reflections. Download here.

Lectionary reading for 12/2/2024:Psalm 90; Numbers 17:1-11; 2 Peter 3:1-18

Selected passage for reflection: 2 Peter 3:1-18

Read

2 Peter 3:1-18, The Message

In the Last Days

3 1-2 My dear friends, this is now the second time I’ve written to you, both letters reminders to hold your minds in a state of undistracted attention. Keep in mind what the holy prophets said, and the command of our Master and Savior that was passed on by your apostles.

3-4 First off, you need to know that in the last days, mockers are going to have a heyday. Reducing everything to the level of their petty feelings, they’ll mock, “So what’s happened to the promise of his Coming? Our ancestors are dead and buried, and everything’s going on just as it has from the first day of creation. Nothing’s changed.”

5-7 They conveniently forget that long ago all the galaxies and this very planet were brought into existence out of watery chaos by God’s word. Then God’s word brought the chaos back in a flood that destroyed the world. The current galaxies and earth are fuel for the final fire. God is poised, ready to speak his word again, ready to give the signal for the judgment and destruction of the desecrating skeptics.

The Day the Sky Will Collapse

8-9 Don’t overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.

10 But when the Day of God’s Judgment does come, it will be unannounced, like a thief. The sky will collapse with a thunderous bang, everything disintegrating in a raging inferno, earth and all its works exposed to the scrutiny of Judgment.

11-13 Since everything here today might well be gone tomorrow, do you see how essential it is to live a holy life? Daily expect the Day of God, eager for its arrival. The galaxies will burn up and the elements melt down that day—but we’ll hardly notice. We’ll be looking the other way, ready for the promised new heavens and the promised new earth, all landscaped with righteousness.

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14-16 So, my dear friends, since this is what you have to look forward to, do your very best to be found living at your best, in purity and peace. Interpret our Master’s patient restraint for what it is: salvation. Our good brother Paul, who was given much wisdom in these matters, refers to this in all his letters, and has written you essentially the same thing. Some things Paul writes are difficult to understand. Irresponsible people who don’t know what they are talking about twist them every which way. They do it to the rest of the Scriptures, too, destroying themselves as they do it.

17-18 But you, friends, are well-warned. Be on guard lest you lose your footing and get swept off your feet by these lawless and loose-talking teachers. Grow in grace and understanding of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Glory to the Master, now and forever! Yes!

Reflect 

The title of this section of scripture made me pause… “In the last days.”  If I’m being honest, lately, it has felt like the last days to me.

In May of this year, the organization World Relief wrote an article that highlights five humanitarian crises we can’t ignore, stating, “We are living through the greatest displacement crisis in recorded history.”  The Isarel-Gaza crisis has continued for over a year, with an estimated death toll of more than 43,000 people over the past 13 months, and 70% of victims between November 2023 and April 2024 were children and women.  The War in Ukraine is well into its third year, and according to UNHCR, an estimated 3.7 million people are internally displaced in Ukraine and more than 6.4 million have fled the country as refugees.  The conflict in Sudan that arose in April 2023 is now expected to cause famine for 7 million people.  The violent instability in Haiti reached an unprecedented climax in February 2024, with an estimated 362,000 Haitians (as of May 2024) that are displaced within the country.  The U.S.-Mexico Border continues to be an ongoing humanitarian crisis that is multifaceted and complex, especially for families and minors.

These humanitarian crises, along with what seems like countless others, compounded with the impact of climate change and the continued polarization within the U.S. political sphere, cultivate the environment for yet another unprecedented season.  And not to mention the hardships we face in our own personal lives: estranged relationships, financial difficulties, work troubles, dreams deferred.  It’s certainly not hard to think that the “last days” are here.

In today’s passage, Peter is addressing false teachers of the time, and how dangerous it is to twist the truth of the Good News of Jesus Christ - their own crisis.  Peter warns his readers of this, and to encourage them to remain faithful and remember who Jesus is.

I’m not sure about you, but it can be tempting for me to feel more hopeless than hopeful in times like these, as if the false teachers and fear-mongering are gaining the upper hand.  But then I’m reminded of God’s faithfulness, like what Peter shares in this passage.  I love how The Message translates verse 8, saying, “God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness.”  And while God’s timing may, at times, seem late to me, God is always at work - right on time.  God will get the final say to make all things right in accordance with God’s justice and mercy.

Peter goes on to say that as we wait on the Lord, we are to “do our very best living our best” living in purity and peace (vs. 14).  The word for purity here is really capturing two Greek words, aspilos, meaning ‘free from vice/unsullied’, and amōmētos, which means ‘blameless’.  The word for peace in this verse is the Greek word eirēnē, which in this verse means “the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatsoever sort that is.”  This is the same word for peace that’s found in Philippians 4:7, “Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (NLT).

Perhaps as Peter writes, you already know these things (vs. 17).  And yet, as we wait on the Lord, amidst false teachers, trials, and tribulations, may we know and live this purity and peace in our lives, a freedom from evil and a tranquility that can only be found in Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Respond

1. Listen to this song, “Your Peace Will Make Us One” by Audrey Assad (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTQWSfzY2mw). 

Lyrics:

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord

You are speaking truth to power, you are laying down our swords

Replanting every vineyard til a brand new wine is poured

Your peace will make us one

I've seen you in our home fires burning with a quiet light

You are mothering and feeding in the wee hours of the night

Your gentle love is patient, you will never fade or tire

Your peace will make us one

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Your peace will make us one

In the beauty of the lilies you were born across the sea

With a glory in your bosom that is still transfiguring

Dismantling our empires til each one of us is free

Your peace will make us one

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Your peace will make us one

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Glory! Glory! Hallelujah!

Your peace will make us one

What stands out to you from this song?  Is there a word or phrase that captures your attention?  Why do you think that is?

1. Take a look at the prayer options in “Prayers for Peace in the World” resource from World Relief: https://worldrelief.org/blog-prayers-for-peace-in-the-world/ 

Which prayer(s) are you drawn to?

Rest 

Peace Prayer

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:

where there is hatred, let me sow love;

where there is injury, pardon;

where there is doubt, faith;

where there is despair, hope;

where there is darkness, light;

where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek

to be consoled as to console,

to be understood as to understand,

to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,

it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

Amen.

About the Author 

Emily is an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Covenant Church (ECC) who serves in a co-vocational role in Sacramento, CA, both as an associate pastor at Common Ground Church and as a hospital chaplain student at Sutter Roseville Medical Center.  Emily is also a trained coach in The C.O.A.C.H. Model through the ECC.  Emily is passionate about becoming a better listener and cultivating spaces where people can show up as their full selves.  Some of her favorite things include: listening to people’s stories, being with her husband Ben and 20-month old daughter Isabel, and spending time in and around water.