2 Peter 3 – The Nexus

This week we are kicking off a new teaching series. Next week we’ll be off again. After that, though, we’ll finish the last four weeks of this series. In the apostle Peter’s final letter, he asks a question that is critical for followers of Jesus to answer. In light of Jesus’ forthcoming return and the end of the world it will bring with it, who do we want to be? If Jesus really is coming back, what kind of lives should we be living? In our new series, Who Do You Want to Be, we are going to explore some of the ways we should be living as followers of Jesus in a world that won’t last forever. We’ll start today by taking a look at Peter’s question and why it matters so much.

The End Is Near

Have you ever met someone who was so convinced of some future event that they were willing to make dramatic adjustments to their life and the lives of their family members in light of it? One such group of folks are colloquially called “Preppers.” That’s short for Doomsday Preppers. These folks may look normal—or maybe not—but they hide a secret. Everything they do, they do with the idea in mind that the world is going to end sometime soon, and they’re going to be ready for it. And if you choose not to get ready yourself, don’t come crawling to them when you’re out of food and water and the zombie hordes are threatening to bust down your doors and you don’t have sufficient firepower to hold them off. That’s your fault, not theirs.

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What are we supposed to do with all the time we have on our hands now? Perhaps you don’t feel that tension during the day if your household is like ours and you’re trying to both work full-time and do school for your kids, but as the busyness of the day ends and the weekends arrive, it may make itself known. In a day when many people are wondering what we’re supposed to be doing, here are some answers to that tough question.

Reverend Jonathan Waits
Sermon: Redeeming Your Time (2 Peter 3:14-17)
Date: April 5, 2020

So, are you bored yet? As I occasionally scroll through my Facebook feed, I see post after post of people asking to be entertained. We are living in an interesting time. For a society that is as digitally fed as ours is, we are collectively learning that you can only stream so much content before you’ve had enough. The other day my boys watched a show in the morning, and then entirely of their own accord turned the TV off and went outside to play for pretty much the rest of the morning. All by themselves. I didn’t have to tell them to go at all. I wondered for just a bit if someone had replaced all my children with doppelgangers. Our culture is collectively rediscovering that there is a whole world outdoors that reflects God’s beauty and is worth exploring to its fullest. We are reconnecting on walks in ways we haven’t done in some time. I wonder sometimes if our reaction once things get back to whatever normal is going to be on the other side of this will be to overload on busyness to make up for the lack we have enjoyed, or to realize just how busy we were in comparison with how we have been and opt for a slower pace all on our own. Then again, perhaps not, but maybe. Still, that doesn’t change the fact that these are interesting times and not necessarily in a good way.

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