“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” -1 Peter 2:11-12

What has more power – what we say or what we do? Both have power and influence, but what we do is the foundation of what we say. The world is filled with talk - my life is filled with talk. As CS Lewis said somewhere, it is easy to imagine a condition far better than what we have actually achieved – and far easier to talk a better line, I might add. People are hungry for reality and a genuine, true life.

The Apostle Peter begins by describing us as Strangers and Aliens. He has already used this metaphor in 1:1 and 1:17, and now he presents it again. We are born again and are new creatures in Christ. Yet we are not of the world and the world is a fallen, twisted system. Thus, we live in this tension as God’s people living in a world which is not our true home. As Christians we are always a counter-culture, an alternative to the world value system. We are not fully at home in the world.

There are two temptations for us in this context. First, we can hold back in fear and take no risks. We can work to play it safe and not be too different. We remember Abraham in Genesis 12:1 leaving his family, his world behind and going to a new place. We think of Peter being called to step out of the boat in Matthew 14:25-31, and Jesus telling him to not be afraid. It takes courage to be strangers and aliens in the world.

The second temptation is the opposite; to never truly inhabit one’s life; to always be looking ahead or for something different. This kind of life is one that is distant, the life of a ‘steppenwolf’ watching the world but never being engaged in it. We think of the Prophet Jonah as recounted in Jonah 1:1-3 receiving God’s call and running from it. What if, in spite of everything that you and I have gone through, this is exactly where God wants us to be and this is the abundant life He has for us? I am reminded of the words of TS Elliot, “The end of all exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.”

The Apostle Peter then turns to the ‘war in the soul.’ We are exhorted to abstain from sinful desires which war against our soul. There is an enemy without – the world and the Devil – and an enemy within – the sinful nature. These would keep our lives small. We are called to fight the battle (Galatians 5:17). We might ask ourselves, are we bored or tired and which is better? We would probably agree that it is better to be tired as a result of engaging in battle. God is proud of us. (Hebrews 2:11, 11:13-16)

And then the Apostle Peter challenges us to live good lives. We are not just to talk but live in ways that result in God being glorified. This will be our influence and outreach as people see God through us. (1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Matthew 5:13-16) Jesus died that we might live good lives, lives which he can use to bless others.

Brennan Manning writes in his book “The Jesus Signature” of a man he once knew named Dominique Voillaume. He was a very godly, humble man. Upon finding he was dying of cancer he began to simply serve and love others. And the impact of his simple kindness was tremendous. There would be more than 7000 people in attendance at his funeral. These words were found as the last entry in his journal before he died:

“All that is not the love of God has no meaning for me. I can truthfully say that I have no interest in anything but the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. If God wants it to, my life will be useful through my word and witness. If he wants it to, my life will bear fruit through my prayers and sacrifices. But the usefulness of my life is his concern, not mine. It would be indecent of me to worry about that.”

Pastor Tim, February 24, 2008