Benjamin Gilman served in the United States House of Representatives for thirty years. He retired from Congress in 2003. Gilman represented New York’s 27th congressional district. Gilman served as the chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, and he was the congressional representative to the United Nations. Gilman, a Republican, was an outspoken critic of President Bill Clinton’s foreign policy. He especially disapproved of the favoritism that Clinton showed Russia over the former Soviet Republics that were able to gain their independence. Addressing the Clinton foreign policy Gilman said, “Instead of a strong, steady signal on foreign policy coming from the nation’s capital, regrettably the world has heard a series of wavering notes by an uncertain trumpet, leaving our allies concerned, and our adversaries confused.”
Wavering notes by an uncertain trumpet instead of a strong and steady signal. This can only leave people concerned, as well as confused.
Wavering notes by an uncertain trumpet is the issue that Peter addresses in our lectionary reading this morning. Peter wrote this letter shortly before his death, and he sent the letter to the various churches in Asia Minor. The letter was written sometime between the year 65 and the year 68.
The wavering notes from an uncertain trumpet that Peter addressed are the false teachers who were preaching a message that contradicted everything that Peter had taught. Peter emphasized in the letter that he knew Jesus personally and was a witness to the ministry and teaching of Jesus. Parishioners need to stop listening to wavering notes form an uncertain trumpet, that is the message of false teachers, and return to listening to the strong and steady message that Peter proclaimed.
The first-century church expected the immediate return of Jesus in their life time. They believed that the second coming would actually occur before their death.
The apostle Paul was a firm believer in this, which influenced his position on social issues. For example, Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “Are you free from a wife? Do not seek marriage.” Paul understood that a married man could not fully devote himself to preaching the gospel message. And since Jesus is going to return within Paul’s lifetime, having a wife would prevent a man from being fully dedicated to the task of evangelism. Since Jesus was coming soon, within the next few years or at the latest in the next decade, anything that kept a man from the imperative of evangelism, which would include marriage, must be forsaken to preach the message of salvation.
Today we realize that even though there is an urgency to preach the gospel message, we do not have to forsake marriage to do so.
The problem that Peter confronted was that it had been over thirty years and Jesus had not returned. This led the false teachers to preach a message that Jesus was not going to return. The uncertain trumpets with wavering notes gave several arguments that what Peter believed, what Paul believed, and what the other apostles believed about the immediate return of Jesus was a misguided doctrine.
Eugene Boring, a contemporary scholar of our time, is a New Testament professor at Brite Divinity School, located on the campus of Texas Christian University. Boring is the author of many respected books on the New Testament. In a commentary on Second Peter he offers three reasons why some Christian teachers held the position that Christ was not going to return in the near future.
First, the false teachers taught that since Jesus did not return within the expected time, history had shown it to be a false expectation.
Second, the false teachers taught the constancy and consistency of world order, that it continued to function as it always had, showing that history would continue without divine intervention — hence there was no final judgment to be feared.
Third, the false teachers taught that since Christ had set us free from following the laws of Judaism we would not be called into account for our actions. For this reason, judgment was unnecessary.
The arguments presented by Boring described the false teachers as saying that since nothing seemed to have changed since the resurrection of Jesus, and since it seemed nothing would change, we were free from the final judgment. The false teachers were saying that since Jesus had not returned immediately as was expected, Jesus was not going to return, so we could continue as we always had since there was no fear of a final judgment.
Peter was up against an audience that believed it was okay to continue to live a life of the flesh, a life of fulfilling earthly desires; rather than to live a life of the Spirit, a life that fulfills God’s heavenly desires.
Peter addressed these false teachers by writing that we must be “patient.” Just because God had not intervened in human history as we expected God to do; we needed to be patient, we needed the ability to patiently wait for God to thunder forth as promised.
John Ruskin once said, “Endurance is nobler than strength, and patience than beauty.” Ruskin was born in London in 1819. As an adult, he continued in the family business as wine merchant, which made him very wealthy. As a child, his father interested John in art, and his pious Protestant mother created an interest in John to study the Bible. As a merchant, Ruskin traveled to many countries, and in each country, he took the time to study art of the native land. As a Bible scholar, he took time to learn about the people in each country he did business in. From these two perspectives, he wrote a number of books that interpreted the great paintings through history. Perhaps this is why Ruskin considered patience as a form of beauty. Again, I will repeat the quote, John Ruskin said, “Endurance is nobler than strength and patience than beauty.”
We probably don’t associate patience with beauty. We usually think of patience as something being forced upon us because we cannot have what we want now, this day, this moment. Patience for us is usually accompanied by anxiety, frustration, and a sense of helplessness. Certainly, this does not describe patience as being beautiful.
But perhaps patience can be beautiful if we take a different perspective of it. Dictionary.com has an interesting definition of patience describing it as a “quiet, steady perseverance; even tempered care; diligence.” Listen to those words again and see the beauty that Ruskin saw in patience, as patience is a “quiet, steady perseverance; even tempered careful; diligent.”
Peter was trying to tell the church members across Asia Minor that they should not listen to the false teachers, but be patient. Peter realized there was a beauty in patience that gave one the noble qualities of being “quiet, steady perseverance; even tempered care; diligence.”
An impatient person for Peter is one who lives an immoral life because Jesus has not returned and therefore concludes there is no final judgment. An impatient person for Peter is one who believes that there is no final accounting for how one has lived.
Instead, a patient person lives a quiet, diligent life of perseverance knowing Christ will return, and that there will be a final judgment. A diligent life is not one that ignores the commandments of Jesus, but a diligent person patiently waits while remaining obedient to the scriptures.
It is now the year 2017. It has now been 1,984 years since the resurrection of Jesus. After almost 2,000 years the question is this — can we still remain patient and obedient to the scriptures; or, will we say there is no use in waiting and there will be no final judgment so I am going to live by my own fleshly desires?
The false teachers argued that since everything is the same after several decades since the resurrection there is no final judgment, you can live as you like. But Jesus said, as recorded in Matthew’s gospel, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.”
Yes, Jesus did say that on the day of the second coming everything will seem normal. Because of this normalcy the false teachers said that Jesus will not return, and that there will be no final judgment. But Peter is trying to reeducate the parishioners to remain patient and obedient because as normal as things may seem today, Jesus is going to thunder forth on a fiery chariot in judgment.
It is this normalcy that causes us to be lax in following the commandments of Jesus. I know we all talk about the second coming, but I often wonder how serious people really are about it. Since it has been almost 2,000 years and everything still appears normal do we really expect Jesus to descend from heaven in our lifetime? Those who lived in the age of Noah did not believe it. The false teachers did not believe it. Jesus believed it, but do we? And if we believe it, do we live our lives accordingly?
Do we believe in the real possibility of the immediate return of Jesus? As we strolled up the sidewalk into church this morning we looked at traffic going down the street as normal as ever, we saw the blue sky is tranquil as ever, the trees are as majestic as ever, the gentle wind is crisp and refreshing as ever; so, do we really believe that the sky is going to suddenly open, and we will hear angels singing the hallelujah chorus, and we will see Christ seated upon the throne, and then we will instantly realize that judgment is upon us? With a sickening feeling in our stomachs and a look of horror on our faces, we will realize that now, this day, as it was in the days of Noah, it will be too late for us to get on board the ark.
We talk about the second coming, but do we really consider it to be a realistic message? And if we do think of it as a realistic message everything seems so pristine this morning we know it won’t happen today. In fact, since history seems to be uninterrupted as the false teachers taught, do we even think it will happen during our lifespan?
The false teachers did not think it would happen. Peter was certain that it will happen.
To help put patience into perspective, Peter wrote a line that I think most everyone has memorized. Peter wrote, “That with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.” We have inappropriately applied this verse to everything but what Peter intended. We have used it to try to justify the seven days of creation, saying those seven days are not like our seven days today. We have used it to give a reason for unanswered prayer, that God’s time in answering prayer is not the same as our time. The list could be extended for several more minutes.
Peter understood “that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day” is a confession that God’s concept of time is not contained within our human perspective of time. It is a confession that we cannot understand the mysteries of God. If we cannot understand the mysteries of God as it relates to time, then we must have patience.
And patience, remember, is beautiful. Patience is beautiful, as patience is a quiet steady perseverance. The message of quiet steady perseverance is what Peter wants to instill in those who hear his letter read during worship. As congregations were illiterate and every letter had to be reproduced by hand, the letters were only made available to the Christian populace as they were read from the pulpit.
We wait for the second coming with a patience that is beautiful for it is a quiet steady perseverance. Remember, that Peter is addressing his letter to Christians who have fallen under the shadow of false teachers who said Jesus was not returning. False teachers who said since Jesus was not returning there was no final judgment. False teachers who said in the absence of Jesus’ returning and no final judgment, we can live the debaucherous lifestyle we have always embraced.
Peter feared, correctly, that those who followed these false teachers would no longer live a Christian life-style. They would become morally lax. The flesh would take precedence over the Spirit.
Peter wrote that as we wait patiently we are to “strive to be found by Jesus at peace, without spot or blemish.” We are to continue to live in the image of Jesus. We are to be obedient to all the teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. We should always keep before us the list of Christian attributes that are recorded by Paul in Galatians. These are: “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”
Paul said Jesus is going to return in final judgment, but until then we are to wait patiently living a life that is reflected as one of love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Let us not forget that Dictionary.com also uses the word “diligence” to define patience. This would be in keeping with Peter’s understanding of patience; that is, while we wait we must be diligent in our service to the Lord. We must have a purpose, a ministry, and a mission in serving the church and helping others. It is not enough just to have the spirit of love; we must also have the spirit of action. If we are involved while waiting for that day and hour we do not know, it will no longer seem so foreboding.
Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf having completed his studies at Wittenberg in 1720, embarked on a grand tour of the continent. To further his education, it was his ambition to visit all the great cultural institutions. During this expedition, his pilgrimage took him to the art museum in Dusseldorf, Germany. It was here that he was transformed from a man of worldly riches to one of humble service to the poor. It occurred simply enough, by looking into the face of Christ.
The Count was admiring Domenico Feti’s painting Ecco Homo. This is the Latin translation of words spoken by Pilate as he handed Jesus over for crucifixion. This was when Pilate said to the gathered crowd “Behold the Man.” The painting was a portrait of the thorn-crowned Jesus of Nazareth, wearing a dark tattered robe, bound neck and wrist in rope. At the base of the painting was the inscription, “I have done this for you — now what will you do for me?”
The young count was profoundly moved. He felt he was embracing a mystical experience while viewing the painting. Nicolaus felt as if Christ himself was speaking those words directly to his own soul. He vowed that day to dedicate his life to the service of Jesus. Reflecting on the transformation of his character von Zinzendorf wrote, “I have loved him for a long time, but I have never actually done anything for him. From now on I will do whatever he leads me to do.” Realizing the insignificance of his life’s accomplishments he embarked upon a life of meaning and purpose. Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf remained true to his promise, establishing the religious group that became known as the Moravians.
All of us must stand beneath Feti’s painting Ecco Homo, looking into the face of Jesus while asking ourselves: What have I done for Jesus who has done so much for me? How dedicated am I to serve in the name of Christ? How obediently do I adhere to scriptural mandates? How willing have I been to sacrifice my time and service and money for God’s glory?
These are the questions we must ask ourselves while we patiently wait in that interim period of “that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day.”
Amen.