Read 2 Peter 3:8-13.
People have been trying to predict the end of the world for as long as humanity has existed. Groups have gathered in anticipation, only to wake up the next morning and go home. With so much emphasis on the future, we sometimes forget about the present. We can become so obsessed about an upcoming exam or paper that we struggle to pay attention to the beauty, love, and wonder right in front of us.
By the time the second letter of Peter began circulating, all these predictions and preparations had simply started to get old. People started to lose faith. This scripture is trying to encourage them to keep the faith.
Is it possible, though, that not only is God’s measure of time different from ours, but that God’s idea “kingdom” may be different? Is it possible that, as is written in Luke 17:21, God’s reign of love is already among us whenever we gather and choose to live in the Way Jesus showed us? What might it look like to live as though we are already living in the kingdom Jesus preached: a kingdom of radical welcome, radical grace, and radical love? How might the world look different? How might you behave differently?
Pray
O God, open the eyes of my heart and let me see the truth of your kingdom. Help me to look into another’s face and see the beauty of your creation and the love you have for all your children. Help me be present today with you, with those I love, and with those you love. Help me to follow in the Way you have shown us in Jesus. Amen.
Rev. Dr. Eric O. Lederman
Campus Minister
UKIRK at ASU (Tempe, AZ)
Words for Waiting 