Faith

Now there's a hard thing to do, especially when they have gotten your goat and your thoughts are of pushing them off a cliff! Impossible you say! Be honest, there are people that just rub you the wrong way. Sometimes it seems that their goal in life is to aggravate you (or me). They are intent in their mission – whether it's their mannerisms or the "off the wall" comments they make or their squeeky, whiney voice – it drives you crazy.

Then, there are the words that make you feel like dirt!

Yet, there is Peter, who says "bless them." [more]

Considering Peter's early days with Jesus, you have to wonder where he got the coolness he wants other believers to have. After all, wasn't it Peter who just whacked off that guys ear? And remember Peter trying to tell Jesus to "forget this 'I'm going to suffer' stuff." That was the old Peter before he learned that he was not the greatest person in the world – before the wind got knocked out of his sails – before God showed him that people other than Jews were OK.

Now he says to us "be different." Maybe he needed to write a book on "How Jesus Changed Me" that would have made the best sellers list. All Peter is saying is "Treat people different." The message from Jesus about "turning the other cheek" finally got through and he wants us to hear it again and again.

"Don't be like them – bless people instead" is his message in chapter 3. Let the evil doer do their evil, but don't return it in kind. Let them insult you, but don't get in a "dissing" war. "Bless them."

Easy for him to say…maybe I need to look at what a blessing is. More about that next time.

Couldn't help but see things as I read the end of chapter two in First Peter.

[html]<ul><li>An insult contest with a big red "X" across the screen. Peter was trying to get us to imagine a person (Jesus) who was insulted and degraded, but did not respond "in kind." It takes a lot of God in a person to not respond.

<li>Marchers in Selma and other places in the South were abused, beaten and hosed, but did not turn and attack the perpetrators, set fires, destroy homes and businesses; rather, they endured the punishment, out of which came freedom for so many others. Some of these are very vivid because they happened in my lifetime.[more]

<li>Strong man contests on TV, with powerful legs and backs carrying barrels or pulling trucks. Even watching, my mind could sense the pain that they must be enduring – after all, when was the last time I pulled a car or truck; or how many boxes have I lifted lately. Yet, there was a man carrying a cross made of wood. At least an eight by eight and probably twelve feet long. That was one heavy hunk of wood.

<li>Sheep wandering all over the field – "la-de-da". No cares in the world. Nibbling their way to the next blade of grass. And all the time, a shepherd off to one side making sure they were safe from wolves and other dangers. We can come back to the safety of the Shepherd – if we want to.
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Maybe the big picture is this – there is Someone who cares deeply for us and wants to keep us safe. For that to happen, we have to let Him have control of our lives or we'll be like those wandering sheep.

Honor. That's it! Peter is not the first one to use this word, but here in First Peter chapter 2, it follows another tough word, "submit". Finding a definition for honor that people will understand is not easy. It probably wasn't that hard in Peters day (~A.D. 60), but it still probably stuck in somebody's craw.

It kind of goes with "respect", which could be another of those four words. However, I am sort of combining honor and respect as one and the same. If you disagree, click on "Contact Me" to the right and let me hear from you. Mind you, this is not a normal blog where you can add your comments, but if you have something to say, it could appear here. You will be respected for your comment, good or bad, "yea" or "nay".

Back to "honor". Having told us in verse 13 to "submit" to the govermental authorities, he doesn't leave us much wiggle room. The thing that I have found here in First Peter, and in Romans doesn't leave us the option to "feel" like letting them rule, or their "deserving" our honor or respect. Even Jesus in John 19 says that Pilate "has authority because it is given from above."[more]

And then don't forget when Jesus said "Render (give) unto Caesar what is Caesar's." It was not prefaced with "If you feel like it" or "If you think he deserves it", it was a simple "do it" kind of like you are supposed to.

What strikes me about Peter are the three words in verse 17 – honor, love and fear. To me, these are the three of the hardest words in the Bible. "Honoring all people" is an exceedingly difficult thing to do, let alone try to do. Maybe this has more to do with humility than we want to give it credit. After all, honor is that characteristic of thinking more of others – putting them ahead.

What do you think? What's it mean to you to "honor all people?" How hard is it to envision that, and then, how hard is it to do? What if you or I don't feel like honoring them. Maybe we make it too difficult by trying to make it fit our reasoning when that is not what we are told to do. If you want to go back to the original greek, there is no being asked – by Jesus, Peter or Paul. They don't beg us to do this, nor do they seem to give us an option. The only option I see and hear is "do."

Now the question is "how/what am I doing?"