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Category Archives: 1 Peter series – “Holding onto Hope in a Hostile World”


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48 Sold out Servants – Part 3

1 Peter 4:7-11

“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

As a result secondly we are called to: 

2.         Love lavishly

The second practice we should engage in in light of the fact that we are living on the edge of eternity is that we must unleash our love for others.  This is now the fifth time Peter lifts up love in this letter. Other versions us the phrase “above all” which remind us of the priority and primacy of love. The love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that “Love never fails” that when everything else has faded love will last. This is not just a feeling love but a fervent deep love. Peter is calling us to be fully engaged in love. It’s the picture of a race horse whose legs are fully extended galloping or of an athlete straining and stretching at the finish line in order to win the race. It means that our love must be operating at full capacity. Instead of limiting our love we are called to love lavishly. In fact the only other time this word is used is in Luke 22:44 when Jesus was in agony and prayed so fervently that “His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” In truth biblical love is often more sweat than sweet, because it often takes effort to love people. God wants us to have a lavish a love for others that is at full stretch with an intense strain. Peter points next to loves power and provision, that it can cover a multitude of sins. This doesn’t me we hide sin but help those in sin. Again the love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13 provides a word picture for us to help us understand what this means. It says “love bears all things.” The word “bears” is derived from a thatched roof which covers a building and provides protection. To “cover” here means to protect, instead of exposing faults for everyone to see, love limits what we share with others. Peter is quoting from Proverbs 10:12: “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.” While hatred stirs things up, love settles things down. Love looks past the hurts and doesn’t hold a grudge. Sometimes the hardest love of all is letting go, but real love refuses to deliberately drag  the sins of others through the dirt. Do you remember what happened when Noah got drunk and lay uncovered in his tent? When his sons saw they sought to cover his shame. This doesn’t mean we condone sins because the Bible calls us to confront sins in love. But confronting sin is more than just calling it out its coming alongside and reaching out to restore. Yet for many people they live life in the past and long after people have repented they still haven’t let go and released. Instead of releasing they relive which leads to resentment. We hold people hostage to the hurts and while they are forced to live in regret we reside in resentment, the result is that we both end up prisoners to the past and the pain. When others hurt, you can either take them hostage and hold on or set them free. You can broadcast the hurt or bury it. No relationship will survive unless we unleash love and let it cover a multitude of sins. Without forgiveness only the failures flourish. Love chooses not to dwell on the failure, or bring it up only to beat down, or talk trash around town, or hold others hostage and hinder the relationship. Peter now provides some practical ways for us to flesh out this fervent love, by calling us to have a heart of hospitality. Be gracious without grumbling, don’t just serve smile. Some of us are serving with a scowl, having let ministry become a misery. Do you see love as a duty or a delight? Are you making it a job instead of a joy? Some of us are more hostile that hospitable. Hospitality lends a help hand. In Peter’s day this practice was absolutely necessary, providing a refuge for persecuted believers. Remember Peter started his letter to those who were scattered, the homeless and the hurting, those that could use a little love through lodging. But you will never open your home until you open your heart. We are called to care cheerfully, which means that we must guard against grumbling. Hospitality can be hard, but we must be careful not to resent the time or the expense involved. If you offer hospitality and under your breath you growl how will your guests feel? It’s a delight not a duty to have an open door. Open hearts lead to open homes, just as a forgiving spirit leads to a friendly spirit. When we cover sins, we’ll uncover the sofa. So let me ask you what message are you modeling for your kids, is it one of me or one of ministry? Caring comes with a cost, remember the paralytic in Mark 2:4 that was lowered through the roof to the Lord. In order to reach the Lord and be healed they had to remove the roof of the home. I wonder what thoughts were racing through the home owners mind as their roof was being ripped off, were they fascinated or furious? As I read that story this week my heart was probed by a penetrating question: “Do I have an ‘open roof’ policy in my home? Am I willing for my home to be redecorated so that people can meet the Redeemer?


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47 Sold out Servants – Part 2

1 Peter 4:7-11

“The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

  1. Pray Passionately

“The end of the world is coming soon, Therefore be earnest and disciplined in your prayers” Because of the shortness of time we need to be serious and sober-minded. We are called to exercise self-control so that our passions don’t dominate and deviate us from God’s plan. It’s the opposite of living for our lusts, spelled out in the previous passage. Instead of getting all whacked-out about what’s going in our world, we’re called to worship through pray. What’s interesting is that the word prayer here is in the plural, meaning we must engage in all sorts of prayers: private prayer, public prayer, prayers of petition and prayers of praise. We tend to limit prayer and when we do we limit its power. Disciples are called to be disciplined in prayer, it’s the picture of a soldier serving on sentry duty. being “disciplined” is more than just being structured it means surveying, seeing what’s happening in the world and then praying with purpose. Peter is telling us to pay attention and then to position our problems before God through prayer. Our problem is that we either, don’t pay attention and get attacked, or we pay attention to the problems and panic. We expend huge amounts of emotional energy panicking when we could be praying. I wonder what would happen if we spend as much time in worship as we do in worry? Prayer gives priority to God the provider not to the problems. Prayer puts our problems into perspective because it lets us look at life through the long lens of God’s plan not the limited lens of the culture. Prayer prioritizes our lives according to God’s plan not the problems. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray he taught us that prayer not only provides us with perspective but that it should prioritize our lives according to God’s plan. “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” As I have said before prayer is about getting God’s will accomplished on earth not man’s wants accomplished in heaven. Unfortunately many Christians give priority to the problems and panic instead of pray. We end up hiding and holding back instead of holding onto hope. Instead of being reenergized we respond by retreating. Are you letting the problems rob you of life and steal your joy, where instead of being energized you’re exhausted? Are you settling for a second rate life, where your zest for life has been replaced by zombie? Problems are like parasites they will suck you dry and steal your strength, but prayer has the power to kills the parasites. Because prayer puts our problems into perspective we can partake in the praise, we can put our energy into worship and not worry. Sadly for many Christians their prayer life consists mostly of prayers of petition and rarely prayers of praise. When was the last time you came into the presence of God not with your wants but with worship? When was the last time you turned to prayer just to proclaim your love to God, when was the last time you pour out your praise in prayer? Instead of reacting to the problem we are to respond in prayer, we are to be proactive not reactive. When we become people who passionately pray it forces the problems into the peripheral and brings God’s plan into focus. It helps us to live life in light of the fact that Christ is coming back which helps us to see how much we get tripped up by the trivial things and how many activities we engage in that don’t make any eternal difference. Sadly so much of what Christians do has about as much effect as rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic. Why does Peter start with prayer because prayer positions us to see and seek God’s plan. Many don’t see prayer as proactive, they want to skip past prayer and onto the practical side of serving, but until you submit to God’s plan you will serve according to self, it will be about you way not God’s Will.  Prayer positions us to participate in practical Christianity. Prayer is not a place to hide from service it’s a platform from which to pursue service.