1 Peter 3:13-17

Summary: Peter tells the reader that we will be better examples of following Jesus if we live committed to that good. Evil may find us, but we don't do evil back. 

Response: Here again I am looking at what I need to do, what is hard for my students to do. Truth be told, none of us can do it alone. We need that help from You, Lord!

1 Peter 3:8-12

Summary: Peter throws out a list of qualities of followers of Jesus, telling us to get along smoothly and kindly. He claims that fuller blessings are in store for those who pursue peace. 

Response: I just have to see each part of the list play out, and I'm sorry to say that I don't see it often in my line of work. My clientele is between nine and twelve years old, and they cannot figure out between them how this kindness thing works. Mandating it really isn't working for my biggest offenders. Lord, help me to be an instrument of your peace in my classroom today. 

1 Peter 3:1-7

Summary: Just kidding, more practical examples. Peter maps out how submission in marriage can help win people over for Christ. Wives can be valued for their actions and not just their rhetoric or beauty. Husbands can work with their wives and not just order them around. By treating each other as actual humans, they can be a witness just by living life. 

Response: As I get older, I start to realize when I'm in a no-win situation. Peter is at the ready to stick his foot in his mouth here. I might almost have him untangled, but he's still a bit hopeless. It almost sounds like he's focusing (weirdly) on how other people's wives should dress and do their hair, but I can try to force a reading where the culture of the time had a wife's beauty as the only redeeming quality, that they may as well not exist if they aren't pretty, and Peter is trying to say that they have worth all the same. In the same way, I can see Peter telling husbands they can force their way on their wives, or I could see it as a step up from considering them to be subhuman. I'm trying to be charitable here!

In that case, I think Peter has a point. A couple working together well is a powerful thing, and two spouses committed to the work of the Church is often a recipe for success. I am constantly in awe of the grace, patience, and perseverance my own wife shows for our kids and others' kids as well. Getting to work with her is a joy and a privilege. Lord, help me to see it and appreciate it. 

1 Peter 2:22-25

Summary: Peter finishes up this part of the discussion (again, loosely, "bring glory to God by being humble and accepting personal suffering") by turning again to Jesus: through the words of Isaiah, he shows how Christ took all the suffering meant for us and did not fight back. 

Response: Lord, get me closer and closer to Jesus' example. Help me to put the phone down, turn off the teacher voice, and meet people where they are at. Help me to shoulder or at least acknowledge the burdens of others.

1 Peter 2:18-21

Summary: Peter continues to give practical examples of how experiencing God should change us. In this case, he's mentioning, umm, "household servants" and how they can show that change by submitting to the household they work for whether they are kind or not. 

Response: There's a lot of minefield in this short passage! A lot of people have done terrible things with this as their cudgel! I'm probably closer to the oppressor than the oppressed here, and that sucks!

But. We've seen this before in other scripture, heading all the way back to Job. The writers acknowledge that, yeah, the world isn't perfect. We don't get to wait to have perfect conditions in order to start the change to bring heaven to earth. We have to start where we are. 

So I guess it's okay that I'm starting again on this, on a busy Sunday in the middle of a book I haven't touched since August, on a device that has been very effective at keeping me zoned out for the better part of the school year. Lord, meet me where I am. I think I'm finally ready to listen. 

1 Peter 2:14-17

Summary: Peter continues with guidelines, this time about relationships: honor everybody. Your family of believers, strangers, and especially the authorities. 

Response: "Except when the other team is in office, right?" Nope. "I'll respect the office, but not the holder..." Nuh-uh. "If the law is unjust..." You can tell this is weighing on me. This is not easy!

Of course you're entitled to your own political opinion, and of course it matters who is in office. Our society is quick to attach ideas to people, for people to attach ideas to themselves, and for nasty fights to break out as a result. 

If I am really changed by a God who did all the stuff we just mentioned in the first chapter and a half, that should not be my story. We should be able to identify the needs of the least in our society and shamelessly give of ourselves to them. 

I am very imperfect at this. I have strong opinions and love watching a debate like it was a boxing match. I am so busy trying to give my own children a good life that I leave almost no time to change the world around me. And that may be over-selling it, but I can't in a clear conscience say that I've got all this in the bag. Before I'd accuse anyone else with these verses (which is what my brain wanted to do first!), I need God to work on me first. 

Lord, keep slowing me down. Pull me out of the white noise of my phone. Help me to see not only the needs of my young family in front of me, but the students and colleagues I'm about to see each day. Give me the strength and grace and words to follow through on what You call me to do.

1 Peter 2:11-12

Summary: A quick paragraph here, Peter highlights again a believer's behavior, because it could either hurt your soul or your witness. 

Response: I feel like I've seen both firsthand. Lord, help me to follow You and Your peace in my circumstances today.