A motto to live by

Great mottos inspire.  Isn’t it amazing how well an ideal, aspiration or belief can be captured and expressed in so few words?

Some mottos move us to reach beyond past accomplishments ...
       Rethink Possible – AT&T
       Citius, Altius, Fortius (Faster, higher, stronger) – The Olympic games
Some extol a specific value or virtue ...
       Quality is job one – Ford
       Semper Fidelis (Always faithful) – United States Marine Corps
Others are simple, practical calls to action ...
       Save Money. Live Better. – Walmart
       Just do it – Nike

So whose motto do we find embedded in this, Peter’s admonition to us all:  “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have”? 

You probably spotted it.  While “Be prepared” has motivated the Boy Scouts for decades, it has inspired Christians for centuries.  We who have entrusted our very lives to Christ are called into action and to “Be prepared” to share our reason for this great hope.  So how do we answer those who ask about our hope in Christ?  How will we respond?

Like Kodak, we can “Share moments. Share life.”  People are usually interested in how others have found freedom, peace and joy in their lives.  Whether we share our own stories or the remarkable stories of others, people will listen.

Like Canon EOS, the prophets beckon all to come and “See what we mean.”  The Old Testament prophets proclaimed in startling detail the eventual coming of the Christ.  Through Isaiah’s description of the suffering servant ... Daniel’s foretelling the exact time of Jesus’ birth ... Malachi’s naming the birthplace of him who would be our peace ... and many others, God promised his Messiah to the whole world.  Their voices still call us to come and see for ourselves these promises and God's faithfulness in keeping them.

As did the believing founders of Harvard University, we can proclaim “Veritas” (truth).  God’s word is truth and its power lies therein; we need only to speak it.  In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Do not try to make the Bible relevant.  Its relevance is axiomatic.  Do not defend God's word, but testify to it.  Trust to the word.  It is a ship loaded to the very limits of its capacity.” 

Declare Christ’s atonement for our sin to be, like Ajax, “Stronger than dirt.”  Deep inside, we all know of our guilt and shame.  We try so hard to justify it, blame it, deny it or make amends for it, but our moral failures cling to us and we cannot wash them away.  People need to know that Jesus has done for us what we could not do ourselves – he has cleansed us from all guilt and shame.

With Samsung, we announce, “Everyone's invited.”  Jesus death and resurrection has purchased salvation for all, redemption for all, righteousness for all, atonement for all, life for all.  People need only to entrust their lives to him and what he has done for all.

                                                                      *****

Yes, we must “Be prepared” to give an answer for our hope.  And then we simply trust.  For when we join the “Spirit in motion” [The Paralympic Games], our words have “The power to do more” [Dell], and “The possibilities are infinite” [Fujitsu]. 

So “Jump in” [Xbox 360]!  For “Impossible is nothing” [Adidas].

“I'm lovin’ it” [McDonalds].

[Click here to see the daily reading in 1 Peter 3:8-17.]

The hammer and the wedge

"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called ..."  1 Peter 3:9

A wedge is a tool forged for the purpose of division.  Together with the aiding and abetting hammer, it separates into two that which once was one.

I think of a wedge as the implement of choice in the devil's figurative tool box.  Hell-bent on division and destruction, he seeks out the freshly wounded, those of us who have been hurt, cheated, slandered, betrayed ... severed by a piercing blow of the wedge and hammer in the hands of another.  Finding new victims, Satan then offers to lend his favored tool to us, sometimes as an overt challenge, perhaps in a subtle whisper in the ear of the soul, or by imperceptibly nudging it over so that it quietly appears at our feet.  The hammer is always thrown in for free.

The allure then is to tightly wrap one hand around the wedge and, with the hammer firmly in the grip of the other, strike back with a blow that severs our assailants even further.  If the distance between us is lengthened, great!  If they are wounded in the process, so be it.

Of course, we don't stop at retaliation.  No longer trusting, we take indiscriminate swings that cause other divisions, as well.  Our victims, in turn, stoop down to pick up the wedge and hammer we left behind.  And so it goes "in the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air (Ephesians 2:2)."  And so it goes with our sin nature.  

But in effect, Peter races to the scene in today's text like a policeman, saying, "Drop the hammer!  Put the wedge down!"  He reminds us who we are: called to be a blessing.  

But how?  If our sin nature is inclined only to sin, how do we refrain from repaying evil with evil, and how do we bless those who hurt us?  These three scriptures speak truth, power, light and life to the situation ... 

"Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13)."  Herein lies our directive: to yield every facet of our being as means of righteousness.

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me (Galatians 2:20)." Herein lies our power to choose: we have a new nature – Christ in us – that is not enslaved to sin.

"... we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5)."  Herein lies our means:  the discipline to live in our new nature and to subject our thoughts and actions to the lordship of Christ in us.

Blessing those who wield the wedge and the hammer:  to this, we were called; to this, we are empowered.