Happenings 5 December 2019

Pastor and author, John Piper, writes the following:

At the end of this life, the apostle Peter wrote his second letter, and twice in it he tells his readers why he was writing to them. In the first chapter he said, “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” (2 Pet. 1:13). Then, in the last chapter, he said it again: “I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder” (2 Pet. 3:1). His aim was first to remind them. And then, by reminding them, to stir them up. The Greek word for “stir up” is used most often for waking someone from sleep. Peter assumes that his Christian readers need to be wakened. I know I continually need awakening. Especially when Christmas approaches. I am prone to be dull, spiritually drowsy, halfhearted, lukewarm. That is the way human beings are, including Christians, even about great things. Peter knows it and is writing to “awaken” or to “stir up” his readers so that they don’t just know but also feel the wonder of the truth. What Peter really means, by being “awakened” or “stirred up” is to feel some measure of the joy God intends for Christmas to bring. “Behold, I bring you good news of great joy” (Luke 2:10). Not small joy. Not modest joy. But “great joy.” If we don’t feel this when we ponder the incarnation of the Son of God, we need “awakening.” We need to be “stirred up.” Jesus said, “I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15:11). This is “great joy.” And it cannot be taken away. It is indestructible. Ah, but it can go to sleep. That’s why Peter says, “I think it right, as long as I am in this body, to stir you up by way of reminder” (2 Pet. 1:13). Yes. It is very right. Because, oh, how wrong, how sad, when we stand before great wonders and feel nothing. It is right, therefore, that he write to awaken and stir up our affections for the greatest wonder of all: the arrival and the work and the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in this world.

In Him,
Murray