Eastertide
May 26, 2017
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.—1 Peter 5:6-11.
I do not know about you, but I am very disciplined about the things I am disciplined about not so much the things I am not. Probably addicted to doing yoga every morning, I must make myself practice the art of putting something up after I use it. One day l I walk into my kitchen and wonder from where did all this clutter come: scissors two inches from the draw in which they belong, two cutting boards, the strip of cellophane recently torn from the top of a bag of coleslaw. Putting away or throwing away similar items seems to be in the DNA of most of my friends. Once I discover my untidiness, I improve for a few days, but then there it is again.
The truth is there are some things that are a part of our being that we do by rote, which is not discipline. To me, discipline means doing the right thing every time whether we want to or not. Now that is a tough order, and it is what Peter is calling us to do regarding our discipleship.
Much of discipleship’s discipline involves getting relationships right, loving our neighbors, wanting the very best for them, all the time every time. People say things to us that came from something that happened to them earlier in the day or in life and had nothing to do with us but it hurt anyway. At another time, we go off on something that causes pain to another with no idea something about the same issue impacted their life. How do we learn to weave ourselves together as the one Body of Christ? Our scripture today speaks eloquently. God enables our discipline. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God. . .the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. God can and will enable our discipleship when we let God.
Prayer: God, make us whole, make us one. Amen.