“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” ~ 1 Peter 1.3-5
A few years ago, I was privileged to be able to travel to Israel and wander around as a tourist for two weeks. While at the temple ruins in Jerusalem, I was struck by an image. With all the broken pieces of stone lying in disarray, there was a single patch of green grass growing through the cracks. It was almost an absurd image because there were neither fields nor other patches of grass nearby. Amid this huge stone structure, a bright green plant emerged, seemingly out of nowhere.
In 2019, our world felt like a strong, stone construction...systemic layers of infrastructure where nations developed an interdependent web of community, connection, and commerce. It seemed like we were strong, able to face the impending challenges of the day. We were absurdly busy with our jobs, education, and hobbies. We were frequently lost in our own worlds.
Fast forward to 2020, and this season in our lives, we particularly see the fragility of our world, our homes, even our economy. Things have changed. The world will not be as it once was. We have less guarantees and more questions. From the cracks of our stone world something new will emerge. It feels a bit beyond ironic to realize the cause of our exposed fragility is an unseen foe. The cause of our upended world is microscopic. The Lord used something seemingly insignificant and small to upend the world and remind us that everything we build will one day perish.
This is more reason for us to hold fast to that which is imperishable. The Apostle Peter informs us in the midst of our perishable world that there is something secure. He refers to this as an inheritance. The concept of inheritance is repeated throughout Scripture. For Israelites, an inheritance was tied to a specific portion of land, determined by one’s tribe and family. Land led to other blessings: wealth, status, and security. For those who had been exiled or for those grafted in as Gentiles, an inheritance must have felt like an impossibility.
Peter explains to us that a believer’s inheritance is not only imperishable, it is also undefiled and unfading. The inheritance God brings is not going to decay, fade away, or become defiled by sin. For a small, struggling group of First Century Christians, this hope and inheritance were their comfort.
Now, in 2020, as we begin to see a “new normal”, we are reminded this same hope and inheritance is ours, as well. This inheritance is secure and unchanging. It is kept by God in heaven, far beyond the reach of our systemic layers of infrastructure. We cannot make it any more secure or beautiful. For today, we must learn how to testify to its permanence and to why it drives us to hope, not despair, when our world changes.
~ Pastor Bennett
