Advent - Day 17 What kind of person should I be?

Peter 2 3:8-15a
NRSV


8But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare. 11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

We all have expectations of what the ‘day of the Lord’ might be like. I remember as a child wondering what it would be like. I remember having irrational rapture scares when my dad forgot to pick me up or when I would return to an empty house.


The return of Jesus is not something that I think about often. It seems so far away and not in touch with the reality of today.

I took a confirmation class at my church when I was in middle school. The day we talked about the day of the Lord, a student shared how she had a strong feeling it was going to be in her lifetime. My response was skepticism; “She’s crazy,” I thought. “She can’t know that.” Looking back, to have the mindset that Jesus is coming back soon, very soon, may help us to remember how it should influence our lives.

Personally, the return of Jesus does not influence they way I act or think. Peter poses the question, since we know, vaguely, that the day of the Lord is coming and we believe that God keeps promises, how then should we act? “What kind of people ought you to be?”

Peter advises that we be spotless and blameless, which I find to be extremely difficult. I also don’t like thinking that I just have to try harder, because inevitably I will fail. But what I do know is that God is patient and God’s patience means salvation.