Striding Into Enemy Territory

                 But 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. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

But 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 done in it will be laid bare.

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as 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. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (II Peter 3:8-13)

 

With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

With the Lord a day is, like, a thousand years, and a thousand years are, like, a day.

Sometimes, we try to turn metaphors into equations. The point Peter makes with comparing a millennium with a day is that the lengths of time that we consider unbelievably long are not long to God. It’s not a clock by which we can measure the time of God’s life, making this (possibly) Day 6 of God’s work week. The other thing that people sometimes do is to claim that in this passage, “you” refers to non-Christians. While God does want those who aren’t saved to be saved, this letter was written to believers. You is us, not them.

Repentance doesn’t equal salvation. Repentance equals repentance. Over the past four weeks, I’ve been taking a class about finding my fit at church, and I’m finding that there are some things - particularly things in my past - that I need to examine and consider. So far, they have more to do with what has happened to me, and how that has influenced me. This takes me back to a beloved quote of C. S. Lewis:

“There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations - these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub and exploit - immortal horrors or everlasting splendors. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously - no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption.” (C.S. Lewis, Weight of Glory)

          Some events in my life that I’d really rather not think about have surfaced and demanded attention. They’re some of the “immortal horror” producing things in my life. I don’t want to go there, but if we are to be the sort of people we ought to be, sometimes, striding into enemy territory like we own it is necessary.