Presence Weekly 10/28/2024, "The Paradox of Obedience"

¹³Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. ¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, ¹⁵but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²²Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴for

“All flesh is like grass 
and all its glory like the flower of grass. 
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
²⁵but the word of the Lord remains forever.”

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. 1 Peter 1:13-25 

Obedience. If we are honest with ourselves we might all agree that it is a word that we are not particularly fond of. When we think of obedience perhaps we think of some dictatorial personality type demanding that we do what they say. Perhaps we say, who are you to tell me what to do?

The elect exiles to whom Peter was writing may have lived a long-long time ago, in a country far-far away. Yet even though much about their context was different from ours, much was the same. They, like us, were elect exiles. They were the chosen people of God, under the headship of Christ, and yet they were also suffering under the realities of a life that is still awaiting the return of Christ. And, they, like us, struggled with personal holiness and the call to obedience. 

We have many problems with obedience, and that is largely because we have failed to understand the foundation of obedience, the practice of obedience, the motivation of obedience, and most importantly the blessings of obedience. Having studied the paradox of our identity and the paradox of our hope, we are now ready to look at the third paradox of living as elect exiles: obedience leads to our freedom. 

In order to understand what is meant by the call to Christian obedience, we must first understand the foundation of obedience, and that is exactly where Peter starts. In verse 13 he writes, “Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

One of the first things that you learn when you take almost any introductory bible study is that whenever you see a “therefore,” you should ask, what is the “therefore,” there for? In this case, to find that out one simply needs to look back at the point that Peter has just made. Christians have a hope that is different from everyone else’s hope. Our hope is a living hope in the salvation given to us and kept for us by Christ. Peter wants the reader to know that the foundation for obedience starts here - grounded in a living hope.

In order to have a proper foundation for obedience, one must engage their mind. This sets up the paradox: why engage the mind if we are supposed to obey? Again, our issue with the word leads some to think that obedience does not require thinking - just doing. But, Peter is working another angle. He says, preparing your minds for action, and being sober minded. It is as if Peter is expecting some kind of training program. Preparing your minds for action does not connote passive laziness. Not only that, the foundation for obedience requires a sober-mind. For Peter, the mind is an integral component of our obedience to Christ. 

Paul echoes this thought as well, and says so to the young Christians in Colossae, 

⁶ Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, ⁷ rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. ⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Col 2:6–8.

Nationally, the blood alcohol limit for driving is .08. That is a little less than two beers per hour. The reason that we have limits on drinking and driving is that we know that alcohol impairs judgment and slows reaction times. There are plenty of other things that impair our judgment and slow our reaction times in obedience. As Christians, our minds are constantly bombarded with opportunities for impairment and distraction: keeping up with the neighbors, living up to our parents' expectations of us, our financial position, living vicariously through our children, etc.

There are unique distractions and impairments presented by the public square. With an election just over a week away, there is the belief that elections will solve our problems and the anxiety that comes from concerns over the next administration. Increasingly, there seems to be a propensity for conflating party platforms with Biblical instruction. Worse yet is the subsuming of Biblical instruction under political platforms. The public square can make it difficult to remember that Christ is ruling over all things and that he is making all things new. Our role is not as chief implementer of Christ’s mission, but as chief participant in the proclamation of Christ’s mission. 

And as long as these distractions reign, we are going to have a very difficult time engaging the first imperative that Peter calls us to as the foundation of obedience, “to set our hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus.” In other words, as long as our minds are distracted and impaired, we won’t be able to set our minds fully (but only partially) on the living hope of salvation that is ours. We will be too concerned about all of the other short term and incomplete offerings of hope that ultimately leave us insecure and unfulfilled.

For those serving and leading in the public square, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, are unique and empowering benefits that allow for a focus on pursuing that which truly leads to flourishing. Those with a fixed and steady hope are able to endure the constant distractions and impairments that diminish their effectiveness. 

With this foundation laid, of having our minds fully, and not partially, set on the living hope that is ours, Peter moves on to the real meat of his message. This is the one that the people of God have struggled with since The Garden, that is: The Practice of Obedience.

We will discuss that next week.

Application Questions

1. As you consider your role in the public square, what are some of the distractions and impairments that draw your mind away from “setting your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you by Christ?” 
   
2. How would sober-mindedness impact your spiritual, emotional, relational, and or vocational formation?

• Monday: Morning: Isaiah 28:9-6, Ephesians 4:1-16, Psalm 66 //
  Evening: Isaiah 4:2-6, John 14:15-31, Psalm 116,117
• Tuesday: Morning: Revelation 11:14-19, Luke 11:27-36, Psalm 45 // Evening: Psalm 47,48
• Wednesday: Morning: Revelation 12:1-6, Luke 11:37-52, Psalm 119:49-72 // Evening: Psalm 49
• Thursday: Morning: Revelation 12:7-17, Luke 11:53-12:12, Psalm 50 // Evening: Song of Solomon 3:1-9, Revelation 19:4-10, Psalm 34
• Friday: Morning: Hebrews 11:32-12:2, Psalm 111,112 // Evening: Song of Solomon 5:1-5, 14-16; Revelation 21:1-4, 22-22:5; Psalm 148,150
• Saturday: Morning: Revelation 13:11-18, Luke 12:32-48, Psalm 55 // Evening: Psalm 138, 139:1-18
• Sunday: Morning: 1 Corinthians 12:27-13:13, Matthew 18:21-35, Psalm 24,29 // Evening: Psalm 8,84

• Cabinet Agency: The National Endowment for the Humanities, as their staff works to foster the humanities, which include history, philosophy, literature, language, ethics, law, archaeology, political theory, comparative religion, anthropology, sociology, and media and cultural studies.
• Think Tank, Lobby group, NGO: The staff at The Pew Charitable Trust and Research Center, a non-profit, non partisan think tank which provides information on social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the United States and the world. 
• Weekly delegation: For the staff and congressional delegation from the state of Massachusetts.
• News: For many many individuals working on transition planning for both parties. For the staff at the Treasury Department charged with overseeing the “final rules for the Advanced Manufacturing Investment Credit (CHIPS ITC) created in the Biden-Harris Administration’s CHIPS and Science Act, a key component of the Administration’s Investing in America agenda, to usher in a new era of semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, bringing with it a revitalized domestic supply chain, good-paying jobs, and investments in the industries of the future.”
• Personal Requests: Someone “looking for a position in editorial management, book publishing, academic research management, or strategic communications (referrals).” Someone traveling and away from their children. Several individuals are going through White House background checks. Someone working to finish the first draft of a biography of a former administration official. Someone awaiting test results. For all the campaign staffers working hard in the final week leading up to the election. The year-end grant writing of Faithful Presence.

• Read this first → The National Endowment for the Humanities has an insightful article on one of the most important Evangelical events you may have never heard of, Like at Cane Ridge
• Acton Institute has a review of Miles Smith’s new book, Religion & Republic, which touches on some relevant discussion of Christian Nationalism, aptly titled, An Almost Christian Nation.
• Listen to this —> National Review’s Capital Record podcast has an excellent interview with the Moral Imagination podcast’s Michael Matheson Miller on “The Wonder of the Ordinary,” in which they discuss updating the brilliantly illuminating essay I, Pencil to I, Coffee.
• The Pew Research Center has the results of an intriguing and important survey on Americans’ perception of American men. 

• Tuesday, October 29, 11:00 a.m. The Center for American Progress offers an online event, Leveraging Technology To Equip K-12 Students for Success.
• Wednesday, October 30, 12:00 pm - 1:30 pm, AEI hosts an in-person event, AEI Election Watch 2024: The Final Countdown.
• Thursday, October 31, 11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. The Brookings Institute presents an online forum, African Americans and the 2024 Presidential Election.
• Friday, November 1, 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm, The Trinity Forum presents an online conversation, Is there an American Covenant? An Online Conversation with Yuval Levin.
• Saturday, November 2, is the annual D.C. Beer Fest at National Park. 
• Saturday, November 2, 2- 6pm, It’s time for the Adams Morgan Fall PorchFest! Featuring close to 100 bands at 20+ locations throughout Adams Morgan. This free event will showcase some of DC’s best local musical talent featuring nearly every musical genre, including classic rock, funk, go-go, rap, reggae, blue grass, classical, and pop.

Nestled inside Adams Morgan’s LINE D.C. (just outside the busyness of the downtown area) is a wonderful place for a happy hour get-together with friends or a tasty dinner. Right from the beginning, the venue is visually stunning because it’s a converted, 110 year old, church. But looks are not the only thing No Goodbyes has to offer. When not sampling the oysters, my favorite appetizer is the classic Crab-Spiced House-Made Potato chips. For dinner, they have a rotating selection of excellent seafood. That said, you might want to try the Hot Half Hen, which is half a chicken with chili crunch, fried shallots (yum!) and fried garlic, and order a side of pan-seared baby carrots. 

As much as I love a good McKenna Old-Fashioned with a rock (don’t muddle the cherry), their bartending staff are all D.C. veterans and very good at coming up with something unique that is sure to please - including mocks.

Busy at night? No problem. It’s an all-day establishment, so they also have breakfast, lunch and a great coffee bar.