Beloved, Devote Yourselves to Holy Conduct and Piety
Advent II Evening Prayer
2 Peter 3:8-14
December 11, 2024
“Beloved.” That’s how the Apostle Peter addresses his hearers. And it’s how God addresses you. Even when He reproves you—through me, the preacher whom He also reproves—He reproves you as His beloved.
“Beloved, do not forget this one thing.” It would be better to say, “Don’t let this escape your notice.” The Holy Spirit in the Holy Scriptures is telling us a hidden truth. He’s revealing to us a secret, or a mystery. It is the mystery of how time with God is not at all as we experience time.
So don’t let this escape your notice, “that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” The key word here is as. It’s a comparison, not a mathematical formula. Some people make the mistake of trying to turn other things the Bible says about time and substitute a thousand years for one day, or vice versa. That’s not what’s happening here. The Holy Spirit is telling us that what seems like a long time to us can be a very short time for God.
Peter’s letter is concerned that people will think – since it’s been a long time, and the Day of Judgment hasn’t happened yet – that God doesn’t keep His promises, or it was all a lie.
Instead, Peter is telling us that the reason for the long time is that God is longsuffering, patient. And what is the reason for His patience? He wants everyone to come to repentance.
This long delay can make us lazy. And laziness leads to licentiousness. “I’ve sinned, I’ve slacked off on my prayers, and nothing bad has happened; surely God will give me a warning so I can straighten up my life, the way I quickly tidy up my home before having visitors.” This is not how it will be, God’s Word tells us. “The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night” – without warning, suddenly, unexpectedly.
And on that Day, what then will come of all the stuff you’ve accumulated? All will be destroyed. The cosmos itself will be reduced to its created essence and remade. “The heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” There is one truth behind the many lies in the climate terror industry: the earth will be destroyed. Perhaps we’ll even bring the ruin on ourselves with our nuclear weapons. But the universal scale of the destruction foretold in the Scriptures is not something our weapons can currently accomplish. The cosmos is unraveling because we brought death and corruption into it. We did that. That’s another truth in the climate terror industry: Man is at fault. The lie is that we can somehow legislate our way out of the problem, as though human acts of atonement can bring life to the dying world.
No, God’s Word is clear. “All these things will be dissolved.” But this is no cause for a laissez-faire attitude. We stewards of God’s creation, we disciples of Jesus are called to holy conduct and godliness. “Holy conduct” means to walk in virtue, paying careful attention to the Commandments. It’s meant to encompass an entire way of life, especially with respect to other people. Elsewhere the Bible uses it of wives who win their husbands to the Faith by their behavior; and of Christians who win pagans to Christ by their changed lives. In his first epistle, St. Peter used the term “noble” to describe it: “Let your behavior among the nations be noble” [2.12].
So that’s holy conduct. The other term Peter uses is godliness, which can also be rendered “reverence” or “piety.” Thus Peter speaks about the two parts of our lives - our conduct is one part, our behavior towards other people; and then “reverence” or “piety” is our life before God, the life of prayer and liturgy.
So what is this passage from Peter, appointed for the Advent season, telling us? We are called to get ready for the Day of Judgment. And we do this by holy conduct to other people, showing them respect and honor, and patience like God is patient. And we have a renewed life of piety, turning our time and our mind toward the liturgy of the gathered church and the liturgy of your own prayers at home.
The Advent life has a new focus. We remember that God keeps His promises, and we are focused on that. What’s the promise? What are we looking for? “We, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
That’s the orientation of our lives as disciples of Jesus. The new heavens and the new earth, where all things will be set right. That’s the focus of your life. So when you go home, go to sleep and be at peace. God keeps His promises. And in the morning, live in holy conduct and piety.