2 Peter - Preparing for What’s Next
2 Peter 3:8-13
Jordan Byrd
Are you fascinated with knowing what goes on behind the scenes of a: movie, sports team, how a product is made? The past couple of weeks, the Cleveland Browns defensive end, pass-rusher, Miles Garret has made sports headlines vocalizing that he’d like to be traded. The local sports shows here have been talking about the pros and cons of the Bills trying to trade for the top-end pass-rusher. I was curious, and wanted to know why Miles Garret is considered to be so good. So, I took a look behind the scenes, and viewed some of his stats. A particular stat that stood out is that, when the ball was hiked for a play, Garret left his stance and crossed the line of scrimmage, within and average 0.70-second. That means when the ball is hiked, Garret is already infiltrating the offense’s territory in under a second – “one–one thou…” – and he’s already across the line.
What makes Garrett stand out from other players? What else is going on that makes him able to respond so well to a play? There is one quality that Garret has that maybe gets missed, amidst his athleticism. This quality is beyond or behind the scenes of his rushing action. And that quality is “being ready.” Garrett is a ball of energy ready to be released instantly.
A pass rusher has to be disciplined in how they jump to action. If they take off too early, it leads to an offside penalty. But even before a pass-rusher takes off during a play, they are not passive. A pass rusher, like Garrett, when in his stance is actively readying to do something. What we’re really describing here is patience: The full ability to respond, but wisely discerning when to respond to a situation.
A number of years ago, a neighborhood development arose to become many familys’ slice of the American Dream. Yet over time, residents began experiencing health issues, including high rates of miscarriages and strange rashes. At first, these issues were dismissed as isolated coincidences. Not everyone in the neighborhood was having issues, so there seemed to be no reason to look further into the situation. Unfortunately, the health issues got worse, enough to the point that a local teacher began investigating further. What eventually was uncovered is that toxic chemicals were buried beneath the community years earlier. The discovery of these chemicals led to greater and greater concern to where the community was evaluated, and the land became the location of the first and one of the most prominent Superfund pollution clean-up sites in the U.S. You might more directly know this site as Love Canal, southeast of the city of Niagara Falls.
Like the teacher who wondered if something more was going on at Love Canal, so also, we often wonder the same kind of thing about life in general: Is there something else going on behind the scenes of our chaotic lives – of this chaotic world? In pessimistic, negative ways, our minds wonder to ideas like: A secret cabal. Or the deep state. Or maybe broader: Demonic forces controlling people. Or karmic forces. Or the misalignment of the planets, causing the world to be how chaotic, like it is. But none of these are hopeful outcomes. All of these are hopeless outcomes, where CHAOS… STILL… HAPPENS. The audience of 2 Peter were in a similar situation. Their life is chaotic, it’s been chaotic before, and it just seems like it will stay chaotic. And the overriding temptation of their day is that nothing was going to change. That chaos would always continue, so LIVE IT UP NOW, before it catches up to you, and destroys your life too. With this worldview, there was no reason to pursue a moral life. There was no reason to care about others. There was no reason to love, be joyful, to be peaceful, be patient, be kind, be gentle, be good, or be self-controlled. All those pursuits did, was hold a person back, from experience all they could in life, BEFORE THEY DIED.
But 2 Peter 3:8-13 is God’s word saying this is not the full picture of life. 2 Peter 3:8-13 highlights that there is something more going on behind the scenes. 2 Peter highlights that there is a spiritual reality happening beyond what we see as humans with our limited perspective. And the good news we encounter in 2 Peter 3:8-13 is that God is actively readying to address the chaos we encounter in our lives, and in the world. The punch of 2 Peter 3:8-13 is that there is something more going on than just the chaotic forces of the world.
God is readying to set the world right.
2 Peter 3:8-13 highlights and reminds us of the good news and perspective that God is readying to set the world right. And God’s word invites us to respond to this good news by living in the paradoxical idea of: waiting and hastening. Waiting for God to set the world right – trusting in his judgment and timing to do so. And hastening God to set the world right – living now, as it will be when God rights the world – living in anticipation of the future. Readying yourself and readying others for when God will set the world right? 2 Peter 3:8-13 invites us to affirm the truth that: God is readying to set the world right. God is readying to set the world right. And Respond to this revealed truth readying ourselves and others for God to set the world right?
Even if you’ve never seen the Wizard of Oz, you’ve likely heard a phrase from it referencing “the man behind the curtain.” In the movie, Dorothy, tin man, the lion, and scarecrow bring the broom of the wicked-witch of the west to the Wizard of Oz. While they are talking back and forth with the wizard, Dorothy’s dog, Toto pulls back a nearby curtain to reveal just a man – talking into a microphone and pulling levers – to which Dorothy and her crew are SHOCKED. But the man behind the curtain even says, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!” LOL. As if they’ll just keep believing what they knew about the wizard before he was revealed.
In 2 Peter 3:10 the language used is similar to this scene from the Wizard of Oz. In verse 10 it says, “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.” (2 Peter 3:10)
In Isaiah 34:1-4 we encounter similar language to 2 Peter 3:10, “Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth hear, and all that is in it, the world, and all that comes out of it! The Lord is angry with all nations; his wrath is on all their armies. He will totally destroy them, he will give them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, their dead bodies will stink; the mountains will be soaked with their blood. All the stars in the sky will be dissolved and the heavens ROLLED UP like a scroll; all the starry host will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like shriveled figs from the fig tree.” (Isaiah 34:4)
Isaiah 34:4 helps us see the language of 2 Peter 3:10 as metaphorical. Similar to how we use metaphorical language to captures complex ideas: like saying Superman is faster than a speeding bullet. A speeding bullet wording helps us to picture how fast Superman can be. It’s not saying Superman is a speeding bullet. But a descriptor of what is happening when Superman flies. In Isaiah 34:4 and 2 Peter 3:10, the cosmic changes described help depict something drastic happening in reality. When we look up at the sky, we see the heavens. But what’s beyond what we can see? Language like the heavens being removed, help paint the picture that there is something more going on beyond what we can only see from our limited perspective. God’s word in these passages is revealing what is going on behind what we can’t see.
In Isaiah 34 and 2 Peter 3, God reveals that he is present and active – that he is actively readying to set the world right – to deal with the chaos. 2 Peter’s audience is reminded that God is not letting chaos reign. God is like a pass-rusher, He’s in his stance – readying to set the world right. God is all set to right the world, when the right time comes. And when it happens, it will be like a thief in the night. UNEXPECTED and INSTANT action – to right the world from chaos.
What’s emphasized to us in 2 Peter 3 is that God is fully capable and able to deal with the chaos of our lives and of the world. So, why isn’t he… NOW?! The answer we’re given is that God is waiting for the maximum number of people to respond to his offer of healing and restoration to abundant life in Jesus. From our perspective, we might be like, “It’s been long enough God.” “FIX IT NOW!” But God’s perspective is broader and wiser than ours. And in his wisdom, he knows when the right time to act will be. He’s readying to act, when the ball is hiked – when the most people possible have chosen fullness of life with God. And when that happens, God WILL ACT to set the world right.
If you’ve ever roasted a marshmallow over a fire for a s’more, you know there is a fine line between golden brown and burnt. Once a marshmallow hits a flame, it doesn’t take long for it to melt away. If a marshmallow falls into the fire, it quickly disappears into ash. This is a picture of what it’s like when God acts to set the world right: It will be instant, kike Miles Garret taking off after hearing, “hike!” Instantaneous. 2 Peter 3 is also a picture of what it’s like when God acts toward the chaos of the world: Throughout the Scriptures (Old and New Testaments), God is often associated with fire: God appears to Moses in a burning bush. God leads the Israelites through the dessert to the promised land by a pillar of fire at night time. The writer of Hebrews describes God as a consuming fire. God’s Spirit is often described as a fire:
The Lord will wash away the filth of the women of Zion; he will cleanse the bloodstains from Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire. (Isaiah 4:4)
But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness…. (Malachi 3:2-3)
This third I will put into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’” (Zechariah 13:9)
“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3:11-12)
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (Acts 2:3-4)
…their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames. (1 Corinthians 3:13-15)
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7)
If we allow the Scriptures to interpret itself, we see here that the fiery and melting judgment described in 2 Peter 3:10 is a refining process. 2 Peter is describing – that when God sets the world right, his fire will melt away anything that is not of his abundant life.
Part of what the language of 2 Peter points to, that we might miss, depending on the translation we’re reading/looking at, is that the “elements” that will be destroyed by fire can also point to heavenly bodies. Meaning, spiritual entities – like evil or demonic forces. When 2 Peter references the heavens disappearing, God being revealed, and the elements or heavenly bodies destroyed by fire – it is a reference to God pulling back the curtain on the chaotic forces of the world, to rid the world of them. What that doesn’t mean is destroying the world entirely, and entering into some non-earthly reality after this judgment. Rather, what 2 Peter describes is a refining process – through which the world will undergo. And, what is not connected to God through faith in Jesus, will be destroyed. But whatever is connected to God through faith in Jesus, will be resurrected in the same manner as the body of Jesus after his death on the cross. This resurrected reality will be the new heavens and new earth that 2 Peter describes. But it won’t be a return to the chaotic form we know right now. Rather, it will be the world set right – where righteousness dwells and chaos doesn’t.
2 Peter reveals the truth of reality that is difficult for us to see amidst the chaos of life: That: God is readying to set the world right. The question is, are we ready for such a life? Are those around us ready for such a life?
2 Peter invites us to respond to this good news by paradoxically waiting for and hastening this day. When we’re tempted to view life through constant chaos that will never change – we’re tempted to live like now is all there is. We’re tempted to: do all, get all, and experience all of life that we can – now – before we die, before this world ends. But God’s word invites us to believe that:
God is readying to set the world right. And believing that truth, means aligning our life with that destination – with that future. This means living with a broader perspective of life – a perspective that’s only possible by faith, by what God’s word in Jesus reveals. This means anticipating a world set right, by living that right way now – readying ourselves to live in a world set right. This means being loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, gentle, good, and self-controlled in a time when that all seems pointless – and a hindrance to getting the fullness out of life, now, before it’s gone, and it will seem pointless, without the broader perspective and belief that God will right the world for this kind of life to be possible. We pursue this life now as witness of what is to come by entrusting our future to God’s wise and restorative care. 2 Peter 3 is inviting us to consider if we’re living this way – if we’re readying ourselves for God to set the world right; and if we’re doing what we can to help ready others for God to set the world right – guiding them to be connected to God’s future, through faith in Jesus.
We can also think about this through our strategy as a church to guide all people to abundant life in Jesus, and asking ourselves What am I doing to invest sacrificially to ready myself and others for God’s future? (WORTH)
How am I investing sacrificially with my: Words, occupation, resources, time, and habits? Use “WORTH” to remember this: word, occupation, resources, time, and habits. How are your words an ongoing testimony to the future God is bringing about, and how you can live non-anxiously, with ready hope and not pessimism for the future? How might caring for your kids or performing your job be part of how God has called you to help ready others for God’s future? How might God be calling you to invest your money or use your property to help ready others for God’s future? How might God be calling you to fill your calendar to help ready you or others for God’s future? How are your daily actions, participating in readying you or others for God’s future?
God is readying to set the world right. Are you readying for God to set the world right?
If this is a newer view of life for you, and you’d like to explore further what a life with God, through faith in Jesus is all about, please find me or another trusted follower of Jesus to help you journey further in that process.
If you’ve already united your life to God, through faith in Jesus, God’s word in 2 Peter 3:8-13 invites you to affirm a hopeful outlook on life – that there is more going on, than what we just see from our limited perspective, that God is present and active behind the scenes, and soon enough the whole world will see what God is readying to do to set the world right, and counter the chaos once and for all! In affirming this belief, continue to WAIT for God to set the world right; and HASTEN – anticipate the day when God will set the world right. Ready yourself. Ready others – for God to set the world right. God is readying to set the world right. Are you readying for God to set the world right?