Living the Hospitality of God

    The big news this week is the wedding of England’s Prince William and Kate Middleton.  Some 2 billion people watched the wedding on live TV.  That’s nearly a third of the world!  One of the things that has caught my attention is the sheer number and variety of people involved in making this wedding happen.  People from every sort of career and genre are involved in this massive procedure. 
    Just think about musicians as one example.  First, there’s the choir of Westminster Abby, which includes 20 boys, 12 adult singers, a choir director, and an organist.  Then, there’s the Chapel Royal Choir, 10 more boys and 6 more adults.  Next is the Fanfare Team from the Royal Air Force.  The reception will include traditional music from the Prince of Wales’s Official Harpist and a performance by Ellie Goulding, a British pop star.  Finally, after all the formal stuff was over, a celebrity DJ was expected to fill Buckingham Palace with the sounds of classic and modern rock, ranging from The Monkeys and Johnny B Goode to Bon Jovi and Queen, all the way up to Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, and Lady GaGa.
   And that’s just the music.  Think about all the other people helping.  Dozens of people around both William and Kate have devoted most of their waking hours over the past six months organizing all the proceedings.  The royal florist and his massive team are preparing mountains of flowers and at least 8 fully grown trees which will be moved inside Westminster Abby.  The Queen’s army of 21 royal chefs (and countless assistants) prepared a reception for 650 guests, which included no less than 17 Royal fruit cakes - not kidding.  The Royal Wedding Invitation itself, although simple, required a host of designers, printers, and couriers.  A literal army of photographers, journalists, TV reporters, bloggers, and videographers documented every minute detail of the wedding.  Builders and remodelers were put into action for everything from custom flower pots, to stages, to photo backdrops.  Westminster Abby provided a large team of priests to plan and to perform the wedding.  Also, you can be sure that the Royal Family had several offices of accountants and lawyers working full-time on all of the financial and legal issues surrounding this huge event.  I imagine that every hair stylist and makeup artists in London was busy on the wedding day.  5,000 standard police officers took to the streets to ensure order, and that’s not even counting the Royal Family’s personal security team.  And last but not least, women around the world were intrigued by Kate’s dress, but every guest was required to wear uniforms, formal wear, or “lounge suits.”  (I don’t even know what a lounge suit is!)  Needless to say, quite a few tailors have been working around the clock to get ready for this.
   
    Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son” (Matthew 22:2).  Psalm 23 says God prepares a feast for us, anoints our heads with oil, and fills our cups to overflowing.  The prophet Isaiah explains God’s plan of redemption like this: “In Jerusalem, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will spread a wonderful feast for all the people of the world. It will be a delicious banquet with clear, well-aged wine and choice meat” (Isaiah 25:6).  When John the Revelator sees heaven, he hears a choir so large it sounds like thunder sing, “Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him.   For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself” (Revelation 19:7).
    God is the great Host.  God has prepared a space for us in his world.  In fact, he has prepared our entire world as a guesthouse for us to live in.  God provides food and company and friendship for us.  With the coming of spring, I’m always amazed at how careful God was to add beauty to our world. 
    But relationship with God is more than living in this created world.  Relationship with God is enjoying the Father’s hospitality on a more personal level.  God has planned a great feast of love and friendship, with God loving people, people loving God, and people loving people.  God invites us into his great wedding celebration to share in his joy and love.  Amazingly, in this great feast, the King himself gets up and serves us.  Listen to how John describes this in our gospel lesson.

John 21:1-17
 1 Later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples beside the Sea of Galilee. This is how it happened. 2 Several of the disciples were there—Simon Peter, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples.
 3 Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.”
   “We’ll come, too,” they all said. So they went out in the boat, but they caught nothing all night.
 4 At dawn Jesus was standing on the beach, but the disciples couldn’t see who he was. 5 He called out, “Fellows, have you caught any fish?”
   “No,” they replied.
 6 Then he said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat, and you’ll get some!” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it.
 7 Then the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. 8 The others stayed with the boat and pulled the loaded net to the shore, for they were only about a hundred yards from shore. 9 When they got there, they found breakfast waiting for them—fish cooking over a charcoal fire, and some bread.
 10 “Bring some of the fish you’ve just caught,” Jesus said. 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and dragged the net to the shore. There were 153 large fish, and yet the net hadn’t torn.
 12 “Now come and have some breakfast!” Jesus said. None of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Then Jesus served them the bread and the fish. 14 This was the third time Jesus had appeared to his disciples since he had been raised from the dead.
 15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”
   “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.”
   “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.
 16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
   “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.”
   “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.
 17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”
   Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”
   Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.

    This is a beautiful and mysterious text, and we could talk about it all day.  I just want to point out two things. 
    First, Jesus made breakfast for his disciples, and they knew who he was.  Maybe he cooked for them a lot.  Maybe they recognized the special smell from the spices he used.  Jesus cooked for them, and then Jesus served them the bread and the fish.  Remember, Jesus is our perfect picture of God.  When we see Jesus, we see God.  Here we see the resurrected Christ cooking and passing out food.  God loves hospitality.
    Second, Jesus calls us to follow his example.  Three times, Jesus asks Peter, “Do you love me?”  Three times, Peter says yes.  Three times, Jesus says, “Then feed my sheep.”  The point for us is simple.  If you love Jesus, live like Jesus.  If you love Jesus, live God’s hospitality.  Feed others.  Care for others.  Make space for others in your life.  If you love Jesus, practice hospitality.

    In Christianity, there are two fundamental arenas for hospitality - the church and the home.  These aren’t completely separate. 
    The Royal Family planned a huge wedding, a large reception, and a massive after-party.  However, there were tens of thousands of satellite parties happening in ball rooms, pubs, clubs, and homes all around the U.K. and around the world.  You could go on the net and download party plans and recipes for the food at the royal wedding.  They were celebrating the same thing in many of the same ways, just in smaller venues. 
    The church - and especially the Sunday worship service - is like a big weekly wedding party.  We are all coming together, working together, celebrating together that God is in love with us all, that Christ has died for us all, and that the Spirit is working to redeem us all.  To do this party right, we need help from everyone.  Just like the royal wedding, we need artists, musicians, accountants, graphic designers, builders, florists, planners, cooks, writers, photographers, advisors, greeters, priests, theologians, and lots and lots of people to move things and arrange things.  Listen to how Paul describes this huge party we call Church.

1 Corinthians 12:12-31
 12 The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. 13 Some of us are Jews, some are Gentiles, some are slaves, and some are free. But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.
 14 Yes, the body has many different parts, not just one part. 15 If the foot says, “I am not a part of the body because I am not a hand,” that does not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear says, “I am not part of the body because I am not an eye,” would that make it any less a part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, how would you hear? Or if your whole body were an ear, how would you smell anything?
 18 But our bodies have many parts, and God has put each part just where he wants it. 19 How strange a body would be if it had only one part! 20 Yes, there are many parts, but only one body. 21 The eye can never say to the hand, “I don’t need you.” The head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.”
 22 In fact, some parts of the body that seem weakest and least important are actually the most necessary. 23 And the parts we regard as less honorable are those we clothe with the greatest care. So we carefully protect those parts that should not be seen, 24 while the more honorable parts do not require this special care. So God has put the body together such that extra honor and care are given to those parts that have less dignity. 25 This makes for harmony among the members, so that all the members care for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it, and if one part is honored, all the parts are glad.
 27 All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. 28 Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
   first are apostles,
   second are prophets,
   third are teachers,
   then those who do miracles,
   those who have the gift of healing,
   those who can help others,
   those who have the gift of leadership,
   those who speak in unknown languages.
 29 Are we all apostles? Are we all prophets? Are we all teachers? Do we all have the power to do miracles? 30 Do we all have the gift of healing? Do we all have the ability to speak in unknown languages? Do we all have the ability to interpret unknown languages? Of course not! 31 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
   But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.

    We need you.  You have a role in this party.  You have a gift to bring to share with all of us.  You can come and watch and eat and sing and go home - with your gift still in your pocket.  But if you do, the party will be a little less because you didn’t share.  And WE all will be a little less because you didn’t share.  And YOU will be a little less because you didn’t share. 
    Last week, I had an appointment to talk with one of our new church members about helping me in a special way.  When I finished explaining what I wanted him to do, he asked why I wanted him to do it.  I explained that he has a unique perspective to share.  Because of his place, position, perspective, and personality, he has wisdom and insight that others don’t have.  We need his voice.  Then his face lit up with a big smile.  He said, “I’m so pleased that you asked me.  Now, I know that I have a place in this church.”
    You all have a place in this church.  But there are more than 100 of you.  I can’t go to all of you one by one to help you find just the right place.  I’m working on it, but that will take too long.  We need you to take the initiative.  Step up.  Find a place of service.  Find your place in the party.  If you do, you will make us a better church, and you’ll find joy in the process.
    Our Sunday worship is a huge Jesus party - celebrating his amazing love and power to change our lives.  But there are smaller satellite parties happening all the time.  Any place where we gather with other Christians is a satellite celebration of the big Church party.  We’re celebrating the same thing.  We’re living the same party.  Jesus said, “Where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20).  When you are at home, when you take people out to lunch or out to coffee, you are planning a little satellite party of the Church.
    These satellite parties have amazing power.  Listen to how Luke describes the satellite parties of the first Christians.

Acts 2:42-27
 42 All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
 43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity —47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
    Hospitality changed the world.  Jesus laid down his life for them.  Then, he cooked fish for them.  Then, he sent them to share his life with the world.  They met together for the big party meeting in one place for the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the Lord’s Supper, and prayer.  Then, they did satellite parties - meeting in homes and sharing meals with great joy and generosity.  They laid down their lives for each other, and they cooked for each other.  And people loved it.  “Each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.”
    Hospitality is contagious.  When we start loving and sharing and celebrating with great joy and generosity, that changes people.  They want in on the action.  They want in on the love.  People around the world are hungry - but not just for food.  We are hungry for community and generosity, for love and joy.  People around the world are hungry for the Party of God, for the hospitality of God. 
    Ed Rowel is pastor of a church in Colorado, and their has a long-term partnership   with a church in Ethiopia (similar to our partnership with Bangladesh).  Rowel says his American church is learning a lot from their Ethiopian brothers and sisters.  "For them, poverty is primarily about a lack of relationships ...  If they have a little bit of food and a lot of love, they will always have enough to share.  But if you don't have loving community and deep friendships, you are poor indeed.  As busy, disconnected [people], we tend to be resource-rich but relationship-poor... They're teaching us a simple but profound lesson: we desperately need community to grow in Christ.  As a matter of fact, I now think that community may be the biggest missing ingredient in the ... church” in developed-nations.1
    He’s right.  We are “resource-rich but relationship-poor.”  But we don’t have to stay that way.  God is inviting us to the biggest, most powerful party that ever lived.  We can participate in the amazing Church of Jesus Christ.  We can each bring our own gifts - whether it’s flowers, or music, or counting money, or playing with kids, or running PowerPoint, or welcoming new people.  When we all celebrate, and when we all share our gifts, this party blossoms into a world-changing event.
    Then, we can go home from the Big Party to our satellite parties - sharing the same love and grace that we experience here.  We can be little world-changers, simply by sharing some fish or kimchi or coffee. 
    When we become relationship-rich, we really can change the world.  It starts by accepting God’s love, forgiveness, and new life through Jesus.  Then, it moves outward by living God’s party way of life with love, forgiveness, and generosity.  This is the gospel.  This is why Jesus came.  This is why the Church exists.  This is why we exist on this earth.  We are God’s people called to be a loving community that changes our world.

The Great Exchange - 1 Peter 4:1-14

    This week I’m going to do something I don’t usually do.  We’re going to walk through this passage slowly verse by verse.  It really builds on itself, so we’re just going to talk about it bit by bit.  Here’s verse 1:
So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin.
    Back to suffering again.  I’ve never preached so much on suffering in all my life, but this was an important topic for Peter and his people.  Peter uses a really interesting word here.  “Arm yourselves.”  This is a battle.  Life is a battle.  The Christian life is a participating in a great, global warfare.  “Arm yourselves.”  Prepare yourselves for the battle.  Don’t go into battle without a weapon. 
    But what is this weapon that is so important?  “Arm yourselves with the same attitude that [Jesus] had.”  Our weapon in this battle of life is the attitude of Christ.  Remember this is the same Christ who “suffered for our sins once for all time.  He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring [us] safely home to God” (1 Peter 3:18).  This is a battle, and get ready to fight, but here is your weapon: innocent, suffering, love. 
    And once you suffer with Christ, that changes things.  It seem that the more we suffer for Christ, the stronger we grow at resisting sin. 

Then: 2 You won’t spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.
    There are some really important phrases here.  First, “the rest of your life.”  Most of us have a total of 60, 70, 80 years to live.  What are you going to do with the rest of your life?
    The second important phrase here is: “chasing your own desires.”  I love that phrase.  It really catches something important about life - we usually can’t “catch” our desires.  We just go on chasing them but never catching them. 
    A few years ago we went to COEX with the Willey family.  There was this machine that shined a spot of light on the floor.  It would move around in a random pattern.  If you tried to step on it, it would sense your foot coming and move away just before you got there.  I think Ian would have played there for an hour if we would have let him.  He was always chasing the light but never catching it. 
    So much of our life is like that.  Most of what we think we want is only a poor reflection of our true desires.  Most of us don’t even know what we really want.  I’m thinking of Paul’s words in Romans 12:2, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.  Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”   We can chase our own desires and never catch them, or we can surrender to God’s will for us, which is better and more satisfying anyway.

    Next Peter starts to get personal.  3 You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.
    In the Roman world in the 1st century, there were lots of business groups or trade unions - called “guilds.”  There might be the silversmiths guild, the carpenters guild, the import/export guild, etc.  And all the people in these guilds would get together from time to time for these huge feasts, where there would be lots of alcohol and lots of women.  Usually, the feast was kind of a religious celebration asking the gods to bless their business efforts.  The feasts formed the bonds of friendship between the members, and everyone in the guild was expected to participate if they wanted to stay in the guild. 
    This was a natural problem for Christians.  They wanted to keep working as silversmiths or brick layers or whatever, but they didn’t want to get drunk and fool around with prostitutes.  So, they either left the parties early or skipped altogether.  Naturally, this didn’t go over so well.
    Peter says:   4 Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you.
    You can imagine the comments they got: “What - are you too good for us?  You prude!  Don’t you care about us?  Don’t you care about the business?  You’re so selfish.  You’re too uptight.”
    This all sounds uncomfortably familiar.  I’ve heard lots of Korean business men complain about work parties (회식).  Everyone in the office goes out for dinner and drinks.  The dinner is no problem, but the drinks just keep coming and coming and coming.  If you try to say no, people think you don’t like them or say that you’re being unsocial.  If you leave early or skip the party, people think you don’t care about the team.  On the other hand, if you keep drinking with them, you’re likely to ruin your health. 
    A few years ago, I went out to a “business bar” with some Korean business men.  They invited a cute young waitresses in a short skirt to sit at our table in our private room.  After she had been sitting next to me for a little while, and I still hadn’t snuggled up to her, one of the guys said, “Are you a man or what?!”  I said - somewhat awkwardly, “Yes, I’m a married man.”  
    Making good choices is not always popular.  What will your friends say if you decide you can’t, in good conscience, watch the movie they want to see?  What will they say when you have a coke at the pub or stop after one beer?  What will people say when you go home alone again?  One of my friends said she has decided to go home at midnight because that’s when all the crazy stuff starts.  “Nothing good happens after midnight,” she says.  Peter’s answer is simple: “I’ve had enough.  I’ve had enough of that way of life.”
    And Peter has a simple solution when we are experiencing this kind of negative peer pressure: 5 But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead.
    In the end, they’ll have to face God with how they spent their life, and so will we.  People might disapprove and call us names, but God is our judge not people. 
    Peter continues with the same point: 6 That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit. 7 The end of the world is coming soon.
    This is another one of those passages that we could debate for the next five hours, but I don’t want to get into what “the end of the world” means.  End times theology an important topic, but not so much for this text. 
    The important part for this text is that our end is coming soon.  We are going to die, and it will probably be sooner than we expect.  We all say, “Time flies.”  How many of you said, “Is it 2011 already? ... Is it April already?  ... Am I 30 already?  Am I really 40? 50? 60?”  It’s like in the old Fiddler on the Roof song, when the adults are talking about their kids who are about to get married:
Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older
When did they?
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday
When they were small?
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze
Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears
    Someday, you will wake up and say, “Where did the time go?  What happened to my kids?  What happened to my life?  It all went so fast.” 
    Or even worse, someday you might not wake up.  I heard last week about a pastor who was 50 years old, who had a heart attack and died.  Many of us have loved ones who died suddenly, unexpectedly, too soon. 
    Peter’s message here is simple.  The end is coming soon.  Don’t waste your life.  Stay away from stuff that destroys your life, and cling to the stuff that gives meaning and significance to your life.  Don’t just avoid evil, but, because the end is coming, Peter says we should actively do four good things.
 7 The end of the world is coming soon.  Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
    The first good thing is to PRAY.  If you translate this literally it’s “Therefore, be sane and sober in your prayers.”  I like that.  Be sane.  Don’t go crazy with all the stuff this world goes crazy about.  Keep your head on straight.  Stay sober. 
    Now if we think about this specifically with prayer, sanity and sobriety can tell us something important about prayer.  One of the mottos of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-step groups is, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” 
    We often pray like this.  We just keep praying in the same old boring ways, and we keep on getting the same old boring results.  We say to ourselves, “This time, I’m really going to pray every day for 30 minutes.”  And that works, for a few days.  Then, one day we sleep in.  Then, the next day, we have an early appointment.  Before the week is over, we’re back to the same-old-same-old.  We think it’s because we aren’t trying hard enough or aren’t disciplined enough.  “It works for other people, so why doesn’t it work for me?”  Maybe you need to try something new. 
    24-7 Prayer is a great way to try some new kinds of prayer.  If you sign up for an hour, you’ll be all alone for an hour.  You can sing.  You can dance.  You can draw, paint, sculpt, color, write, shout, cry, play a drum, read other people’s prayers, or just sit in silence in the presence of God.  Be sane.  Don’t expect your prayer life to be different if you don’t do something different.  Sign up for an hour of prayer and see what happens.

8 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
    Because the end is coming soon, LOVE - that’s the second good thing.  Peter says, this is “most important of all ... for love covers a multitude of sins.”  This is actually a paraphrase of an old proverb: “Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses” (Proverbs 10:12).  Haven’t you seen that?  In your work, when there’s a negative atmosphere, everyone finds something to complain about.  Or, when you don’t really like someone, you’re quick to point out their faults. 
    On the other hand, John Wesley says that when we love each other, we turn our eye away from the other person’s faults, and as far as possible, we try to hide them from others.1  He’s not talking about a systematic cover-up.  He means that love pushes us to see others in the best light possible, and we don’t point out their faults to others. 
    I’ve been challenged by this verse this week.  I’ve been thinking about it like this: if people are going around pointing out my faults, maybe I haven’t spent enough time loving others.  Maybe there isn’t enough of my love out there to cover my faults.   And if I’m thinking mostly about people’s faults, maybe I need some more love.  Sure, I need to work on my faults, but maybe even more, I need to work on my love.
    Peter says, “continue to show a deep, intense, unfailing love for each other.”  This kind of love takes time.  You can’t get deep, intense love for each other by just coming on Sunday morning, so Peter’s next point really makes sense.

9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.
    HOSPITALITY is the third good thing we do because the end is near.  Hospitality is the fundamental strategy for deep and intense love.  If you want to love deeply, you’ve got to spend time together.  This week I was talking with someone who recently joined a Bible study, and she said with surprise: “And I like it.  I didn’t think I would like it.  These are people I wouldn’t normally hang out with, but I really like them.” 
    Love takes time, and hospitality is the breeding ground for love.  Hospitality is the greenhouse for love.  Spend time together.  Eat together.  Play together.  Talk together.  Pray together.  Then, you will form the bonds of love that will hold us together and transform our lives.  Time is running out, so open your homes and hearts to each other.

10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. 11 If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides...
    Because the end is coming soon, SERVE.  Don’t waste your life on yourself.  God has created you to do good.  Your purpose on earth is to do good.  What kind of gifts has God given you?  Do you have a way with words?  Then, speak, write, talk, blog.  Do you love kids?  Then, play with ours.  Do you sing or clean or paint or cook or manage money?  Then “use whatever gift you have received to serve others.”  Get involved.  My mom would say, “Don’t just sit there like a bump on a pickle.”  Do something.  If you’ve been coming here for a few months, it’s time to find a job in the church.  It doesn’t have to be much.  It doesn’t have to kill you.  It doesn’t have to drain you. 
    One of the amazing things about helping others is that it often gives us energy instead of taking it away.  If you exercise, you can kind of understand how this works.  Your alarm goes off, and you think, “Oh, man, not today.  I don’t want to do anything today.  I just want to sleep.”  But if you go out there and walk or run or play soccer, you go home feeling refreshed and much more energized.  The point is to find a job that fits you and then do it “with the strength God provides.”
    So let me review.  So far Peter has said, “Don’t waste your life on stuff that tears you down.  The end is coming soon - before you know it - so live well.  Pray.  Love. Practice hospitality.  Serve others.” 
    Now, Peter tells us what will happen if we live like this. 
... so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen. 12 Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.
    If we avoid evil and live well, then when people look at us, they will praise God.  If we Christians live well, people will see us and say, “Wow, if they are like that, God must really be good.”  If we live well, God will get all the glory.  And God should get all the glory because - remember - we are doing all of this “with the strength God provides.” 
    As much as we want to live well, we can’t - not on our own.  We can only live well as we live in the heart of the gospel.  Before the creation of the world, God loved us.  We turned away from God’s love, going our own way.  But God brought us home through Jesus.  When Jesus died, we died - to ourselves and to sin.  When Jesus was raised, he brought us up out of the pit with him.  Now, if we put our trust in Jesus, we can live a free life.  Jesus can put his Spirit in us and give life to our dry bones and our dead places (Ezekiel 37).  If we put our trust in Jesus, we can live well.  If we put our trust in Jesus - even if that means suffering, then in the end, we will be able to say, “Yes, I lived well.  I prayed.  I loved.  I opened my heart and my home.  I served.”
    And there’s one more amazing, mysterious thing about God’s way.  If we give up finding glory for ourselves, if we admit that we can’t do it in our own power, if we always live in a way to build others up and to give God glory, then we will experience this amazing, mysterious blessing: “the Spirit and glory of God” will rest on us.  Even as we try to reflect all the glory back up to God, and even as we try to live our lives to help others, God’s glory and God’s Spirit will settle in on our lives, and we will become people rich with God’s presence. 
    This is the great exchange.  Give God everything you have - which isn’t very much - and God will give you everything God has - which is a whole lot.  Give God your sinfulness, and God gives you God’s holiness.  Give God your little self, and God will give you God’s great big amazing Presence.  Give God whatever glory there is in our lives, and God gives makes his Great Glory settle in us and around us.  This is the great exchange.
    Life is short.  Time is running out.  What do you choose?