Stirring Required

I watched the server fill my friend’s glass, first from one pitcher, and then from another. As usual, he had ordered “half-and-half” iced tea—half sweet, and half un-sweet. After the server left, my friend took his straw and stirred the mixture vigorously. Why? He didn’t want all that syrupy sweet tea settled on the bottom, leaving him with a mouthful of bitter, unsweet tea. He wanted the sugar to flavor every sip in just the right proportion. That meant that occasional stirring would be required.

That’s getting close to the image that Peter has in mind as he summarizes this final letter of his. He does not claim to be teaching this church a lot of exciting material they have never heard before. That’s because new information is not what they need from him right now. What they need most, as he has already told us in 1:12–15, is to be reminded. They need to hear again the same old truths they’ve heard from him before. Specifically, they need reminding of what the Old Testament prophets said about God’s plan for his world, and Jesus’ commands about living holy in light of his return.

They know these truths already, and so, likely, do you. But the biblical truth that is freshly poured into your mind when you walk out of church on Sunday morning…doesn’t take long to “settle” to some out-of-the-way corner of your heart. By Monday or Tuesday (or Sunday afternoon?), that sweet truth is no longer “flavoring” how you think, what you love, and how you act. What’s the solution? You need regular re-stirring. You need regular reminders of gospel truth in your life.

Think about Peter himself. He received a vivid preview of Jesus’ power and coming at the Transfiguration. He saw more clearly than anyone ever the divine glory of Jesus as God’s Son. Yet on the night of Jesus’ arrest, this experience had faded from Peter’s memory. In that moment of danger when Peter was confronted about his association with Jesus, it seemed more important to fit in and to protect himself. That sense of Jesus’ superior glory and power had “settled” somewhere in the dark recesses of his heart and mind, so that it had no practical effect on his life. He needed stirring up.

Our own spiritual forgetfulness is problem enough, but we also encounter “scoffers” who cast doubt on the truth. A scoffer dismisses what God says because he is sure that he has life all figured out for himself. Scoffers are confident. They seem smart and sophisticated. They make you feel backward and childish for believing God’s word. The scoffers in 2 Peter 3 specifically smirk at the idea that Jesus will return to judge the world and call each of us to account. They call it “a cleverly devised myth (1:16).” “Jesus is returning? Peter’s been saying that for years. Well, where is he?”

Peter will answer these scoffs in 3:5, but he first points out that scoffers always have an agenda. It’s not that Jesus’ return and judgment is unbelievable. It’s inconvenient! They want to follow their own selfish, sinful desires without accountability (3:3). Jesus’ return interferes with that! So instead of fitting their lifestyle to God’s Word, they make a belief system to fit their lifestyle. They promise freedom, but are slaves to corruption (2:17). And if you’re not regularly stirred by the truth about eternity, you’ll follow them.

So are you taking seriously your need for reminders? Are you being stirred up by truth?

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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church