Like A Thief

It happened over twenty years ago now, but I still remember my frustration at finding that someone had stolen the cd player out of my car. If you have ever been victimized by a thief, it might surprise you that Jesus applies this image to himself: he will come again “like a thief (Matt 24:43; Rev 16:15).” Jesus was emphasizing how unexpected. and disruptive, his coming would be—particularly for those who rejected his kingship. Other New Testament writers pick up on this image, as Peter does here (3:10; see also 1 Thes 5:2). Like Jesus, Peter wants us to live in readiness for Christ’s return.

This message is particularly needed in this church, where scoffers are denying the Lord’s return altogether. Denying that Christ will appear to judge allows the scoffers to pursue their own sinful passions without accountability. They bolster their case by highlighting how this world does not ever seem to change: “For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation (3:4).” But that’s the point, Peter replies—remembering what Jesus taught him—a thief does not announce his arrival ahead of time. He shows up when you aren’t expecting him.

When he does, this world we have always known will come to a catastrophic end. “The heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved (3:10).” In that moment, all will be exposed before the Lord. This includes the ungodly lives of those scoffers, who will each give an account to Jesus Christ, the world’s rightful king and judge. If we want to be ready for that moment, we need to consider how we are investing our lives.

Like Peter’s first readers, we are pulled to invest ourselves completely in this present world. We tend to live only for what we can see, pouring all of our energy into the here and now. We focus exclusively on increasing our wealth and possessions. obsessing over physical appearance, and impressing others with our achievements. Yet we spend so little time on “the kind of people we are” before the Lord, and will be in eternity.

This is why Peter stresses the temporary nature of the present world. It has been “stored for fire (3:7);” it will “pass away with a roar (3:10),” and “all these things are thus to be dissolved (3:11).” When we compare these verses with others in the Bible, it seems that final fire will serve to purify and renew the present world rather than destroy it (more on this tomorrow). But in any case, life in this world as we have always known will cease. Jesus’ faithful people will step into something marvelously new (3:13). This does not mean we should not value or enjoy life in this present world. But how foolish it would be to make the passions, possessions, positions, and praise of the present age the ultimate object of our lives.

What will last beyond the Lord’s appearing? The kind of people that we are before God. The "lives of holiness and godliness” we have pursued in Jesus’ name (3:11). That growth in grace that Peter has talked so much about since the letter’s beginning (1:3–4). The people in whose lives we have invested brotherly affection and love (1:7).

So how are you investing your life? Are you pouring your time, talents, and treasure into something that will be burned up and dissolve? Or in the things that will last? Would the people who watch you from day to day say that you live with an eternal perspective? If the Lord returned today to expose the foundations of our lives, would you be ready? Or would his arrival be as unwelcome as a thief’s?

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Article by Eric Smith
Senior Pastor, Sharon Baptist Church