Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia … - 1 Peter 1:1

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 12, 2015): 1 Peter 1

Israel seems to have been a people who have almost always seemed to live in exile. Even today, more Jews live away from Israel than actually reside in the Holy Land. But this is not just a recent aberration. It seems to have been a practice from the very beginning. Abraham comes to Canaan from Ur and God promises to him everything that he can see. Abraham’s almost inexplicable response is to thank God for the gift – and then leave for Egypt. He returns and lives in Canaan with his son Isaac and his grandson Jacob return, in fact, Abraham dies in Canaan but, during the great famine recorded at the end of Genesis, Jacob and the nation of Israel leave for Egypt once again. It would be in Egypt that the next two patriarchs of Judaism, Isaac and Jacob, would die. And it is there that the nation appears to have overstayed their welcome. Israel moves from being honored guests to being slaves – and still living in exile. Finally they take possession of Canaan, but they won’t stay there for long. Late in the eighth century, the Northern Kingdom disappears into exile once and for all. And then in the early days of the sixth century the same fate awaits the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Judah would return – at least partially. But by the first century C.E., Jews were scattered all over the Roman Empire. And the term used to describe these exiled people was “the diaspora” – the scattered or dispersed.

Maybe one of the most significant features of First Peter is the unusual opening to the letter. Peter addresses himself as the Apostle of Jesus Christ, something that was never in doubt, but then he addresses the Christian population around the Roman Empire as “God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces” – literally to “God’s elect, the diaspora.” Up until this time, the words would have only been used to describe Israel, but now Peter applies them to the Christian populations in the empire, both Jew and Gentile.

The irony of the phrase is that some of those addressed would not have been exiles. They were people who were living in their traditional homelands. But Peter would seem to be pointing at an ancient truth, we are all on a journey through a strange land, just trying to find our way home. And some day we will return home. On that day the new heaven and new earth will come down – and we will go to live with Jesus Christ, of whom Peter was an apostle, and finally we will find ourselves at home with him. At long last, the exile of Peter’s diaspora will have ended.    

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2