Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. – 1 Peter 1:13

Today's Scripture Reading (June 8, 2024):  1 Peter 1

Several years ago, I saw a stage production of the play "Fire." The play is loosely based on the real-life story of two famous cousins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Jimmy Swaggert. In the play, the characters based on Lewis and Swaggert are brothers. The play contains a scene where the two brothers come together one last time. Cale (based on Jerry Lee Lewis) kneels in front of his brother and asks for forgiveness for all of his sins. Herschel (based on Jimmy Swaggert) refuses; Cale's sins are too many.

As I watched the drama between Cale and Herschel, the story that my thoughts kept returning to was the vision of Zechariah. Zechariah sees Joshua, the high priest, standing before God, and Satan is standing beside him. The name Satan means the accuser. On this day, Satan lives up to his name. Satan's job was to accuse Joshua. Satan proceeds to tell God all the wrong that Joshua had done. As a result of Satan's accusations, Joshua stood condemned in God's presence.

Here is the reality. I know that I will also stand condemned in God's presence. The image presented by Zechariah will be repeated; only Joshua's name will be changed to mine. Satan will do his job and make his accusations against me. We call Satan a liar, but on this day, all he will have to do is tell the truth. We know of what we are guilty.

God responds to Satan, "Yes, Satan, I get that he has done wrong. But I have snatched him from the fire. I know he doesn't look like much; his clothes are torn and dirty, but I know I have removed him from the disaster waiting for him. I have saved him from all of the things that he has done.

God has snatched you out of the fire. Satan speaks words that sound like the truth but are only part of the story. Before Peter tells us to be holy, he also tells us to set our hope on the grace given to us when Jesus Christ is revealed. On that day, as we stand before God, he will instruct us to strip off our clothes and put on new clothes. We hope that all of the stuff of which we are guilty will be taken away by the grace that Jesus brings with him, and, as a result, we will be made into a new creation.

Our prayer is that God would do that today. I need you to face reality. What sent Jesus to the cross was not a political or religious agenda. One single and persistent idea sent Jesus to the cross: that we could be godly. We are created to make an impact on this world. That impact will only become a reality if God's grace makes us new. We need to be holy, but we know that we can't be holy unless God makes new creations out of us.

God, we need you to dress your church in clothes that we aren't fit to wear except that we stand in the grace of Jesus. The only thing that we have left is to ask God to make us new. It is something we can't do. So, God, make us new today and help us pray the same prayer tomorrow, the next day, month, and year.

We will blow it, but we are covered with God's grace; our prayer is that God will continually make us new. This isn't about worship style but about the heart and how he shapes us. We've tried to do the best we can in our power and failed.

And so, our prayer remains: God, make us new.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2