Book: 1 & 2 Peter

Psalm 16 began as a farmer’s prayer about good land and steady faith — and became something bigger without leaving the earth behind.

Though we are to strive for righteousness and justice now, what we achieve now is a mere shadow of what will be fulfilled in the day of the Lord.

Stunning moments of spiritual clarity can be life-changing, but the real measure of our faithfulness is in how we live for the rest of the time.

God will walk with us in suffering and work redemptively within it, but God is not powerful enough to just remove it.

In a world dominated by arrogant and exploitative leaders, Jesus models a gentle shepherding leadership that prioritises the reintegration of the broken over the drive for “success” and “efficiency”.

As Woody Allen said, 90% of success is just showing up, and in the resurrection, Jesus really shows up!

For both God and us, time can drag when waiting for change, but patience is salvation when forgiveness is offered as a means of change rather than as a reward for change.

Allowing ourselves to be shaped by the teaching and testimony passed down from the Apostles protects us from falling for the idea that the gospel is a marketable means of gratifying our wishes.

Following Jesus has nothing to do with trying to be good. His love and hope are gifts, rather than demands, and they free us to love and hope freely.

Meeting us on the road of despair, Jesus reveals to us that suffering and defeat are God’s means of bringing new life and hope.

Advent is preparing us for the coming of the Lord, that already and not-yet event for which people have lived and worked and prayed for millennia.

We are a ragtag bunch, but in witnessing to God’s mercy and love, we become the people of God together.