Tuesday, October 11, 2022

 

Tuesday, October 11, 2022


Psalms 95; 96

Zechariah 6

1 Peter 1:10-17


...discipline yourselves…


When considering which translation of the Bible to read, it is good to have an open mind. In the authorised translation of 1 Peter 1:13 this morning, something is lost from Saint Peter’s original words in the Greek. “Gird up the loins of your mind” is the phrase that the Holy Spirit inspired him to write, translated here as “prepare your minds for action”. To gird one’s loins is to prepare oneself for action, but we love imagery, so let’s imagine what it looked like for Peter’s loins to be girded.


He (like most common working men of his time) would have worn a tunic, of which the relevant section to us is the part from the waist to the knees. It would have hung like a skirt. Girding himself, Peter would have taken all the fabric that hangs below the waist, tucked it between his knees, drawn it behind himself, and then brought it back forward again this time around the waist like a belt, tying it in a knot in the front. Visually, it would look like a giant nappy. Silly to our eyes, yes, but the entire length of each leg is now free to jump, run, and swim, and our smiles would soon disappear as he placed a rock in his sling and begun to charge it around his head, looking for a suitable target.


Peter has addressed us, the recipients of this letter, as “the exiles”. Like him, we are reading the Old Testament, and are familiar with this reference to the ancient Jews under Babylonian rule. He is using it figuratively to describe the position we find ourselves in as Christians living in a pagan world. As one of the original Twelve, he is fully aware of how real Christianity is, and how real the negative response can get. But he seems to think the struggle is worth it, and since he is one of the eyewitnesses to Jesus’ miracles, I am inclined to trust him on this.


In this letter, he will give us many reasons to hold firm to the truth. Today’s portion gives three of them: firstly, that the entirety of Old Testament prophecy was given so as to point people to Jesus. On top of this, all this prophecy was made not for the benefit of the people at the time the prophecy was given, but for us. Just to put the mocha on it, not even the angels in heaven knew the whole story about Jesus until it happened! Peter has built his case up to a monumentally humbling and yet encouraging fact: that we, the humans who love Jesus and are born after Jesus’ resurrection, have been given blessings, grace and revelation greater than any generation before us. God has given us more tools to work with than He has given anyone who has come before. Hitch up the skirt of your mind, Christian: we have a kingdom to build.





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