JUNE42024

Waiting for God is a common theme in the Bible. “We await a new heaven and a new earth.” The second epistle of Peter, written maybe in the year 100AD adds a new dimension to that theme: Wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God. By the time this epistle was written the initial expectation of the Church that Jesus was going to return soon had been disappointed. The waiting on the Lord was going to be long term. Given this situation the author of 2 Peter adds to the theme of waiting something new: we not only wait for we also must “hasten” the day of God. How to do that? The story of Jesus and the coin of tribute provides a clue. Apparently the Pharisees and Herodians imagined that the day of God would mean that the laws, the customs, the practices of society would align with the values that they desired. Jesus challenges them to think differently. We don’t need to get rid of Caesar to live a Godly life — we can live the day of God today. Every time we are kind, forgiving, generous, merciful, compassionate, loving we make the day of God just a little bit closer.