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As part of his sermon this past Sunday, our pastor made reference to Joseph, the one who was the favorite son of Jacob, who had the coat of many colors and was none to popular with his brothers. They resented him so much they sold him into slavery and told their father he was dead.

Joseph prospered as a slave of Potiphar. But his master’s wife tried to seduce him. When Joseph did not give in to her wishes, she told her husband that Joseph assaulted her, and he was put in prison. Talk about bad breaks and unjust treatment!  But throughout it all, God was with Joseph. He prospered in prison, interpreted Pharoah’s dreams about the upcoming famine, and became a ruler in Egypt.

His brothers eventually came to Egypt to buy grain, and after a bit of drama Joseph revealed himself to them. They were frightened, but he cared for them, moving the entire family down to the land of Goshen where he could provide for them.

After Jacob died, the brothers feared Joseph would now exact his revenge on them. This is how Joseph responded.

Genesis 50:20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

 I was reminded that the same thing happened to Jesus. He was unjustly punished for crimes he did not commit. The Jews meant the crucifixion for evil, a way to get rid of one they thought was a blasphemer. But God meant the crucifixion for good, and by it would save everyone who puts their faith in Jesus as Savior.

Thanks be to God. He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

When our youngest daughter, Leah, senior in High School, she wanted to drive her mother’s 1973 VW Super Beetle to school. We taught her how to drive a standard/stick shift and gave her our blessing. One of the first days of school, she kept killing it on the way – she was new to driving a stick – and was tardy. She was warned the next time she would get detention.

A few months later, I was already in my office at church and Cheryl had gone to her teaching job when I got a frantic call from Leah. Her car wouldn’t start. I told her I would come home to get her and take her to school. On the way, she told me she had a test to take during first period and was very concerned she would miss it. We arrived at the school about five minutes late, so I went in with her to explain what had happened. She was immediately told to report to the detention waiting room with a room full ne’er-do-wells. We were told the school police officer would be there soon to escort them all to detention. I told the lady my daughter would not be going to that toom and that I wanted to speak to the person in charge.

Let me explain that Leah was a straight – A student and had never been in any kind of trouble at school. I was told it would be a while before I could speak to someone. I told her I left work to get Leah here on time so she could take a test this period. The lady told me she would do her best.

About 15 minutest later, the principal showed up. The police officer had already escorted the others to detention. I calmly explained the situation to the principal, but he was unmoved. He said there was a “Zero Tolerance” policy in place. I asked what would have happened if I had called the school and told them Leah was sick and would not be there today. He said there would have been no consequences. So I said, “You mean the fact that I went out of my way to get a straight – A student, who has never been in trouble, here to take a test results in her getting punished, but a lie would have had no consequences? Doesn’t that seem unfair?”  He repeated that they had a zero tolerance policy in place and he wasn’t smart enough to know who was lying and who was telling the truth. I agreed with him, that he wasn’t smart enough. I told him I would take my daughter home before I let her go to detention. At that point, the principal relented. He let Leah take her test in the office and she was then able to attend the rest of her classes with no consequences.

Zero Tolerance policies sound like a good idea, but on this side of heaven you need to apply a bit of what should be “common sense” as well.

God has a zero tolerance policy for sin:

Romans 6:23a  For the wages of sin is death

That is what our sins deserve. If you try to stand before God on your own merit, you will be carted off with all the other ne’er do wells to the place prepared for sinners, separated from God for eternity. No amount of arguing or protests will keep you from getting what you deserve.

However, when you put your faith in Jesus and what He did by coming to the earth to live and suffer and die and rise again for you, you have a way out of the punishment you deserve.

Romans 6:23b but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 Don’t misunderstand this. God is not saying your sin doesn’t matter. It does. And you deserve to be punished. What He tells you is that Jesus took your punishment so that you would not have to pay the penalty yourself.

One of the things that I have learned is that it is much easier to meet a person on their terms than to try to make them meet you on yours. Often times the willingness to give in to the other person’s wishes, to meet them on “their turf,” makes it possible for you to have conversations that would otherwise never take place.

I thought of that recently when reading through Matthew 18:

Matthew 18:15–18  “If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector. “I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”

When I was serving as pastor, if I heard that someone was upset with me, I would go to that person as soon as possible. Many times I did not want to go, but I did it anyway. And most of the time the fact that I took the initiative to go see that person made it possible for us to be reconciled.

I could have taken the attitude, “If they are upset with me, they should come and talk to me. They should meet me in my office. I don’t have the problem, they do!”  How do you think that would have worked out?

Where would we all be if God had not come down here and met us on our turf?  He didn’t compromise His principles, He didn’t join us in sinning. He came down here and lived the life we should have lived, doing so for our sake. He then offered that life of innocence and perfection as the payment for all of our sin. In His humanity, Jesus didn’t want to do it. But He did it anyway because it needed to be done.

Luke 22:42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”

Lord, guide me to take the initiative to make peace with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Amen.

1 Peter 5:12-14 With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Today I conclude this series of devotions on 1 Peter that I started about three weeks ago. Often times the words at the start and end of the epistles are skipped over quickly. I think we assume those sections are just hellos and goodbyes and not much else. Not so fast…

Several times in these devotions I have compared what Peter wrote with the epistles of Paul. They knew each other, and had mutual acquaintances. Peter mentions he wrote this letter “with the help of Silas.” That probably means that Silas was his scribe and helped Peter express his thoughts properly in written Greek. But it is noteworthy that this is the same individual who accompanied Paul on his second and third missionary journeys in the book of Acts.

Peter also sends greetings from “my son Mark.” There is an obvious close relationship here. This is the same Mark who was cousin to Barnabas, both of whom accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey. Although Paul says Mark “deserted” them and refused to take him on the next trip, there was apparently a reconciliation later as Paul speaks well of him in his letter to the Colossians.  Mark is also the writer of the Gospel that bears his name, and many believe that much of what he knew and wrote was based on the preaching of Peter.

What about “she who is in Babylon?”  Babylon was the place of exile for God’s people at the end of the monarchies in Israel and Judah. Peter may be using the term symbolically to speak of persecution. “She” would be the church, the followers of Jesus who were currently enduring hardships.

Peter mentions greeting others with a kiss. Paul says something similar in 1 Corinthians 16. A kiss was a common form of greeting others in Jewish culture, not a passionate kiss, but a show of friendship. That is why it would not have been unusual for Judas to greet Jesus with a kiss. Sadly, he used a kiss for betrayal rather than as a sign of peace and harmony and good will.

The concluding statement expresses the desire that all who follow Christ would be united and at peace. This thought runs through the entire letter. And it reminds us that we have peace with God because of what Jesus did for us through his life and death and resurrection.

We have a collection of “barn cats” at our house. We’ve had as many as fifteen and as few as three. Right now, we have about six. We feed them a little bit, but not too much. We feed them so they’ll hang around, but they have a job to do, which is keep the mice and snakes away from us. And they do a pretty good job of it. In the years we have been in our home, we have not had any issues with either of those pests.

These cats are not tame, so they don’t let us get too close to them. But I like to sit and watch them sometimes. It is especially fun when they are stalking something. They will crouch down and either hold still or slowly inch their way toward their prey until all at once…POW! They pounce on whatever it was they had in their sights. As often as not their prey is caught, unaware too late of the peril.

I think of that when I read the words of today’s passage.

1 Peter 5:8-11 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Be on guard, watch out, stay alert. The devil is always prowling around you, looking for the chance to attack. Daily. You let your guard down at your own peril.

These words were written by a man who knew the danger. He had been with Jesus in Gethsemane. Jesus asked him to watch and pray, but he fell asleep.  Jesus warned Peter and the sons of Zebedee: “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak” (Matthew 26:41). Even with that warning, they fell asleep again – twice – while Jesus was going through His agonizing time of prayer.

This warning is for your own good, your protection. If you are faithful in prayer and watchful with God’s Word filling you, you will be prepared to resist the temptations that come.

Even when we falter and slip and fall, for Jesus’ sake we have the assurance that “the God of all grace … will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.”

Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.