The writer of 1 Peter talks as if living into God’s Eternal Kingdom NOW may start at home, or “in-house.” Yet, while it may start there, it can’t stay there. Why? Because “Christ himself suffered on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the unrighteous. He did this in order to bring you into the presence of God.” Once for all. We are following Jesus and embracing his countercultural way of transformation in order to build an eternal village that we will all be a part of. This means that while our being exiles may start on the inside (and it must!), it must ultimately go out to our nearest neighbors and beyond. So while a cultural norm may be to retreat into our fortresses and castles, the Christ-like countercultural norm is to work with our neighbors to live into God’s Eternal Village NOW.

Message from Sunday, May 18, 2014.