The story of Goldilocks and the three bears finds Goldilocks stumbling upon the residence of three bears while they are out on a walk. As she makes herself at home, she first sits down on a chair, only to find it is too hard. The next chair is too delicate. Finally, the third chair is just right. She makes her way over to the table to find one bowl of porridge is too hot and another too cold, but the third is just right. As nap time beckons, she tries out the beds. The first bed is too hard and the second is too soft, but the third is – you guessed it – just right.
When it comes to our perception of God’s timing, we find Goldilocks’ struggle very relatable. God’s timing in life can often feel like one of two extremes – either too slow or too quick. We pray and pray and pray, and find our patience tested as we wait on God’s answers to that prayer. Or, we are caught completely off guard by an event that happened so unexpectedly, finding us unready and unprepared.
Peter described the apparent discrepancy between our perception of time and God’s when he wrote, “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day” (v.8). While Peter isn’t writing in literal terms, he is reminding us that our view of time is vastly different than God’s, who remember, created time in the first place. When it comes to God’s timing, however, it is not too slow or too quick. No, God’s Goldilock timing is just right.
Not too slow. Not too fast. Just right.
What that means for us as we prepare to meet Christ our King when he returns again on the Last Day is that he isn’t behind schedule. He hasn’t forgotten. He hasn’t gotten caught up in his other responsibilities so that it just slipped his mind that he does in fact need to return again on the Last Day!
What’s more, as much as we dwell on the time we spend waiting for his return, we’re not the only ones waiting – so is the Lord! For what? “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (v.9). The King Shall Come… when all those he is waiting for come to repentance and turn to him in faith. When that happens, he will return.
With that assurance, our minds are settled not having to worry about whether God’s timing is late or early. When we keep that in mind, we can redirect our thoughts to the here and now – to how we live. As we wait for everything to be just right for Jesus to return, how do we make sure we’re “just right” in our living? How do we make sure we’re prepared to meet him?
Before we explore that more, let’s make sure we grasp a pretty remarkable detail about these verses. We can’t possibly miss the language Peter uses to describe what the end of the world will be like when Jesus returns. “The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare… everything will be destroyed in this way” (v.10-11). “That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat” (v.12).
Sounds like a modern-day Sodom & Gomorrah – but at least that destruction was limited to one relatively small area! The devastation Peter describes will involve the whole earth. It will take place everywhere. How terrifying!
Yet that’s what is noticeably missing from Peter. There’s no terror. No fear. This description isn’t fear-mongering on Peter’s part; rather, he is just providing us with the details of how different the world’s destruction will be at that time compared to how God poured out his devastation the first time through the world-wide flood. But nowhere does Peter pen words of fear or trepidation or terror regarding that last day.
Nor should he, because that will not be a day of dread for the child of God. Jesus has assured us of that through Paul’s letter to the Thessalonian Christians. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18). Paul didn’t direct his hearers to terrify one another with this news, but rather to encourage each other.
That same encouragement is what Peter is providing here so that we pay attention to and to prioritize how we are living in the meantime. Now believers already know that we don’t have to be afraid of that Last Day since we’re saved through faith in Jesus by God’s grace alone. So, one might naturally ask why it matters how we live up until that point. If Jesus has already accomplished forgiveness and salvation on our behalf, then why does it matter how we live right now?
Good question. Peter thought so, too, which is why he addressed it. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (v.9). There you have it. God, whose desire is to not be separated from anyone for eternity, is patiently waiting for repentance. And how you live plays a very significant part in that.
This happens in two ways. We live good lives and we live godly lives.
To better understand the first way your good lives affect others coming to repentance, consider when it is that you are most comfortable doing what you know is wrong (excluding the times you’re by yourself or you imagine no one else will find out). Isn’t easiest to engage in wrong, sinful behavior when you are in the presence of others who are doing the same thing or at least permissive of it?
One rather extreme example of this might be when we hear of mobs or very large groups of people bursting into a store to grab and steal as much as they can before hurrying out. A good number of those participating would never do that on their own, but when surrounded by a group of people doing the same thing, they become emboldened. Their conscience is quieted by a crowd of criminals. When what is wrong or sinful becomes normal and accepted in the world, it’s not only much easier to follow suit, it becomes natural.
How do we change that? Christians wake up from our sleepy, sloppy sanctified living and start being much more intentional about doing good, about doing the right thing so that the world doesn’t feel so comfortable with what is wrong.
“But it’s too late,” you reason. “It won’t make a difference,” you think. “I’m just one person.” Understand that your excuses are directed against the very words of God in these verses when he reveals that he is patiently wanting everyone to come to repentance and calling you to live a holy life that can help that happen!
So if you disagree that how you live will make a difference, you need to take that up with God and explain that you have a better solution in mind than his! Otherwise, if not, then by God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s power, let’s “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12)! To “glorify God on the day he visits us” is to carry out the very repentance God is waiting on, which results in turning to Jesus and trusting in him for salvation. That is the best way we can glorify God!
But it isn’t just our good lives that ought to grab the attention of others; it’s also our godly lives. What’s the difference? There is another way your life can affect others’ coming to repentance. Through your own repentance. A godly life is one that shows the place of God in it. That means repentance. Not only are we striving to do right to lead others to repentance, but we also lead others to repentance by… modeling it ourselves.
Paul recognized God’s patience in leading him to repentance served that very purpose. “But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:16). Paul didn’t try to hide his past or keep his skeletons in the closet. Instead, he willingly confessed his sin, realizing that God’s patience in his own life could serve as an attractive example to others. Paul wasn’t afraid to draw attention to his sin, because he knew that through it, what would really end up in the spotlight was God’s patient grace.
The most natural place to begin getting better at repentance would seem to be in our own homes, in our marriages, and in our families. After all, those are the people who are most frequently going to witness our words and actions that call for repentance (and sadly, are the same ones who are too often on the receiving end of our sinful words and actions).
How would managing conflict within your marriage look different if each spouse started out with repentance, apologizing for what they did wrong or could have done better (and there is almost always something!)? How could we better show our children what godly living looks like by not only making Sunday morning worship a priority and giving them Jesus every day in our Lutheran elementary schools, but also – and most importantly, I would contend – showing them repentance at home by apologizing to them and in front of them when we have done wrong? We tell children they ought to do this, but we aren’t always so great at it ourselves.
And what we’re really modeling through regular repentance is not just contrition, a sorrow over sin, acknowledging that sin IS a big deal. No, it also models complete confidence in the gospel, that God’s grace shown to us through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus means absolute confidence that our sins are forgiven. To live in the joy and freedom the gospel affords us is to have no need of hiding our sin or clinging to it. Instead, we can bring it out into the open, expose it, and kill it through confession, since our Savior has already nailed it to his cross and paid for it in full. It’s already forgiven – but we only enjoy the bliss of that forgiveness when we confess our sin in repentance.
What do others see when they witness that repentance in us? A total reliance on a God of mercy and grace. A dependence on a God they can’t find anywhere else but where he has revealed himself to us in Scripture. A God who wants to be just as gracious and merciful to them when they are brought to repentance. And then, when that happens, when all those the Lord is waiting for are brought to him in faith, then that day will come, and the new heaven and earth, the new home of righteousness, will not only be ours, but it will be theirs, too!
