The antidote to meaninglessness
There are two extreme worldviews. Polar opposites. Here’s one:
A man said to the universe:
“Sir I exist!”
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
A sense of obligation.”
They are the words of Stephen Crane, an American civil war author and poet.
Here’s another:
To God’s elect,
exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2
who have been chosen
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit,
to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Polar opposites. The poet, Stephen Crane, expressed the height, depth and length of absolute atheism. He styled himself as a genetic fluke screaming at the universe.[1] There were no ears to hear. There was no returning embrace. There was no meaning derived from what he saw as he looked at the night sky. He was a nothing. From nowhere. Going nowhere.
A diet of nothingness
In 28 words Crane has given us the foundations of despair. What we need to recognise is that this has been the diet of generations of young people and adults as they have had meaninglessness fed to them at every educational level. There are no intellectual pathways along which the meaninglessness can be ameliorated. There is no softening. Nothing.
Beautiful television programs can show us the complexity and wonder of the world. But still we journey towards the nothing. Tourists with no home to which to belong or to return.
At the extreme polar opposite stands the apostle Peter. The lakes in which he fished, the hills that surrounded the lake, the storms that flung his boat about — everything came from an intentional creation. But Peter has gone even further because he knows the Lord Jesus Christ. He has seen, spoken to and touched the author of life. He knows why Jesus came. What Jesus accomplished. But even more significantly, he knows who he now is as a consequence of that great, visible intervention in history.
Beyond the debates
In summary, his words quoted above tell us that the entire resources of the Godhead have been brought to bear on our lives. We are known, loved and embraced. Beyond a universe that, on its own, can do nothing other than ignore Stephen Crane’s despairing cry there is the Eternal One — Yahweh — whose intention from eternity past was focused upon us. You. Me. We have meaning. We have certainty.
The words at the beginning of first Peter have been used for debates between two other opposites. On the one hand there are those who accept the words as they seem and that there has been a choice made in eternity. A sovereign choice. Without consulting us. Our microscopic opinion was not sought for nor could ever have contributed to the intentions of the Divine.
Others will see reasons why those words can be somewhat softened from the bluntness of first reading. As if the election was mutual exercise in which each turned to the other. One in which we can refuse to participate of we wish.
Those discussions are worth having. They help to shape our understanding of God’s character and ways. But as they turn into arguments they risk exchanging the wonder of who we are for the necessity of being right.
Do I have a view? Sure. I think doctrine—the things we believe—is important. But reality is not shaped by my views.
It seems to me that the effect of what Peter said puts both views on the same side of the table. They’re just sitting with their chairs apart. Because both acknowledge that, when all is said and done, we are who we are by the grace and mercy of God.
All the power of God
who have been chosen
according to the foreknowledge of God the Father
In what Peter said, word order varies from translation to translation. But it’s all there. We are “elect” and this according to the divine foreknowledge. Raise and lower the bar as you wish, the fact remains: God knew us and wanted us and made us his own. The Father—our Father—lovingly at work.
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit,
His Spirit was the divine agency by which he moved into the timespan of our lives and drew us to the Father. Drawn by invisible chords to into the Father’s embrace. The Spirit at work.
to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood
The means by which the unholy could belong to the Holy? The blood of the eternal sacrifice, Jesus Christ. Sprinkled. Just like the blood of the sacrifices in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ at work.
Obedience?
‘For obedience to Jesus Christ?’ Oh no! But hang on a minute…having set you free from the sin and the law, God is not dragging you under a new batch of laws.[2] We have become obedient to the person of Jesus Christ. We have obeyed the purpose of his coming. We have believed.
All the power of the Godhead focused on you. On me. From eternity for eternity. Enacted for us and then in us in a moment of time however long the process may have been in our individual lives.
Exiles none-the-less
Stephen Crane felt utterly disconnected. We are not like that. We belong. But we are exiles nonetheless. Yes, Peter may have been referring to believing Jews exiled from Jerusalem, but given his later statements concerning the ancient promises now falling upon gentles and Jews alike as the kingdom of priests, it is unlikely he had ethnicity in mind. (See 2:4-5)
More likely he recognises that we are out of step with the kingdom from which we have been rescued. Whichever political manifestation it takes. We live within, work within, interact within the old kingdom but no longer belong. Our worldview is its opposite. We have meaning through connection with the Creator. Not genetic flukes but intended.
I think we sense that at times and perhaps often. It’s like we see colour and our neighbours see in black and white. They are searching; we have found. They feel finite; we sense eternity. Our true home awaits.
Our security
Let these few words of Peter’s become a foundation for thinking about yourself. At times when you feel insecure, tarnished, useless…remember that the entire Godhead was focussed on you to make you his own. And he won’t muck it up now! He has done the work…choosing, setting apart, cleansing. It is finished.
We can take up positions on either side of the table and argue about the process of salvation and put labels on ourselves. Or we can sit on the same side of the table and declare to all who are gripped by “Stephen Crane” type despair that there is a voice from above the universe that answers, “I love you and in me you will have meaning.”
The result? Peace. Peace replaces the emotional turmoil of despair. And peace comes from the certainties of grace.
“Grace and peace be yours in abundance.” Verse 2
[1] Crane had been immersed in Christianity from childhood but had a deep and enduring struggle that saw some of his works emanate from belief and some from unbelief. His was a turbulent inner self, giving evidence of not knowing the One we know. But, one can never really know the standing of another before God. Eternity will tell.
[2] Romans 8:1-4 for example.
