The end of a day shapes what we do with our lives. Some things we can accomplish only while the sun is up. Knowing when daylight ends determines how we plan and act. The end of a week shapes our hobbies and habits. We anticipate a break from work or school; and that effects our behaviors leading up to it. The end of a game shapes what play a coach might call in order to win. The end of a year shapes goals for a company’s investments. The end of life shapes us too. The Psalms teach us to number our days that we might gain a heart of wisdom.

In many ways, knowing the end shapes how we live in the present. Today, we read about the ultimate end—what Peter calls “the end of all things.” Knowing that end shapes how we spend our lives now. Scripture says this, starting in verse 7…

⁷ The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. ⁸ Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: ¹¹ whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

A few weeks have passed since pausing our study in 1 Peter. So, it’d be good to recall why Peter is writing. Christians are suffering for their faith in Jesus. The more these Christians follow Jesus, the more they realize how foreign they truly are. Far from welcoming them, the world excludes them and causes various trials. In that suffering, it’s normal to start losing hope. To stand firm, we need help. Peter writes to help sojourners stand firm in God’s grace when suffering in Jesus’ footsteps.

One way Peter has repeatedly helped us stand firm is by reassuring our future hope. The letter started by showing how God, in great mercy, “has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1:3). That hope is tied to a future inheritance that’s “imperishable, undefiled, unfading” (1:4). Right now, we suffer various trials, but not in vain. The tested genuineness of our faith will one day “result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:7).

So, right from the start Peter has framed the days in which we live, to give us hope in our sufferings. We live between two major points of victory: Jesus’ resurrection and Jesus’ return. Elsewhere, the New Testament calls this period “the last days” or “the last hour” or “the end of the ages.” Peter describes these days as “the end of all things” in verse 7. Notice how sweeping that is: “all things.” God is steering “all things” in history, in the world, in angelic realms, in relationships—everything as we know it in this life will reach its end at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

And, viewed from the perspective of God’s sweeping historical plan, that end is already near/at hand. The events of Jesus’ death and resurrection have kick-started the final phase of God’s plan. That final phase will close with reward for God’s people. 1:5, the inheritance of God’s people shall be revealed. At the same time, that final phase will close with retribution for God’s enemies. In 4:5, enemies will “give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

By saying “the end of all things is at hand,” Peter recalls a theme he’s already developed throughout the letter for our encouragement in suffering. Things won’t always be this way. History isn’t an endless cycle. History is linear; it’s heading somewhere. For us, it’s not simply the twenty-first century. It’s not simply the Modern Era. It’s not simply the Information Age. The day in which we live must be viewed from a more heavenly reality: Jesus’ resurrection has sent all history barreling toward his final revelation when the saints receive their reward and God judges his enemies.

Stay Soberminded for Prayers

Christian, you are living in this final phase of God’s saving plan; and that has everything to do with the way you live now. The end determines your ethics. Notice how Peter puts it: “the end of all things is at hand; therefore…” That “end” must produce a response. Knowing that end shapes our behavior in the present. If the end is near, in what ways must we as a church act? Peter mentions four ways.

The first is this: “therefore, be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” Sober-minded—we saw this one before in 1:13. It means we resolve to live in a way that’s sensible. We’re not controlled by emotions and fleshly appetites. Your mind is in the right order to act according to God’s word in any given circumstance.

The other one he adds is self-control. In Romans 12:3, it’s related to not thinking of yourself more highly than you ought to think but having sound judgment. In Titus 2:11-12, self-control grows from the grace of God teaching us to “deny ungodliness and worldly passions and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly lives.”

In context here, there’s another group Peter mentions that has neither self-control nor a sober mind. In 4:2, he mentions those who live for human passions. Examples are then listed in 4:3, “living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, lawless idolatry.” Why do they live this way? Why is there no self-control? Because they don’t know the true “end of all things.” Their hope is bound up with the here and now, with immediate gratification. For them, if this life is all there is. If there’s is no judgment, no returning Lord, then I can live how I want.”

But if you’re a Christian, that’s no longer how you think. Your mind has been shaped by the truth of Jesus’ resurrection and return. “The end of all things is at hand”—that sobers your thinking: “I will give an account to the Lord one day. Jesus’ kingdom is certain. It’s at hand. What sort of life pleases him?” That’s how your mind starts thinking.

Isn’t it also true that when we suffer, one of the first things to go is sober-mindedness, self-control? Fears of further loss can take over and leave us freaking out. Worry about the future can lead to unstable responses, hasty decisions. But the Christian knows the rest of God’s story. We can set our minds on that future hope when God makes all things right; and that creates the mental and moral resolve to stay faithful now.

Get this too, though. Our mental and moral resolve serves the purpose of prayer. “Be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.” Question 38 of the New City Catechism defines prayer like this: “prayer is pouring out our hearts to God in praise, petition, confession of sin, and thanksgiving.”[i]

But how does a sober mind and self-control serve prayer? He could be making a similar point that he made earlier in 3:7. There he warned husbands. Treat your wife as an heir of the grace of life, “so that your prayers may not be hindered.” Peter might be saying, “Look, there’s an ethical context that serves prayer. God hears the prayers of those who bend their wills to do his will. Be sober-minded and self-controlled, because God’s ear is open to the prayers of the righteous” (cf. 1 Pet 3:12). Perhaps this also fits Peter’s theme of our priesthood—serving in God’s presence means holiness.

Or Peter could be saying that sober-mindedness and self-control leads you into praying; you see yourself rightly before God. What happens in suffering, when fears and anxiety take control? We’re tempted to start taking matters into our own hands, leaning on other things for help. Have you ever felt squeezed by circumstances, and anxiously you start listing for someone else, “I’ve tried this and this and this, and I don’t know what’s next, and nothing’s working” and the person asks, “Have you prayed about it?” Suddenly the lights go on: “Now that you mention it, I haven’t prayed much at all.”

Or, given the context of relationships in verses 8-11, maybe Peter is saying that a sober mind and self-control helps us pray more effectively together. Perhaps “prayers,” in the plural, isn’t just saying we pray repeatedly but that we pray together. Many of us together are lifting prayers to God. There can’t be much togetherness, though, when there’s no self-control. Anger, harsh words, backbiting, disunity, false assumptions—all of which are a lack of sober-mindedness and self-control. Prayers get hindered in the church when people can’t be close and vulnerable and free.

There are numerous ways that a sober mind and self-control serves our prayers. Peter could have all these in mind, and perhaps that’s why he left it more open-ended. The point is that God wants his people leaning into prayer, and a sober mind and self-control will serve the prayers of God’s people. Again, see how our Lord wants to meet with us. That’s the kind of God he is. Nothing reminds us of that more than the gift of his own Son. We can draw near to him in prayer, because he has first drawn near to us.

Love One Another Earnestly

A second thing he mentions. If the end is near, we must love one another earnestly. Verse 8, “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” Peter elevates the importance of love—it’s now the fourth time he’s repeated loving one another. Also, by saying “above all,” he makes love the foundation driving all at we do. Peter agrees with Paul who says the whole law is fulfilled in one word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Both agree with Jesus—John 13:34, “as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Peter describes this love as one that’s earnest. Meaning, it’s constant. It doesn’t “waiver in one’s display of interest or devotion.”[ii] The picture is that it will stretch itself on behalf of another. Luke’s Gospel uses the same word when Jesus prays earnestly to the point of sweating drops of blood. Our love for each other should be enduring, willing to keep going even when others seem out of touch with all that you’ve sacrificed.

Love each other this way, he says, because “love covers a multitude of sins.” I believe he’s drawing from Proverbs 10:12; and the parallel structure of that verse helps us understand what Peter likely means. “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” In that text, “hatred” is the opposite of “love,” and “stirring up strife” is the opposite of “covering all offenses.” So, when Peter says, “love covers a multitude of sins,” he’s likely describing how love doesn’t allow wrongs to divide the community.

Love forebears with the sins of others and doesn’t allow those sins rip apart the church. That doesn’t mean we treat sin lightly. James 5:20 uses the same phrase, but in the context of accountability: “whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” It’s not that we ignore sin, but that we keep sin from wreaking further havoc in the life of the church.

If I could illustrate the point using a fire blanket. There’s potential for a small flame in the kitchen to burn down an entire house. But if we cover that initial flame with a fire blanket, then the house will stay standing. Likewise, when we love each other earnestly, that love will cover a multitude of sins. Stick around long enough and you’re going to find something in just about everyone in the church that grates against you. Eventually, you’ll encounter some sin or weakness that has the potential to divide—or, if not divide, at least put a damper on the relationship.

But earnest, Christian love will patiently stretch itself to bear with others and snuff out the damaging effects of sin. Do you share this earnest love for one another? Can you go through the names of your care group members and not just think, “I’ll do anything for them in a pinch,” but even more, “I want to be with them.” If that’s not there, ask the Lord to help you grow in this earnest love.

I appreciate the way I. Howard Marshall illustrates the place we often find ourselves in church: “There in your local church is Ann, who doesn’t know much about hygiene and is frankly “smelly.” Bill wears you out with incessant talking. Cathy is unspiritual. Don doesn’t get along with Evelyn. Fred treats his wife badly. Gene is an [awkward] teenager, never knowing how to act with courtesy or discretion. Hilary often grumbles. Irene has a different set of interests and values…There is Kevin, to be sure, who is really quite saintly but rather drab as a person. None of them is very easy to love at full stretch. (There is also, of course, myself, and I figure in other people’s lists of difficult people for similar reasons.) And yet love is the answer to the problem.”[iii]

Perhaps this is why Peter must keep circling back to love; he knows how much we need the reminder. But perhaps Peter keeps circling back to love also because Peter can’t get over how much love and forbearance the Lord has shown him. After his pride, after his misunderstandings, after his weaknesses, after acting like a coward, after his denials—yet the Lord loved him still. Jesus stretched himself to the point of death to cover Peter’s sins in the greatest way. And he did the same for you and me.

If you want to grow in earnest love, consider the earnestness of God’s love and forbearance toward you in the cross of Christ. If you find yourself finding fault with others, remember that Jesus has covered their sins as much as he’s covered yours. And, if you want to grow in love, consider “the end of all things.” Consider love in the new heavens and earth. At the end, Christ’s love in us will be complete, full, unending. That’s the people we will be; and knowing that end shapes how we love now.

Show Hospitality without Grumbling

One practical way to reflect earnest love is hospitality—that’s the third thing Peter considers. Verse 9, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.” At its core, hospitality means welcoming others and freely sharing with them what God has given to you. We could think of those in Matthew 10, who welcome Jesus’ messengers into their homes. Or those in Matthew 25 who serve Jesus’ disciples by feeding them, clothing them, visiting them in prison. Later in Acts 2, the Holy Spirit fills the church, and we find them breaking bread in their homes and sharing with any in need.

In Acts 16, God saves a woman named Lydia; and she opens her home to Paul and the others. In Romans 16, Priscilla and Aquila use their home as the meeting place for church. In 1 Timothy 5, true widows show hospitality by washing the feet of the saints and caring for the afflicted. In 1 Timothy 3:2 God makes hospitality a prerequisite for pastors. Elders must exemplify what ought to characterize the whole church.

Table fellowship is some of the closest fellowship. Think of Galatians 2. Peter, a Jew, was eating with Gentiles; and by eating with Gentiles, he displayed that salvation is by faith in Christ alone. But then his Jewish buddies show up. They’re proud of their Jewishness. And Peter separates himself from the Gentiles. Paul has to rebuke Peter for not walking in step with the gospel over how he acted at a meal.

Eating together for Jesus’ sake is a big deal. Who we’re willing to welcome and serve a meal shows how well we understand grace. By showing hospitality, we display that all our social divisions have been overcome by the unity we share in Christ. Through hospitality, we also provide a structure for discipleship, growing relationships, learning about needs, and refreshing missionaries passing through town.

The more challenging aspect? Doing this without grumbling/complaining. Guess when I started studying this passage? Shortly after discovering scribbles of black ink on our newly painted walls while showing hospitality. (I’m sure the kid was having a great time. Me? Not so much.). Suddenly, hospitality turned into heart surgery. We must show hospitality without grumbling—no griping about somebody’s kids, no rolling our eyes and sighing because they were late or didn’t offer to clean up, no “Why are we always the ones to host?” Show hospitality without grumbling.

Why? Why do it without grumbling? Because that’s what God is like. Every day he kindly causes his sun to rise on the just and the unjust. Generously he keeps providing, despite what you are. He’s the Host of Psalm 23 who prepares a Table for us and causes our cup to overflow. We can welcome others, messy as they are, because God stepped into our own mess. At great cost to himself, he welcomed us. His Son not only broke bread with his disciples. In this meal, Christ shows the extent he would go to make us guests at his Table in the kingdom. Hospitality is our response to God’s hospitality.

So, how are you showing hospitality? How are you welcoming others and freely sharing with them what God has given to you? Some of you may not have homes. One way to show hospitality is “by helping others create a hospitable environment.”[iv] Show up early to prep, greet those who come, stay after to clean up. For others, your circumstances may prohibit you from hosting others or preparing a meal, like when chronic illness diminishes strength. Do what you can as you can; stay welcoming to others even as they come to care for you.

I’ve also been encouraged by some of our younger members, who find great joy caring for the elderly, greeting them, coming to sit with them when they can’t walk to others, bringing over their walker. I was also encouraged by this little pamphlet compiled by our Hospitality Team not too long ago—“inviting imperfect people into our imperfect lives.” Then they list various ways one might show hospitality in the church: “host in your backyard, organize a picnic, host a small group, eat together in the Fellowship Hall after church, create a collection of recipes, participate in a meal train” (Helpful! I wonder if we can post a copy of this on Church Center?). We can also get to church early and be present to welcome others—Yes, even on weeks we don’t have Discipleship Hour. For all of us, showing hospitality is about opening your life to others and saying, “You are welcome here. As Christ welcomed me, so I welcome you” (Rom 15:7).

Steward Your Gifts to Serve Others

Fourth, and lastly, knowing the end of all things, steward your gifts to serve others. Verse 10, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.” The word “gift” is the same word Paul uses in Romans 12 and 1 Corinthians 12. These are the Father’s gracious gifts imparted by his Spirit in the service of his Son to build up the church. Paul sometimes lists examples: prophecy, serving, teaching, giving, leading, acts of mercy, discernment, and so on. Peter covers them all in two groups, speaking and serving (word and deed).

But the point of Paul’s lists, and Peter’s point here, is that God’s grace is varied. Not everyone is gifted the same way. God distributes various gifts as he sees fit for the health and good of the church; and it’s our duty to use them to serve others.

The picture is that of a steward. Peter Davids says, “The steward was the person in a household…responsible for managing the householder’s business and property.” Likewise, our Lord has entrusted his business and property to us. We have a responsibility to use what he’s given for the purpose that he’s given it. If I give my son a chisel, he ought not use it as a screwdriver. Nor should he just store it away but put it to good use in crafting beautiful things for others. Likewise, our gifts have a purpose to build up the body of Christ, to serve our brothers and sisters.

He says, “whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God.” If someone preaches, teaches, exhorts, encourages—their words should reflect the words given by God himself in Scripture. Stewards honor the message entrusted to them. One author put it this way: “Whoever passes on the gospel should be intentional about speaking not from narrow individuality, but from a posture of having listened to God…”[v]

“Whoever serves,” he goes on, “as one who serves by the strength that God supplies.” Just as God supplies content for those with speaking gifts, he supplies strength for those with serving gifts. So, if you need wisdom to organize care in the church, God will supply it. If you’re someone who enjoys ministry on the margins, God will grant the patience. If it’s care for the poor, he will meet needs according to his riches in Christ.

In other words, we shouldn’t worry that we won’t have enough. Stay faithful in using your gifts to serve others and watch God provide. But also, when we recognize that God is the source of our words and strength, he gets the glory in the end. Look at the purpose statement in verse 11: “in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” That’s where the end of all things is heading: the Giver gets all the glory. So, in light of that end, steward your gifts such that God may be glorified through Jesus.

Notice that: “through Jesus.” The only way to bring God glory is through Jesus. Through Jesus, God reconciles us to himself. Through Jesus, we are now free to live as we were made to live—for God’s glory and not our own. Through Jesus, Peter said this earlier in the letter: “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”

What gifts has God entrusted to you? In what ways are you using them to bring him glory in serving one another? The body of Christ matures only when each part is working properly. If you say, “But I don’t know what gifts I have?” Start somewhere and you’ll learn them. Observe needs in the church, seek to meet them, and you’ll learn them. It’s not a mystery. You don’t need a baptized personality test (I’m sorry: a “spiritual gifts inventory”) to tell you how you’re gifted. God has given you his word, prayer, and the church to help sort that out. Give yourself in faithfulness to him and you’ll figure it out. Find what you enjoy in the church and give yourself wholeheartedly to it.

Conclusion

Are you surprised by how ordinary all this sounds? Stay sober-minded for prayers. Love one another earnestly. Show hospitality. Steward your gifts. Peter is writing to Christians suffering various trials (1 Pet 1:6), some of which are unjust (1 Pet 2:18-20), and doing so in the face of an immoral culture (1 Pet 4:3-5), slanderous opponents (1 Pet 3:16), and a corrupt government (1 Pet 2:13-17; 3:14-15).

How many people would’ve finished his line of thought differently? “The end of all things is at hand, therefore, conquer and claim.” “The end of all things is at hand, therefore, seize the day and rally the troops.” And yet that’s not how Peter puts it. God’s kingdom advances differently—through basic Christian living. You may not understand how to solve massive cultural issues. You may not have the money to end economic crises. You may not have clout to transform a corrupt government.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t do anything of eternal importance. God has chosen to work through these means. You can have a sober-mind for the sake of prayers—through our prayers God will cause his will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. You can love one another earnestly and display how Jesus’ cross saves and gathers us into one body. You can show hospitality in ways that don’t make sense to our neighbors; and by doing so, you will display God’s hospitality. You can use your gifts to serve others and show the world an alternative community where the greatest become servants of all. All to the praise and glory of God.

You don’t have to solve everything in the world. You only need to be faithful with what Jesus has given you today. “The end of all things is at hand.” Jesus has got this. His resurrection guarantees his return. That’s our hope as we live in between. His kingdom is on the way; and in some special ways we’re already seeing glimpses of it in the church—in self-control, in love, in hospitality, and in service. Knowing that end, how will you live today? How is that end shaping your present?

________

[i] See Question 38, New City Catechism, accessed at https://newcitycatechism.com/new-city-catechism/#38.

[ii] BDAG, s.v., “ektenēs.”

[iii] I. Howard Marshall, 1 Peter (Downers Grove: IVP, 1991), 143-44.

[iv] Lindsay Swartz, “Hospitality Matters: 5 Hospitality Tips for Single Women,” CBMW (September 25, 2016), accessed at https://cbmw.org/2015/09/25/hospitality-matters-5-hospitality-tips-for-single-women/.

[v] Leonard Goppelt as cited in Karen Jobes, 1 Peter, BECNT (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 279.