Pay Attention

2 Peter 1:16-21

I am amazed at the number of times that scripture tells us to pay attention. Paying attention leads to living intentional lives. In this portion of scripture we are told to pay attention to what the prophets have said. They are like beacons of light that shine in the darkness. Perhaps you are a little skeptical of prophets mistakenly associating them with sooth-sayers, tarot card readers and the friendly psychic down the road. The prophets of scripture were a strange lot. They did really strange things to make their points—Jeremiah was told to wear an ox yoke around as he gave his warnings, Hosea was told to marry a prostitute who would be unfaithful to him. We tend to stand back from weirdness.

The more troubling thing is that the prophets did not seem to have had a clear sense of timing. Some of the things they prophesied were immediate and some near future and some are still waiting to be fulfilled. However their prediction are all mixed together and it’s hard to sort them out. They are similar to Jesus prediction of the end of times in Matthew. The disciples suffered persecution and Jerusalem was destroyed shortly after the prediction, but we have yet to see Jesus descending on a cloud to take the believers to the place that he has prepared for them. There are many that have become consumed with trying to figure out the “when” of things. They spend hours pouring over the texts trying to interpret the imagery so that they can put things into a nice tidy package for us. They have been wrong so many times that we tend not only to discount them but their prophetic source.

Prophets are scary. They talk about things that we would prefer to ignore and deny. They warned of exile and God’s angry punishment. They turn our safe God into a Lion, not quite so safe anymore. Scripture warns us that we are not to discount what the prophets have said. The true prophets are speaking the word of the Lord. But after all these dire predictions of God’s chastisement, they also reveal the loving heart of God. It is not his desire that any should perish. He fills the prophet’s mouths with good news of God’s coming redemption. God will bring the people back to himself.

So what is it that we are to hear? We are to learn fear of the Lord. Oh, not to live in quaking boots, but to realize that God is not a pushover. God will do what he says he intends to do. He will judge the world, just as he warned and chastised the people in the Babylonian exile. Do not be fooled into thinking that God’s compassionate mercy means that he will not judge. Most importantly, we are to pay attention to the good news that God has made a way of salvation in Jesus Christ and that if we wish to be saved we must receive what he has given. To ignore or reject God’s means of redemption will end in disaster. The prophets have foretold. You will do well to pay attention to the word of the prophets, “as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your heart. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:19-21). Pay attention to the prophets—good advice!