I Peter I
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion… (I Peter 1:1 ESV)
The Script
Good or bad, our lives do not happen to us randomly, or for no reason.
We can not always know why events occur, encounters happen, conversations take place, or circumstances transpire. And that is often frustrating, confusing, or painful.
Bur God knows.
Peter writes to a group of Christians who had experienced a traumatic relocation. They had been forced to move hundreds of miles from their precious homes, had been physically persecuted, and we scattered far from their communities, families, and friends.
And they were wondering why.
Peter does not give them the kind of answer they probably wanted. He merely adds an adjective to their designation of ‘exile.’
He says they were elect. Selected. Chosen.
By God.
And while their place in the historical scheme of things, the salvific scheme of things, or even the personal scheme of things is not made clear to them, that word could have been comforting.
God was at work… and God had chosen them to have a part in it.
God was at work… and God’s work in both good times and bad is done by His beloved.
God was at work… and God chooses ultimately good things for His people.
God was at work… and God loves those He choses.
And Christians today are just as elect, just as selected, just as chosen.
And that means we are loved.