For the Sake of Your Prayers

“The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.”  -1 Peter 4:7

I don’t know about you, but for me the pronouncement “the end is near” conjures up images of men with hand-lettered posters and megaphones emitting doomsday announcements from vans littered with judgment-themed Scripture verses slowly rolling down the street.  To be honest, it’s not my favorite Gospel-themed message.  Come to think of it, is it even Good News?

By contrast, Peter seemed to think that the persecuted Christians he was writing to would be deeply encouraged by the reminder.  Interestingly, the language in the original Greek is less about a temporal imminence and more about positional awareness.  That is to say, the return of Christ may or may not happen tomorrow or next week, but it will happen in this season.  In order to make sense of our times we must understand them in light of the big story.  We join our dear brothers and sisters, those early New Testament Christians, in the last chapter of the grand narrative.  The telos, the final stage in the redemption of God’s people through the death and resurrection of Jesus and the democratized presence of God among His people is around the corner.  The long-awaited Savior has come, the redemption of His people has been accomplished, and we await that final last Day.  The end of all things is indeed near.

As friends of the living God and recipients of His Word and the Holy Spirit for those who are in Christ, we are to live soberly in these end times “for the sake of our prayers.”  When we understand the story of redemption and our place within it, we pray differently.  We pray for the Kingdom to be fully realized, for heaven to come to earth.  We ask for more justice, more righteousness, more people to know God in Christ, more wholeness in families, less abuse and less persecution.  We experience the inward longing of our own hearts and the outward groaning of Creation, and we pray those longings back to God, affirming the redemption that waits around the corner.  We apply that same sober lens to the circumstances around us with the confidence that all will soon be made right.  Our time here is short and the end of all things is near.  May we be those who rejoice and are glad when His glory is revealed (1 Peter 4:13).  Amen.  

Teal McGarvey

Ministry Fellow at Harvard