An Eternal Purpose

Turns out the best way to prepare for forever is in the moment before me!

We learn to make all life sacred by making one moment of our life sacred.

While that may sound paradoxical, it makes perfect sense, considering I can only wake up to a broader truth with a focused effort.

I get overwhelmed if I try to take in the whole world, eternity, and all things.

Why do you think we are so impassioned by politics and the “big questions?” Those “big” issues are easier to wash over us and intoxicate us with anger, worry, or even fear. And this intoxication into fear or anger or despondency is the enemy’s greatest tool to distract me from the moment I am in right now.

But it’s true: All moments are in this moment. Being present in the moment I am in right now, being present to the person I am with right now, and being attentive to the opportunities and temptations of any given moment allows me to take all moments with peace and spiritual maturity!

It’s how we Christians are called to take our everyday lives and avoid wasting all our energy on the temporary and focus first on the eternal!

Look at our lesson today in Acts 12:1-11:

About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword; and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison; but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the Church.

The very night when Herod was about to bring him out, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison; and behold, an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, “Wrap your mantle around you and follow me.” And he went out and followed him; he did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened to them of its own accord, and they went out and passed on through one street; and immediately the angel left him. And Peter came to himself, and said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

Notice three actions in temporary time that point us to an eternal purpose.

First, the persecution of the Faithful was intense, and that caused the Faithful to pray.

They didn’t march on the capital. They didn’t organize a concert to benefit the families of the martyred saints or to protest St. Peter’s arrest. They prayed. We often think prayer is some “last resort” when it should be our constant lifestyle. I’ll never train my time-bound body and soul to see eternity if I don’t carve out specific times to pray. Prayer is the lifestyle of the Orthodox Christian and the truly Normal Orthodox Life!

Second, the prayers of the Faithful bring rest and rescue. Peter is asleep between two soldiers. Talk about a sense of confidence and peace. This is the same Peter who was so intimidated by a slave girl outside of the high priest’s home when Jesus was arrested that he cursed and denied he ever knew Jesus. Peter’s lifestyle changed with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and his life in the midst of the Faithful, as they prayed, brought him peace and rescue. The angel comes, lets the guards sleep, and gets Peter back to the gathered faithful! Now, that’s what I call an answer to prayer.

Finally, the temporary rescue confirms God’s eternal purpose. St. Peter sees this temporary rescue at this specific time and place as another confirmation that his ministry and the ministry of the Faithful aren’t done. Peter has already heard from the risen Lord that he would be killed for being a follower of Jesus, but not today! Today, this moment confirms that the lives of the Faithful, gathered to pray and to affect the rescue of St. Peter, sanctify a moment, a place, and a person for an eternal purpose.

Why else would the Church call us to venerate “The Apostle Peter’s Precious Chains?” What an odd thing to focus on IF your whole life is about seeking comfort and ease! No, the Church calls us to honor these chains to remind us that we have our own chains. IF we reorient our minds from the temporary discomfort to the eternal wisdom of Faith, then even these chains become blessings. Our temporary lives become filled with eternal joy and meaning. Imagine if you lived like this every day; what a difference would it make in your attitude and your choices when life is difficult? This is the wondrous invitation of a Normal Orthodoxy!

Today, we remember the Chains of the Apostle Peter, see this moment, right now, as being in the freedom God has purchased for you in Christ and live every moment by being Orthodox on Purpose! We reset our idea of what normal means and refocus our attention on eternity, not the temporary challenges right before us!

P.S. Now Christ God, the Rock, does glorify the rock of faith, illustriously, in calling all to celebrate the dread wonders of the most precious chains of Peter, the first and chief of the disciples of Christ our God, Who grants forgiveness of sins unto all.

Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV