My Notes On 1 Peter 4:7-11 For Sunday Mass, May 16 (Extraordinary Form)

First Peter 4:7-11 is the Epistle reading used in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite.  For more resources (both forms of the Rite) go here.

1Pe 4:7  But the end of all is at hand. Be prudent therefore and watch in prayers.

The first part of the letter’s body (1:3-2:10) was permeated by joy as the author laid out what it meant to exist as an alien (1:1) in this world (i.e., as someone who has been called to and waits for a heavenly homeland, see 1:3-5).  As we await our heavenly inheritance we are called upon to live as witnesses to it (2:11-4:6).  In order to live as witnesses we must embrace an inner freedom, and this is the burden of the second part of the letter

But the end of all is at hand.  Though this letter is about how to act in this world its exhortations are eschatological, i.e., originating from and oriented towards the end time, keeping us focused on our destiny (1:6-9, 13-21; 2:11-12; 3:8-12).

In the immediate context the statement that the end of all is at hand links up with 4:1-6~1 Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same thought, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer by human passions but by the will of God. 3 Let the time that is past suffice for doing what the Gentiles like to do, living in licentiousness, passions, drunkenness, revels, carousing, and lawless idolatry….5 but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. (RSV)

The nearness of the end and the  judgment is a primary reason for the moral exhortations found throughout the letter.  This aspect of the letter appears to have given rise to scoffers, forcing Peter to deal with them in his second letter (2 Pet 3).  The at hand nature of the end is not about time, rather, it is about it sudden, unexpected coming~1 This is now the second letter that I have written to you, beloved, and in both of them I have aroused your sincere mind by way of reminder; 2 that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.
3 First of all you must understand this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming?…8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not slow about his promise as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. (2 Pet 3. RSV).

Be prudent therefore, and watch in prayer.  To be pruedent is to live as God wills, For the time past is sufficient to have fulfilled the will of the Gentiles, for them who have walked in riotousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings and unlawful worshipping of idols (4:3).  Prudence is the opposite of living in confusion regarding righteousness (4:4).

Watch in prayer would be better translated as “be sober in prayer.”  Prayer life is here being contrasted to the “will of the Gentiles” in the just quoted passage (4:3).  To be sober means one is not conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, (RSV, see 1:13-14).  To be sober and watchful in prayer is to escape the devil who must be resisted in firmness of faith (5:7-8).

1Pe 4:8  But before all things have a constant mutual charity (love) among yourselves: for charity (love) covereth a multitude of sins.

Father Donald Senior, in his commentary on 1 Peter in the Sacra Pagina Series notes an apparent word play between verses 7 and 8.  Verse 7 opened with the phrase panton de to telos (“but the end of all things…”).  Verse 8 opens with pro panton (“above all things“).  The connection established by all is obvious, but a connection also exists between above and end, both implying an extreme.  Because the end of all things is at hand it is imperative that love be recognized as of first importance, above all other things.

Such love is a manifestation of purity of soul and obedience to the truth (1:22).  Love of the brotherhood is how we manifest ourselves as true servants of God (2:11-17).  To love means being willing to suffer in doing what is right (3:8-17), and this in imitation of Christ (3:18-22).

For charity covereth a multitude of sins.  Alludes to Proverbs 10:12~”Hatred stirreth up strifes: and charity covereth all sins.”  See also James 5:20.

Pope St Clement: Who can describe the [blessed] bond of the love of God? What man is able to tell the excellence of its beauty, as it ought to be told? The height to which love exalts is unspeakable. Love unites us to God. Love covers a multitude of sins. (1 Letter to Corinth).

St Clement of Alexandria: This blessedness came on those who had been chosen by Cod through Jesus Christ our Lord. For”love hides the multitude of sins. (Stromata).

1Pe 4:9  Using hospitality one towards another, without murmuring.

Hospitality, literally, “love of the stranger,” is one way in which love towards the brotherhood is manifested.  St Peter has in mind here openness towards fellow Christian exiles in this world, especially missionaries, but also brothers and sisters of differing social classes (see Matt 10:11-15; 25:35; Rom 15:7; 1 Cor 11:17-34; 1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:7; James 2:1-7).

1Pe 4:10  As every man hath received grace, ministering the same one to another: as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

Grace is not given to be squandered for ourselves, it is given for the sake of others (see 1 Cor 12:4-31; Rom 12:3-8).  The term steward means “one who manages a house” and fits in well with the image of the Church as a spiritual house (2:5).

1Pe 4:11  If any man speak, let him speak, as the words of God. If any minister, let him do it, as of the power which God administereth: that in all things God may be honoured through Jesus Christ: to whom is glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.

If any man speak, let him speak, as the words of God.  Hospitality and the right use of God’s gifts are how we manifest love towards one another.  In many passages of Scripture love-or lack thereof-manifests itself in words, as some verses I’ve already referred to make clear (e.g., Prov 10:12 and James 5:20, note their context).  We all, each according to the gifts he has received, have a mission of making the word of God known, and this must be done in love.  More than this, in our communications we must always act as if what we are saying is the very word of God, not engaging in hatred, vulgarity, lewd talk, etc.  We have been purified by obedience to the truth, born anew by the word of God (1:22-25), therefore, we should present ourselves in a holy manner (2:11-12), and this includes our speech (3:8-17).

If any minister, let him do it, as of the power which God administereth.  We are all, according to the gifts we have, stewards of God’s spiritual house, but God Himself is the ultimate administrator, the One through Whom our gifts and roles come, therefore, one must act accordingly, that in all things God may be honoured through Jesus Christ.

To whom is glory and empire for ever and ever. Amen.  A doxology, suggesting that perhaps this letter was intended to serve as a liturgical homily; perhaps as a catechetical instruction to the newly baptized (see the footnote to this verse in the NAB).

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