Our opening reading today is from the 1st Letter of Peter. In just two short verses, the author provides a summary of the main themes and an outline of the whole letter:
(1) God gave us a new birth,
(2) this birth leads to a hope,
(3) which is based on Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, and
(4) Christians have a heavenly inheritance which is incapable of fading.
In one sense the whole letter focuses on the conversion experience of believers. Our new birth is through faith in the gospel and is the means of conversion. In Peter’s time this meant from their pagan past. The future hope and inheritance to be revealed at the last day urged perseverance in one’s conversion. Peter understood that this came at a cost: In this [conversion] you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials. (1 Peter 1:6) The trials suffered range from social exclusion to persecution even to death. Peter witnesses the joy, not only in their conversion, but their sustained joy even in persecution.
What about us? Our conversion is not so stark. Most of us were born into Christian families in the western world which is Christian or at least doesn’t mind that we are. Are we conscious of the gift and the joy of our faith? We understand the connection of faith and joy, after all, the apostle Paul commands us, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice” (Philippians 4:4). He tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22). He says that he is a worker with us for our joy (2 Corinthians 1:24) and that he lives for the advancement and joy of our faith (Philippians 1:25). And this joyful faith is worth its weight in gold.
So… are you joyful about your faith? Is your faith something that you value? Peter makes the comparison that faith is like gold, but then not all gold is as golden as other gold. Gold comes with lots of impurities when mined and has to be refined to make into those shiny gold bars we see in the movies. That gold has been purified by an electro-chemical process to make it as close to 100% pure as possible. In biblical times, the process was to purify the gold by fire. The mined gold was melted, the impurities rose to the surface and could be easily removed.
We are graced and yet we experience suffering in this life – to varying degrees to be sure. The believers of Peter’s time could make the direct connection between suffering and their faith. In our faith we are as graced as they, but are we joyful and do we make the connection of suffering and faith? You might respond that we are not persecuted for the Faith, but the question is more one of testing. If the trials and tribulations of this life are like fire, do we think of it as a refiner’s fire? A fire that will reveal the impurities, weakness, and doubts of our faith. If we are attentive, the impurities will rise to the surface.
It seems to me, we western Christians, are like gold nuggets that have been mined. Being golden has just been part of who we are. All of life is like the process from digging us out of the ground, transporting us to the refiners, and then the course of our life is the refining process. We are gold, but we are also the refiner – with the help of grace. Do we seek out refining, e.g., in reading Scripture, prayer, retreats, the Sacraments, and the avenues of life-long refining available to us? When the fire of life comes our way, are we attentive to the impurities that rise to the surface? And do we ever keep in mind that “the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:7)
Be attentive to the faith you have received that is more precious than gold. Be attentive to the on-going conversion and refining of the faith. And by this you will live a life for the greater glory of God.
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