Let’s start with the basics. What does the word “vigilance” mean? It is a state of being watchful or alert for danger or some other kind of trouble.
So, with that definition let’s look at the context of what Peter is talking about in order to understand more deeply. There’s an old saying that, “A text, without a context, is a pretext.” In this era of AI and deepfakes we should all be aware that words can be taken out of context and twisted to mean something that the author never intended.
The first “context” is the author himself – the Apostle Peter. In the span of a few hours he bragged about his loyalty to Jesus only to deny he even knew him. This is the man whom the Gospel accounts reveal to be a man who could be impetuous and hot headed – inclined to act before thinking and frequently opened his mouth only to immediately put his foot therein. In other words, he is a lot like most of us. So Peter himself had to be vigilant in order to act wisely in accordance with God’s will rather than his own pride, preference and prejudice. In the book of Acts, chapter 10, God had to repeat a vision three times in order to insure that Peter would get the message: Yes, go to the Gentiles. In the context of Peter’s life, this second epistle was written shortly before his own execution in Rome – the center of all Gentile power.
Further context has to do with the threats facing the church. Peter is warning his readers that even people who have been baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit must be alert to the dangers of false teaching that can seduce them away from the truth of the Gospel. To this day the enemy is still whispering in our ears the same words he spoke to Adam and Eve: “Did God actually say . . . ?” Just a few verses before our scripture for today we see Peter pointing out how some ignorant and malicious people twist the Apostle Paul’s words to mean something entirely different than what Paul is teaching.
So what does it mean then to be vigilant? It used to be that banks would train their bank tellers how to recognize counterfeit money by having them spend hours handling real money. Yes, they would be alerted to police and Treasury Department reports about some other characteristics of phony bills currently known to be out there but the quickest way to safeguard the tellers was by the way only real money feels. The Treasury Department goes to great lengths to make the “paper” on which real money is printed unique and secret so that anything else will just feel wrong. If it feels wrong then they can start looking at other small details to confirm their suspicions.
So how does that apply to us? Only by saturating our minds with the truth of God’s Word can we recognize what is true and what is counterfeit. If we devote serious time to reading and studying the Bible, the Holy Spirit will then prompt us when someone is preaching or teaching something not from God.
And people are preaching and teaching falsehoods in our own day in both the world and the church. The bumper sticker that says, “He who dies with the most toys wins” is a lie. More is not better if you become enslaved to “needing” more. The root word of ‘vigilant’ is ‘vigil.’ In the early centuries of the Church, believers would come together on the night of Holy Saturday and sit in vigil to commemorate the night Jesus spent praying in fierce spiritual and emotional struggle before his arrest while Peter, James and John fell asleep nearby (Matthew 26:38 – 46). In Eastern Orthodox traditions, churches still keep that vigil every Easter. It’s meant to be a period to keep awake during the time usually spent asleep in order to keep watch and pray. We need to pray for discernment and discipline. As Peter also reminds us, “Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) We need to spend a lot more time in prayer and the Word than we do on screens filled with counterfeit reality. Philippians 4:8 begins by telling us to focus on “. . . whatsoever is true . . .”
Love is hard. The way of the Cross is hard. And both are costly. They cost Jesus everything and we too must pay a price in taking up our own cross and loving God and loving our neighbor. Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” So be vigilant. Do not be deceived. “Be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.” (2 Peter 3:14)