1. The Excellence of a Person
Peter Fitch, St. Croix Vineyard
Sunday, March 18, 2018

2. Where we’ve been . . . Last week: International Women’s Day Service
The week before that: Step by Step
Looking at 2 Peter 1:2-8 as a strategy for Spiritual Formation
Identified goal: Micah 6:8, Love, Christlikeness, an Undivided Life
Diligence married to faith (which gives direction and strength for the journey)

3. 2 Peter 1:2-8
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; 3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4 For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. 

4. 2 Peter 1:2-8
5 Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 6 and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, 7 and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

5. This week . . . Add moral excellence
What is it?
What is the excellence of a person?

6. Moral Excellence (Areté)
Aristotle defined this word in a particular way
Not so much about moral obedience
Rather, it refers to the “excellence” of a thing
The virtue of an arrow is that it flies straight
The virtue of a horse is its strength or its speed

7. Proverbs 22:4-6, The Virtue of a Person
4The reward of humility and the fear of the Lord Are riches, honor and life. 5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the perverse; He who guards himself will be far from them. 6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

8. Traditional understanding versus Hebrew class!
6 Train up a child in the way he should go, Even when he is old he will not depart from it.
Traditional: Teach children to believe in God and even if they leave faith behind they will come back someday
Hebrew class: Train up a child according to his or her way
(in other words, help each child to grow into their uniqueness)

9. Third Possibility
“His” might refer to God In this case, it would fit well into the surrounding verses
Train children to value humility and to fear the Lord so that they will avoid life’s big snares
Teach them to walk “in the mouth of His road”
Perhaps it’s wise to blend Possibility 2 and Possibility 3!

10. Howard Thurman

11. The True Self emerging . . .
No longer serving the aspirations or dictates of others
No longer serving the inner “oughts”
No more pretense
Learning to be authentic, faithful, a person of integrity
At one with who you really are

12. Is humility important?
Through and through Scripture and the writings of history
Even our view of God may affect how we dominate or serve others (Jersak, A More Christlike God: A More Beautiful Gospel, p. 133)
A person of excellence is available to participate with others, not to dominate them

13. Jesus shakes things up . . .
People who are so concerned about morality “strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!” (Matthew 23:24)
In other words, they care so much about little rules but miss the big things that God cares about: loving God and loving people

14. Matthew 25: 31-46, Sheep and Goats
The Goats don’t know what they’ve done wrong
The Sheep don’t know what they’ve done right
This seems to indicate that whatever they do or don’t do is a natural outflow from who they are inside

15. St. Paul agrees . . . Galatians 5:5-6
5 For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but faith working through love.

16. So what is the moral excellence we need to add to our diligence and faith?
It’s not tons of small rules, whether cultural or religious
It is something that becomes so natural that we don’t even know when we’re doing it well
It’s like being what a person was meant to be, both as individuals in our uniqueness and as something else: someone who is postured to be present to others, to help them when we can, and to be a representative of God’s care in the world

17. Dalai Lama XIV, quoted in this week’s email update for SCV
“My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.”

18. The excellence of a person
Being what you were meant to be, the very best version of your true self
Being that, for others