I’m working on a Bible study titled, “Gotta Love People and Problems!” Uh, Dale, who’s going to read that? Maybe love people, or at least some people, but love problems? Your title is a sure way to get the Bible study deep-sixed.
On the other hand, it could be transformative. “The sorrows of those who run after another god shall multiply” (Psalm 16:4). The largest faith affiliation in America is Christian, but many of us so-called Christians put our trust and hope in other gods, like advancing in career, in recognition, wealth and so on. That’s called “fine” idolatry, “fine” in the sense that it’s hard to see but it’s there. You can easily trace all the problems in our society back to “fine” idolatry. No wonder the psalmist says sorrows “multiply.”
St. Peter uses the word “multiply” too. Writing to followers of Jesus who were a small minority among people who had their own “gods,” Peter says, “May grace and peace be multiplied to you.” Not just “grace and peace to you,” but “be multiplied.” Troubles not only swirl around us, they seep into our souls and unsettle us. If you read Psalm 16, you see that troubles cause the believer to focus anew on God, for us that means focus anew on Jesus, our Suffering Servant. “I bless the Lord who gives me counsel; in the night also my heart instructs me. I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken” (Psalm 16:7-8). Likewise, the Spirit speaks through Peter to our spirits. Through the resurrection of Christ and promise of the life to come, we “by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice” (1 Peter 1:5-6). Would we appreciate this without living among people and problems?
“Grace and peace be multiplied to you!”