Readings: Acts 17:16-31 | 1 Peter 3:13-22 | John 14:15-21
Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22
St. Peter’s first epistle to the Church is beautifully appropriate and informative for the Church today. It was first written to the Christians who were scattered after persecution grew more severe, and it was clear just how at-odds the Christian Gospel was with, not just the Jews, but the world in which they lived.
In our day, we are still recovering from the generations when it was okay to be a Christian in public, and actually meant that you were a respectable member of society. Sometimes today, it feels like being a confessing Christian is swimming upstream against a waterfall. Holding a biblical worldview is increasingly rare. It’s a rare thing to belong to a Church body that publicly confesses God’s supernatural work in six days of creation, the God-given sanctity of human life, the good creation and distinction between male and female. How uncommon it is to see people live out this Psalm verse: “I will also speak of your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame, for I find my delight in your commandments, which I love.” (Ps. 119:46-47) We hold to these truths not because we’re in love with what’s old, but because we belong to the true God, whose Word never changes.
This Epistle in particular comforts us by teaching that the suffering and rejection that we experience in the world is actually not surprising. After addressing matters of how a child of God will find themselves living as strangers in society, how those who are married are to live together, St. Peter turns to every Christian. Allow the spotlight of God’s Word to shine on all of us equally:
8Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Alienation is not something that stops after you graduate from high school. For Christians, our alienation begins at our Baptism: “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born [from above] he cannot see the kingdom of God.”…6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:3, 6) There, in the waters of Baptism, we receive a new birth that marks us as different, set apart, “holy to the Lord.” [Exod. 39:30] And wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Lord would just take us home, or at the very least, give us a nice colony where we could be around just other believers? But that isn’t how it works. He leaves us as we are in the world, with this birth from above and the vestiges of our unspiritual flesh. We don’t fit in with the world—we can’t fit in—but we still have our flesh that wants to fit in and does what the rest of the world does. That leaves us with a struggle: will we identify by our sinful flesh, the futile ways inherited from our fathers (1 Peter 1:18), or will we stand and live upon the faithful Word of God?
Our birth from above gives us the light and power to walk in the Spirit, and not follow after the way of the flesh. Certainly, like the rest of mankind, it would be easy—maybe even more comfortable—to follow one’s heart and embrace what satisfies your desires. But what does the Apostle John warn us?
15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
A child of God has been given a different heart, to love what is different from what “comes naturally”! Whenever our desires are for what God has forbidden us, it is a clear reminder that we do not belong to the world anymore. The world is passing away, along with all of its desires. But the Word of God endures forever, as those who do His will do.
The fruit of the Spirit is seen in every way that those who believe in Him emulate Him: The Lord Jesus Himself displayed this: “When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless” and “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart.” (Matt. 9:36, 11:29) He has a heart that is vulnerable for others. Compassion means to be moved in your guts—to grieve with those who grieve, rejoice with those who rejoice, and share the burdens of those in need [cf. Romans 12:9-21]. Lowly means to abase yourself, choosing to consider the needs of others before your own. It’s no easy task when the messages around us encourage us to take care of ourselves first, and isolate from those who are different or cause us pain. Rather than “everyone for himself,” our lives as God’s children are for the purpose of blessing others.
10For, “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” [cited from Psalm 34:12-16]
These are not empty human words, a motivational speech to spur us into better living. This is God with us, who has given us the “washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” (Titus 3:5) God is with us as we walk through this world, bringing His blessing to our friends and enemies alike.
But, as God knows His blessing often not well-received:
13Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
Blessing those who curse us, but in that suffering, we are actually blessed by God. Fear is removed, because we do not live by the acceptance of others; we live by the acceptance of God through His Son. Our identity in Baptism—where God knew us before we were born and here in time named us with His own Name, bestowing faith, peace, and an eternal future on us—is firmer than the fickle favor of society. It endures even when the closest of family ties are strained. The bond we have in the Spirit is closer than we have with even our friends who we’ve known the longest and the most. This is the rock upon which your life is founded—your ground of being.
Christ the Lord is holy to us, even as He has set us apart to be holy to Him. He is our highest good here in time and there in eternity, because He has loved us and blessed us with the gifts of forgiveness, joy, peace, and hope that outlast this world and its trouble.
Christ our Lord desires this life for every human. People not a discardable entity, an accident, a hot mess, or a dumpster fire; each person is a sacred creation of God the Father, whom He values so much that He shed the blood of His own Son to save from the devil, rebellion, and eternal destruction. He blesses our fellow human creatures by putting His Word on our lips.
And finally, we continually need to pray for one another. We already do, every time we beseech our Father as His Son taught us. But I would urge you to pause in your praying of the Our Father, and put a name to your brothers and sisters that they would hallow God’s Name in their lives, or that His Kingdom would come to more people in this world, or for whatever trials we bear that God’s will is done, that He forgive us when we sin, that He aid each other against temptation, and when His purpose is fulfilled for each of us, that He take us to Himself in eternity.
In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.
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