God’s grace, peace
and mercy to you. My sermon is entitled Hope while Suffering, and my
focus is our Epistle (1 Peter 3:13-22). Let us pray. Heavenly Father, the
psalmist wrote, “I rejoiced when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of
the Lord.’” Now that our feet are within your gates, we rejoice to hear your
Word. As we listen, may your Spirit enlighten our minds and move our hearts to
love deeply as Jesus loved. This we pray to you, Most Holy Trinity. Amen.
Suffering. A few
weeks ago, I said that we all understand suffering. It comes to us from two
Latin words: sub, which means up or under, and ferre, meaning to
carry or bear. Joined together, we have our English word, suffer. Throughout
its history, the word has not changed much with the exception of the phrase
Suffering Succotash, an exclamation of annoyance and surprise, made famous by
the cartoon character Sylvester the Cat.
Since much of the
New Testament was written against the backdrop of the Greek world, we turn to
see what their philosophers said about suffering. The Cynics taught that
suffering is alleviated by achieving mental clarity or freedom from some false
belief, mindlessness or folly. One must develop self-sufficiency and love of
humanity.
The Hedonist
Epicurus advocated that we should first seek to avoid suffering and the
unwelcome consequences of fleeting pleasures. Hedonism claims that good and bad
consist ultimately in pleasure and pain.
For the Stoics,
the greatest good rested in reason and virtue, but the soul best reached the
greatest good through an indifference to pleasure and pain. As a consequence,
this doctrine became identified with stern self-control. While the writers of
the New Testament were persuaded by Greek schools of thought and culture, they
were influenced to a greater degree by the Old Testament.
Suffering in the
Old Testament is understood in terms of pain, sorrow, affliction and anguish, stemming
from the loss of loved ones, property or land, sickness, guilt or frustration
because of the absence of God. Pain or affliction may also be physical or
emotional brought about by childbirth, manual labor, or the effects of war and
hunger.
Suffering is a
result of sin or the transgression of God’s law. This dominant view is
understood in terms of vengeful justice or punishment. In other words, actions
have consequences. Good behavior or good deeds lead to reward, while bad behavior
or bad actions lead to punishment.
Vengeance is seen
in terms of the direct intervention of God. This is emphasized in Deuteronomy,
the Prophets, the Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Job. A just God has the
power and will to execute justice. There is a lot more that can be said of
suffering for breaking God’s law, as well as innocent suffering as portrayed in
Job, and vicarious suffering, such as that endured by Isaiah the Suffering
Servant, but suffice it to say that the New Testament writers were inspired and
influenced by their culture, the Holy Spirit and Sacred Scripture as they
penned the gospels and epistles. So, we move from suffering in the Greek and
Hebrew worlds to suffering in the early Church.
Peter has been
bringing both words of hope and caution to his readers in the first chapters of
the letter. They should act in ways that are honorable and holy so that their
neighbors and family members have no reason to criticize them. The tension
inherent in their situation comes to the fore in our passage, where Peter asks
the question that seems to be plaguing his audience: “Now who is there to harm
you if you are zealous for what is good?”
You see, followers
of Jesus were recipients of slander and malicious talk. They were treated this
way because of their allegiance to Jesus as Lord in a culture where abandoning temple
worship of their former pagan gods was equivalent to treason. In this difficult
situation, Peter advised Christians to adhere as much as possible to the
expectations of state and household: “For this is the will of God, that
by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people”
(2:15).
So, when Peter
asks, “Who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?”
(3:13), his audience could have easily responded that they had been harmed
precisely for doing good – for following their Lord. But Peter asks the
question to call for even deeper reflection on their situation. He will readily
concede in the very next breath that it is possible for his audience to suffer
slander even as they live worthy lives, but it seems he wants his readers to do
a double check when this kind of external pressure comes their way.
The need for
self-reflection comes into even greater focus in verse 17 where he wonders
aloud about the absurdity of suffering for doing good “if that should be
God’s will.” Peter is bent on ensuring that the slander directed toward
these Christians comes from their allegiance to Jesus and nothing else.
Pursuing
allegiance is a central appeal of this passage: “in your hearts honor
Christ as holy” (3:15). In a world of many lords and gods, these
believers are to have only one Lord and are to be ready to speak to the hope
they share in common with the community of faith. By speaking of their hope
respectfully, humbly and honorably, they remain above reproach even if they are
slandered by neighbors and family members. The hope held out is that their
honorable behavior will put to shame those who slander them.
In the rest of our
chapter, Peter offers the example of Jesus to encourage his readers. As Jesus
was vindicated after he suffered unjustly, so these struggling followers can
look forward to vindication if they commit themselves to their faithful Father
and continue to do good.
There are numerous
difficulties interpreting vv. 18-22, most notably the identity of disobedient
and imprisoned spirits, the nature of Christ’s preaching or proclamation to
them, and the rationale for the analogy between Noah’s situation and the Christian
community’s condition.[1] Peter draws on the flood
story to assert Christ’s proclamation of victory over all evil, including the
spirits “in prison,” a picture of God’s patient restraint from their
destruction. Christ’s victory over death brings his full lordship over all
angels, authorities, and powers, including these spirits who epitomize evil.
Because of Christ’s
resurrection and his vindication, those who trust Him can be assured that they,
like Noah’s family, will be rescued through water, an analogy for Christian
baptism. The readers of 1st Peter knew about the Flood the way we
know the writings of modern Christian authors. They heard the story of Jesus’
vindication after suffering and his removal of all opposing powers, and that gave
them hope that their own suffering would be vindicated.
Now, let’s move
out of Peter’s world and into our own where we are influenced not only by
contemporary philosophies, but also by faith. As Greek thinkers influenced the
world in which Jesus and his first followers lived, modern philosophers like
Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill affected our culture more than a woke
movement. Bentham and Mill developed and promoted hedonistic utilitarianism, a
popular doctrine in ethics, politics and economics. Bentham argued that the
right act or policy is that which would bring the greatest happiness to the
greatest number of people. Others advocated the use of biotechnology to abolish
suffering. Still others taught that we should consider not only the interests
of human beings but also those of animals. Humanitarianism seeks to make the
unhappy happy rather than the happy happier. It is a main ingredient in many of
our social attitudes.
Now, I am not
against making unhappy people happy or happy people happier. Yet, I know that
truly deep happiness is rooted in something beyond this world and the time I
spend living in it. For me, the Resurrection means everything, and therefore,
the teachings of the Resurrected One, our Risen Lord Jesus Christ, mean
everything to me. It is in Him and His teachings that I find true happiness. Christianity
is not part of my life; it is my life. Nevertheless, not every moment of my
life and not every event in my life stirs happiness. I am not happiest when I
am pulling weeds or cleaning ashes out of the fireplace. I am not happy about
arthritis or high blood pressure. Suffering still is part and parcel of my life
as a Christian.
So, we want to be
careful in making direct comparisons between 1st century Christians
in Rome and 21st century Christians in the U.S., where we often have
significant advantages in relation to people of other faiths. Many of us live
and work among some people who practice a non-Christian faith or no faith at
all.
Yet some of the
themes we hear in our epistle resonate with us. As Peter pressed his readers to
greater self-reflection to ensure that any suffering they experienced came only
from their allegiance to Christ, so we might consider that any persecution we
encounter arises not because of our faith, but possibly because of our own bad
behavior, our own sin. Sometimes people do not like me because to them I act
like a jerk.
That said,
suffering occurs in our world. Beyond the suffering we experience when death is
pending or sickness is present, when we face the strain of personal or
congregational finances, stressful relationships among family members or
employees for whatever reason, there is the additional suffering directly
related to living as a Christian, and we need to be aware of it as much as 1st
century Christians were. We are aware that 1st century Christian
were persecuted for being Christian, but did you know that there were more
martyrs in the 20th century than under any Roman ruler?
Throughout the 20th
century, faithful Christians were murdered throughout Mexico, Nazi Germany, the
Soviet Union, Communist China and Vietnam, as well as many oppressive regimes
in South America, Eastern Europe and Asia. Today, Christian persecution occurs
regularly in North Korea, Afghanistan, Somalia, Sudan, Pakistan, India and many
other nations.
In Iran,
Christians face systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious
freedom. Libya trains militants to attack Coptic Christians. In France,
vandalism, theft, arson and other increasing attacks occur on churches.
Worldwide, 260 million Christians suffer from persecution.
What do they ask
us and what is there we can do for people who suffer at this time? They want
you to pray, engage and partner with them as fellow believers who share our
faith but not our freedom. Pray, engage and partner with believers who share
our faith but not our freedom.
My friends, it may
seem that suffering seems to be winning the day, but the story of Jesus offers
hope to all who follow in His footsteps for we know deep within our hearts that
the God who vindicated and exalted Him, offers the same to us. Today, pray,
engage and partner with others suffering from whatever life hurls at them, and know
that the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts
and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
[1] An
answer to these three significant textual questions comes from the Jewish
apocalyptic book, 1st Enoch, which dates from about the second century B.C. In
Enoch 6-16, we hear an expanded interpretation of Genesis 6-9 in its narration
of the exponential growth of human sinfulness and the subsequent flood, which
only Noah’s family survived. In 1st Enoch, the Nephilim, or giants of Genesis
6:4, give birth to evil spirits who bring great wickedness upon the earth that
is the impetus for the great flood.
