About Suffering …
Sunday, March 5th, 2006
Lent 1B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton
1 Peter 3:13-18
Sunday, March 5th, 2006
Lent 1B
Jerusalem Baptist Church, Emmerton
1 Peter 3:13-18
13 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.
A husband and 13 year old daughter are killed in a terrible car accident. Fourteen years later, in a seminar with graduate students, the widow, a professor of pastoral counseling, is asked by one of the students how long it took her to get over it. Her answer in the seminar room was ‘a long time’. Afterwards, walking down the hall with a fellow professor, she turned to her colleague and asked if she should tell the truth; that you never get over something like that.
A Minister shares her most difficult wedding experience: to perform the wedding of a parishioner who, at the age of 62, was getting married for the first time. The woman had headed the search committee that had called the minister to pastor their congregation, and had become a trusted friend. Barely a week before the wedding, the bride to be was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and given weeks to live. She and her husband-to-be insisted that NO ONE know of the diagnosis. They wanted the joy of the wedding celebration to be an undiluted, treasured memory.
A different pastor shares with another the experience of walking through the valley of the shadow of death with a couple who lost their 2 month old daughter to an unexplained illness, after having been trying to have children for over a decade. He tells of trying to comfort the sobbing mother and to convince her to let go of her daughter’s body in the emergency room. The story opened a window to sharing his own grief experience of walking through his and his wife’s three miscarriages, and of his nearly losing his wife after their oldest child, a son, was born. The retelling of the story is … smooth, but not without emotional weight. It stuns his listener, a new pastor just starting out in ministry.
Can we come up with an objective, comprehensive definition of suffering? Probably not.
Is everyone’s suffering the same? No.
Can we come up with an objective, comprehensive definition of suffering? Probably not.
Is everyone’s suffering the same? No.
Does everyone suffer over the same experiences? No.
What does it mean to suffer? You tell me.
The fact of the matter is, insofar as there are, say, somewhere around fifty people in this sanctuary today, there are at least that many different ways in which we would all deal with suffering. There is no established pattern, there are ELEMENTS of grief that we might each experience, but not in the same sequence, nor with the same frequency, nor with the same intensity.
The suffering Peter is speaking of in the passage this morning is in the same ballpark, but coming from a different source. If it is true that we all experience pain and suffering, and experience it differently, it is also true that those things that CAUSE us to suffer differ from person to person.
Have you ever been accused of something you did not do, and been held responsible for it in spite of your protestations?
Except for a couple of times as a young boy, being unable to look INNOCENT of something that I actually did NOT do, and getting punished for it, I can tell you that I don’t believe I have ever had that experience. So right off the bat, I’m a little behind the curve.
That was something early Christ-followers were easily susceptible to. Being the ‘new religion on the block’, Christians were prone to being stereotyped and misrepresented, and maligned and flat out lied about on a regular basis.
What Peter makes a point of noting here is that, first of all, it is to be expected, this suffering. Not in so many words, perhaps, but there is a simple presupposition that, as Christians, we can expect to suffer, just like anyone and everyone else in the world. Nowhere does Christ in the Gospels, or Paul in his epistles, or any of the other new testament writers, for that matter, tell us that in following Christ we will acquire a ‘get out of jail’ card when it comes to going through life and miss the hard parts.
It is in our suffering, especially, as we read in this passage, if it is because of our faith, that we gain a sense of what Christ lived through on our behalf. The radical – the ROOT – difference, of course, is that his suffering was by choice, willingly taken on for our sake, and ours is a fact based on our nature as part of a … fallen nature.
The first witness of the Christian church was not through best selling books, or power worship anthems, or power point presentations, or big-budget movies on which they hung their message. The first witness of the followers of Christ was through their lifestyles. Apparently, at that time and in that place, there was enough of a change between the way they lived before they decided to follow Christ and afterwards that people sat up and took notice. Their actions spoke louder than any words they might have used.
Peter exhorts them and us to go beyond words, though. There are going to be times when the noticing will turn to curiosity, and the curiosity will turn into inquiry, and the inquiry will turn into conversation. And that is where we can so often fall short.
A reporter for ABC News commented that people are perfectly willing to share the deepest secrets of their intimate lives with absolute strangers, but completely shut down when it comes to talking about their faith.
Why is that?
Peter urges us to be prepared to make our defense to anyone who demands (or asks) from you an accounting for the hope that is in you – in other words, explain why it is that you live the way you do, treat others the way you do, speak to and of others the way you do. Could we do that? Maybe the question would be more revealing if we were to ask, could we do that COMFORTABLY? Or Could we do that in such a way that we didn’t come across as insincere, without using church language, without painting an unrealistic picture of what it is like to follow Christ as a day-in-day-out Christian, rather than a Sunday-only Christian.
What faith in Christ has always been about, true faith, genuine faith, transforming faith, has been about pointing in the same direction – hopefully more often than not – Eugene Petersen entitled one of his books in that way – A Long Obedience In The Same Direction. We truly are to act as guideposts – not only to others, but to ourselves as well. Sometimes, even though we may be DOING the right things, we still have to stop and think a minute about WHY we are doing them, and put that into words. We are, after all, social and communicative creatures. We not only communicate through actions, but through the word – spoken or written.
The word for ‘defense’ in verse 15 is apologia. It is where we get our word ‘apology’, of course, but it is only distantly related to the connotation the contemporary word has acquired. In the first century, the word apologia meant a defense provided in a legal setting – in court, in fact. It was a carefully and intentionally crafted statement or series of statements that explain the reason and purpose of something. In this case, faith in Christ.
The reason for our faith in Christ is grounded not ONLY in his teachings, in the wisdom and gentleness from the sermon on the mount, in the head-on collisions he had with the Pharisees and Sadducees in and around the temple and over the issue of the Sabbath laws, not ONLY in the witness of his miracles and healings, but ultimately, in his sacrifice, in his death, burial, and resurrection.
And it is in that knowledge that we began a walk this past Wednesday through the forty days of Lent. During this season of the year we set aside a little more than a tenth of our year to contemplate that aspect of the Gospel that most intersects with us on a daily basis. What it means to follow Christ. Does it make a whole lot of difference in the way I act, in the way I talk, in the way I think, to call myself a Christian, or does it not really seem to have a significant impact on what I would be doing otherwise?
If I were removed from the northern neck, and plopped down in the middle of, say, Brisbane, Australia, would something about my behavior clue others into the fact that I am a Christ-follower? I wouldn’t look drastically different from anyone else, and though I might speak with a noticeable accent, my words wouldn’t be radically different from those that would be used regularly by the locals. If I were to go through the regular daily activities of living – going to the grocery store, getting gas, going to the post office … how would people know I was a follower of Christ?
It is that thought that compels us as Christians to engage the world, not withdraw from it, to invite the conversation, to open ourselves to others’ stories, to gain an audience for our own.
What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
It means we can only do so much by lifestyle evangelism. People may know we come here, or are associated with Jerusalem, or are part of the Greater Jerusalem Community, but unless we have a way to share with them WHY we are like we are, why we do the things we do, WHY we participate in community fundraisers and meal deliveries, and Lenten services, and sunrise services, and offer a food pantry, and share in the meals on wheels program, it is not JUST because we are good neighbors, it is because we are God’s children and we recognize that we are not the ONLY ones who ARE God’s children. We are part of the inbreaking Kingdom of God, and as part of that, we welcome opportunities to gather with other members of the Kingdom and celebrate, observe, and usher in that Kingdom.
We will have that opportunity this evening as we host the first community Lenten service here at 7 PM, and over the next five Sundays, followed by the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services.
These are chances we have to be reminded of that wideness of God’s mercy that we sing about, to see ‘all the little children of the world’ the kids sing about, and to remember that Christ died for us all.
Let’s pray.
What does it mean to suffer? You tell me.
The fact of the matter is, insofar as there are, say, somewhere around fifty people in this sanctuary today, there are at least that many different ways in which we would all deal with suffering. There is no established pattern, there are ELEMENTS of grief that we might each experience, but not in the same sequence, nor with the same frequency, nor with the same intensity.
The suffering Peter is speaking of in the passage this morning is in the same ballpark, but coming from a different source. If it is true that we all experience pain and suffering, and experience it differently, it is also true that those things that CAUSE us to suffer differ from person to person.
Have you ever been accused of something you did not do, and been held responsible for it in spite of your protestations?
Except for a couple of times as a young boy, being unable to look INNOCENT of something that I actually did NOT do, and getting punished for it, I can tell you that I don’t believe I have ever had that experience. So right off the bat, I’m a little behind the curve.
That was something early Christ-followers were easily susceptible to. Being the ‘new religion on the block’, Christians were prone to being stereotyped and misrepresented, and maligned and flat out lied about on a regular basis.
What Peter makes a point of noting here is that, first of all, it is to be expected, this suffering. Not in so many words, perhaps, but there is a simple presupposition that, as Christians, we can expect to suffer, just like anyone and everyone else in the world. Nowhere does Christ in the Gospels, or Paul in his epistles, or any of the other new testament writers, for that matter, tell us that in following Christ we will acquire a ‘get out of jail’ card when it comes to going through life and miss the hard parts.
It is in our suffering, especially, as we read in this passage, if it is because of our faith, that we gain a sense of what Christ lived through on our behalf. The radical – the ROOT – difference, of course, is that his suffering was by choice, willingly taken on for our sake, and ours is a fact based on our nature as part of a … fallen nature.
The first witness of the Christian church was not through best selling books, or power worship anthems, or power point presentations, or big-budget movies on which they hung their message. The first witness of the followers of Christ was through their lifestyles. Apparently, at that time and in that place, there was enough of a change between the way they lived before they decided to follow Christ and afterwards that people sat up and took notice. Their actions spoke louder than any words they might have used.
Peter exhorts them and us to go beyond words, though. There are going to be times when the noticing will turn to curiosity, and the curiosity will turn into inquiry, and the inquiry will turn into conversation. And that is where we can so often fall short.
A reporter for ABC News commented that people are perfectly willing to share the deepest secrets of their intimate lives with absolute strangers, but completely shut down when it comes to talking about their faith.
Why is that?
Peter urges us to be prepared to make our defense to anyone who demands (or asks) from you an accounting for the hope that is in you – in other words, explain why it is that you live the way you do, treat others the way you do, speak to and of others the way you do. Could we do that? Maybe the question would be more revealing if we were to ask, could we do that COMFORTABLY? Or Could we do that in such a way that we didn’t come across as insincere, without using church language, without painting an unrealistic picture of what it is like to follow Christ as a day-in-day-out Christian, rather than a Sunday-only Christian.
What faith in Christ has always been about, true faith, genuine faith, transforming faith, has been about pointing in the same direction – hopefully more often than not – Eugene Petersen entitled one of his books in that way – A Long Obedience In The Same Direction. We truly are to act as guideposts – not only to others, but to ourselves as well. Sometimes, even though we may be DOING the right things, we still have to stop and think a minute about WHY we are doing them, and put that into words. We are, after all, social and communicative creatures. We not only communicate through actions, but through the word – spoken or written.
The word for ‘defense’ in verse 15 is apologia. It is where we get our word ‘apology’, of course, but it is only distantly related to the connotation the contemporary word has acquired. In the first century, the word apologia meant a defense provided in a legal setting – in court, in fact. It was a carefully and intentionally crafted statement or series of statements that explain the reason and purpose of something. In this case, faith in Christ.
The reason for our faith in Christ is grounded not ONLY in his teachings, in the wisdom and gentleness from the sermon on the mount, in the head-on collisions he had with the Pharisees and Sadducees in and around the temple and over the issue of the Sabbath laws, not ONLY in the witness of his miracles and healings, but ultimately, in his sacrifice, in his death, burial, and resurrection.
And it is in that knowledge that we began a walk this past Wednesday through the forty days of Lent. During this season of the year we set aside a little more than a tenth of our year to contemplate that aspect of the Gospel that most intersects with us on a daily basis. What it means to follow Christ. Does it make a whole lot of difference in the way I act, in the way I talk, in the way I think, to call myself a Christian, or does it not really seem to have a significant impact on what I would be doing otherwise?
If I were removed from the northern neck, and plopped down in the middle of, say, Brisbane, Australia, would something about my behavior clue others into the fact that I am a Christ-follower? I wouldn’t look drastically different from anyone else, and though I might speak with a noticeable accent, my words wouldn’t be radically different from those that would be used regularly by the locals. If I were to go through the regular daily activities of living – going to the grocery store, getting gas, going to the post office … how would people know I was a follower of Christ?
It is that thought that compels us as Christians to engage the world, not withdraw from it, to invite the conversation, to open ourselves to others’ stories, to gain an audience for our own.
What does this mean for Jerusalem Baptist Church at Emmerton?
It means we can only do so much by lifestyle evangelism. People may know we come here, or are associated with Jerusalem, or are part of the Greater Jerusalem Community, but unless we have a way to share with them WHY we are like we are, why we do the things we do, WHY we participate in community fundraisers and meal deliveries, and Lenten services, and sunrise services, and offer a food pantry, and share in the meals on wheels program, it is not JUST because we are good neighbors, it is because we are God’s children and we recognize that we are not the ONLY ones who ARE God’s children. We are part of the inbreaking Kingdom of God, and as part of that, we welcome opportunities to gather with other members of the Kingdom and celebrate, observe, and usher in that Kingdom.
We will have that opportunity this evening as we host the first community Lenten service here at 7 PM, and over the next five Sundays, followed by the Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services.
These are chances we have to be reminded of that wideness of God’s mercy that we sing about, to see ‘all the little children of the world’ the kids sing about, and to remember that Christ died for us all.
Let’s pray.
No comments:
Post a Comment