Printer Friendly VersionIn the opening stories of the scripture we see two forces opposed
to each other. On the one hand humankind, in rejection of God’s desires,
seems to be bent upon self-centeredness, leading the world into increasing
forms of violence and division. On the other hand, God keeps working and re-creating
a people who will reverse the kind of destruction and cursed existence wrought
by human sin.
In the story of Adam and Eve we see not only a rejection of
God’s purposes, but the story ends with Adam and Eve blaming one another.
The second generation of humankind reveals how jealousy and envy quickly turns
brother in violence against brother. In a lesser known narrative in Genesis
4 we are told the story of Lamech who will not just enact revenge upon anyone
who hurts him, but he will enact retribution seventy-seven times greater than
the harm he as received. Genesis six describes the corruption before the flood
of Noah this way, “the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the
earth was filled with violence” (Genesis 6:11). Later in Genesis 11,
human pride leads to nation drawing boundary line against other nations. The
evil, violent self-centeredness of humankind is embodied in the power of Egypt
and Pharaoh’s misuse of others.
In the midst of all of this destruction God is working to redeem
the broken creation. It is interesting that water is included in almost every
account of both destruction and redemption. In Genesis one God creates order
out of the chaos of the waters: “a wind from God swept over the face
of the waters” (1:2). At the end of the flood story, God parts the waters
of destruction by His wind or Spirit: “And God made a wind blow over
the earth and the water subsided” (8:1). At the Red Sea the people again
are delivered through the waters by the wind or breath of God: “The
Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night, and turned the sea
into dry land; and the waters were divided” (Exodus 14:21).
We see from the very beginning that the power of sin keeps dividing
people and creating a broken world, but God keeps lovingly recreating through
the power of His Spirit.
The epistle text for this sixth Sunday of Easter comes immediately
after the rules for the Christian household, some of which we dealt with in
the house rules for slaves from the fourth Sunday of Easter. Not included
in today’s scripture reading, but nevertheless critical to understanding
the message of the text, are the instructions given in 3:9, “Do not
repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse; but, on the contrary, repay with a
blessing. It was for this that you were called--that you might inherit a blessing”
(NRSV).
An important theme in the ministry and kingdom proclamation of Jesus which
is also explicated in Paul’s epistles, is “not to be overcome
by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Rom. 12:21).
Again we find Peter dealing with the issue of suffering. For reasons that
were apparently so well known to the original readers they did not need explanation,
the early church suffered at the hands of others. The suffering Peter describes
is not the natural physical suffering that comes with having temporal physical
bodies, nor is it likely suffering created by widespread, systematic Roman
persecution. The suffering the readers most likely faced was sporadic harassment
initiated by local citizens against the increasingly marginalized body of
Christian believers.
Assuming first of all, that the suffering the Christians are experiencing
is not happening in response to evil acts (3:17) and that the believer’s
conscience is clear (v. 16), how should Christians respond when they are hurt
by others, especially if they are harmed for doing what is right?
Again when faced with how to respond to suffering, Peter point
us to examine God’s response to unjust suffering in Jesus (v. 18). Like
those to whom Peter is writing, Christ also suffered for doing what was good.
He, the righteous, suffered for or on behalf of the unrighteous. On the one
hand this means that the unrighteous were the cause of His suffering, but
on the other hand this also means that the way Jesus responded to His suffering
was intended to redeem His persecutors. Peter adds the phrase that Christ
suffered “in order to bring you to God” (v. 18). In other words,
Christ’s response to suffering revealed the deep love of God and the
radical need His persecutors had for God’s love. In this way we can
say Jesus endured suffering in the hope that His persecutors might be redeemed
and transformed.
Peter also writes that Jesus “was put to death in the
flesh, but made alive in the spirit” (v. 18, NRSV). This should not
be read as a dualistic statement dividing the nature of the soul from the
body. Peter is not saying that although the body of Jesus was destroyed, His
spirit remained alive. Rather, in terms similar to Paul, Peter is likely saying
the way Jesus endured suffering put to death the sinful ways of “the
flesh” but brought to life and to light the kingdom patterns of “the
spirit.”
Putting to death the flesh means ending all of the patterns
I described in the early parts of the scripture. It means putting to death
our need to blame one another. It means healing the divisions between people
formed by jealousy and envy. It means truly being people of Pentecost by working
to erase the dividing lines that are so often arbitrarily drawn between cultures
and nations. It means not getting caught up in the corruption and violence
that are so prevalent in the culture. It means not following after the patterns
of power embodied in Pharaoh but identifying ourselves with the sacrificial
love of the Lamb of God.
To participate in God’s undoing of the effects of sin and brokenness
is to discover what it means to live in the Spirit.
How do we learn to live in God’s Spirit? This text contains at least
five important imperatives for disciples to follow.
First, “do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated”
(v. 14, NRSV). The hope of the resurrection of Christ is the basis for believers
to be able to face suffering without fear. The worst that persecutors can
do to the early Christians is to destroy their bodies, but in Christ even
death has been conquered. The hope of eternal life keeps the believer from
being intimidated into participating in the world’s cycles of retribution.
The early church leader Tertullian is famous for his statement,
“The blood of the martyrs is seed for the church.” Certainly he
meant in those words that when people witness the passionate commitment to
the kingdom in the martyrs that rather than destroying the Church persecution
seems to only intensify its growth. But Tertullian probably also means that
the hope with which the martyrs faced death can be a living witness that there
is nothing ultimately to fear at the hands of Caesar. If death is end of our
story, then those who threaten to kill us have the final authority. But if
death is no longer an enemy, then all power for coercion has been taken away
from the principalities and powers.
Second, the believers are to “sanctify Christ as Lord”
(v. 15, NRSV). This does not mean to make Christ more holy but to regard Him
as holy, to obey Him and follow His example as the highest of all authorities.
We must ultimately decide who we are going to serve. No one can serve two
masters. If money, power, fame, and so on is our god then we will sanctify
it as the lord of our lives. When we face difficulties we must decide who
the Lord of life is.
“Always be ready to make your defense . . . with gentleness
and reverence,” is the third imperative for disciples (vv. 15-16, NRSV).
It is not the responsibility of the Christian to be argumentative but, with
gentle confidence, to always be prepared to proclaim the basis of the hope
modeled in their life. I am not sure the evangelist with the megaphone is
building the kingdom or creating more division in the world. For Peter, the
quiet, confident, loving strength of the believer’s life serves as witness
to the world that Christ is Lord.
Fourth, the believer must “keep your conscience clear”
(v. 16, NRSV). It is critical that the community of believers not become self-deceived
and believe that they are being mistreated for doing good when in reality
they are in misbehaving or making wrong decisions that are the cause of their
own suffering.
And finally, the Early Church is called to remember their baptism
(v. 21). As we have already seen, the symbol of water in the Old Testament
is always a sign of chaos, struggle, and fear. In the creation narrative (Genesis
1), the story of Noah (Genesis 6-7) and in the Exodus event (Exodus 14) God
created newness out of the waters of chaos. In a similar way, the New Testament
church saw baptism as God bringing believers through the waters of destruction
and sin and forming them into a new people (a new creation) through the power
of the Resurrection. Peter calls the disciples to remember that God is using
the struggles they are going through (the flood waters of chaos) to bring
about a new creation and to form them into a new people that can best be described
as His eternal kingdom.
God has given us a responsibility to participate in His reversing
the curse of sin. In Christ, God reveals His plan again to not allow the creation
to be overcome by evil, but to overcome evil with good. That is why Peter’s
advise for disciples as they face various forms of unjust suffering is so
important to hear. We are those who are called to follow the example of Christ
as we participate in the kingdom of goodness, love, and forgiveness.
The creation is indeed broken and fragmented, but Christ is making His appeal for reconciliation and peace through us.
