By The Rev. Khary Bridgewater
Preached on October 3, 2011
CONTEXT
In 64 AD, the city of Rome burned to the ground and the Emperor Nero is blamed for
the destruction. To redirect the growing hostility, Nero decides to kill two birds with
one stone and blames it on the Christians. They were an easy scapegoat, because they were already viewed with distrust because they didn’t worship Roman gods or approve of the Roman lifestyle.
And so the first state-sponsored persecution of Christians is launched. They were
thrown to wild animals, burned at the stake and even crucified. Those that escaped
persecution fled Rome, dispersing throughout Asia Minor. It is to this group, that
Peter writes his first epistle as a source of encouragement and instruction. It reads…
SCRIPTURE
1 Peter 4:12-19
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test
you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you
are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his
glory is revealed. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because
the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. But let none of you
suffer as a murderer, a thief, a criminal, or even as a mischief maker. Yet if any of you
suffers as a Christian, do not consider it a disgrace, but glorify God because you bear
this name. For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God; if
it begins with us, what will be the end for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
And “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and
the sinners?” Therefore, let those suffering in accordance with God’s will entrust
themselves to a faithful Creator, while continuing to do good.
Now the Peter who writes this letter is no longer the impulsive fisherman that we
read about in the gospels. He is now truly Cephas, the rock, who now stands as a pillar
of the church acting as a Bishop to the scattered believers. He provides four key
points of encouragement and instruction for the believers.
First, he tells them, not to be surprised or act like something strange is happening to
them. For this is the same Peter who heard Jesus say: “If the world hates you, keep in
mind that it hated me first…and…If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.”
So he informs them that persecution and being rejected by the world are a normal
and expected part of our faith.
Second, he tells them to rejoice, be glad, and even shout for joy that they are reviled.
Because Peter, heard Jesus declare: “Blessed are you when people hate you, and
when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of me”. He also
remembered when the other disciples rejoiced after being flogged because “they
were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.”
Third, he tells them be holy and to not suffer as a sinner. Because he knew that they
were being accused of all kind of evil, but by suffering righteously it would not only
benefit them but also some who saw how they behaved through the trials. And
Finally, he tells them to entrust or fully commit themselves to God and continue to do
good. Peter knew that God always has a divine purpose in our sorrow and that he
alone is able to keep us.
And so Peter outlines a doctrine of suffering that understands that when we suffer
for Christ we do not suffer without hope, like the rest of the world. Peter understood
what Romans 5:2-5 means when it says that “suffering produces endurance,
endurance produces character, character produces hope, and this hope, our hope,
does not disappoint us.”
Peter knew that this young church would face trials and persecution, over and over
and over again. He knew that these early Christians needed to deeply understand
God’s purpose in allowing our suffering if it was ever going to become the church God
meant it to be.
And sure enough, after that persecution ended others followed. History tells us that
around the turn of the 3rd century another Roman Emperor decides to deal with the
Christian problem and he outlaws conversion to Christianity.
And in the North African city of Carthage five recent converts were sentenced to die
in the circus as a display of the invincible power of Rome. Among them was a noble
woman named Perpetua, who because of her rank, was hauled before the judge and
given one last chance to renounce God. And she refuses. Her father came in pleading
with her and asks her to renounce God for his sake. And she refuses. He comes back
with her baby son and asks her to renounce God for the baby’s sake. And she refuses.
So, on the day of the execution she and her companions were scourged, and gored by
wild animals. But when the young, inexperienced gladiator comes to deal the final
blow, his hand wavers. And despite the pain, and knowing her fate, she reaches up,
grabs the sword, steadies his hand and brings it to her own neck. And she is finally
killed.
In one stroke the plans of the Roman emperor to stamp out Christianity backfires.
And the crowd that started out cheering the spectacle looked on in amazement and
began to murmur. “What is this Christianity?”
What kind of faith is this?
My friends, this is the heart of our faith. This is the kind of faith that understands that
if we are given the choice to be the oppressed or to be the oppressor we know it is far
better to be the oppressed.
Why? Because the pain of oppression refines our discernment so we can truly sense
how awful and ungodly oppression truly is. And with the discernment of one who has
tasted the bite of suffering, we are now able to fight against oppression.
Not as much for ourselves but so our oppressors, though blinded by their own sin,
might be set free.
What kind of faith is this?
This is the kind of faith that persevered in Birmingham, Alabama. On a Sunday like this
one, in a church like this one, children were gathered in Sunday school to learn about
the Lord. And just when they were settling in an explosion rocked the building and in
an instant four beautiful lives were snuffed out. Four little girls, whose only crime was
the color of their skin, and the fact that they attended a church that dared to believe
that all men were created equal.
And at the funeral Dr. King got up and stood behind the coffins of those dead babies.
And before a grieving community, and a grieving, and grieving families, he declared:
God, still has a way of wringing good out of evil. And history has proven over and over
again, that unmerited suffering is redemptive.
He went on to say that:
Life is hard, at times as hard as crucible steel…it has its moments of drought and its
moments of flood… the soothing warmth of its summers and the piercing chill of its
winters. But if one will hold on, he will discover that God walks with him, and that God
is able to transform dark and desolate valley into sunlit paths of inner peace.
Now you may be asking, how can I have peace when the whole world seems to be
turned against me? Well the apostle Paul, as he approached his own death
proclaimed, “I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing
with the glory about to be revealed in us.”
Church historians record that Peter when he saw his own wife being led away for
execution, he joyfully called out to her because he was delighted because of her
calling and that she was “returning home.” He understood what we are coming to
understand, that this earth is not our home! And while legally, we are a citizens of the
U.S., in truth we are only residents. For our true citizenship is in heaven and we are
only pilgrims passing through, ambassadors of a far better land.
And so, on this Sunday morning. Here in Grand Rapids, we are not surprised at the
fiery ordeal or the dark night of sorrow. We are not overwhelmed by the throes of
life’s challenges.
We know that when we are assailed by the blows of life we are well able to endure.
And so, we no longer mind that this world hates us, and we no longer desire its
acceptance. We don’t mind walking into the hot furnace of adversity, not because we
know we will be delivered, but because we know that no matter what the outcome,
our God will be with us even in the midst of the fire.
We are willing to pass through the valley of the shadow of death because we know
that there, in the dark places of suffering, the bright light of God’s grace shines all the
brighter.
And so we ask, like the Jewish proverb: “not for a lighter burden, but for broader
shoulders.”
Somebody said that “the storm don’t last always” and that “weeping endures for the
night, but joy comes in the morning.”
But I say to you this morning that even if I don’t make it to the other sided of the
storm, I’ll still praise him! And I don’t have to wait until the night is over to rejoice! I
have made up my mind that I can have my joy right now!
Somebody tell me, what kind of faith is this?
This is the kind of faith that caused a group of theologians over in Heidelberg,
Germany to get together and ask themselves a question…
What is my only comfort in life and in death?
And I heard that a young scholar replied:
That I am not my own, but belong body and soul, in life and in death to my Savior
Jesus Christ.
He paid for all my sins with His own blood.
And set me free from the power of the devil.
So that not a single hair can fall from my head, unless it’s the will of the Father.
And that all things, whether celebration or suffering whether sunshine or shadow, all
things work together for my good.
And by the power of the Holy Spirit, I know, that I know, that I know, that I have
eternal life!
LET US PRAY
