Suffering Well- 1 Peter 3
Christianity is sometimes presented as a cure-all for the problems of life. If you just have enough faith, then all your personal issues and personality problems will just vanish. Sometimes it’s presented as a get rich quick philosophy. If you just believe then you will receive the abundant material blessings of God. Because God loves you, and if God loves you he wants you to have nice things, right? If you just have faith and pray then God will give you the job you want, the husband or wife you want, the children you want, the car you want, the house you want. If you just believe strongly enough, then you will not be sick. Life will be smooth and joyful and perfect. And the only thing standing in your way is your doubt. This is sometimes called the Prosperity Gospel.
The people who Peter was writing to (around 30 years after Jesus died and was resurrected) would not have recognized what I just described as Christianity. The people Peter was writing to were living in a constant state of persecution. Becoming a Christian to them often meant that you were ridiculed.
There was some ancient graffiti discovered near the Colosseum in Rome that dates from between the 1st to 3rd century. It is a drawing on a wall that has the inscription “Alexamenos worships his God” and there is a crude drawing of a man on a cross with the head of a donkey, and a man is in front this image worshipping. To many in the ancient world, Christianity was foolishness.
It sometimes meant that your family rejected you. It sometimes meant that your community rejected you. Sometimes your worshiping community rejected you. Sometimes you were even viewed as an enemy of the state because you didn't give homage to the gods. The toleration of the presence of the Christians could be seen as an offense to the pagan gods, and that might be reason for the gods to stop protecting the peace and prosperity of the city, or maybe even to punish the city with famine or plague. For those reading Peter's letter, becoming Christian didn't necessarily make life all that much better in a material or social sense. It didn't make all their problems go away. In fact, it is likely that becoming Christian made life harder. Becoming Christian was not a way to material prosperity, or to win friends, no matter how strong your faith was.
Peter is attempting to guide the people as they live in the midst of persecution. They are suffering, but they are suffering for doing good. They are suffering for becoming Christian. They are suffering unjustly.
We don't suffer in the same way those 1st century Christians did. Though, some Christians in our world do. We have it pretty good in this part of the world. … Though, we do get made fun of once in a while. We might get grouped in with the boring Reverend Lovejoy and the geeky Ned Flanders from the Simpsons. Or, we get labeled as hateful, judgmental, or hypocritical. And sometimes we can be that, and we are called to repent. … If someone knows you are a Christian, that will probably not be the things that gets you invited to Hollywood parties.
When the Church appears in the news it is usually not our best side that is shown. The media seems to have a slant towards showing corruption when it comes to the Church. For example, Christian clergy have a pretty horrifying reputation in the media. According to some statistics, however, grades K to 12 teachers are slightly more likely to be perpetrators of abuse, and sports coaches are as likely as Christian clergy to be abusers, which matches the statistics for the general male population. Christian clergy get highlighted in the news with these kinds of abuse stories because clergy are supposed to have exemplary moral lives, and rightly so. Also, sometimes church institutions haven’t dealt with these things well. I think it’s horrifying, and no one should be allowed to function in ordained ministry who has done such things. So, I’m not trying to justify clergy who behave badly. … I’m just trying to put things into perspective. The media makes it seem like Christian clergy are particularly bad, or are more likely to perpetrate such abuse.
Sometimes we are considered unscientific. People will say that they prefer “science rather than faith”, as if you have to pick one side and reject the other. Sometimes we are seen as fools for believing in miracles. Sometimes we are seen as pathetic victims of a large conspiracy- as mindless pawns who have been lied to for centuries. Sometimes we are weighted with the misbehavior of Christians throughout history, or we are confronted with unfashionable opinions of Christians of the past who happen to not have been born in the 21st century.
So, we in the modern West, might not face the same kind of persecution that our first century brothers and sisters did, but we do sometimes feel some sort of push back at times. Maybe not often, but sometimes.
Peter was writing a letter to help his fellow Christians deal with the opposition they were facing. First, he tells them to be model citizens. They are less likely to be mistreated if they are good citizens (in the ways their conscience allows them to be) while living in a Pagan world. He didn’t tell them to be zealots and fight against Rome, which is what resulted in the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple shortly after this letter was written. … But he also reminds them that being good might not be enough to avoid suffering. They might still suffer abuse, but if they suffer for doing good then they will receive blessing from God. Because, if they suffer for no wrong, then they become identified with Jesus, who being completely innocent, was tortured and killed unjustly.
If you endure this ridicule and this unjust suffering, then you might grab their attention. They will realize that you do not fear what they fear. They will begin to wonder what is worth the suffering. Why not just give up the Christian thing? Why is Jesus worth suffering for? … And then Peter says,
“Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence”.
This suffering might just lead to a very important conversation. The way a Christian endures suffering can be a powerful witness to the hope that is in us and that can lead to many questions.
At one church I served, I once met a man named Eddie Nishida. He was a Japanese Canadian, and during World War 2 he was placed in a Japanese Internment Camp. I think he was a teenager. Like most other Japanese Canadians, he was a Buddhist. Though, there were a few Christians, as well. At one point Eddie became ill and was placed in the tuberculosis tent. He said that he watched many people die, but he said that the Christians died differently. He said they died with hope. … The way they engaged with their suffering caused Eddie have questions.
Like the those first Christians that Peters was writing to, we should not be surprised when our faith doesn’t shield us from every hardship. The Gospel was never meant to be a magic charm against suffering. Instead, Christ has stepped into suffering ahead of us, and transformed it from the inside. So, when we meet difficulty with integrity, with gentleness, and with hope, we bear witness to the One who suffered for us and rose again. And sometimes—like those Christians Eddie watched in that tent—our quiet, steady hope becomes the very thing that awakens longing and questions in another human heart. May God grant us the grace to face our own suffering and hardship in a way that causes others to see the way of Christ in us. AMEN
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