Eastertide
1 Peter 3
Suffering for Doing Right
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but, on the contrary, repay with a blessing. It is for this that you were called—that you might inherit a blessing. 10 For
“Those who desire to love life
and to see good days,
let them keep their tongues from evil
and their lips from speaking deceit;
11 let them turn away from evil and do good;
let them seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their prayer.
But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
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 respect. Maintain a good conscience 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. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight lives, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.
Resurrection Life in a Fearful World
Blessed Are…
- Blessing
- not the absence of suffering
- but the presence of God within it.
- Peter echoes Jesus’ Beatitudes
- “Blessed are the poor.”
- “Blessed are those who mourn.”
- “Blessed are the persecuted.”
- Resurrection people understand:
- suffering for doing good is not failure
Do Not Fear What They Fear
Isaiah 8:12–13
- Fear is the primary tool of powers and empires
- Reverence God above public anxiety, outrage, and panic
- Worldly fear makes us defensive
- Godly fear makes us faithful
Witness: Gentle, Reverent, Hopeful
- never coercive, cruel or evil...
- Living hope that provokes questions
- Michael Frost "so freakin' weird"
- evokes curiosity
- arouses questions
- exquisitely different
- gentleness, reverence, integrity, and courage
Domesticated Christianity
- First world problems
- the church in harms way (hospitality)
- Resurrection life calls us to solidarity with those who truly suffer for doing good
The Harrowing of Hell
- Christ did not merely escape death; he entered fully into it
- “He descended into hell”
- There is no depth God refuses to enter
- The resurrection means death is defeated
“Some want to live within the sound
Of church or chapel bell;
I want to run a rescue shop,
Within a yard of hell.”
― C.T. Studd
Suffering Resurrection
- Resurrection victory through suffering
- God stands with the wounded, grieving, oppressed, disinherited
- Christ’s suffering... Life for All
Peculiarly Hopeful / “Disastrously Obtuse”
- cruelty toward the sanctified should appear absurd
- durable hope, unusual gentleness, and self-giving love
- refusing vengeance, fear, and despair.
"...Then they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive in every way."
-Titus 2:10
Questions to Consider:
- What fears most shape the way you currently live and respond to others?
- Does your life make people curious about the hope you have in Christ?
- Where do you struggle to believe that Christ is willing to enter suffering or darkness?
- Who around you is suffering right now and may need someone willing to remain present with them?
- What would it look like for you to practice resurrection-shaped love this week?
