APRIL 27, 2008
“eHOW HOPE”
Psalm 66: 8-12; I Peter 3-22
Want to know how to cut an onion without crying? Wondering how to arrange marching band music, how about auditioning for Survivor? Bathing a Guinea Pig, Making your own CD, pondering on how you might get a clue to being happy or successful at home and work on bring a better partner? Used to be that you’d have to do some serious asking around or head to the library to gather that information. Now of course we have the Internet and search engines. The Internet continues to become more sophisticated. There are thousands of sites that are now dedicated to gathering information and locating it in one place. One such site that’s breaking new ground in the area is eHOW.com. It’s what the name implies, a site where you can learn how to do just about anything. It’s a one stop for anyone who wants to learn.
Punch in you how to question in eHOW’s search engine and you’ll come up with step by step articles written by readers and self-proclaimed experts on topics from relationships to business to in between. The eHOW database has about 100,000 articles and growing and is visited about 8 million times each month. When enquiring minds want to know, eHOW delivers. But if you look at eHOW closely you’ll see some holes. Type in how to have hope for example and you will get some ideas on how to have inner peace or carry on when a loved one dies. Those are important of course, but tend to be fairly generalized. Type in a tough question like how to suffer faithfully, and the only thing that pops up is an article about how to treat a pinched nerve.
For some questions you have to skip the digital database and go straight to the analog. Suffering faithfully and maintaining hope in the midst of persecution are the kinds of how-to’s that you can only find in the pages of scripture. Call it a scripture database if you will. I Peter was written as a how-to letter of encouragement to the churches scattered throughout Asia Minor, churches that had become alienated from the prevailing Roman culture and were increasingly being persecuted because of their faith. The evidence from the letter seems to indicate that the persecution was more localized at this point than the later empire wide campaigns against Christianity that form the basis of other New Testament books like Revelation. Still the writer saw these Christians as exiles who had left behind the pagan beliefs of their neighbors and families and who now were strangers and aliens in their hometowns. Refusing to buy into the pagan practices and worldview of their social networks, the members of the Christian community soon became targets for insults, discrimination and even violence. The writer of Peter, however, didn’t see these situations as necessarily a bad thing. This suffering of these new Christians would offer them a unique opportunity to share the hope that was within them.
It may not be dangerous to live the Christian life in 21st century America as it was in first century Asia Minor, but the truth is the Christian faith is still under attack. Best selling books blame violence in the world on religious people. Books tout the virtues of reason and science over and against faith. Celebrities use award shows as opportunities to insult and demean those who believe. Now, granted it’s not exactly it’s not exactly the same as being tossed in with the lions, but today’s subtle jabs at Christianity can leave believers reluctant to live and share their faith. Of course if you read the Christian response to these kinds of attacks you’ll see that it’s not very Christian. TV and radio pundits rail against the secular media, nasty letters get sent to newspapers. It seems like everyone wants too defend their version of the Christian faith and the rules that come with it. For the writer of I Peter, defending the hope that is in you is about being faithful in the midst of a hostile culture. So how do we remain faithful in a hostile environment?
First, begin with an attitude of love. The writer begins in verse 8 by reminding the Christians that they must reflect a unity of spirit by focusing on the primary virtues of the Christian life, sympathy and love for one another, a tender heart and a humble mind. The sense here is that they were to practice these virtues within their own communities of faith until they became habits. Christians many times are viewed as surly and judgmental because of the way we treat our own. It is especially Hard to love you enemies if you can’t even learn to love your friends. Christians spend a lot of time taking stands on issues and arguing with each other when they should be spending time together in prayer and taking on the character of Christ. Our words always need to be filtered through the screen of God’s unconditional love. When we develop these habits of love and grace, we will begin to see others, even those who persecute us, as people who were created and loved by God too.
Two, repay evil with blessing. We cannot control the attitudes and actions of others toward us, but we can control how we respond. Our society too many times expects reciprocity and revenge, that satisfaction can only be achieved when you’ve managed to get even with someone who has wronged you. The writing here goes in an opposite direction. Quoting Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 10-12) “if you want true happiness or blessedness you need to be willing to repay evil with blessing”. That’s what the people of God and the followers of Christ are called to do. When we choose to respond and to speak in gentleness and reverence, we reveal the hope that is within us to those who have wronged us.
Number three, face your fears. Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? In a perfect world that would make sense. We’d like to believe that things are fair and people get rewards for doing good and punished for doing wrong. Reality however is different. The truth is we often suffer for doing what is right, but the writer says keep the faith nevertheless and do not fear. Do not be swayed by public opinion. The writer goes on to say that despite the ominous thought of having to endure unjust suffering at the hands of others; Christians are not to act out of fear. Rather we are to have a healthy fear of God who is ultimately in charge and above all. Suffering will come, but it is better to suffer for doing good. If suffering of this nature should be God’s will then continue to be good.
And four, follow the example of Jesus. If you want to understand the proper way to live out hope in the midst of suffering says the writer of I Peter, the best example is Jesus. Jesus suffered unjustly, yet his death and resurrection were the ultimate triumph of hope over injustice and sin. Christ was able to bring us to God. Jesus continues to proclaim that message of grace and liberation to us in the present. When we accept or buy into this Christian faith thing we take on the results of Christ’s suffering for us, erasing our sins and giving us a new life in God’s grace, all the things for which we hope.
In Christ, God has taken on the worst the world can dish out and come out the other side victorious. As Jesus’ people we can respond to the lingering evil of the world not by retaliating, complaining or retreating but by proclaiming the hope, the realized hope that is within us. We just need to “show how”, not through e-mail or search engines but through ourselves, so that the rest of the world can share our message of hope.
Amen.
Let us pray.