(Audio version; Music: "Hope Now" by: Addison Road and "Thy Will" by: Hillary Scott & The Scott Family)
Introduction
Jenny Simmons from Addison
Road sings:
“When my life is like a storm
Rising waters all I want is the shore
You say I’ll be ok and
Make it through the rain
You are my shelter from the storm
Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free.”
What happens when hope
disappears? What happens when we believe there’s no hope of overcoming our
substance addictions? What happens when we believe we could never love our spouse
again? What happens when we believe we’ll never get out of the financial hole
we’ve dug for ourselves? What happens when we believe we’ll never be healthy
again? What happens when we believe we can never overcome our mistakes? What
happens when we believe the storms and rising waters of life will overwhelm us?
Recently a friend of mine
who was once a pastor but now teaches at a secular university told me that in
one of his public speaking classes a dystopian theme clearly emerged from the
class speeches. He said that the speeches grew increasingly pessimistic ending
with a speech that attempted to persuade the class of the cruelty of bringing a
child into this world that is so messed up. My friend wondered how his students
and more broadly how we, as a society, got to this point especially since most
of his students and many others in our society were among those who elected our
current President who campaigned on the promise of “hope and change.” I think
it’s safe to say that much of our society has come to the realization that they
believed a lie. “Hope and change” turned out to be just another clever campaign
slogan that preyed on society’s burning desire for hope. Now people are saying
why even bother bringing children into a world that is so—hopeless.
A few years ago, a Kansas
City Chiefs football player, Jovan Belcher, was arguing with his girlfriend who
was also the mother of his daughter and he shot her multiple times killing her.
Then to make matters worse, if that’s even possible, he drove himself to the
Chiefs practice facility where he met the team’s coach and general manager and
thanked them for the opportunity they gave him and then killed himself right
there in the parking lot in front of them. I can’t guess all the precise
details that led to these tragic events but I suspect somewhere, hope was lost.
The hope that things would get better or the hope that things would change, but
somehow, this young man had lost this hope. And after he did the unthinkable,
he believed there was no hope that his life had any further value.
Hope and hopelessness are
very, very powerful. But what gives us hope? In what do we hope? Does what we
hope in matter? I believe it does because of where it leads us. Technically,
“hope” is defined as a person or thing in which expectations are
centered. While I’m not arguing with this fundamental definition, I think it is
still too broad. I think “hope” is best defined as a “person” in which
expectations are centered. Let me demonstrate briefly: A person with cancer
hopes that the cancer medication will bring a cure. Correct? But why should a
person hope such a thing? I think it’s because deep down inside all of us,
whether we know it or not, we know that cancer is not right—cancer was not the
original plan. Deep down inside all of us, again whether we know it or not, we
have a longing for the way things were originally intended to be. While someone
might be “hoping” for a cure to their cancer, what they are really “hoping” for
is to be reconnected with the way things were originally intended to be and
Jesus provides that point of reconnection. I can provide a bit of anecdotal
evidence to prove my point.
Why do you suppose
Christians with terminal cancer who find out that there is no cure for their cancer,
still have hope? It’s because they know that Jesus has provided the outcome
that they hoped for even if it is not in this life. You see, true hope always
leads to a person and that person is Jesus Christ. Hope is not a wish. Hope is
not something based on chance. Hope is the expectation of a good outcome. That
expectation can only be found in Jesus Christ because he has provided the means
for a perfect outcome for all of us even if it’s not in this life. And here’s
the beauty of hope, when we take the step to put our hope in Jesus, we have
walked a long way down the path to putting our faith in Jesus. One of the
greatest witnesses to the power of faith in Jesus Christ is the enduring hope
of people who, in the world’s estimation, should have no reason to hope.
They’ve lost husbands, wives, children, jobs, homes, finances—everything. They
are abused, marginalized, neglected and persecuted for their faith—even to the
point of death, yet they continue to hope. Why? Because Jesus said that after
he was dead for three days, he would rise back to life! Do you want to know why
hope is so incredibly powerful? The empty tomb! The empty tomb changes
everything! The empty tomb gives us hope so that Everything Rides On Hope Now!
Subject
Text
1
Peter 3:13-17
13Who
is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you
should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear;
do not be frightened.” 15But in your hearts set apart Christ as
Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the
reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16keeping
a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good
behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17It is better,
if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Context
Peter’s
letter was probably written while he was in Rome between 62 AD and 64 AD. This
was probably on the leading edge of the period when Emperor Nero began his
persecution of Christians. Nevertheless, the early signs of persecution were
beginning to manifest themselves as “some of his readers have in fact been the
targets of accusations (1 Pet. 2:12), ignorant talk (2:15), evil and insults
(3:9; 4:14), threats (3:14), and malicious talk (3:16).”[1]
This general attitude toward Christians was the fertile ground that cultivated
the brutal and widespread persecution that would soon follow.
Text
Analysis
13Who
is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14But even if you
should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear;
do not be frightened.”
Our Subject Text opens with a rhetorical
question in v. 13 that perhaps gives
us a clue that Nero’s persecution had not yet begun. Peter alludes to the
general principle that people aren’t normally persecuted for doing good. Of
course, this was not the case under Nero. Christians were persecuted just
because they were Christians. Peter covers this eventuality in v. 14a when he insists that they are
blessed when they are persecuted for doing what is right. This is a parallel to
Jesus’ words from his Sermon on the Mount when he says “Blessed are those who
are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds
of evil against you because of me (Matt 5:10-11).” We struggle desperately with
the idea that combines suffering and blessing but we must reorient our thinking
about blessing. We are often so obsessed with our life here and now that we
neglect to see or even consider that God is more concerned with our lives in
their entirety. We see blessing as getting what we want; health, wealth and
popularity. But this is not God’s objective. Instead, we are blessed when we
are transformed into the likeness of Christ. Riches, vitality and notoriety are
temporal—they disappear at death’s door. However, who we are transcends this
life and suffering for the sake of our faith in Christ is a badge of honor (in
the Greek “blessing” can also be translated as “honor”) that we take with us
beyond this life. “It is self-evident that, in any persecution context, the
reward spoken of must lie in the future…it is confidence about the future that
can and should produce joy in the present in full contradiction of the present,
painful circumstances.”[2]
Peter continues in v. 14b by admonishing his readers to
not fear what “they” fear. By “they” Peter is referring to those who might be
persecuting his readers. That seems like a rather nebulous instruction, but think
about it in the context of your own life; what do you fear and why? Lest you
think I’m passing judgment, I’ll share my fears with you in the context of this
lesson: I fear losing my health or dying before seeing how my wife and girls’
lives unfold, I fear being completely broke and not being able to provide for
my family, I fear being marginalized or useless. I know that doesn’t sound like
a very good thing for a pastor but I’ve warned you that I’m really not that
different from you. However, in addition to my fears, I have hope; hope that
even if I do become ill or die, I will have accomplished God’s will with the
part of my life that I have lived, I hope that even if I am broke, God will
care for me according to His promises, I hope that even if I am marginalized
and useless according to the world’s standards, God will be glorified through
my efforts. You see, Everything Rides On Hope Now!
15But in your hearts
set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who
asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.
V. 15a seems to start a new thought
except that the conjunction of “but” ties it to Peter’s previous admonition
that his readers are not to be afraid. The “but” might be better translated as,
“Instead, in your hearts set apart
Christ as Lord.” But what does it mean to set Christ apart in our hearts
according to Peter’s instruction? We miss the full force of Peter’s instruction
if we neglect his full instruction to set Christ apart in our hearts “as Lord.”
This is the key to Peter’s instruction. In ancient times, the heart represented
the center of the person and Peter is saying that we are to set up Christ at
the center of our lives through whom our entire person flows much like our
entire bloodstream flows to and from the heart. Having Christ as Lord at the
center or heart of our lives necessarily implies that our lives will reflect
that Lordship. “To hallow Christ as Lord means to have an inward attitude of
obedience to him that dictates our behavior in the world. Christians will not
act in any way that will bring dishonor on Christ or suggests that they do not
reverence him as Lord.”[3]
V. 15b then gets to the very heart of our Subject Text. Our attitude, our behavior, everything about our
lives, as Christians, should elicit a response from the world like: “Why are
you like that?” “What is wrong with you?” “How can you feel that way?” We
should be different, strange, odd! We should be revolutionaries! If God is at
the center of our lives, it must change everything; it must produce a new way
to live. For example, when my girls were growing up, they weren’t always
allowed to do the same things as the other kids; they weren’t permitted to
watch the same television shows, they weren’t allowed to listen to the same music
and they weren’t allowed to dress the same way just to name a few. They were
teased and chastised and my wife and I were not always popular for our
parenting philosophies among our peers. But there was a reason then as there is
now, we are different and will not be conformed to the world. Do you want to
know what resulted from that, people asked: “Why are you like that?” and “What
is wrong with you?” and these were opportunities to share our hope, our faith,
our commitment to the way of Christ with people. This is the trajectory of
Peter’s teaching; our hope points toward something beyond ourselves yet it is
more than something, our hope points toward someone—Jesus! There is, however, a
difference between pointing someone toward Jesus and punching them in the face
with Jesus!
But do this with gentleness and
respect, 16keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak
maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their
slander.
In vv. 15c-16 Peter tells his readers that they are to give people the
reason for their hope but they are to do so with gentleness and respect. “If
offense is to be taken, it should be over the content of the gospel message,
not because the message was offered in a manner that invalidates Christ’s love
for seekers.”[4]
Furthermore, when Peter tells his readers to keep a clear conscience, what he
is telling them is that their behavior must not disqualify them from having a
credible witness. For example, I am aware of a number of people who profess to
be Christians yet they are actively and openly living sinful, unrepentant lives
in blatant disobedience to the teachings of Scripture. This behavior
disqualifies them from having a credible witness to the hope in Christ they
profess. “An effective testimony requires a clear conscience regarding one’s
personal integrity before the Lord. One cannot explain the hope we have in
Christ while living in ways that contradict that hope.”[5]
Therefore, with a clear conscience we can confidently proclaim that the hope
emanating from our lives is the result of our hope in Jesus Christ and our
behavior will silence those who might try to wrongly accuse us. “Evidence from
the following centuries indicates that good Christian conduct was often
slandered and maligned: the nocturnal Christian worship assemblings were
decried as occasions for orgies; the love of Christian brothers and sisters for
one another was maligned as incest; baptism as a ritual of death and rebirth
was decried as murder; the Eucharist was criticized as cannibalism; and
Christians continued to be slandered as ‘wrongdoers’ and enemies of the common
good. [However,] those who persist in shaming the Christians and disparaging
their honorable behavior will themselves be put to shame.”[6]
17It is better, if it
is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.
Peter
completes his instruction in v. 17
with something that seems obvious which means there’s probably something more
to it than seems obvious on the surface. Peter says that it’s better to suffer
for doing something right than for doing something wrong. Well first, let me
just say that I would prefer not to suffer at all! Nevertheless, there are some
who seek a life of suffering because they wrongly believe that a life of
suffering earns them special favor with God. This is a distorted understanding
of suffering generally and of this text specifically because it ignores the
very important conditional statement of “if it is God’s will.” Suffering for
the sake of suffering or as a means to gain God’s favor when such suffering is
not ordained by God is sinful idolatry with no redemptive purpose. Furthermore,
suffering because of our own sin serves the purpose of disciplining us in order
to evoke grief, sorrow, repentance and reconciliation. However, suffering for
doing something right or for something that is beyond our control provides the
opportunity to demonstrate our abiding hope in the One who can use that
suffering for his great purpose of revealing himself to a lost and hurting
world—a world in desperate need of true hope not wishful thinking. The only way
profound grief, sorrow, loss, tragedy and suffering can be endured with supreme
dignity is by the power of hope because Everything Rides On Hope Now!
There
is no better example of this than the words of the song at the end of this
lesson by Hillary Scott called, “Thy Will.” In a recent interview, Hillary
revealed that the song was created out
of a broken heart washed with countless tears when she lost her child to a
miscarriage. If you listen closely to the words of the song you will quickly
sense Hillary’s profound grief. But you will also get a sense of something else
in the song—hope! Hope that God’s will will be done and we know that His will
is always good and perfect even if we feel like the grief may at times crush
the life out of us. If we can try to remember that He is God and we are not,
then there is still hope because Everything Rides On Hope Now!
Application
In
the song I introduced at the beginning of this lesson, singer Jenny Simmons goes
on to sing:
“Everything rides on hope now
Everything rides on faith somehow
When the world has broken me down
Your love sets me free
I am not my own
I've been carried by you my whole
life”
A friend of mine, Alisa, who
has endured profound personal loss wrote me something that she has gracious
allowed me to share with you. She wrote: “I have been thru some awful
things in this life. Lost family, friends, even a husband…And I never believed
I would get thru. But here I am on the other side…Blessed, happy, full of hope.
That can only be God and I am so so so thankful!” What a beautiful picture of
how suffering, blessing, and hope are all part of a person’s redemptive life
story authored by God. It’s hard to say what her life of faith might have been
if only _________________. You fill in the blank of the tragic event in her
life that could have been eliminated and still guarantee her faithful witness
to the hope found in Jesus Christ. We think we know that the outcome of her
powerful witness could have been the same even if she hadn’t lost her husband
or had been spared some other tragic event. But that would mean that we know
better than God what events will produce a humble and faithful witness in those
who follow Him. Of course this kind of thinking is folly. Therefore, we must
begin to understand that righteous suffering in our lives as Christians
exhibits something tremendously powerful—hope. Like Alisa’s beautiful witness,
suffering, blessing and hope are part of our redemptive life story as well. When
we can endure our suffering in all joy and perseverance we will inevitably
cultivate an environment where unbelievers will naturally want to know how joy
is possible in the midst of suffering, or how suffering can possibly be a
blessing. Peter is speaking to you when he says to be prepared to tell people
why you have hope. In simpler terms, Peter is saying, be prepared to tell your
redemptive life story. This is your chance to be a witness to true hope,
because Everything Rides On Hope Now! And that hope is Jesus Christ.
[1] Karen H.
Jobes, 1 Peter, Baker Exegetical
Commentary on the New Testament, ( Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2005),
p. 227.
[2] Donald
A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13, Word Biblical
Commentary, ( Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1993), p. 95.
[3] I. Howard
Marshall, 1 Peter, The IVP New Testament
Commentary Series, (Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 1991), p. 115.
[4] Jobes, 1 Peter, ECNT, p. 231.
[5] Ibid.
[6] John H.
Elliott, 1 Peter, The Anchor Bible,
(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2000), p. 632.
