1 Peter 2:21-25
Matthew 5:38-48
Psalm 23
Our primary passage today is the one from 1 Peter, and I confess, none of us like what he has to say. I added the Matthew 5 passage, because sometimes it is easier to hear if we know it came directly from Jesus.
Both passages are addressing the same issue, how do Christians overcome evil in the world. Both give us the opposite advice that we want or expect. If we look at these verses in isolation, we think Jesus is calling upon us to suffer. We might think that God is an evil God who does not care for us.
In fact, I had a heated discussion in my lectionary study, no one wanted to actually preach on the 1 Peter verse. It sounded as if Peter was telling us to glorify suffering, and that good Christians should be willing to suffer. We discussed how these verses had been used in the past to control people, in part by telling them that their suffering is OK. We struggled with how to balance out the concept of Christian suffering and the importance of standing up for justice and equity among people.
We live in a world that operates similar to a computer program. Computers only allow two answers, yes and no. Thumbs up or thumbs down. Gangs would say, “you are with us, or you are against us.” In politics, you are a Democrat or you are a Republican. In the old time Westerns you wore a white hat or a black hat.
Jesus came into the world to show a third way. Some might call it passive resistance. I call it a pathway to peace.
The world wants us to react – Jesus calls us to respond, which is totally different.
If we take these verses in isolation, it feels very foreign. How can we keep from reacting to the evil around us? And really, shouldn’t we stop the bad when it happens?
Our response is not generated by what happens to us, it is generated by our faith and trust in God. We opened our service today with the 23rd Psalm. This is a psalm assuring us that God is in control. God gives us good things, and God is with us even in evil times. If we are fully sure of who God is in our lives, we do not have to worry about the world around us.
We can respond to evil, not by lashing out in anger, but by allowing good to overcome it.
The world is filled with poverty and hunger. We as Christians choose to give to those in need. And we respond, not because we have to, like a tax, but because God has given to us.
The world is filled with anger and hate. By responding with love, we show that the world is a better place than those who hate it.
The world is filled with violence, we respond with gentleness. We take care of the young and the old and the vulnerable among us.
The world is filled with those demanding freedom. We respond by knowing we are free to do what we want, and choosing to do what is best for all.
We do all of these things, not because it is demanded of us, but because we are loved by God and are responding to that love.
Yes, Jesus called upon us to turn the other cheek. Yes, Peter said suffering was good. But not all suffering is right or righteous. And telling someone else that they should suffer is different than enduring suffering ourselves. Suffering can come from and create great evil. We need not to fall into that trap.
To illustrate this, I would like to tell the story of one of the most famous spite fences in the world. It is, by the way, one of the reasons why privacy fences are often limited to 6 feet.
The story begins with two people. Nicholas Yung, who built a cottage in San Francisco with his wife and children, and Charles Crocker, one of the four Railroad Barons. When Crocker decided to purchase property on California Hill and create a cable car to transport people up and down the hill, he and his friends began to purchase property and build mansions on the hill. There are many stories about why, but Nicholas Yung refused to sell.
In the building of the cable car, Crocker instructed his men to direct the blast towards Yung’s property. That made him dig in deeper. Finally, Crocker, owning property around Yungs, built a 40 foot fence to surround his house on three sides. Yung responded by placing a coffin on his roof and flying a Jolly Roger flag on a flagpole higher than the fence to destroy the views for Crocker.
With no light, the Yung family was forced to leave. But they kept the property, still refusing to sell. Even after Nicholas died, his widow refused to sell. After Charles died, his family continued the feud. Finally, in 1904, the children of Nicholas Yung sold the property to the children of Charles Crocker. In 1905, the fence was removed.
If you know your history, in 1906 a huge earthquake and massive fire destroyed much of San Francisco, including the mansions on Nob Hill. Rather than rebuild, the family donated the property to charity. Grace Cathedral was built where the spite fence had been built.
Now, in the place of hate and anger, there is hope. THAT is what I talk about when I speak of the third way.
I suggest that we approach these verses in this way:
First – we need to base ourselves in God’s love and care for us. When we are certain that we are loved, we do not have to react to the world in fear or anger. We can be free to respond without reacting.
Second – we need to look at the incident itself. Is it causing us harm, and is it causing others harm? Is there a risk that this harm will continue? Do we need to respond to this, and how is the best way to do it?
But we respond, not because we have to, but because we decide to. We respond from our safe place, our sure knowledge of God’s love and place in our lives.
Suffering will happen in this world, but God will be there walking through the dark valleys. Evil will happen in this world, but Jesus tells us he has overcome the world. Suffering and evil will never win.
I close with these words, from Matthew 28, verse 20, I am reading from the Living Bible:
“Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Rather than closing with the traditional Apostles Creed, I am reading today from the Confession of 1967, on the Sin of Man:
THE SIN OF MAN
The reconciling act of God in Jesus Christ exposes the evil in men as
sin in the sight of God. In sin, men claim mastery of their own lives, turn
against God and their fellow men, and become exploiters and despoilers
of the world. They lose their humanity in futile striving and are left in rebellion,
despair, and isolation.
Wise and virtuous men through the ages have sought the highest good
in devotion to freedom, justice, peace, truth, and beauty. Yet all human
virtue, when seen in the light of God’s love in Jesus Christ, is found to be
infected by self-interest and hostility. All men, good and bad alike, are in
the wrong before God and helpless without his forgiveness. Thus all men
fall under God’s judgment. No one is more subject to that judgment than
the man who assumes that he is guiltless before God or morally superior
to others.
God’s love never changes. Against all who oppose him, God expresses
his love in wrath. In the same love, God took on himself judgment and
shameful death in Jesus Christ, to bring men to repentance and new life.
Benediction
Now may God the Father, be a parent to you, loving you and caring for you.
May Jesus Christ be your constant companion, reminding you of God’s love, redeeming you from your sins.
And may the Holy Spirit rest and abide with you, keeping you safe while we are apart from one another.
