1 Pet 3:8–22; 4:12–19 Suffer as Christians That Your Light May Shine Before Men

 

1 Peter was written to “elect exiles.” This means Christians are chosen by God to live for him in a place that is not home. We are not home yet, but we are here on a mission. We disciple: we grow in our own faith, we equip others to grow in faith so that we are equipped to bless others and share the gospel that other would enjoy eternal life! Because we are not at home, this letter assumes hardship. Joy, anger, sadness, suffering, and peace are all part of the Christian experience. We do not all have to come to church with a smile. It’s okay to not be okay. In fact, if we are honest about our health, world news, our family dynamics, our struggles with sin, we can expect to feel a combination of joy, anger, sadness, suffering, and peace at any time. The Christian life is not one of ignoring problems. In fact, if we choose to be honest with ourselves and truly reflect on and work through our pain and sorrow, we will heal and learn to care for those who have suffered as we have. SIOS: Hardships do not prevent Christian living, they heighten our Christian experience. We will look at (1) the context of suffering and persecution that we find ourselves in; (2) our motivation for serving God when we suffer, which is the gospel; (3) our goal in life, which is to live for Jesus, persevering in doing good while we suffer, (4) we will end with a promise. If we understand and apply the first three points, we will become successful witnesses in the world.

First, the passage describes our context: we will face opposition and suffering (various verses).

Peter assumes that suffering is part of the Christian life: 1 Pet 3:9 “Do not repay evil for evil, or reviling for reviling…” 1 Pet 3:14, “if you should suffer for righteousness’s sake” v. 16 “when you are slandered.” In 1 Pet 4:12, “do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes…” v. 14, “if you are insulted for the name of Christ, v. 16 “If anyone suffers as a Christian.” 1 Pet 4:19 “let those who suffer according to God’s will….” There once was an older gentleman who had a twisted view of salvation. He believed that he was saved by faith. He also believed that he was saved by faith because he was a good person. He lived a long life serving others, faithfully giving up time, money, and energy to bless others. Unfortunately, in a short period , he experienced a series of hardships. His spouse died, he realized none of his children followed Jesus, and one of the neighbor’s trees fell on his house. He asked his pastor, “After all my years of faithful service, why has God allowed all these trials.” He was having a crisis of faith. His crisis was tied to his twisted view of salvation. If we believe that we are saved because we are good people, then God owes us salvation and a blessed life. 1 Pet 4:12 teaches the opposite: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.” In good Protestant churches, we condemn: faith + works –> salvation. We promote faith –> salvation and works. Today I want to suggest: faith–> salvation + works + suffering. Remember Job. God allowed Job to go through horrific trials. Remember Elijah, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Jesus, Peter, and Paul. They all endured much persecution and most of them died because they were doing God’s will!

I want to address whether as Christians in America we can apply a passage that deals with the persecution of Christians. Most of the suffering in the passage is tied to being a Christian. This passage appears hard to apply since most or all of the suffering we endure is not connected particularly to our faith. It can occur. Things can get uncomfortable at the office if you are the only Christian. You can feel like an outcast if you become a Christian in a family of non-believers. There can be tension if you are married to a non-believer. But, our experience as Christians in America is nothing compared to what Christians endure in other countries. In 2020, 1350 people died for being Christians in Nigeria, 924 in the Central African Republic, 200 in Sri Lanka, and the list goes on. It may appear that this passage is better suited for Christians in other countries. 1 Pet 4:16 gives us a way to apply the passage: “If anyone suffers as a Christian.” I was thinking that if I was the devil and had the choice between messing with an atheist or a Christian, I would probably mess with the Christian. This is my reasoning. If an atheist is happy, he will not feel his need for God. If a Christian is miserable and overwhelmed by the challenges of life, he will be kept busy and useless for the cause of Christ. He will have no time to feed on God’s word, pray, encourage fellow believers, or bless his church. 1 Cor 10:31 commands “do all to the glory of God.” To the extent that we seek to please God in all areas of life, every time we suffer, we suffer as Christians. If we are committed to God, whatever hardship we endure, whether it is pain from Krohn’s disease, the loss of in-laws through a tragic house explosion, a late miscarriage, family opposition, struggling to care for a sick spouse, or working for an unreasonable boss these all count, “we are suffering as Christians.” This is our context. Expect hardship and suffering as a Christian.

The second point is the gospel, which is our motivation to persevere when we suffer (1 Pet 3:18–22).

The next two points work together. Christian messages tend to have two components: indicatives and imperatives, truths and commands. The Gospel is the truth, it is what happened. It is the Good News that Jesus, the Son of God, lived a perfect life, died as our substitute to pay for our sins. He was raised from the grave so that by trusting him we would enjoy eternal life. We do not do anything to make the gospel true. Then, commandments teach us how to live in light of the good news. God calls us to live as a saved people for the glory of God. Paying God back for forgiveness is impossible. That is not what good works are for. Once we are born again, God renews our minds, changes our hearts so that we desire to live for him. In our passage, the gospel presentation motivates the command to continue doing good even in the midst of suffering in 1 Pet 3:18. Jesus’ perseverance through suffering is our motivation to persevere through hardships. Peter writes, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” The motivation for suffering through trials is that in doing so, Jesus pays the punishment for sin. When we persevere doing good through hardships, we illustrate the gospel.

The third point is the command or response to the gospel in (1 Pet 3:8–12).

1 Pet 3:8 calls us to have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. In our church community, we must seize every opportunity to be a blessing to one another, to rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn. Until we love each other, have meals with one another, hear one another’s stories of heartache, we cannot fulfill these verses. This is an assignment. In the next month, Covid permitting, pick a person. Host them, feed them. Commit to hearing their story, without interrupting, and without making everything they say about yourself. Pray for them and keep everything they share confidential. These are the friendships we need. When we have those kinds of friendships, we will have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

Now, how do we face those who oppose us? Opposition can come through a family member, a boss, a colleague, perhaps a fellow Christian. 1 Pet 3:9, do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. Love of enemy is an essential trait of a Christian. Terrorists, Nazis, mafia, KKK members all love their friends and family. Loving friends and family does not set anyone apart. We must love those who oppose us. If the church applied this, Christians would always be the greatest people to be around. Even when we endure suffering, out of a motivation of Christ’s suffering to live out God’s purpose, we are called to the highest standard of morality. In 1 Pet 3:10–11, we are to keep our tongue from evil: which includes gossip, slander, lying, and crude jokes. We refrain from all forms of evil. This means phrases like “he started” or “look what they are doing” are not Christian phrases to justify our own sin.

A tricky part of the application comes from 1 Pet 4:12 “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial…. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings…” Rejoicing is not the enemy of sadness and hardship. Christian joy must involve suffering because without suffering there is no sacrifice on the cross for us. Joy is part of every situation for Christians, including cancer, the death of a loved one, the death of Christ on Good Friday. This is because more is always at stake for us than temporary comfort. We rejoice when we suffer because we partake in Christ’s suffering. Every time we rejoice in suffering, we proclaim to the world, no matter what happens to me, God is with me, and that is all I need.

This leads us to the fourth point, the outcome of being faithful in suffering, a powerful witness.

When we suffer and are motivated by Christ’s suffering to persevere and live lives that are pleasing to God and understand our trials in such a way that we can rejoice, a wonderful thing happens. 1 Pet 3:14–16 “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, ¹⁵ but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.” When your life goes well, and you are happy, that’s great. But, no one will ask you about the hope that is in you because they can see the reason for your hope in your health, wealth, and comfort. When you struggle, suffer, persevere, and continue to be a blessing, live a life pleasing to God, and can rejoice, at that point, people will start to ask questions. What’s the deal, you were fired, your child is sick, your husband left you, you drive an old car, yet you are so kind, so warm, so calm, so dependable…. What is the reason for the hope that is in you? Our character is most visible when we go through hardships. In Matt 5:13–16, the command to be salt and light in the world also occurs in the context of persecution and hardship. Jesus said “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. ¹² Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Then he continues with “You are the salt of the earth…” and “You are the light of the world… ¹⁶ “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

Conclusion:

Beloved brothers and sisters, there is a lot for us to strive for in this passage. Beginning with community, we want to be a community where we can suffer well with one another, bearing one another’s burdens, hard stories, being loved, known, accepted, and celebrated. In order to accept suffering for Jesus, we must be absolutely certain that Jesus is worth following and suffering for. When we commit to Jesus, we commit to one another. Know one another, encourage another, pray for one another, then no matter what comes our way, we can continue to persevere through suffering, continue on being a blessing around us. We will be the salt and light in the world that makes people curious. The love of Christians played a huge role in my life before I became a Christian. God worked through people to love me, and soften my heart to believe the Gospel and be saved. May you work together to continue producing this kind of loving environment here.