SCRIPTURE:1 Peter 2:19-25
TEXT: 19b being aware of God, 21bbecause Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, 23che entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. THEME: The Resurrected Jesus is seen in the lives of those who suffer for Christ. INTRODUCTION In this season of Easter, we continue to look for the resurrected Jesus among the living. In the first part of chapter 1 of 1 Peter, we were encouraged to see the living hope of the resurrection of Jesus transform our lives through faith. We see such faith in those who pursue protections for our children, advocate for the rights of those who have been marginalized, point out the inequality of the poor, gender, race, orientation, age and sex. The resurrected Jesus is seen in the faith of those who push against every kind of prejudice that segregates, demeans or diminishes the humanity of anyone. In the second part of this same chapter, we invoke a loving parent God, instead of a judging Father God. God forgives, nurtures, and loves us. We form communities of faith with others, while looking for new ways of being the church in the future. The church of the future may be sent out to where the people are instead of drawing them to our buildings. SCRIPTURE On this Fourth Sunday of Easter, this portion of the second chapter of 1 Peter can be summed up with three points, 1) be aware of God, 2) Follow Jesus’ example and 3) Trust ourselves to God’s ways. The ransom for our salvation and reconciliation, provides love and forgiveness enough for us be in relationship with God. After all relationship with God is the goal of any kind of righteousness. God gifts us righteousness through love, forgiveness, and grace. Being loved profoundly brings our lives the possibility of a change of heart, transformation and change in our world. The humbug part of this relationship, is that its influence can get us in trouble with how the world has chosen to behave. God’s perspective changes the way we see the world and thus the way we live. Ironically, this may also lead to our own ridicule, persecution, and suffering, as we participate in God’s mission of loving others. Just as Jesus’ love for us ended with his Suffering and Crucifixion. The letter of 1 Peter was an encouragement within the social economic structure which allowed slavery. The poor, as well as the heads of household were all part of the church. So, what is good for the head of the household in Christ, was also good for the rest of the members of that house, including the slaves. This created a dynamic to faith in God that found its application in and outside of the home. APPLICATION Living according to God’s ways sometimes puts us at odds with the powers that be, the Government, the law, organized religion, the way things have come to be, social norms, culture, hostile working environments, any kind of accepted discriminations and the like. How do we see the resurrected Christ in the lives of those who suffer? We all have our ideas of a perfect life. But when that is taken away from us, for whatever reason, we grieve. God meets us in those time of sorrow. The sorrow never goes away but somehow with God’s help we navigate through it. Those strong individuals that keep on going while suffering inside, reveal the resurrected Christ to us. They persevere today because Christ is risen from the grave. There are champions of the Civil right movement like noted Martin Luther King Jr., recently we have heard the stories of Senator John Lewis and how his faith inspired him to engage in “Good Trouble” to whittle away at those systems that hoped to keep black people in a place less than free, equal, valued, or respected. We are not so far removed from this history. The Key Note speaker at one of our Aha Pae’ainas was Ambassador Andrew Young, contemporary of MLK jr. I got to shake his hand. It was like shaking hands with history. Making all of those stories of the peace walks and protest for equality true on another level. Here is the man who was there. I had the same feeling when Allan Boesak, from South Africa, spoke at Keawalai in Makena, about anti-apartheid. He said oppressors had seen the wounds they were inflicted onto another human being for them to change. Sometimes it takes that kind of suffering for the light bulb to turn on and allow transformation of humanity and the divine to enter in. Archbishop Desmond Tutu told the story of a woman, where he said, “you are a God carrier’, another way of saying, you are made in the image of God. To someone who has been put down all of their lives, and to hear fresh, the word of God, is to be elevated with the truth of how special she is. All of these people have suffered, and suffer today because they love, have been loved by God, and suffered for others in their plight. Humans in general, like ‘the path of least resistance,’ where everything is as easy as it can be (for themselves, even if it means that they have to disrespect and disregard others). They are trying to escape all of the bad stuff, leaving it for someone else to deal with. The reality God gives to us is the path of peace, which will divide families, and set our hearts on fire to fight for causes that are not our own, we enlisted because of our love and compassion for others. Mother Teresa gave up her comfort, in service of her God, to care for those who no one wanted to care for. The resurrection of Christ is real because of people like these, because of people like us, because of people like you. I know some of the stories you carry, that you don’t tell others. Stories of struggle, suffering, shattered dreams, and depression, but you continue to live your lives humbly with God. God is there to help you, and lifts you up, encourages you, loves you and gives you hope for tomorrow. Christ in you, even while you are struggling, is the evidence of the resurrected Jesus among the living. CONCLUSION The evidence of the resurrected Jesus is not found among the tombs of a cemetery, but in the suffering faith of those who are living today. It would be so easy to give up or go another way, but we hold on to Jesus, the lover of our souls and press on. Christ risen from the grave is the reason they keep on keeping on. Christ is risen from the grave is the reason they endure and persevere, and hope for the future. Jesus Christ is resurrected, is their battle cry for truth, for others, for life. Our lives of faith are not void of suffering for what is right, to help others, to endure and be there for others. American Popular Christianity tells a different story of prosperity and ease, but more to the truth, is an empowering God who comes along side of us in our suffering and calls us to participate in work that will go against how to world has been, to become made more in line with the dream of God’s kingdom.
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