Second Sunday after Christmas (2026)

1 Peter 4:12-19

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, we have in our Epistle lesson today a warning about the persecution that comes upon Christians in this world. To our ears, this sounds a bit foreign, a bit strange, when the Scriptures speak of a fiery trial coming upon them. Yet we find throughout the Scriptures many instances of God’s people being persecuted for their beliefs. While we do not see it in mass here in the United States, that is because our founding fathers recognized the importance of protecting religious beliefs and free exercise above the freedom of speech. This has resulted in a different kinds of trials in our nation that have made religious beliefs challenging in new ways.

The Persecuted Christians

Jesus warned the disciples.

He knew the danger when He came to earth and the trouble that it would bring. His death had been foretold, and if that is how the world treated Him. He expressed to them the danger they were in as well. For when the disciples went out to proclaim Christ to the world,

They were hated by many.

The Disciples of Jesus found themselves set upon by the very community that was supposed to be looking for the Messiah, but because He didn’t fit into their mold, and didn’t praise their obsession with the Torah and ways to abuse it, they hated him. Then the world outside of Judaism did not receive them well either, for they came proclaiming the King of Kings who was above all rulers and by which rulers could be judged, and they came to get rid of the religions of Satan that were profitable not only for the pagan priests, but for those who made idols. So what happened to them?

They died for the faith.

Those who went out into the world suffered for it, only John was spared a violent death, and lived to old age, but they paid for their witness in blood. They did not shirk from suffering for the faith, even Peter who had once denied Christ, went to his death confessing that Jesus was risen from the dead. The question what we have to ask is why?

Why Hate Christ?

People today claim they think Jesus is a good teacher. But they don’t want to talk about Religion. It’s a way to safely disengage from the conversation and not actually deal with the issues they have. Because

It’s the teachings.

That’s what makes people upset, they claim to like what Jesus said, because they don’t know the teachings. That’s what got the Disciples in trouble. It’s polite to like the teachings of Jesus, so long as you don’t actually talk about what he taught. When you start looking at the teachings thats when they become upset, for

Jesus reveals the truth of sin.

No one likes being told that they are wrong that’s what the Word reveals. When we are told that we are wrong, it feels like an attack us as a person and that means we have to respond with an attack as well. The worse the attack feels, the bigger our response. In Hebrews, it refers to God’s Word as a sword that cuts deep to the division between bone and marrow. It gets to the heart of the issue and reveals the real problem of sin, that we are not as good as we want people to believe, and we don’t want to perceived as wrong, as sinful, or evil and so the

The world wants to silence those voices.

Because it reveals the truth that we are all deeply flawed and in need of help, because we are unable to cure ourselves from this affliction. It bears with it shame and guilt, because we know this is not how we are supposed to be. We are to be good, to right, to helpful, and yet we find at work inside of our hearts, we are not as good as we want to be, and so we pretend. But what happens when someone doesn’t let you pretend anymore? I’m not saying that violence is the only answer, but it

This Shouldn’t Surprise Us

We are Christ’s disciples.

We’ve been through this as well and being brought to faith is painful when we acknowledge these failings, but we persist because we know that even though at the present this is painful that it yields good in the end. It’s like a Physical Therapist, a coach, or a nutritionist who we might hate in the moment because they point out all our weaknesses and flaws in our life that we don’t want to admit or change, and yet we know they are right and they keep pushing on this. This is why for some people conversion is painful, and it takes a great deal of patience and love while working with them to bring them through this. But why does the Bible say,

We rejoice in our sufferings.

That’s not at all how we think about it when we hear what happened to the early church, and what happens to Christians around the globe to this very day. We don’t think of rejoicing in martyrdom, and yet this is what the text speaks of. These sufferings are different than the suffering that a person may encounter if they were suffering for their sins, or mistakes, this is suffering because we bear the name of Christ. Well it’s because.

Jesus has called us blessed.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, Matthew 5:11–12 ““Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” It’s not that we enjoy pain or suffering, but rather we are suffering as Christ has suffered and are helping our neighbor who is in need. The disciples rejoiced when they were beaten that they held fast when threatened and persisted in Confessing Christ to the World. For the world believes that the threat of death is enough to stop us, not realizing, that Christ has made our grave a portal. How does the hymn put, though take they our life, goods, fame, child or wife, those these all be gone the victory has been won, the kingdom ours remaineth. Look at our country,

What Persecution Do We Face?

Here we don’t face prison.

Our we thrown in prison for being Christian? Do we have to meet in secret, because the government will come and arrest and put us to death? No! We are seeing an increase in violence against churches, and shootings have been on the rise, and it is something to pay attention to, and the violence is usually against those who didn’t want to hear what the Word had to say. But that’s not what stops most of us from speaking about the faith.

Instead, shame and guilt have been enough.

We’ve been taught that we don’t discuss religion and politics in polite conversation. The effect hasn’t been good, because by not discussing those things we lost the ability to do it lovingly. But by defining it as impolite or rude, to discuss religion, what they have attempted to do is silence evangelism through shame, and guilt. How could you bring that up? You know better than to talk about that.

Don’t be ashamed of the Gospel.

Yes at times it is uncomfortable to talk about it, but what is the message of the Gospel about? It’s about the Son of God who became flesh to take upon himself our guilt, our shame, and the failings of all mankind, who went to the cross to die not just for you, but for the world. More than that, He brought us to life, and won for us a place in His eternal kingdom that this world filled with sin, shame, guilt, and pain wouldn’t be the only thing we knew. We would have something better, and He was giving it out as a gift. You shouldn’t be ashamed of that message nor of Christ, for there is someone who joined you in the trenches of this world, and considered you part of His family, and a dear friend friend, and gave his life for us that we might be saved. That’s why we aren’t afraid when it comes to

Entrusting Our Souls

God is faithful.

He keeps his promises. That’s what the Scriptures show us, and faith is believing, that is trusting what God said. Why we the disciples able to rejoice in suffering, why were the martyrs able to go boldly confessing the faith even though it meant prison or being thrown to lions? It’s because we knew Jesus’ promises. THat not only did He save us from our sins, but He promised that he would be with us always unto the end of the age.

He will not abandon you.

Jesus won’t forget you, He went to the Cross for you, and so we when we see up there our dear friend who has risen from the dead even though he suffered greatly, we look at our sufferings and say so what? You want to guilt and shame me into silence? That’s my friend, and I’m thankful for Him, because He saw me for who I really was, a poor miserable sinner, and he didn’t turn his back on me, but stood between me and death that I might live. He did that for you too, whether you want to hear it or not. So

Persist in doing good.

Continue to share the word, and live with love for all your neighbors, not because it saves you, but because Christ has set you free from sin and made you a member of His Kingdom. You are able to love someone genuinely for the first time and that is wonderful!