Easter 4

1 Peter 2:19-25 (NIV) 19  For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20  But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21  To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22  "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23  When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25  For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Can you imagine what it must be like to be imprisoned for a crime you did not commit? We may be burdened to some degree because right now many of us are limited as to what we can or cannot do during this current pandemic. It may gall some people that they aren’t restricted because they or anyone else they know is sick or at high risk but because the governing authorities are mandating safer at home policies because of what might happen. We read their complaints on social media, watch news reports of protests, receive unsolicitated emails calling others to action. What this tells me is that to many people it seems unjust to be restricted even though they themselves did nothing wrong.

As we go through this, we get some personal experience of what it would be like to be imprisoned for a crime we did not commit. I wonder how those who are victims of such an injustice cope. I think of historically how people were put into internment camps in the United State or worse, concentration camps in Europe, or prison in Siberia, even though they had committed no crime. I think of a book by Grisham (The Confession) in which a young black man is executed for a crime even though the real murderer had confessed committing that crime. It is hard to bear up under the pain of unjust suffering.

Hard. But not impossble. One of the best known cases of this from the Bible is from the story of Joseph. You may recall that he was the favorite son of his father Jacob who live around 1900 BC in the land of Canaan. Since his older brothers were jealous of him, they sold him into slavery. While a slave in the Egyptian man’s house name Potiphar, Potiphar’s wife tried to entice him repeatedly to have intimate relations with her. He righteously refused. Scorned, she accused him of rape and he was put into prison. We may also think of Daniel in the Lion’s Den or the Three Men in the Fiery Furnace. How did Joseph react when he was unjustly imprisoned? He worked steadfastly and responsibly. We are not told that he complained or tried to escape. Years later when he had become very powerful in Egypt and his brothers came looking for food during the famine, he was reunited with them. After their father died of old age and his brothers though Joseph would now see justice, he had these profound words to say,

Genesis 50:15–21 (NIV): 15 When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” 16 So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: 17 ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept. 18 His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said. 19 But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. 21 So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Peter had experienced this as well. See Acts 5 or 6.

Acts 5:12–18 (NIV): 12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed. 17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.

So he can write from experience to those who were enduring the pain of unjust suffering because they were conscious of God. Was it because they were being persecuted? Perhaps. Was it because they were enduring inner turmoil because they were warring against their own sinful desires? Can also come into play.

Peter concurs that it wasn’t fair. Oh, some suffering is just. He lived in a culture where corporal punishment was still practiced. We shudder in horror at it and are very reluctant to strike a child who is disobedient. (And I am not advocating it.) But for thousands of years, those who disobeyed were disciplined with physical discipline. Here Peter refers to a beating. He uses a common example from their culture which we also find abhorrent. It is how masters would discipline their slave. He asks a rhetorical question. “How is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?” He is saying, “If you do wrong, you deserve a good thrashing.” Again, we may disagree with that application but we do confess that because we sin, we deserve God’s temporal and eternal punishment. Although we don’t get beaten on in our judicial system, we admit that if we break the law, we deserve to be fined, restricted, imprisoned, and in some cases even put to death. That is justice.

We may have no sympathy for those who take unnecessary risks and contract diseases whether it be COVID-19, STDs, or lung cancer from smoking. There certainly is strong sentiment about what type of punishment murderers, rapists, drug dealers, and child molesters should get.

What isn’t fair is when people suffer through no fault of their own. Here Peter writes to give encouragment to people who were suffering because they were conscious of God. They were doing the right thing, but being punished for it. Joseph did the right thing, he refused to sleep with his master’s wife. As a result he was falsely accused by her and thrown into prison. Peter and James did the right thing. They performed miracles in the name of Jesus and proclaimed that the Christ is Jesus, and they were thrown into prison. St. Paul did the right thing and were were reminded several weeks ago of how much he suffered. “We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.”

This is what Jesus predicted Luke 21:10–13 (NIV): 10 Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven. 12 “But before all this, they will seize you and persecute you. They will hand you over to synagogues and put you in prison, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 And so you will bear testimony to me. And this is still what happens today. Some may present a conspiracy theory that the government is using the pandemic to close churches to curtail the spread of the Gospel. We must be very careful in making such allegations. It speaks to intent and villifies our fellow citizens. In some countries governments do close churches and persecute Christians to curtail the spread of the Gospel. They know what it means to bear up under unjust suffering.

Our suffering because we are conscious of God may not be as extreme. But it can still happen. The question is “How do we react?” Look to the example that Jesus gave.

1 Peter 2:21–25 (NIV): 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Although Jesus had the power to resist, he did not. Instead he entrusted himself to God the Father to deliver him. Although God did not rescue Jesus from the cross he rescued us from our sins by Jesus’ death on that cross. Jesus willingly submitted for the good of all even though he was treated unjustly. He was concious of God. As a result, God raised him from the dead and glorified him.

Our attitude when we suffer unjustly because we conscious of God is to trust in God during that process relying on him to work it out for our good as Jesus trusted and Joseph taught. This is the meaning of the verse: Romand 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Conclusion: There are times in our lives when we do suffer unjustly. Perhaps more people are awar of that now than at any other time in their lives. Now we are more aware of how to respond to such suffering. Maybe our current situation is helping us identify more with Jesus and how our God helps us when we suffer. 2 Corinthians 4:16–18 (NIV): 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Amen.