Vindicated!

I want to see if you can help me with this problem.

Okay, you are a bus driver at a station. 10 get on the bus and no one gets off. You drive 10 miles to another station where 3 people get on and 1 gets off. You drive another 10 miles only to get 25 people on and 5 people go off. Next you drive 3 miles while 12 people exit the bus. You drive back to the place knowing that a couple more stops along the way until the ride is done. At the 2nd to last station 5 people get on and 2 get off. And at the last station (5.5 miles) 25 people get on for no reason and 1 gets off. What is the bus drivers eye color?

Now some of you have heard this before and you aren’t all that confused. But many might be thinking, “wait, how in the world am I supposed to get that answer? You were counting all those numbers, keeping track of miles in your head, and then all of a sudden you are thrown for a loop because I asked you about the drivers eye color. And you missed that at the very beginning I said, “you” are the bus driver. So what’s the driver’s eye color? Well, the answer is whatever your eye color is.

Now why am I sharing this with you? Because something very similar happens in our text this morning. We have great information at the beginning and it connect with the last verse…but there is all kinds of stuff in the middle here that gets really confusing and causes our eyes to cross and our brains to smoke. If we aren’t careful what will happen is that we’ll get tripped up on the really odd or confusing details in this passage and miss the overall point of the author. So listen as we read from God’s Word to us and see how it gets kind of strange to our 21st century ears.

Well that got kind of confusing, didn’t it? But keep in mind that when this was written Peter wasn’t being cryptic just to be cryptic. In fact, he knew exactly what he was saying and it’s quite likely that his original audience understood it pretty well too. There are some pretty big questions of this text. What did Peter mean by these spirits that Christ went and preached to in the days of Noah. And for us Baptists we’re a little uncomfortable as well with his statement, “baptism, which now saves you...” So, as I said earlier if we aren’t careful the parts of this passage which aren’t clear can be screaming in our minds and in our efforts to unravel the not so clear we can neglect that which is clear in this passage.

And honestly, I think we can be prone to do this because it’s easier to try to untangle theological knots and be a distant observer of the text. To be one who masters the Word, figures out the theology, has a clear and concise opinion on a difficult passage, can then inform others about what the text really means. But that’s easy. You want to know what’s hard. Living out the stuff that is super and abundantly clear. Love your neighbor as yourself. That’s not a bunch of knots. It’s clear. Love your neighbor. Love somebody. But the clarity of this is what is so unsettling. There isn’t squirming out of this. And so that’s what we actually have in this passage. What Peter is saying here is actually pretty straight-forward. But his illustration for explaining that is confusing to us in the 21st century.

What’s his point. It’s simply this: Because our living hope is firmly fixed in Jesus Christ we do not fear but we bless. Because our vindication in Christ is certain we bless others. So what I want to do is show you that from this text—try to apply it—then I want to take a moment to show what that confusing part means and how it relates.

Verse 13. Who is to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? That’s simply saying that for the most part if you’re zealous for doing good you aren’t going to have a bunch of people hating you. If you’re good to people then generally speaking they are nice to you. People don’t tend to bite the hand that feeds them. If you are known as generous, warm-hearted, caring, etc. then you probably aren’t going to be severely treated.

And I know you’re thinking of all kinds of exceptions to this in your mind. Or maybe you’re thinking this is that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. No, that’s not what he’s saying. He’s just saying what my grandma used to say, “you catch more flies with honey.”

Verse 14…but that’s not always the case. But even if you should suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. “Even if you should” quite a few commentaries on this phrase. The structure here is such that it’d be saying, “This rarely happens” but even in the unlikely even that it does....but that doesn’t seem so plausible. Because Peter’s audience IS being persecuted. And it does happen often—Godliness WILL BE persecuted.

His point is that even if this general principle doesn’t come through and you endure a time of suffering for doing good (for righteousness sake) then you will be blessed. Blessed. What does that word mean? Does it mean, “Don’t worry if bad stuff happens to you and you lose everything because of persecution, you’ll eventually come out on top?” Or does the Bible mean something even greater. Blessed in the Bible means to happy. It’s pointing to eternal life, though. This is the word that Jesus used throughout the beatitudes. Blessed. Happy. Fulfilled. Shalom. Complete. Eternally joyful.

So what’s Peter saying? He’s saying that you’ll be ultimately vindicated.

So as a result, “have no fear of them, nor be troubled.” That word there for “troubled” is the same word used of the disciples when they are in a boat and they see Jesus walking on the water towards them and they think he is a ghost. It means terrified, disturbed, shattered-within. All your senses heightened. Your whole world becomes about this thing. Your focus is laser like. It all becomes about this thing.

So imagine that. You’ve got this threat that your comforts, your world, all that you enjoy could be taken away. Relationships could be broken. Difficult conversations could happen. Physical suffering could be around the corner. What’s that do to you internally? What’s it do to you whenever you don’t know what the future might hold. When most of your waking moments are given to this thing. When it keeps you up at night. When it disturbs your sleep.

What happens in these situations is that we can definitely be cut off from hope. That’s what were despair comes from. You look at your future and no matter what area you look it doesn’t look bright. There are some “lights” at the end of the tunnel but you know that it’s likely a train and not a rescue. So what do you do? What’s your response when you freedoms might be taken away? When you’ve enjoyed little persecution and you’ve been able to happily and freely be a follower of Jesus but all of a sudden that’s a big deal and it’s persecuted and people hate you because of it and you might lose everything…how do you respond?

Look at verse 15. Honor Christ the Lord as holy. This whole section likely goes back to Isaiah 8. Another place that Peter likes to quote. The story of the Assyrian invasion and Isaiah the prophet being hit from all sides.

Isaiah 8:12–13 ESV

“Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

Peter picks up that same principle. He’s saying—even if the Assyrians come in and destroy everything that you love and enjoy and treasure, still honor the Lord as holy. Let him be your fear, let him be your dread.” And if that’s the case—then you won’t have to fear anything. Establish that. Make that your anchor.

But notice what else he does with this. Remember our statement from a few weeks ago as we walked through that section on husbands and wives, slaves and masters, subjects and rulers?

Rather than giving license to rebellion, Christian freedom propels us into humble service for the redemption of others and the glory of God.

Notice what happens here. Having a fear of the Lord and not of man doesn’t push us into passivity or to personal comfort. This isn’t que sera sera. Whatever will be, will be. No this is propelling us to bold missing. Because I don’t fear man I can go with the gospel to the darkest of places. I don’t have to fight for my ground. I don’t have to have heightened senses to protect my way of life, instead I have heightened senses to fight for your redemption to the glory of God.

“always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you”. Do you hear that? You’re to live in such a way that other people are asking about your hope. Oh my goodness how this would transform everything. I read something this week that I want to share. You won’t believe this but it was something beneficial and helpful from Facebook. Anne Hathy shares this story:

I meet an 87 year old who talks of living through polio, diphtheria, Vietnam, protests and yet, is still enchanted with life. He seemed surprised when I said that 2020 must be especially challenging for him. “No,” he said slowly looking me straight in the eyes, “I learned a long time ago to not see the world through the printed headlines. I see the world through the people that surround me. I see the world with the realization that we love big. Therefore, I just choose to write my own headlines. “Husband loves wife today. “ “Family drops everything to come to Grandmas bedside.” He patted my hand “Old man, makes new friend”.

His words collide with my worries, freeing them from the tether I had been holding tight. They float away. I am left with a renewed spirit. My headline now reads “Woman overwhelmed by the spirit of kindness and the reminder that our capacity to love is never ending.“

I don’t know that this woman knows Jesus, nor do I know if that 87 year old does. But you know what their story does? It makes me want to ask. We have a living hope! A living hope. Nobody else around us, who isn’t in Christ, has that. They might have shadows, they might have helpful or even healing things, but they do not ultimately have Christ—the living hope. We do. And how horrible and sad it is that our lives could be so gloomy and cynical and fearful or power-grabbing or cold or distant or unloving or fretful or anxious or conspiratorial THAT the questions about our hope isn’t being asked.

But even this, he says, should be done with gentleness and respect! Some have seen that gentleness is horizontal and the respect/reverence is vertical. That’s certainly possible. We don’t get into a fight about hope. We don’t strike back when reviled, or when our hope is mocked, or it’s said to be a fairy tale. We just let our hope do the talking. We don’t get arrogant. We don’t rub our hope in the face of others. But with gentleness and respect we live a life that causes people to ask questions and we humbly share Christ the living hope.

“having a good conscience so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame”. It’s powerful to have a good conscience isn’t it. When someone accuses you of doing wrong if you know you didn’t actually do that thing then it’s easier to sleep at night. When you’ve done business with your own sin and your own soul. When you know that yes, you’re generally speaking a sinner who is saved by grace. But that in this specific thing this is nothing but slander. And notice the “when” slandered. No “ifs” on this one.

The goal then is that those who do the slandering might be put to shame. I think this works on a couple levels. On the first level, if you have a reputation like this and folks slander you—you don’t want to be living the type of life where people would say, “you know…I could see that.” You want to live such a life that the slander would be shocking. Your character would speak volumes. And so they’ll be put to shame and exposed as being foolish in their accusations. But I think for Peter honor/shame works on a much deeper plane. He’s talking here about standing before Christ. Christians will be held in honor. Those who slander will be ultimately put to shame.

So what we’re really talking about here and what the theme of this passage really is, then is vindication. It’s better to suffer for doing good than to suffer for doing evil. And I think here you could almost translate this as him saying, “It is better to suffer at the hands of man in the present for doing good—if that’s God’s will for you to suffer—than it is to suffer eternally the wrath of God for doing evil. Christian you will be vindicated.

That is his point in this passage. How does that vindication impact you today? We’ve already seen that in this passage. It impacts you ethically—I can do the right thing and suffer because I know the blessing of the “right thing” is eternal. You could easily illustrate this with saying that you’ve got a bunch of people at work who are stealing company time and money—nothing huge or outlandish. It’s not a big deal. Probably wouldn’t even make the news. But you are convicted about it and so you don’t engage. They mock you. Your relationship is strained with your co-workers. They even start to mock your Christian faith and call you a stick in the mud. So what does the realization that you will be ultimately vindicated do for you in this situation? It helps you endure. You know that God is pleased with your heart and with your actions and that matters more. You fear Him—not them. You could apply this in so many area. You’ll never get good fruit from a bad root. Doing bad things—cutting corners, co-opting with evil or evil people for the sake of accomplishing some good end—will never ultimately bring about the kingdom of God.

But this vindication also impacts you emotionally. I can escape fear or being troubled because I am fixing my hope on Christ. Again despair happens and hope is cut off when you look to the future and the whole thing seems bleak. But if I set my eyes on eternity, if I know that I’ll be vindicated in Christ then it begins to restore my hope. I know that the big picture story will end in “blessed”…happy…fulfilled…shalom. I think Eugene Peterson is correct, “Nothing counter to God's justice has any eternity to it. “ I know that in Christ all injustice will be done away with. And so I know that our future in Christ is not bleak. Far from it. Placing your hope like this, knowing of the Lord’s vindication, will do a ton in rescuing us from “fear” and being “troubled”.

This vindication impacts us ethically, emotionally, and also evangelistically. I can bless instead of curse because I know the gospel for me AND I don’t have to defend myself from you so I’m free to labor to bless you. I was inspired by these words from Margaret Feinberg:

I would hope people would look at us and say, “Those Christians are the ones who run in when everyone else is running out. Those Christians are the ones who didn’t give up on the crumbling inner cities. Those Christians are the ones who brought peace to Darfur. Those Christians are the ones who put an end to human trafficking. Those Christians are the ones who helped win the war on AIDS around the world. Those Christians are the ones who write those incredible lyrics, pen those unforgettable books, and create artwork that’s mesmerizing. Those Christians are the ones who helped my mother when she got Alzheimer’s. Those Christians are the ones who were kind to me when I was new to the area. Those Christians are the ones that made me want to believe in God.

Knowing that we are ultimately vindicated in Christ is what motivates that. It’s the foundation. And so that is what Peter is showing in this passage. He is showing them how they are called to continue to do good and bless others even when they are being reviled. You get spit upon and you pray “Father, forgive them.” That’s the core of what he’s saying.

And it’s this same thing happening in verses 18-22. Notice the “for” in verse 18. He’s grounding that. He’s saying, “here is why I just told you that....” so he’s saying the way that you’re able to do all of that is because of what has happened in Christ.

Christ suffered—the righteous for the unrighteous—that he might bring us to God.

So Christian—little Jesus’—what do you think that means for you? You suffer (righteous for the unrighteous) to bring them to God. To give a reason for the hope that you have. You suffer for doing good in the same way.

In just a second i’ll give some options on what specifically Peter is saying, but for now just skim through these verses. Whatever these spirits in prison are…whenever he is talking about…and whatever this means with Noah...notice what happened....Christ proclamation is a proclamation of victory.

“Being put to death…in which he went...” You don’t say, “Fred died last Thursday and immediately after that he went to....” That doesn’t happen unless something else is going on here. This is pointing to the resurrection. “death in flesh…alive in spirit”. It’s pointing to his vindication. Look at verse 22—who has gone into heaven is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. So do you see the patter then. Suffering leads to vindication.

And what Peter is doing then—whatever the specifics of this passage—he is tying the vindication of Christ to our own vindication in Christ. It is certain because of the exaltation of Christ and it’s certain by the testimony of our baptism. That’s the point.

Now specifics? A couple main questions. Who are the spirits in prison?

One option—this one is an older one and pretty appealing. Christ was preaching through Noah to those who lived while Noah was building the ark. Christ spoke through means of the spirit to those snared in sin during Noah’s day.

There are a couple of other options which see this as Christ descending into hell after his death and preaching to the spirits. Some have him preaching victory to OT saints—rescuing them from prison. Another view has him descending into hell and preaching judgment over those who died during Noah’s flood. And yet another view has him preaching the gospel to them and giving them an opportunity to repent and be saved.

Another very appealing option is to say that Christ in his death and resurrection proclaimed judgment as well as victory over evil angels.

Now which one is correct? I’m confident we can dismiss any that would give some sort of “second chance” to those who had died. I say that because that’d undercut Peter’s entire point. That’s not going to motivate obedience and suffering. It would undercut everything in this passage. So really, we need to ask of this passage—given the surrounding context—which one of these views would help us to see vindication of Christ better. And I think you can see that a bit in the one with him preaching through Noah—but I really think the better view is to see his death and resurrection as proclaiming victory over evil. It’s vindication. But, I wouldn’t stake a ton on that interpretation. It’s tough.

So what does he mean there, “Christ by means of the Holy Spirit went and proclaimed victory over the imprisoned spirits”. You want details on that, I don’t’ have them, nor does the Scripture really give them. But the point is that Christ is Victor over death, evil, and suffering, and all of that which we might fear.

But we’ve still got that sticky question of what does he mean by “baptism which now saves you”. What in the world does that mean?

Well, what happened in the flood? Noah and his family were saved through it. But it doesn’t really seem to fit the analogy of baptism. Or does it? Any of you baptized in a creek? What about a cold baptistry when the water pump goes out? They are rough. They are waters of death. You don’t want to just sit in there and hang out. It’s cold. It’s raging. Death happens in baptism.

You submerge someone in water they die. Immersion. “Just as the chaotic waters of the flood were the agent of destruction so too the waters of baptism are waters of destruction”. But believers are resurrected through the waters b/c of the work of Christ. Just as Noah emerged from the flood so believers emerge from the death water of baptism into a new life.

Salvation comes in the midst of judgment. Those who believe in Christ—those who are placed in the ark of Christ--come through suffering and are vindicated. Noah was considered a fool. But he was rescued. Christians in Peter’s day are considered fools, but they will be ultimately vindicated.

I think we might miss what he’s saying here with baptism a little because we so often separate it from our conversion. But that didn’t happen in the early church. And it was like a death sentence for you. It was being identified with Christ. The idea of someone in the early church confessing Christ as Lord and not being baptized would have been pretty much unheard of. Of course, baptism in and of itself doesn’t save you. I think that’s what he means here by “not as a removal of dirt from the body”....but it’s an appeal. It’s a powerful symbol of what has already taken place in the heart.

But I really think what he’s saying here when he says, “saves us” I think is really something like “evidence of our vindication”. He’s saying to them, “Look at your baptism....that’d be like saying look at your wedding day and your vows…look at what was happening in then. You were in the raging waters—you identified with him in his death—but you also identified with him in his resurrection. You came out of that water, bro. And you know what that symbolizes? Vindication. Honor. You live. No shame. Newness of life. That’s what was going on when you were baptized.

I do quite a bit of research when I prepare a sermon. I check lots of resources and usually after I’ve written a good deal of the sermon I’ll check with others to make sure I’m not way off base or something. On occasion I’ll try to find a good illustration somewhere. And here is how I wanted to be able to end our sermon. I wanted to give you a really good story about vindication. A good sermon illustration.

I found several on justification. That’s being declared innocent before God. You’ve maybe heard it said that justified means “just as if I’d never sinned”. But I couldn’t find hardly anything on vindication. In fact some of my resources said something like, “see justification”. But wait, those two words aren’t exactly the same. Something different is happening there.

Justification—the heart of the gospel is certainly true. In Christ his identity and his righteousness becomes yours. He takes away our guilt. He takes away our shame. We stand before God completely and entirely innocent because of His actions. Because his record is our record we are justified. Declared innocent. Declared righteous.

But that’s not quite what is happening in vindication. Vindication means that everyone thought you were a fool but in the end you turned out not that way. Everyone thought you were an evil person but you really weren’t. Christians in Peter’s day are being slandered and accused of all sorts of things. But their righteousness is in heaven and therefore their vindication is in heaven.

So here is what to do with this. Yes we are guilty. We have done immeasurable harm to others and we’ve sinned against Almighty God. Our sin goes deep. Incredibly deep. And for this we need justification. We need to own our guilt. Not run from it. Not have our defense attorney justify us. But own it. Take it to the Cross. And realize that in Christ it is forgiven—you are no longer condemned.

But what do you do whenever you HAVEN’T done something bad but you are being accused of that? You see—that’s where we get angry. That’s where we start to defend ourselves. That’s where we are prone to try to get even, to clear our good name, to show everybody that this thing isn’t true about us. We try to VINDICATE ourselves. I know that I go to God for justification but what do I do with VINDICATION. You go to God for that as well. This is what Peter is saying.

Every bad thing you’ve ever been accused of. The mocking. The slander. The people thinking you’re a fool. Evil done to you. All of that stuff. What this verse is declaring is that you will be vindicated. The truth WILL come out. And so this truth does something ethically, emotionally, and evangelistically.

Because our living hope is firmly fixed in Jesus Christ we do not fear but we bless. Because our vindication in Christ is certain we bless others.

Is your hope fixed in Christ? That’s where both your justification and your vindication is found. Apart from Christ there is no justification and there is no vindication. Come to Jesus.