Say what to the troubled? (2)
Peter’s
readers were Messianic Jews scattered through the provinces he mentions
as he begins his letter. Not only would they be in a real sense
alienated from the Gentile world around them, many of them would be
regarded with suspicion and worse by leaders in the Jewish communities
(compare 1 Peter 2:4-10 where the Christians are viewed as stones in the
temple built on the Rejected Stone and see Acts 4:11). These Christians
were already suffering in some ways and to some degree and Peter
insists that there is more ahead (1 Peter 1:6 and 4:7, 17).
Since
God is their Father and they are his chosen they might have expected to
have everything going for them (this is a commonplace expectation and
it isn’t an unreasonable one). Pain and loss speak their message loud
and clear—“You don’t matter; if you mattered you’d be taken care of!”
This is part of the reason Peter repeatedly stresses their
identity—because their experience calls it into question.
Having assured them of their identity he speaks to them of their inheritance in 1 Peter 1:3-5.
You
understand that what members of a good family inherit is not only a
series of blessings—being part of a “good” family is the supreme
blessing. Still, we mustn’t try to be too precise; while just the
privilege of being part of a good family is the root of everything there
are blessings that come to a good family that can’t be experienced by
those outside it. It would be wrong to seek God only for what he can give us but it would be stupid to think we aren’t allowed to rejoice in the blessings he does give us.
Peter’s
troubled readers who were redeemed by the extraordinary (1 Peter
1:18-19) are heirs of the extraordinary. Whatever the inheritance is it
cannot be seized by oppressors or plundered by conquerors. It is
reserved in a realm beyond tyranny’s reach and in a place where thieves
can’t steal it. It isn’t the kind of treasure that moths can eat or rust
can destroy (Matthew 6:19-21). Present experience and past history
would give all this a special clarity for these Jewish believers but it
would say no less to Christians everywhere who live in slums with
rapacious gangs and landlords and brutal governments and militia groups
on the prowl. That inheritance which is now theirs by virtue of who they are will one day be their actual and personal experience.
In the meantime—and this truth must be a terrible burden for the truly burdened by life—part of what they have inherited as part of the community of Christ
is to share the sufferings of Jesus Christ. Note the explanatory words
like “for” in passages such as 1 Peter 2:21; you were called to this
“for” (because) Christ also suffered for us.
Why
should Christians suffer when their inheritance in Jesus Christ is
glory, honour and immortality? Because they are part of the body of
Christ who has borne our sicknesses and carried our diseases (see
Matthew 8:16-17 and click here). Christians suffer for the world! They are part of the redeeming presence of Jesus in the world in every generation.
So
that even their suffering—however difficult it is for truly suffering
souls to believe—even their suffering is shot through with glory. 1
Peter 4:12-16. That passage focuses more on the suffering that is
persecution but to limit the NT’s view of the sufferings of Christians
is a real mistake. Do see the piece on Matthew 8:16-17.
A
day will come when those who have embraced Jesus Christ will show the
scars they gained as they served him and they’ll glory in them. Note
this from Shakespeare’s Henry V about his outnumbered troops gathered against the French at Agincourt:
We would not die in that man's company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers
This too is part of the inheritance of Christians. This too is part of what we should say to the truly troubled.