For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him.
I'm going to be as fast as possible, but I do want to look at this passage because it has something, God's word has something really specific for us this morning. We saw today how Christians all over the world are wronged. just for their faith. They go through trials, suffering, persecution, just by virtue of them being a Jesus follower. And the folks that Peter is writing to in 1 Peter had the same issue, right? They were persecuted for their faith. They were wronged for their faith. It wasn't systematic, systemic state persecution just yet. They were a few years remote from Neronian persecution, which was terrible, by the way. I know Pastor Carl talked about it a little bit yesterday. When Emperor Nero, when he came to power, he burned down Rome, blamed it on the Christians. And this is how Christians were persecuted. He had these Christians... hung on a pole in his private garden, and at night, he would light them up on fire. And Christians were torches. Their bodies were torches in his private garden. That's the kind of persecution that people faced and they went through for the sake of Jesus. And here in this passage that we're going to look at, Peter gives us three reasons to treat others right, even though you've been treated wrong. So he goes, you're persecuted, you're under suffering, you're going through stuff, but here's how we got to treat people. And so I want to quickly give you three reasons, three whys Peter gives us to treat others right when we're going through suffering. And I want to say, you know, persecution looks... different in different contexts and you might think oh you know what we don't face this kind of persecution and it's true but i do think that there's a little bit of persecution for Christians even here i don't think it's cool in the marketplace to be a Christian right Is it, it's not a badge of honor to identify to your coworkers, to people that you are a Jesus follower and you're passionate about Jesus. Is that fair? A lot of times we actually try to hide the fact that we're Jesus followers, right? I remember this is one incident. If you've been here at 180 for any point in time, you know the story that I'm going to share. But this left such a huge mark on my life because I go, I've got a lot of things to work on. You know, my daughter, she was a singer from the time she was six months old. She just loved to sing, you know, even before she started to talk. She would just shout as her mom put her to bed. And so she would normally sing all of these songs. And there was one time she was two years old. I'm at the Jewel Osco. I remember exactly. In Skokie, we were just checking out. It was just me and her. I was at the checkout line, ready to check out. And she just burst into a song. She goes, yes, Jesus loves me. As loud as possible. And everybody in the adjacent checkout lines, they're all looking. And do you know what my first response was? I was shushing her. Almost I put my hands to shush her. Because I was so embarrassed. And then I go... Why did I do that? I mean, she was not being disruptive. It's not like people were getting annoyed, you know. And I don't want to be that parent that doesn't, that isn't considerate of everything that's going on. But that wasn't why I actually shushed her. I was actually embarrassed that she was singing about Jesus. And then I was reminded of when Jesus says, well, if you're embarrassed of me, I will be embarrassed of you in front of the Father in heaven. There's literally a verse in the Gospels. And I go, God, I'm so sorry. You know, I can't do that. I'm a pastor. I can't do this. Right? So I go, Roshni, you want to sing about Jesus? That's okay. You know, you do you, girl. You know. But the bottom line is, I think there is a cost to wearing Jesus on our sleeve, even in our culture. Right? You're a Christian. Your beliefs are misrepresented as narrow, intolerant, even dangerous. Our principles are seen as outdated, bigoted, unloving, characterless. It's been maligned. I know a few people in this campus and even in our Northwest campus who have literally lost their jobs for standing for their faith. There is a cost to being a Christian even here. But we're not going to talk about that cost. We're going to see how God wants us to treat people even when you are wronged for your faith. So I want to give you three reasons. The first one, because those who do good or those who treat people right, even when they're wronged, live under God's attentive care. In 1 Peter 3, verses 8 to 12, I'm going to be as fast as possible. It says, finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. For to this you are called that you may obtain a blessing. Here's the irony about this verse. I was looking at it. It says, finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. These are things that are hard to do when things are great. Imagine you're not persecuted. Imagine you're not suffering. Imagine you don't have any trials. You're not wrong for your faith. It's still hard to treat others with sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. And Peter is talking to those who are going through intense suffering and he goes, this is how I want you to relate. with each other. And he goes, do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling. And then he goes into this theological spiel from Psalm 34. He's quoting, and then at the end in verse 12, he says, for the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. So why do we treat others right even though we're wrong for our fate? Because you're under God's attentive care. God promises to be closely present. God promises to watch. Those who are righteous. God promises, he says, my ears are open to your prayer. And conversely, he goes, my face is against those who do evil. So we treat others right. Why? Because God's on our side. You have the sovereign God of heaven and earth on your side. We treat others right when you're treated wrong because suffering is never worth losing your character. He goes on in verse 13. Now who is there to harm you if you're zealous for what is good? In other words, he's saying there's no one ultimately, even if you're persecuted, there's no one who's going to ultimately harm you for doing good. But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. And then he goes, for it is better to suffer for doing good, If that should be God's will, then for doing evil. It says there's no circumstance in which you want to lose your testimony, your witness, your character, just because you're being persecuted for your faith. It's okay if you suffer. And I love verse 15 because that's normally used for apologetics. The branch of theology called apologetics. And I love this. The word being prepared to make a defense to anyone. Apologia is used for that. And I think, and it's great. I think we need to have a reasoned arguments for why we believe in God and all of that. But there's something that the author is alluding to here that's even more simple than that. He says, hey, when you're treated wrongly and then you behave right, people are going to look at you and go, why do you do that? Why do you endure suffering? You are wrong. You should stand up for your rights. And that's when you go, you know what? Jesus asked me to do that. She goes, why? Well... I believe that gives you an opportunity to give a reason for the hope that makes you behave the way that you do. A lot of times, suffering can actually cause us to throw in the towel on the values that we hold dearly. In fact, in sociology, there's a concept called default culture. And so a default culture is the unconscious automatic set of habits, biases, and behaviors that we drift into when we're under immense strain. So when the rubber meets the road, when your backs are against the wall, you never know someone fully until you see them respond to stress. Because that's when everything else is stripped away, all the facade, the way we sanitize, the way we... behave with others. All of that stripped away and now it's just you. What comes out? And suffering has a way of stripping all of that. It kind of makes, kind of exposes you, us, and our behavior. And so for us who value forgiveness, if you're under suffering, if you've been wronged, sometimes we want to take revenge. For us as believers who want to value gentleness, treating others kind, and then we're wrong, our initial response could be one of anger, lashing out, using our words to hurt people, right? Peter's saying, you know what? It's okay if you suffer for doing good than for doing evil because suffering is never worth losing your character. Finally, God wants us to treat others right when you are treated wrong because Jesus shows us that he turns suffering to victory. The passage, 1 Peter 3, verse 18-22. I'm not going to read this passage because, guys, this is one of the most complex passages in all of the Bible in terms of interpretation. Because if you go into a digression here, it's... It's going to take us all day to explain this particular thing. So if you are curious about what you think I think the interpretation means, I'd love to meet with you. You know, we can talk about it. But I'm just going to give you the crux of the argument that Peter is making here. There's actually literally, I'm not kidding. 50 different interpretations, combinations, and permutations for this particular passage. 1 Peter 3, verse 18 to 22. So I'm not going to read all of it, but some of it you can see. So it says, For Christ also suffered once For our sins, the righteous for the unrighteous. And here's the digression that goes. He talks about proclaiming to the spirits in prison because they were formerly disobedient. And then he talks about Noah and the ark. He talks about baptism that saves us. So then the questions that come to our mind is, who are these spirits? What is Jesus proclaiming? What is going on? We're not going to touch on that today. But if you go to verse 22, it says, For Jesus suffered, and then at the end it goes, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him. So the main argument that Peter is making was Jesus suffered and he was vindicated. He was proclaiming his victory to the angels, to the spirits even in prison. And that's the pattern that we follow. If you suffer, the template is that it's not permanent. You will be vindicated much like Jesus. And so Peter is encouraging and he's saying, if you are suffering, it's okay. Because Jesus shows us that he turns suffering to victory. In Hebrews 12.2 says, This passage goes, looking to Jesus. It's not going to be on your screen. Looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. That's the template for you and me. So what does it mean for us today? I want to get the worship team up and go to the Y in the road because there is something that God wants us to do. If you can go to the Y in the road, please. Consider how you treat others when you feel wronged. How do you respond? And I want to broaden it, not just for your faith, but in general. If you feel someone's treated you wrongly, what is your immediate response? Is it one where we fight for our rights, we want things to be done a certain way, or do we think about Jesus, how he suffered the gospel, and then respond appropriately? So I've got three questions for us to reflect on here today. What situation has made it hardest for you to keep doing good when wronged for your faith? Is there something that you're going through right now? Trials, suffering, persecution. It might not be related to your faith. Might just be part of your personal life. What is it? What situation has made it hard for you to treat others right even though they've treated you wrongly? And so what would change if you really believe that God sees and cares about you and that Jesus will ultimately judge all evil? And then finally, what is one concrete way you can respond differently in that situation? I'm going to pray for us today. I really want you guys, this is for me too, I want all of us to take this to heart. There are believers all across the world suffering for their faith because of their faith in Jesus. What are we preoccupied by? Are we at the point where we go, God, I want to follow you wholeheartedly. And I want to treat others right, even though they might have treated me wrong. What if we, as Jesus followers, live this out? Imagine the impact that we can have in this world. And I pray that we would treat others right, even when treated wrong. Let me pray for us. God, we thank you for your word. Your word's not there just to encourage us, God, but there are passages that are hard. They challenge us. They convict us, Father. And even today, God, as we've seen, just even seen the believers in India. Wearing their faith on their sleeve even though they know that it could cost their life. God, I pray for every person here who's committed to following you. Who's professed their faith in you. God, I pray, would you help them to think through and internalize what does it mean to be a passionate Jesus follower? And God, and in circumstances where we tend to play it down, where we want to play our identity as a Jesus follower down, God, would you please teach us the right way? And God, even when we're treated wrongly for our faith, I pray that you would strengthen our resolve. You would make us strong so we can treat others right just like you want us to. Thank you for your word. We give you all glory, honor, and praise. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
