Alive in the Spirit

Preached on:  Sunday, May 25, 2014

Scripture:  I Peter 3:13-22

Proclamation

            Today is the 6^th Sunday of the Easter Season.  Easter Day with its trumpets and beautiful dresses occurred 36 days ago.  Tomorrow, we celebrate Memorial Day – a day to remember those who gave their lives for the sake of our country.  I imagine most of us are looking forward, not backwards – to the cookouts with friends and the time at the lake or the vacation at the beach or the long awaited trip across the country. 

            Since April 20^th, most of us have settled into life as we know it – bills and doctor’s visits, school performances and job presentations.  The mundane-ness of life and the worries of everyday have long crowded out that memorable day where the gloomy, rainy Saturday became a glorious blue sky Sunday surrounding the living cross at the front of the church.  The power of resurrection has faded as we look to the next holiday, the next challenge, the next opportunity that comes our way. 

            The farther we get from anything – the more the power of the moment fades in our memory. 

            Peter writes this letter to the churches and Christians in Asia Minor – in present day Turkey – towards the end of the first century.  It’s been decades since that original Resurrection morning.  The very youngest of the original disciples who have not been martyred are growing old.  Their stories of a resurrected Savior are now beginning to be codified and placed in writing which we call Gospels – Good News. 

            For many of these Christians who are receiving the letter from Peter the memories of the power of that powerful moment when Jesus entered their lives has begun to fade as well.  Day after day, week after week they face the constant pressure of physical or emotional or economic danger for their belief in Jesus.  The authority of their faith in Jesus that gave them the courage to face these daily challenges seems to have faded as well. 

            When we face the challenges of life –the more the power of our original moments fade from our memory and life. 

            The power of Mission-fuge or centrifuge or other Christian camp we had last summer fades quickly as soon as the first days of school begin.

            The power of those cute moments with our toddler when she stole our heart with an infectious laugh fades in the heat of teenage angst, attitude and disobedience.

            The power of our wedding vows and those “in love” moments of our honeymoon fade as we struggle to reconnect with a spouse who has grown distant and cold. 

            The power of that friendship birthed in school and strengthen in life fades in the shadow of betrayal and lies. 

            The power of baptism and faith which consumed our younger lives fades as we struggle to find meaning and purpose through the loss of jobs , health or family. 

            The power of doing what is right in our lives fades as we struggle with isolation and loneliness because of our decisions. 

            The power of faith in a God who heals fades as we struggle with ongoing health issues that reoccur and take over our lives. 

            When life gets difficult and hard and mundane and ordinary – our hope in the power of resurrection fades and we wonder how we will keep moving forward. 

            Into these moments – Peter writes to encourage the people of Asia Minor and Christians like you and me through the centuries. 

v. 15:  Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered[d] for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you[e] to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

Today’s Good News:  The hope made alive in the Spirit is in you!  Resurrection and hope belong together.  As much as the memory of resurrection may fade from our memories, the kernel of hope birthed in the resurrection remains alive in us like an antibody always there to protect us. 

Implication

            Having hope alive insides us has several implications for our lives. 

1.     Hope lives beside suffering

Over and over again, Peter talks about the suffering and the challenges and heartaches and the difficult daily decisions the Christians in Asia Minor have to endure.  The Greek word for suffering is used more in this book than any other NT book.  Whether you are a slave or wife or a servant or a freedman – following Jesus in the Roman Empire required difficult decisions every day. 

      Even with the kernel of hope alive in them, suffering still existed.  Peter’s words would not be able to take the suffering away.  Even Peter, himself, would ultimately give his own life as a martyr in Rome. 

      The obvious question from anyone in this position is “why if we are living post Easter, post resurrection, do we keep suffering – especially when we what we are doing is right.  Why is it better to suffer for doing right?  Where is the justice in this? 

Peter says we receive something through suffering.  It does something in our lives.  The hurt, the pain, the stress, the hardship – gives us something back into our lives.  “Even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed.”  The hope made alive by the spirit of God exists side by side with our suffering and gives us the strength to keep moving, to carry on, to find strength enough for each day.  This challenges our whole understanding of what it means to be blessed, doesn’t it?  To suffer for what is right is to be blessed.  Might make us think differently when someone says have a “blessed day.”

2.     Hope shares God’s story

When we discover the hope made alive in us – we realize that through the challenges we face in our lives we are sharing God’s story in Jesus.  The challenges of raising a teenager, the exhaustion of chasing a toddler, the fear of getting older or facing a disease, the pain of watching the personality of someone we love fade way – or even the loneliness of not being invited to a party because of a faith stand we take, or losing money on a deal because we choose to be ethical or missing out on a promotion because we choose to make more time for our family – in whatever ways we face challenges on an everyday basis – we share in the story of Jesus. 

      This is what Peter tells the recipients of his letter – when we suffer, we participate in the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  V17:  For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered[d] for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you[e] to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit,

Jesus also suffered – like we suffer.

There is nothing on earth – no feeling, no experience, no challenge, or pain – that Jesus did not experience as well.  The power of the incarnation is that Jesus suffered both for us and with us – we are never alone.  God does not make us suffer for the joy of seeing people squirm – instead, God suffers with us.   The hope the spirit of God made alive in us connects us eternally with the Story of God. 

3.     Hope builds strong character

As we walk through the challenges of living restored through this hope made alive it us – God builds strong character within us.  Through suffering and challenges and pain and grief, the life of Jesus gets made within us and we become more like Jesus.   This hope brings out the Jesus in us. 

One of the key character traits suffering brings out in us is care and concern for the other.  Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; 16 yet do it with gentleness and reverence.

            Many of us have heard this verse before as a verse to promote evangelism – telling others about our faith in Jesus.  And this is exactly what it is.  But look more deeply at the context.  Peter is telling the Christians in Asia Minor who are suffering for their  faith in Jesus – that while they are suffering, while someone is treating them poorly, while they are doing what is right – to always be ready to share the Gospel when an opportunity arises.  Make a defense, Peter says, be ready to tell anyone who asks – why you have made the decision to live like you do - to give an accounting of the hope that is inside you.  And Peter gives guidance for how we are to share – with gentleness and reverence.  Stand firm in the Gospel with love exuding from all that we do.  We can only do this when we have the hope made alive in the spirit in us. 

            When we connect to this deep hope made alive by the spirit in us – Jesus forms us into evangelists.   When the resurrection settles deep into the morrow of our lives and we are formed to be more like Jesus through the sufferings and challenges of our lives – telling others the story of Jesus becomes simply  telling them our story – the Story of God at work in our lives, the story of God’s forming us to be more like Jesus. 

            The hope made alive by the Spirit lives in us and we cannot stop telling others about it. 

Invitation

            Evidence of this hope made alive by the spirit is found all around us when we stop and see.  We notice it because this hope makes no sense what so ever and it points us straight to God. 

            We see this hope made alive in us in op-ed’s to the paper – like the one this week by Lisa Sprayberry.  Her 19 year old son is fighting desperately for his life and she takes the time to write a thank you note to the community for the many ways the community has loved them.  She has discovered the power of hope in the face of suffering. 

            We see this hope made alive in us in the story of the Pregnant Sudanese woman who chose death over denying Jesus.  Charged with marrying a Christian man instead of a Muslim man, she was sentenced death for her faith.  This is a woman who chosen to defend the hope deep inside her for all the world to see. 

            We see this hope every day when husbands or wives bury their spouse and speak of God’s hope and purpose and joy in spite of the deep hole the loss has created in their lives. 

            We see this hope made a live by the spirit every day in Facebook posts by casual friends or acquaintances who speak of God’s hope in spite of the great challenge facing them.  We never know what people are going through – but we can see evidence of the hope made alive in them.

            And we can also see when the hope never took hold.  I’ve read several articles this week about individuals have lost their faith in Jesus because of religion – the church has been too narrow or too dogmatic or too loose – and their faith has faded away.  Their form of Christianity allowed them no room to question or figure it out or to delve into mystery.  The hope of resurrection still exists if only they can allow it to resurface – to be born again. 

            I also see hope fade away in children raised in church who showed up, but never catch on.  These children, teenagers, and now adults knew what to believe, what words to say, but they never allowed the deep hope made alive by the spirit to sink into their lives.  Now, they struggle to find meaning and purpose in the challenges and obstacles and successes of their lives.  God has not given up on them – or you – or me. 

            This is the invitation God has for each of us – receive the hope of the resurrection and allow it to shape and mold and change your life.  Come be baptized in the waters of the spirit and let Jesus plant that hope firmly in your life.

            And for those of us whose lives seem faded, who are struggling to find meaning and purpose in the challenges of our lives – Jesus invites us to reconnect, rediscover, recommit to the hope made alive in the spirit.  It is still there, beating the heart of God within us.  It doesn’t matter if it is 36 days from Easter or 3000 – God’s hope never dies and Jesus invites us to rekindle it.  When we do this – our lives and our world will never be the same.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.