The Endurance of Hope
1 Peter 3: 8-17 ESV
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For "Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 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." 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 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, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.
17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God's will, than for doing evil. †
Hope within us
Look again at the key verse, verse 15 :
…always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you….
I don’t know about you, but I am sure that in at least fifty years of my life that I can remember I have never once had anyone ask me, “So Noel, tell me about this hope that is in you—what is its source and from whence do you derive it?” etc., not even close.
As Peter writes, he addresses a world where this question was in fact regularly asked. Remember, everyone thought Christians were crazy. They were followers of a “failed” Messiah from rural Galilee who was crucified by his own people. How could anyone have hope in such a figure? Add to it that to be a Christian then meant a life that was very high risk indeed. Christians were called traitors by Jews and Romans alike. They lost family and friends over their faith, and many had to leave their homes and livelihoods to live on the lam underground.
They would not renounce their faith upon threats of torture or even death. It just didn’t make sense to the people of the time—and why should it—the entire picture is completely irrational.
Those Christian might have regularly been asked: “How can you possibly put your hope in one who was rejected and crucified?”
seeing the hope
We don’t hear the question anymore. I wonder why not? I feel well-prepared to explain or proclaim my faith to any unbeliever, but they aren’t asking. This is the chief problem: they should be asking.
Part of the problem is that we live in a Christianized America. There are plenty—too many, in fact—zealous evangelists replete in supplying answers to the questions that no one is asking. So America shuts its ears and clamps its hands to the sides of its head.
Here is a key question I ask myself and I think we would all do well to ask ourselves:
How can my personal life reflect the radical hope in order that people will ask me questions?
Is there something lacking in my witness—my proclamation of Christ—that keeps people at a distance and/or makes them reluctant to ask the key questions?
Is my life so ordinary—so run-of-the-mill-normal-American—that they have no good reason to suspect that I’m any different from anyone else?
How then can I live and shape my witness so that it prompts the questions?
Together as well we might voice the question:
How can OUR CHURCH life reflect the radical hope in order that people will ask US questions?
How can our collective witness be shaped in a way that others would be naturally prompted to ask us why we are different?
What kind of life must we live to show the world that following Jesus makes a real difference to us?
To take it a bit deeper, let’s ask:
What have we left behind to follow Christ?
This is easy to answer for the first Christians: they left everything. But American Christians have a different world; we can take it all with us as we go from not following Christ to following Christ. We like this kind of Christianity because it is user friendly—it doesn’t really cost us anything.
So where is the difference? I daresay if there is no difference, there is no witness.
I heard about a young lady recently named Layla. Layla is an Egyptian Christian who grew up in a Muslim home. Beyond all expectation, she became convinced that Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior, and the one, true way to the Father. When she announced to her family, she was slapped and socked. They tried to reason with her and get her to renounce her foolish interest in Christianity, but Layla was a true believer.
Layla was kicked out of her home and disowned by her parents whom she loved. With nothing but the clothes on her back and a half dozen fresh bruises, she moved in with the Christians of the local fellowship that had introduced her to Jesus.
She lost everything, and her brothers announced they would pursue her in an “honor killing.” It cost Layla everything to follow Jesus. This happened to Layla this year. Is she sad, morose and self-pitying? “I can’t believe it! I’ve lost everything! My family hates me!” No. Layla is one of the most confident, self-composed and joyous young women you could possibly meet. She has her hope set on Christ alone, and it makes all the difference that she does. Many of Layla’s Muslim friends have asked her—with amazement—why she hopes in Jesus. Layla has a witness.
church in egypt
Since the overthrow of Mubarak in 2o11 and the establishment of the Muslim Brotherhood, Christians in Egypt have had a real struggle. They have lost rights, lost liberties, and been targeted by extremists. You’ve seen the stories; you know how bad it has been.
I recently met a leader in the Egyptian church who told me about Holy Week this year. He said that the Egyptian government—which opposes extremist violence—received “credible threats” that churches were being targeted for Palm Sunday and Easter services. The government warned the churches and encouraged them—for their own safety—not to meet for worship those Sundays, but perhaps to reschedule them.
Church leaders of Cairo met and discussed the threats. They chose—quite quickly and easily, in fact—to proceed with Palm Sunday and Easter services. They said to the government representatives:
We already laid down our lives a long time ago.
Boldness, calm, gentleness, and un-anxious resolve—these are what Egyptian Christians offer to their Muslim countrymen.
Earning ears
In contrast, American evangelism has been characterized by zealous brothers and sisters who believe that their witness is empowered by the fact that they have fingers and Americans have doorbells. Or you have to drive in traffic and they have broad bumpers upon which to preach answers to the questions no one is asking.
We must do better. We must earn the right to be heard. This is indispensable factor #1 of our witness. We must live in a way that prompts others to ask us what, why, how, and WHO accounts for the discernable difference Christ makes to our lives.
Again, I’ll say what we said last week:
Love only communicates AS love when it is irrational.
Outsiders to the faith see Christians with a we-can-take-it-all-with-us faith. It is too rational, too normal. Where is the love? Where is the sacrifice? Where is the cost of following Jesus?
It takes irrational love to open the ears of the hard-hearted. As sacrifice is the language of integrity, our witness is silent unless we are giving of ourselves beyond reason.
We need an irrational witness—a self-abandoning, other-exalting attitude made manifest in acts of love—if the ears of the world are to be opened. That is what shaping our witness requires.
There is a video that has gone fairly viral I’m going to play for you. The Egyptian, Muslim anchorman is listening to an interview of a woman and family whose father was dragged into the streets and shot by ISIS for no reason other than being a Christian and minister. Watch what happens to him as he hears their account:
[Egypt clip: VIMEO #212755977]
Forgiveness is crazy
That family did not forgive as a calculated strategy to wow their Muslim countrymen. They did not brainstorm the idea of what would be the best way to impress their Muslim neighbors. Their witness was simply shaped by their regular, ordinary, ongoing obedience to Jesus Christ as found in Scripture.
Radical idea: they just do what Jesus asks all of us to do: they forgave and prayed for their persecutors.
Peter tells Christians not to exchange hurt for hurt. Jesus tells us that there is a no-option clause regarding our forgiving others. Forgiveness remains among the most visible irrational acts of love that still impresses the world.
How can our church’s life reflect our radical hope in Jesus Christ? Here’s one way: we will resolve, unconditionally, to forgive unconditionally. We will agree to feel shame for any grudge or vengeful attitude. We will repent of our need for personal justice where it may subvert the potential for forgiveness; and whatever pain or damage we feel as a result of injury by others, we will be a people who immediately seek to offer forgiveness.
That’s crazy, and it’s an excellent witness. †