Peter
is probably the most celebrated of all Jesus’ disciples. He is always listed
first among the twelve, he features prominently in many Gospel stories, and he becomes
the cornerstone of the post-Easter church.
Peter
was ultimately martyred in Rome under the emperor Nero. Nero was the fifth
Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He is best known
for his political murders and a passion for music that led to the rumor that
Nero “fiddled” while Rome burned during the great fire of 64 CE. Nero was also
a persecutor of Christians. When Peter wrote the words “always be ready with an
answer”, it was a very dangerous time to be a Christian, as Nero liked to blame
everything that went wrong in the Roman Empire on the followers of Christ.
Over
the last few weeks, we have been reading from Peter’s first letter. Peter’s
audience was Gentile Christians in Asia Minor (a geographic region located in
the south-western part of Asia comprising most of present-day Turkey) who were
suffering for their faith. The letter was meant to provide them encouragement
from someone who knows a bit about suffering and who can testify to them about
God’s grace. Peter pressed this community to remain steadfast in living
honourably and ethically in spite of hostility from unbelievers.
Throughout
the letter, Peter offers suggestions that might help make life for bearable for
his readers. Specifically in today’s reading, Peter tells his readers that they
should be ready to give a defense of the gospel that sustains them, that they
must show that they are different in a positive way, that they should
concentrate on conducting themselves honourably, so that those who ridicule
them will see their honourable deeds and be put to shame, (or possibly
converted).
Peter
wanted his audience to remain faithful to Christ even in the face of pressures
to conform to the larger world’s social and religious values. He asked his
readers to have courage, to have compassion and gentleness and respect for
their assailants, to live lives beyond reproach, to follow the teachings of
Jesus, and to love their enemies to the point of death. Those oppressed by the
empire were encouraged to respond to their persecution by imitating Christ. By
saying “always be ready for an answer”, Peter was urging his readers to
fearlessly defend hope, the hope given to us in the resurrection of Jesus
Christ, the hope given to us through the eternal love of God.
Peter
knew that his people would be questioned about the way they were acting. He
knew that they would be subject to interrogation about their unconventional
lives. But shouldn’t our lives inspire others to ask questions? Christians are
called to live just lives that are above reproach. How we live becomes our best
defense against those are questioning us. Few among us live under the threat of
death, but if we seek to live out our faith in the world, we may indeed
encounter systems that oppose our witness. We may not be being persecuted as
Peter’s readers were in 1st century Rome, but there are likely those
of us out there who have been questioned by friends, family, and maybe even
strangers about why we believe in God, why we believe in Jesus, why we are
Christian.
How
do you respond when someone asks you about being a Christian? Do you become
apologetic? Defensive? Do you run away from the conversation? We don’t need to
have all the answers. But we need to be willing to talk about it. With each
other, with friends and family, with anyone who asks us the question. Having
the answer to every question doesn’t prove why we are Christian. Living our
life the way Jesus taught us shows others why we are Christian.
Our
confidence and trust in God’s absolute love for us is revealed through our
actions toward others. If we work for justice, if we are doing what is right, we
can be sure that our lives are in God’s hands, and that God will have the last
word. Christ walks with us in our daily lives. He has already won the victory. Our
task is to remain faithful and wait for God’s triumph to be revealed to the
world. The
author of 1st Peter encourages his audience, and all of us, to maintain
this faithfulness. No matter what trials we may endure we are not to be
intimidated. We trust that Jesus lived and died for all of us.
We
see this faithfulness also in John’s words of hope. Jesus comforts his
disciples with words of promise. Once they no longer see Jesus in physical
form, he will always be with his disciples through their faith. Jesus’ address
in the original Greek is in the plural, meaning that he is encouraging his
disciples of every age as a community, to know they will never be alone. Jesus,
God, and the Holy Spirit will be with them always. “You will know that I am in God,
and you in me, and I in you.” This is a comfort to all of us who are challenged
with the struggles in this world. For we have that divine presence in us as
well. All who are willing to trust in Christ, even though he is not physically
present, will be saved and embraced by the loving arms of God. Whatever
struggles we face, our triune God is with us always. We who share faith and
hope in Jesus Christ are assured of being welcomed into this continual ever
flowing dance with the divine.
And that is good news indeed. Amen.
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