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Peter says, “This is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.” Enduring unjust suffering is a gracious thing! Really!?! It’s hard to see how bearing with insults and mistreatment because you did what is right is a gracious thing! It’s hard to see how putting up with pain and anguish because you’ve done what’s good is a gracious thing, something favorable, an opportunity even! If anything, when you do what’s right and get mistreated, it seems like something is being stolen from you, like you’re being cheated out of what you deserve and the world is unfair, and out of balance and dreadfully wrong!

Just think about the people Peter was writing to. Peter wrote his letter to Christians who lived in an ancient Roman province. And Rome provided peace and prosperity as long as you played by Roman rules. Chief among those rules was the demand to confess that Caesar is Lord. And because these Christians confessed that there is one Lord, Jesus Christ, they were considered wrongdoers and troublemakers. They could be kind, helpful, upstanding people, but since they confessed that there is one Lord and it’s not Caesar, they were considered disturbers of the peace. If they were good citizens who paid their taxes and lived honorable lives, they would still be threatened and slandered. If they were servants who did what was expected of them and were respectful to their masters, they would still be beaten and mistreated. This was true, it seems, in just about every walk of life.

And Peter says that enduring this suffering—that is, not responding with anger, or bitterness, or reviling, or threatening, or even violence, but instead responding with goodness, gentleness, respect, and patience—bearing with this suffering is a gracious thing, a favorable opportunity.

Can you imagine, an opportunity! It would be hard not to think that something is being stolen from you, like you’re being cheated out of life, and the world is unfair, out of balance, and dreadfully wrong! Consider our current situation. Right now we’re tempted to bristle and complain and act outraged because our lives have been momentarily inconvenienced by a global pandemic. We’ve had to work from home, we haven’t been able to gather at church in the way we’re used to, we’ve had to stand six feet apart in line at the grocery store, we’ve had to struggle sometimes to get our hands on milk and eggs and toilet paper, we’ve had to stay at home when we would like to be out and about. And while this seemed necessary at first, as the number of infections start to slow and the curve starts to flatten, our sense of injustice, our sense that we’re being treated unfairly and being cheated is hard to suppress. We lash out at our federal, state, and local government leaders, calling them stupid, enemies of liberty, and a threat to our economic well-being. We complain that doctors, nurses, and public health authorities are blowing things way out of proportion. And despite the fact that we receive word and sacrament, we’re frustrated and even angry that church isn’t the way we’re used to.

When you suffer, it’s hard not to think that something is being stolen from you and the world is unfair, out of balance, and all wrong! But Peter calls this a gracious thing, something favorable, an opportunity, even!

And it is. It is a gracious thing; it is something favorable; it is an opportunity! It’s a chance to live in the new life we’ve been given in Jesus Christ. It’s a chance to put off our slavery to sin, evil, and death, and live anew in Jesus Christ.

Think about how those early Christians could have responded to the mistreatment and injustice they were suffering. When they were threatened they could have made threats back: if you come near me, I’m going to make you pay for it! When they were insulted, they could have returned the favor: you’re a sorry excuse for a human being! When they were slandered, they could have told hateful lies about their neighbors. When they were pushed around and beaten, they could have struck back with the same intent to hurt and to intimidate and to threaten. They could return evil for evil, reviling for reviling, anger for anger. 

They could have done this. But then they would only have continued in the same filth, the same sin and evil that they deplored! In fact, had they returned evil for evil, reviling for reviling, and anger for anger, they would only sink deeper into the filth and evil and sin they so deplored. Now it wouldn’t just be something out there that was done to you. Now it would be inside, a part of you—angry, bitter, resentful, and evil. They could have returned evil for evil, but then they would only sink deeper into this pit of sin and death.

And, what’s more, they’ve already been rescued from this pit of sin and death, delivered from its hold on their lives. That used to be where they lived, along with everyone else. But who paid the price for their anger? Who paid the price for their bitterness and resentment? Who paid the price for their insults and their threats and their hateful lies and their violence? Jesus did! As Peter says, “He himself bore our sins in his body on a tree.” The consequences of our anger, our bitterness, our resentment, our evil has fallen on Jesus. As Isaiah says, “He was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities.” He’s suffered the consequences of our sin, so that he could deal with our sin with his forgiveness. Again, as Isaiah says, “upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” The consequences of our evil have fallen on Jesus, so that he could win us back. He has borne our sins in his body on a tree so that we don’t belong to the filthy shame of sin, death and evil, but to him who loves us. Peter says, “For you were straying like sheep but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

And so the mistreatment they’re suffering is an opportunity to put off the filth of sin and death and to live in Jesus Christ, who has won us back to himself by bearing our sins in his body. It’s an opportunity to follow our Lord. As Peter says, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.”

Now enduring unjust suffering doesn’t mean you say to those who mistreat you, “What you’re doing is okay and good.” No! In fact, responding with good, not responding with anger, or bitterness, or reviling, or threatening, or even violence, but with gentleness, respect, and patience is a way of pointing out how evil and bad their actions really are. As if to say, “You may have treated me this way, but there’s no justification for ever treating a person this way, even if they wrong you first.” As Peter says, “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.” 

Enduring unjust suffering is a way of putting off our slavery to evil, sin and death and living in the new life we have in Jesus Christ.

And this is our calling, right now–yours and mine. Right now we’re tempted to bristle and complain and act outraged because our lives have been so disrupted. Like I said already, we’ve had to work from home, we haven’t been able to gather at church the way we’re used to, we’ve had to stand six feet apart in line at the grocery store, we’ve had to struggle sometimes to get our hands on milk and eggs and toilet paper, we’ve had to stay at home when we would like to be with our friends. And while this seemed necessary at first, as the number of infections start to slow and the curve starts to flatten, our sense of injustice, our sense that we’re being treated unfairly and being cheated is hard to suppress. We’re tempted to respond with anger and resentment, or worse, outrage and threats. 

But we’re not being cheated what we deserve. Instead this is a gracious thing, something favorable; it’s an opportunity to put off our slavery to evil, sin and death and to live in the new life we have in Jesus Christ, who bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen.

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Today’s Reading…

1 Peter 2.19-25

¹⁹ For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. ²¹ For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. ²² He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. ²³ When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. ²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. ²⁵ For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.