Powerful Faith in Daily Life Struggle"

Transcribed from the sermon preached July 30, 2006

The Reverend Max Lynn, Pastor

St. John’s Presbyterian Church

2727 College Avenue, Berkeley, CA 94705

Telephone 510-845-6830    Fax 510-845-6837

office@stjohns.presbychurch.net    http://www.stjohns.presbychurch.net

Scripture Readings:  Psalm 14 I Peter 3:8-22 John 6: 1-21


I Peter is both beguiling and inspiring. The author of I Peter tells his audience, "Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands a reason for the hope that is within you." He is writing to churches in Asia Minor, what is modern day Turkey, north of Israel and east of Rome, around 90 BCE. The church here is a small minority, comprised primarily of working class and slaves. Many were immigrants from Palestine, part of the Jewish Diaspora following the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70. While many had lived more than a generation in the area, Jews, including Christians, were not very popular. Gentile Christians made up a growing part of the church and though they may have been indigenous to the area, they were unlikely to be citizens of Rome and therefore were considered resident aliens.

The label resident alien, at first applied to Christians by the society and culture, is then adapted by the author of first Peter symbolically and spiritually. Not only are they geographical and political aliens, but on the level of soul, they are to be resident aliens in the world. In a world where the state is worshipped and the poor exploited and oppressed, in a world where lies and deceit were a part of doing business, they were called by Peter not to get too comfortable. They were to be in the world but not of it.

With resident aliens' little worldly power and influence, revolution was not a real option. Radical departure from the social norm was not conducive to long term survival. To some degree, they had to compromise and fit in. Peter does his best to establish conditions for the Church, which will secure its long-term future. So while we get many profound words of wisdom, we also see him affirm many of the hierarchical relationships, which we continue to struggle with today. Confirming the social norms of his time and place, he admonishes wives to be obedient to their husbands, slaves to be obedient to their masters, and subjects to be submissive to their political rulers. It is unlikely he would need to mention such things if there were not some who had decided that new found equality and freedom in Christ should extend beyond the life of the church into society.

But the Church had begun to endure persecution from accusations of just such radical, seditious behavior. It is easy to criticize this compromise from our position as free citizens of the most powerful and prosperous nation in the world. We can honor the courage of radicals who stand up before the time is ripe to change and disappear into historical oblivion. Without them progress would never come and we would not know the heroes who came after them. But we are in poor position to tell the first or eighteenth century slave that they should have run away or revolted, that the Jew should not have willingly walked onto the Nazi train into the gas chamber, that the Guatemalan peasant should step forward and testify against the murderous military, or that a Muslim woman in Afghanistan should trade her black shawl for a bikini.

Certainly we can wish that our saints could have been more saintly; that the promise of land for one people didn't mean the genocide of another, that Paul and Peter would not have backed down on the early Christian understanding of radical equality in Christ, or that Luther would not have been so anti-Semitic or so wimpy when pressured to respond to the peasant revolt. We can wish that Jefferson would not have owned slaves, or that those in the abolition movement wouldn't have backed down on women's suffrage, or that Billy Graham would have come out earlier in favor of the civil rights movement, or that Mother Teresa could have seen the value of birth control, or that Malcolm X and Cesar Chavez would have noticed that women deserve an equal share of justice and opportunity too. We can wish that such things would have been, and certainly we should notice the discrepancy and hypocrisy, but we can still honor them for what they did accomplish, and acknowledge that no matter how advanced we consider ourselves now, the God of history will certainly show our own glaring blind spots and compromises.

The sin and compromise of our tradition is rarely a reason to disown the whole tradition, just as the sin and compromise of today is not reason to retreat into a monastery or commune. I Peter is not really talking to those with the power or timing to be heroes with giant acts that change history, he is talking to people about day to day living, about the small steps we make each day, wherever we find ourselves.

In graduate school over at SFTS the subject of gays and lesbians came up. I mentioned that St. John's is a More Light Church; that we are acting in civil disobedience against Church law in favor of full inclusion of gays and lesbians in the life of the church. We talked a little about all that might entail. The other students are ministers whose livelihood depends on the approval of their congregation and denomination, knowing that I could be stripped of my ordination and means of making a living, commended me for my bravery. But I can tell you that it took a lot more bravery to barely open the discussion with my Hispanic congregation in Houston, and the small incremental steps I took in Salinas resulted in much more criticism and hostility than anything said or done here in Berkeley.

And this hot button issue of the day is surely not the most pressing issue for most of us in our day-to-day life, even for gays and lesbians. I imagine there are more than a few of us who have been in a work situation where those above us have been arrogant or abusive with their power. Perhaps I should tell you to tell your boss, "take this job and shove it!" But there is the family, the rent or mortgage, the insurance and car payment to think about. There are times when we are called to take the risk and stand for justice, even to risk persecution or crucifixion, but there is a lot of time between those times.

While a lot of people may challenge or criticize our faith, few of us are suffering persecution for our faith like the first century Christians. And few of us, even when poor by our standards, live with the kind of poverty of a first century landless peasant or slave. Still, I suspect it is not the great historical struggles, but our day-to-day life than challenges our faith.

We want to care for our granddaughter because we are certain God does. But you can't get the wheelchair up the steps, and you don't know where the thousands of dollars are going to come from to get the lift, and before all that you have to get approval for the electrical work, which means you have to clean out the basement. And even if you can get all that done, you wonder if you have the physical, financial, medical, and spiritual strength to give this beautiful girl the care she needs.

Or maybe you are looking for work, and things don't seem to go your way. When you call or interview, people are vaguely disrespectful or condescending. Money is not coming in and it needs to. You are trying to do the right thing, to remain faithful, but where is the payoff? Where is God? How are you going to respond? Perhaps we are tempted to turn our backs on it all, on our hopes and dreams, on our faith? Perhaps nobody knows it but us, but each day, each moment of every day takes a heroic act of faith and trust in the power and grace of God.

Here is another one of an infinite number of real life complexities, which test our faith and love, but don't make the front-page news. Your life mentor, the woman who spurred you on to chase your life dream and vocation, the friend who introduced you to the love of your life has died of cancer. Underemployed since heart surgery, struggling to make ends meet, you fly to celebrate your friend's life and death. You also set up an interview or two in the area. Your prospects look good. You are talented and know the work. But your mother has a medical emergency, and you suspect she might need a new, safer, but much more expensive place to live, and the peaceful input and financial support of your distant siblings is anything but certain...

Clearly from our perspective, this is an unfair situation. You have a degree of responsibility and hardship for which you can justify anger and even despair. You could give up and break down, go off and drink yourself into oblivion, scream and yell at your siblings, or just let it all go and let someone else take care of the kids, granddaughter, or mom.

Peter reminds us to be heroic in little things, in little ways. Live in harmony with one another, be sympathetic, love as brothers and sisters, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called... Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?

I love this section because the natural answer should be nobody. Nobody should harm you for doing good. On the other hand, there are in fact people who will harm you even when or especially when you are being good. Being good is no guarantee that things will go your way. And we know that, and just as soon as we want to respond, "Well, actually, I know a few people who will harm me when I am good," Peter jumps back in and says, "But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do you fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord" We, as Christians, are not to let actions of others determine our live, how we will act, what we believe. Who Christ is, what Christ has done for us will determine who we are and how we will act. "It is better to suffer for doing good than for doing evil." This statement makes me laugh at its truth. Sometimes we can't help but get to the point where we want to say, "The heck with this doing good stuff. It is not paying off." But what is the alternative? To blow our cool, to join in the backbiting or deceit or turn to drugs or alcohol? And feel even worse? We will not give up hope that doing good will eventually pay off, that justice and love will prevail, but it is part of the Christian message that doing the right thing is its own payoff, right now.

Be kind and loving and responsible, even when being maligned, mistreated or overburdened, and eventually, maybe not today or even this year, but eventually someone will notice and wonder where your power comes from. Be prepared to tell them.

I was thinking that this passage meant that we should be able to have a reasonable explanation for the Christian faith; that we should be able to intelligently explain and defend doctrine and theology against detractors and skeptics. But more and more I am coming to believe that the important testimony is sharing how god has touched you heart and changed your life.

I know a person who can reason like a philosophy professor. He welcomes a conversation with the most brilliant skeptic. He can quote theologians, artists, and scientists. But the conversation with him that stays with me is the story about how he had climbed to the top of his field, and was a respected member of the community, but his personal life was falling apart. He had accomplished so much, yet realized it was not enough. Just then life threw him one of those difficult twists no reality TV show can imitate. It sent him over the edge.

It is such times when you look out at the responsibility, at all the mouths to feed, and you look at what you have in reserve, and all there is are a couple of barley loaves and two fish, and you just know there is no way you have what it takes to do what needs to be done. All the reason in the world tells you that it is time to give up and go home alone. And then you hear this voice say, "My grace is sufficient for you. Reach out in love and it will be alright."

And that is just what he did, and there was plenty, and the left over spilled out into his church and his work and community and he is stronger than ever. And here is this amazing man who is the first to say, I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for God.

We are all in the same boat, riding out the storms of our daily lives, together by the grace of God, doing the best we can to remain faithful, trying to obey our Lord when he shows up out of nowhere, some may think a little delayed, and says, "It is I, do not be afraid."

Immediately after Jesus arrives, says John... Immediately the boat reaches the land toward which it is going. Immediately! Now, as you are with Jesus, you have arrived.