“The Kind of Life Christ Lived”

I Peter 2:18-25

Living the kind of life that Jesus lived: what does that mean? And while we’re at it, living the life that Christ taught: what does that mean? These questions have been very much on my mind in recent months, so much so that I’ve taught a series of classes on the Beatitudes. But still the questions linger: what kind of life did Jesus live and how can we live it too; what kind of life did Jesus teach, and how are we to live such a life?

For this year’s portion of my study leave that I use as a reading week, my focus will be on Jesus. Listen to the titles of the books I’ll be reading next week: What Jesus Meant: The Beatitudes and a Meaningful Life, The Life of Jesus for Today, Living Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospel, Why Jesus?, and Red Letter Christians: A Citizen’s Guide to Faith & Politics.

Meanwhile I’m still faced with texts like the one today from I Peter, a text in which the Apostle Peter tells Christians who are being persecuted: (Reading from The Message) “This is the kind of life you have been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know it could be done, and also how to do it, step-by-step.”

Peter amplified upon those words with references to Isaiah’s Suffering Servant: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered he did not threaten; but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.”

How did Jesus deal with his own persecution? Although abused, he did not abuse in return. Although he suffered, he did not threaten his tormenters. He even said from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Although unjustly accused, he looked not to the legal system, government, or ecclesiastical authorities for justice; he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He left judgment to God.

In the process he bore our sins on the cross, so that, by his bruises we could be healed; so that we who were incapable of righteousness could be judged as righteous by the Lord our God. He was the Lamb of God who took away the sins of the world. He was at the same time the Good Shepherd who rescued and claimed the lost sheep that each of us is. Quoting again Peter’s words to those persecuted Christians, reading again from The Message: “You were lost sheep with no idea who you were or where you were going. Now you’re named and kept for good by the Shepherd of our souls.”

Jesus has modeled for and taught us how to live in the face of this world’s persecution, oppression, ridicule, and its way of relegating God’s people to a less than human status. He told us to turn the other cheek, go the extra mile, avoid vindictiveness, and as the Apostle Paul told those Christians in Rome, “bless those who persecute you… do not repay anyone evil for evil… do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” And to always remember this teaching of Jesus: “Forgive seventy times seven.” And if at all possible do so with love in your heart and a smile on your face.

In the common lectionary today’s text begins with verse nineteen. The eighteenth verse is omitted. Why? One: because it’s one of those difficult verses to interpret and preach. Two: because it’s an embarrassing reminder of some of this nation’s most horrible sins – slavery, segregation, and racial bigotry, all of which were at times enforced with cruelty and violence. Three: maybe the most embarrassing of all, a reminder of the church’s explicit and implicit complicity in those sins. Scripture, including the eighteenth verse from today’s text, was used to justify considering those of African heritage less than human, buying, selling, and enslaving them, and the later use of social, legal, and economic systems to treat them as second-class citizens, or to use a common phrase from my childhood in the south, “keep them in their place.”

Why would Peter ever write those words of verse eighteen? “Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.” What did he mean by that phrase “accept the authority of your masters with all deference?” Our pew Bibles translate it thusly: “submit yourselves with all respect.” The New English Bible says: “accept [their] authority with all due submission.” Eugene Peterson says simply: “be good servants.”

Submission – deference – respect: these are the words Peter uses to describe how slaves should behave toward their masters, even those masters who were cruel to them. Again, why? First of all he was addressing a reality. There were slaves and masters in the first century culture that he was addressing. Secondly, one of the themes of I Peter is being good, law abiding people, so that, if folks persecuted or mistreated it you, it wouldn’t be because you deserved it – more about that on May 29^th. Thirdly, he knew that Christian slaves were doubly oppressed: because they were slaves and because they were Christians. Slaves who were Christians truly were the lowest of the low, living on the absolute bottom rung of the social ladder.

Let’s pause here for some words of clarification about today’s text that were written by Joy Douglas Strome: “Nowhere does [this morning’s text] suggest that suffering is a legitimate condition for those who are abused, coerced, or oppressed. Nowhere does it suggest a stoic tolerance for violence against anyone. Nowhere does it suggest that God’s name be invoked as the hand strikes or the belt comes out…”

To those literal servants who were literally suffering Peter lifted up the example of Jesus Christ – the Suffering Servant. And the words he addressed to them were also addressed to all of their brothers and sisters in the faith. What he was exhorting all of them to do was be like Jesus. Live like Jesus lived. Live the way Jesus taught. And when necessary, die like Jesus died: with words of forgiveness on his lips and thoughts of love and mercy in his heart.

What does all of that have to do with us? We’re not slaves. We’re not being persecuted. We’re not being treated as second-class citizens. Nor are we viewed by our culture as being sub-human. We’re free to worship. Being a Christian isn’t a crime. We have the same civil rights as everybody else in our society. So how can Peter’s words have anything to do with our lives?

They remind us that there is always the threat of persecution waiting just around one of life’s corners – we never know when or why we might be required to pick up our cross and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. They remind us that many of our brothers and sisters in the world are being persecuted. They let us know just how thankful we Christians in America should be – we’ve got it good. They remind us that supposedly good Christians can do horrible things to their fellow human beings – like slavery and segregation. They warn us that we cannot live a truly Christian life while casually using, abusing, and mistreating other people. They also warn us against seeking out suffering for suffering’s sake – going out of our way to be abused is not an act of piety. Above all they exhort us to live the kind of lives that Jesus lived.

Guidelines for such lives can be found in the Beatitudes, in Paul’s ethical admonitions in his letters to various churches, and especially in I Corinthians 13. Christ-like lives are defined by Christ-like love: a love that is patient and kind, has no room for envy, pride, or conceit, is always gracious, never insists on its own rights or loses its temper or nurses grudges, is never glad for someone else’s failures, and can stand any kind of treatment. Its first instinct is to believe in people. It never gives up on those for whom it is intended. Nor does it ever consider anyone as hopeless. Nothing can happen that will break its spirit. Such love steadfastly endures – it has an eternal shelf life.

I will end with another quote from Joy Douglas Strome and an anonymous prayer. First the quote: “Embedded in our 1 Peter text… is the subtle message that there are always more than two choices. One can be abused and not become a serial abuser. One can suffer ridicule or physical harm and not fall into a circle of never-ending violent behavior.”

And now the prayer: “I release and let go of all my past [and] current hurts, misunderstandings, and grudges because I am abundantly blessed.” And let all God’s people say – Amen.