e-vo for week of April 9

Dearest e-votees-

You might not hear our appointed text from 1 Peter preached on this weekend. The shepherd imagery in John 10 and Psalm 23 are quite attractive to us preacher types.

May your continued celebration of the empty tomb fill your days and encourage your souls.

Peace,
Karl

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For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. “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 he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

1 Peter 2:19-25, NRSV

This text is a dangerous text. All scripture is powerful and in a sense dangerous. I wasn’t kidding the time I handed out spiritually explicit content warning stickers out at a children’s sermon for them to put on their Bibles—READER ADVISORY: SPIRITUALLY EXPLICIT CONTENT.

Hebrews 4:12 talks about scripture being a two-edged sword that can divide us—our souls from our spirits; our joints from our marrow. That is cutting deep. When we play with sharp things there is great potential for injury. I can still show you my trophy scar from trying to whittle the center out of a golf ball when I was in second grade. If a little pocket knife handled recklessly can leave a mark for a lifetime how much more can scripture handled tritely leave a lasting wound?

God’s living word is not something to be treated lightly. Do you ever wonder what damage might be done when scripture is quoted one bumper sticker at a time? Or too glibly in a hastily scrawled and endlessly forwarded e-mails? Or when it is quickly lifted out of its context to be forced onto another circumstance? Remember someone bending scripture for his evil purposes out in the wilderness for 40 days?

Our scripture from Peter this week has great potential to be used abusively. The careless read could easily be:

• If you are suffering because you have done wrong, shut up and endure it. You deserve it.
  
  
• If you are suffering when you have not done wrong, shut up and endure it. You will be blessed with God’s approval.

Of course we know that sometimes things happen to us that we have brought upon ourselves. Sometimes there is nothing to do but to endure the consequences of our choices.

Of course we know that sometimes things happen to us for wholly unjust reasons. How we might endure things that never should have happened to us might be an opportunity for God to be glorified—there is long history of martyrs who have done so.

But the default mode is not to quietly endure suffering. Our counsel to others who suffer is not just to sit and stew in it because that’s the way it has to be. When we talk like that we sound eerily similar to Job’s friends. Not so good.

If we suffer because of our actions there may be possibility for repentance and reconciliation.

If we suffer because of evil being worked upon us we can step out of that when the opportunities present themselves.

When others suffer we are called to reach out in love and compassion. We are called to speak out against injustice. We are to bind that which needs to be bound and loose that which needs to be loosed. Suffering and abuse do not get the final victory.


God, we thank you for Jesus’ suffering on our behalf. Teach us to handle your scripture well. Help us to dismantle abusive systems. Give us courage to face all things that press upon us. Draw us more deeply into the shepherd and guardian of our souls—Jesus. Amen.