1 Peter 4:12-19 Pastor Nathan P. Kassulke
“Rejoice in Your Suffering”
Pentecost 17 September 16, 2018
“A theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theologian of the cross calls the thing what it really is.” It was just over 500 years ago that Martin Luther used that phrase, that thesis, in a scholarly debate. It was April of 1518, mere months after he had quite suddenly risen to fame in Germany for questioning the Roman Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences. This previously pious but relatively unknown monk was asked to lead his fellow Augustinian monks in this intellectual exercise, so he prepared a new series of theses, very different from the 95 he had nailed to the Castle Church door in late October of the year prior. He was asked to avoid speaking about indulgences or other matters that might be controversial, yet he found a way to spark interest and curiosity and to continue to set the stage for tearing down false belief and false teaching. In its place, he would direct people to the words of Scripture. And if they followed him there, they would find that what he was saying was true: “A theologian of glory calls evil good and good evil. A theologian of the cross calls the thing what it really is.” What Luther meant was that there are many things that make sense to people. There are many things that seem good to those who would focus on their own works and the things that they do, who would ask God to reward them for the good things that they have done. But those things that seem good, like the works of people, are really worthless. They are evil for those who rely on them instead of on Christ. Things that people quite naturally assume are good aren’t always good. And the things that we naturally assume are bad or evil are not necessarily so. Suffering is one of those things. We assume it is evil most of the time. We run from it. We hide from it. It is by its definition unpleasant and distasteful. Why would anyone like to suffer? Why would anyone think that suffering could be anything but evil? The answer is: someone would think that if he listens to what God says about suffering and if he knows about and believes in his suffering Savior. The Apostle Peter knew how people naturally felt about suffering. He knew that they would want to avoid it and that it would disappoint and worry them. But he also knew that suffering was unavoidable. We live in a world that is full of suffering in many forms. We suffer ourselves, and we suffer as we witness the suffering and grief of others. Suffering is bound to come. And for Christians, in particular ones like the Christians to whom Peter first wrote his first epistle, suffering might come for that very reason: the fact that they are Christians. Many of these early Christians faced terrible persecution, even to the point that their lives were taken or threatened because of their confession of faith. And they might be tempted to think, “If I suffer because I am a Christian, then maybe being a Christian is not such a good thing.” But Peter, by the working of the Holy Spirit, wrote that this was the wrong idea. It was calling evil good and good evil. That is but one example of the theology of glory. Instead, the Christians to whom he wrote, and all of us along with them, needed to hear this message: rejoice in your suffering. Don’t be surprised. Don’t think that suffering for your faith is something out of the ordinary, something strange. No, the opposite is true. We can expect suffering. We can anticipate it. And we can rejoice in it. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” Of course, Peter has some important context to share. Don’t rejoice in any sort of suffering. Don’t rejoice when your suffering is caused by your sin. When a criminal is punished for his or her crimes, that person is getting what they deserve. That’s the consequence of their actions. That’s not what Peter is talking about. That sort of suffering is not worthy of rejoicing. But even if we remove the suffering that results from our own sinful actions, we are still left with suffering. Suffering in all forms is a result of sin in this world. And, even as Christians, we still fall into sin. Some may find that quite obvious. Some may not see it so easily. But certainly, when we look at how