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
our lives line up with what God expects from us, we realize that we fail. And suffering does remind us of that. To recognize our own sinfulness is to call things what they really are. Truly we deserve suffering. We deserve more than what suffering we might face in this life. We deserve hell itself for our own rebellion against God. But God through Peter tells us to rejoice. And he tells us to rejoice because we have a suffering Savior. The theologian of the cross knows and believes that Jesus suffered and died for us. The theologian of the cross testifies that Christ’s cross removes all our sins. And therefore the theologian of the cross can rejoice even in the sufferings we bear, even in the crosses we carry. Our sermon text focuses on the truth that Jesus spoke in today’s Gospel (Mark 8:27-35). There it was clear that what might seem good on the surface and to our sinful minds is not always good. Peter thought he was standing up for Jesus by insisting that he would not have to face rejection and death. But Jesus said that those views were satanic. God’s plans were better. God’s plan was that Jesus would willingly face the cross in order to save sinners. And so following Jesus would mean listening not to human plans but to God’s plans. It would mean denying our sinful selves, and it would mean bearing a cross. For that reason, Peter wrote to Christians who were facing suffering or the threat of suffering and called on them to rejoice. No, suffering does not seem like a good thing, but it truly is good when it comes upon Christians because they are Christians. That sort of suffering means that they are connected to Jesus their Savior. Peter writes, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you… if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” Today we do not face physical persecution and even the threat of death the way Peter’s original readers did. But we do face trials, don’t we? We do face hardships at times in the name of Jesus our Savior. And we could react by trying to avoid those things. We could hold back and not tell others about our Savior. We could go along with the people around us and conform to a worldly way of life. We could work hard to rid our lives of the crosses Christians carry and the hardships that we might otherwise face. But that would be calling evil good and good evil. That would be denying our Lord instead of denying ourselves. That would indicate that we are ashamed of the name of Christ that we bear. God doesn’t promise here or anywhere else in the Bible that being a Christian, living as a Christian, will be easy. But he does promise here and in many places that it will be well worth it. In our verses today, Peter speaks about the judgment that God’s household faces. We suffer many things now, and all of us will stand before God’s judgment throne. He even quotes a passage from Proverbs that “it is hard for the righteous to be saved.” But that is the promise that underlies everything Peter writes in our verses: heaven is our home. Salvation is ours not because of our suffering or because of anything else we have done, but because we have a Savior who suffered for us. No suffering in this world or in this life is painful enough that it is worth giving up our relationship with Jesus. No cross is so heavy that it is not worth carrying. With God’s help we can not only handle suffering, but even rejoice in it. Rejoice in your suffering and continue to do good. That’s the way that Peter concludes this section: “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.” Do good by serving others. Do good by letting your light shine in this dark world. Do good by reaching out to others and sharing the good news with them. And if it is God’s will that you should suffer as you do this, rejoice. Rejoice that you have a suffering Savior, and rejoice that you bear his name and participate in his sufferings. Continue to do good. That is what it means to be a bearer of the cross, a theologian of the cross. That is calling things exactly what they are.
The Text: 1 Peter 4:12–19 (NIV) 12 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. 13 But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. 15 If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. 16 However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. 17 For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 18 And, “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19 So
then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.