1 Peter 4:8-11
Presented April 29th, 2007, by J.D. Kline
The Fourth Sunday of Easter/Service Sunday
Perhaps you recall the story of Oscar Romero, archbishop in El Salvador, murdered in 1980 while leading worship and offering the Eucharist. Those were turbulent days in the tiny Central American nation of El Salvador. Romero, originally chosen in 1977 as the more conservative of two candidates for the position of archbishop, had quickly recognized that his new position provided opportunity to advocate strongly for the poor who had long been repressed in El Salvador. Indeed, the regime in power at that time was the most repressive in all of Latin America, systematically seeking to eliminate any progressive leadership and terrorizing its people, seemingly with little or no regard for the cost. Not long before his death, Romero asserted, “There are people who opt for guerrilla war, for revolution…. [But] the church’s option is for the beatitudes…. Christ was sowing a moral revolution in which we human brings come to change ourselves from worldly thinking.”
Yet today, we live in a world that remains far more accustomed to the ways of violence and warfare than to the spirit of the beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus, and in many streams of the church the beatitudes have been so “spiritualized” that we no longer hear them as revolutionary. Yet, try as some may, the power of the beatitudes cannot be fully dismissed. Blessed are the poor in spirit… those who mourn… the meek… those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… the merciful… the pure in heart… the peacemakers… those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake—all this seems strangely out of place in a world urging us to get ahead in life, no matter what the cost to others, or even to our own souls. All this seems strangely out of place in a world that encourages us to “look out for number one,” a world that sees self-centeredness and self-indulgence as the norm. And all of this seems strangely out of place in a world that cautions us to be wary of the stranger, a world quick to label as enemy any who look and think differently, a world that finds comfort in creating barriers and walls of separation between peoples.
At the very heart of Jesus’ message is the call to embrace something markedly different than that which the world accepts as the norm, to model a new set of values and priorities, to take upon ourselves the heart of peacemakers and servants. This morning’s Scripture lesson is taken from First Peter, a brief letter written to new believers in Asia Minor who find themselves, because of their newly-embraced faith, now living as “aliens and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11) in the culture that formerly had been their home. In other words, the new Christians now have a new center and a new identity. “Once you were not a people,” writes Peter, “but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy” (2:10). Their new identity in life comes as they determine to follow Jesus’ example. Exhorts Peter in chapter two, “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…. 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” (vv. 21-23).
In our text from chapter four, the nature of life in the new community, the nature of relationship within the body of Christ, the church—this new life is being highlighted. The letter writer speaks with urgency of our call to live fully in the light of Jesus’ compassion, grace, and self-giving love. Hear the words of the text again, this time as paraphrased by Eugene Peterson in The Message:
Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless—cheerfully. Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and Jesus will get the credit as the One mighty in everything.
Key descriptions of the life of faithfulness are packed into this brief passage, particularly verse 10, which in the New Revised Standard Version reads, “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.” Central is God’s abundant grace. The God who loves us with a love that will not let us go—this God has created each one of us with unique gifts, gifts to be discovered, nurtured, and shared. Indeed, a central task of the church is to help one another discern those gifts within us, and then to begin using our gifts in loving and faithful service. Elizabeth O’Connor, writing out of her experience in Christian community through The Church of Our Savior in Washington, D. C. defines church as a “gift-evoking, gift-bearing community,” and she reminds us, “the Spirit-filled community is a community where each person is exercising his or her gifts on behalf of the whole.”
Each of us is gifted; even more, each of us is called to be a steward. We are responsible for the faithful use of our gifts. And we put that kind of stewardship into practice as we become servants, both within the church body and beyond. The call to servanthood is not an option in the Christian life; rather, it stands at the very heart of what it means to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. With some frequency Jesus challenged the disciples, “Whoever wishes to become great among you must be a servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:43-44). “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it” (Mark 8:34-35).
Giftedness. Stewardship. Servanthood. Gratitude for God’s gracious love. These are central descriptions of the Christian life, qualities of those who seek to embody the revolutionary message of Jesus inherent in the beatitudes, the call to live life as servants and stewards of the gospel—doing justice, proclaiming peace, loving tenderly, serving compassionately, walking humbly with God and with one another. In his book Celebration of Discipline Quaker author Richard Foster cautions us against self-righteous and self-seeking service, those acts that draw attention to ourselves but do not reflect the spirit and compassion of Christ. Asserts Foster,
True service comes from a relationship with the divine Other deep inside. We serve out of whispered promptings, divine urgings…. True service is free of the need to calculate results…. True service is a life-style…. True service builds community.
With the hymn writer let us pray, “May our love reveal your glory. May our lives be signs of grace. Jesus, be our sacred story ‘til your peace is commonplace.” Amen.