May
1,
2005:
Something
Else
to
Look
Forward
To
John
14:15-21,
1
Peter
3:13-22,
Psalm
66:8-20
Eileen
Parfrey
-
Springwater
Presbyterian
Church
I've
about
had
it
with
the
suffering.
Two
weeks
in
a
row
of
sermon
texts
on
suffering,
and
I've
had
it
up
to
here
on
suffering.
Eastertide
is
supposed
to
look
for
implications
of
the
resurrection,
and
what
do
we
get?
"Even
if
you
suffer
for
doing
good,
you're
still
better
off."
For
two
weeks.
Wouldn't
life
be
less
painful
if
the
resurrection
was
simply
God's
vindication
of
Jesus'
suffering,
and
we
didn't
have
to
get
our
experience
of
it,
too?
Might
be,
but
the
truth
of
the
matter
is,
suffering
is
part
of
the
bargain
of
living.
Both
1
Peter
and
John
today
tell
us
that
the
resurrection
means
we're
not
abandoned
to
our
own
devices
in
the
face
of
the
inevitable.
If
Jesus'
resurrection
means
God
has
the
last
word
on
death,
then
surely
we
can
believe
God
has
the
last
word
regarding
our
suffering.
In
fact,
the
outrageous
thing
1
Peter
would
have
us
believe
is
that,
because
Jesus
suffered,
God
sticks
by
us
when
we
suffer.
And
that's
supposed
to
be
"enough."
Would
that
comfort
the
child
coming
home,
sobbing
because
the
other
kids
were
mean
to
her
for
sticking
up
for
the
class
creep?
"Oh
honey,
God
approves
of
what
you
did."
Is
that
"enough"?
Does
that
dry
the
tears?
Maybe.
Maybe
the
child
has
learned
to
value
God's
opinion
of
her
actions,
so
that
alone
is
comfort
enough.
Maybe
not.
When
my
daughter
went
off
to
kindergarten,
she
was
afraid
because
she
felt
she'd
been
abandoned
to
the
ravening
maw
of
a
monstrous
school
full
of
large,
loud,
uncontrolled
children.
How
could
she
remember
the
day
would
end
and,
after
a
short
bus
ride,
would
be
in
her
parents'
loving
arms?
I
gave
her
my
necklace
to
wear
under
her
shirt,
so
whenever
she
was
afraid,
she
could
touch
it
and
remember
that
I
would
stick
up
for
her.
And
believe
it
or
not,
that
was
enough.
Today's
scripture
texts,
each
it
its
own
way,
tells
us
the
same
thing.
1
Peter
sounds
naïve.
"Who
can
harm
you
if
you
are
eager
to
do
what
is
good?"
I'm
listening
to
a
book
on
tape,
Freedom
Road.
Written
in
the
1940s,
it
takes
place
during
the
Reconstruction
of
the
South
after
the
Civil
War,
covering
the
formation
of
an
idealistic
community
of
freed
slaves
and
poor
whites,
just
trying
to
do
good.
The
Klan
destroys
the
dignity,
dreams
and
reality
of
that
community
in
a
maelstrom
of
fire
and
bloodshed.
In
the
face
of
that
reality,
it's
hard
to
answer
"No
one"
to
the
question,
"Who
will
harm
you
if
you
are
eager
to
do
what
is
good?"
Where
is
the
righteous
God
who
vindicates,
during
those
years,
and
as
our
nation
consistently
fails
to
come
to
grips
with
the
dignity
and
rights
of
all
humans?
When
1
Peter
says,
"Do
not
fear
what
they
fear,"
he
means
the
surrounding
culture.
Christians
are
supposed
to
be
different
from
those
who
have
no
hope,
people
who
base
their
lives
on
power
over
and
having
more.
And
maybe
because
Christians
are
different,
maybe
because
we
don't
fear
what
they
fear,
maybe
that's
why
we're
ridiculed
or
tormented
or
abused.
There
could
be
a
thousand
reasons
why
Christians
suffer
"for
doing
good,"
but
1
Peter
is
not
advising
us
to
suffer
in
silence.
This
is
your
chance,
he
says.
Use
suffering
to
witness
to
the
gospel.
Both
Gandhi
and
Martin
Luther
King
Jr
used
suffering
to
witness.
Gandhi,
a
Hindu,
claimed
to
have
learned
passive
resistance
from
Jesus,
and
Martin
Luther
King
claimed
to
follow
both
Jesus
and
Gandhi
as
he
led
the
de-segregation
fight.
Ride
the
bus,
go
to
school,
sit
at
the
lunch
counter,
but
that
provokes
a
response,
and
that
is
your
witness.
But
1
Peter
is
writing
to
a
different
time.
His
readers
were
apparently
verbally
abused,
so
he
assures
them
that
when
they
are
persecuted
for
doing
the
right
thing,
it's
their
accusers
who
look
ridiculous.
In
our
world,
arrogant
people
apparently
don't
care
if
they
look
ridiculous.
Which
makes
it
tougher
for
Christians,
but
that
doesn't
mean
we
don't
have
to
do
what
1
Peter
recommends.
"Use
your
suffering
as
a
witness
to
your
faith,"
he
says.
"Engage
your
persecutors
in
conversation.
Their
power
is
relative
and
limited,
and
yours
is
immortal
and
limitless."
The
hope
of
Jesus
Christ
is
the
gospel
that
motivates
Christians,
and
explaining
this
is
for
the
sake
of
conversion
of
their
tormenters.
Oh
brother,
speaking
of
torment!
A
network
news
reporter
said
that
people
are
more
willing
to
talk
about
the
intimate
details
of
their
sex
lives
than
they
are
willing
to
talk
about
their
faith
lives.
For
Christians,
I
wonder
if
it's
a
matter
of
willingness
or
if
it's
because
most
of
us
don't
know
how.
Prairie
Home
Companion's
annual
joke
show
always
features
religious
jokes.
The
classic
one
is,
what
do
you
get
when
you
cross
a
Jehovah's
Witness
and
a
Presbyterian?
Someone
who
knocks
on
doors
for
no
apparent
reason.
Pretty
sad.
When
one
of
the
biggest
box
office
draws
last
year
was
a
violent
film
about
the
death
of
Jesus,
when
Bruce
Springsteen
has
God
songs
on
his
new
album,
when
rocker
Bono
endorses
The
Message
paraphrase
of
the
Bible
on
its
cover,
why
can't
ordinary,
run-of-the-mill
Christians
say
how
they
spend
Sunday
their
mornings
and
why?
Maybe
we
need
a
little
oppression
to
loosen
our
tongues.
The
fastest-growing
churches
in
the
world
are
in
the
southern
hemisphere,
where
most
people
live
in
poverty
beyond
our
wildest
imaginings,
where
the
AIDS
epidemic
means
10-year-olds
are
heads
of
families,
where
drought,
famine
and
endless
civil
war
are
a
way
of
life.
My
scholarly
books
said
of
the
1
Peter
text
that
this
was
an
apologia.
That's
a
technical
term
for
a
verbal
explanation
or
justification
of
the
hope
that
Christians
profess.
This
scholar
went
on
to
say
that
the
earlier
fledgling
Church's
lifestyle
was
their
primary
witness.
But
by
the
end
of
the
first
century
when
1
Peter
was
written,
the
Christian
lifestyle
was
no
longer
such
a
radical
departure
from
what
everyone
else
was
doing.
A
verbal
engagement
or
conversation
was
now
a
more
effective
witness,
because
the
lifestyle
wasn't
all
that
different.
Sound
familiar?
Knock,
knock.
Who's
there?
Jesus
person.
Jesus
who?
Growing
up,
the
thing
I
dreaded
more
than
anything
was
the
threat
that
I
might
be
required
to
"witness."
And
this
was
in
the
1950s,
to
a
friendly
audience.
What
are
we
afraid
of?
The
gospel
is
not
a
weapon.
Maybe
you
remember
back
in
March
when
a
woman,
held
hostage,
gained
her
release
by
God
talk.
Ashley
Smith's
captor,
Brian
Nichols,
was
the
subject
of
a
manhunt,
suspected
of
murder
and
violent
crimes.
Somehow,
in
the
course
of
her
late-night
ordeal,
she
told
him
her
story-of
her
own
addiction
and
arrests,
her
attempt
to
put
her
life
back
together,
finding
Jesus.
Even
while
tied
up,
Smith
remembered
something
she
had
read
in
the
gospel
of
Matthew,
"You
can
tell
what
they
are
by
what
they
do."
And
then
she
thought
about
what
she'd
just
read
in
The
Purpose
Driven
Life.
"Great
opportunities
to
serve
never
last
long.
They
pass
quickly,
sometimes
never
to
return
again.
You
may
only
get
one
chance
to
serve
that
person,
so
take
advantage
of
that
moment."
That's
why
she
talked
about
God
to
her
violent
captor.
Because
she
didn't
know
if
she'd
ever
get
another
chance.
Time
magazine
writer
Andrew
Sullivan
writes
of
this
event,
"the
message
of
the
Gospels
is
that
God
works
with
the
crooked
timber
of
human
failure.
That
[event]
was
an
exceptional
moment
of
redemption.
But
every
day
we
have
smaller,
calmer
chances
to
turn
another's
life
around,
to
serve,
to
listen.
How
often
do
we
simply
not
see
what
is
in
front
of
us?
How
often
do
we
believe
that
the
world's
evils-from
terrorism
to
crime
to
emotional
cruelty-are
beyond
our
capacity
to
change?
Or
that
there
is
no
one
in
front
of
us
whom
we
can
serve?
Smith
and
Nichols'
story
is
a
chastening
reminder
that
we
may
be
wrong.
Most
of
us
(God
willing)
are
not
going
to
be
in
a
life-and-death
hostage
situation.
Unless
you
count
sitting
next
to
the
chatty
person
on
an
airplane.
But
what
if
someone
demanded
from
you
an
account
of
your
faith?
What
are
you
going
to
do?
Is
what
you
do
on
Sunday
mornings
a
secret?
Does
anyone
know
that
you
give
a
percentage
of
your
income
to
a
church
of
all
things-any
percentage,
let
alone
ten?
What
if
you
said
it
was
about
love.
Would
that
be
enough?
Could
you
say,
"I
believe
that,
because
God
was
in
Jesus,
Jesus
loved
people,
healed
them,
even
died
rather
than
stop
loving
them.
And
because
I
believe
that
about
Jesus,
I
believe
God
is
in
me,
loving