St. Aidan’s Sermons
Winnipeg, Manitoba
The Rev. Canon Dr. Brett Cane, May 15, 2011
Fourth Sunday of Easter: 8:30 & 10:00 am, Holy Communion
Words of Encouragement #2: “Loving the Offender”
1 Peter 2:19-25
Opening Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, you did not retaliate when others reviled you; help us now, by your Holy Spirit, to grasp how we might love our enemies, to their salvation and the glory of God our Father. Amen.
Introduction
Today we continue our series of sermons in the first letter of Peter. Last time, Bryan Rivers explained to us that this letter was written in about AD 64 to beleaguered Christians in what is now Turkey. They were undergoing persecution and needed encouragement. Although there was no organised government campaign against them, there was an atmosphere of antagonism from the local population. The commentator, J. N. D. Kelly, says they were a minority group “living in an environment charged with dislike, misrepresentation and positive hostility, probably with sporadic explosions of violence.”[1] It is not unlike the situations of Christians in Egypt and Pakistan today.
Well, although we Christians in the West could not describe ourselves as a persecuted minority, we could call ourselves a frustrated minority! We increasingly find ourselves being ignored or politely indulged, often misrepresented and misunderstood. The biblical moral values we stand for are under threat in our legislatures and school boards and orthodox Christianity is often ridiculed in academic settings and the media. Then there are personal offences we all undergo from time to time. How do we react when faced with opposition? Peter’s answer is that we, like Jesus, are to love the offender.
The Impossible Request
I would expect most of us would find today’s passage one of the most difficult, most impossible to put into practice. To give encouragement to slaves being driven to despair through misunderstanding and cruelty, Peter says: “It is commendable if you bear up under the pain of unjust suffering because you are conscious of God” (1 Peter 2:19). But the concept of arbitrary and unjust suffering sticks in our craws. Why should God expect us to suffer wrongly? What about victims of bullying and abuse? This passage sounds like giving a blank cheque to abusers and indeed has been used this way in the past. In situations of injustice and misplaced blame, we cry out, “This is unfair; it is not right.”
Peter says that if we do it because “we are conscious of God” (that is, thinking of God’s love for us and his ultimate purposes for us) it is “commendable before God” (verses 19, 20). Commendable means a fine thing, a gracious and attractive act which wins God’s approval.[2] This makes it even more difficult for us!
Jesus as Our Example
Then he uses Jesus as the supreme example of innocent suffering, which makes it even harder still. “When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats” (verse 23). We can see Peter thinking back to the night of Jesus’ arrest in the courtyard of the high priest’s house. Peter was looking on at the proceedings from a safe distance and saw that Jesus did not retaliate when he was insulted. However, when Peter himself was accused of being one of Jesus’ followers, he denied the truth and even called down curses on himself (Mark 13:71). Then we read that “the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter” (Luke 22:61). In that moment Peter was convicted of the lies and curses he had used to protect himself, but Jesus had said nothing and was crucified.
Jesus is the ultimate mistreated-treated slave; he has borne our threats against him, our anger towards him, even our curses upon ourselves – on the cross. The taking of the blame, the bearing our punishment, the healing of our souls, the lifting of our guilt, was done through the wounds Jesus suffered: “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree…by his wounds you have been healed” (1 Peter 2:24). If his ability to endure unjust suffering led to our healing, what would this do for the world if we were to function in the same way? We can not save people from their sins, but could our bearing unjust suffering lead others to wholeness and new life in Christ?
Working Out the Pattern
Let us look at history. Does a lack of retaliation or not fighting back work? We can immediately think of places where there has been constant retaliation, such as in Northern Ireland or Bosnia, and we would agree that it could end if one side stopped retaliating. Then there are more difficult cases such as the strife in the Sudan. Should one just sit back and let injustice take over or use violence to defend others? But there have been successful examples of where non-retaliation has worked. One is the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity and the other the elimination of apartheid in South Africa.
In South Africa, people predicted a blood bath, but the Holy Spirit was very present. The commitment to Christ in South Africa is very strong. This did not mean that people kept silent about injustice, they spoke up; people used non-violent means for voicing opposition, and they succeeded. Looking at how the solution has unfolded, we can see that the key has been how people treat their enemies. Offenders have since been given respect and the opportunity to repent. Is this approach possible in other situations of unjust suffering?
But what about bullying and abuse? Does this passage sanction submission in such cases? I believe we must be careful not to take Peter’s words out of context. Peter is speaking primarily about suffering for being a Christian. His using of Jesus as our example was when he suffered because he was obeying God. Jesus willingly allowed himself to be in a situation of abuse to accomplish God’s will. This is made clear when Peter says, later in the letter, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behaviour in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:15-16). The suffering Peter speaks about is primarily related to our taking our stand for Christ. The goal is to win over the enemies of God: “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12). When we realize this is the context, it prevents us from sanctioning unhealthy submission in all cases of abuse. However, I believe the general admonition to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44), to seek their greatest good, must always be present no matter what the situation.
Loving Those Who Hate Us
But loving our enemies and desiring their greatest good is not where most of us are at. We could perhaps try to ignore them, to exclude them from our thoughts, to simply forget about the injustice…but to positively seek their good? That is something far more difficult. Jesus wanted his enemies to be saved. Christ’s wounds healed his enemies! What his enemies did with his offer was up to them. Many did not take it, but many did. In Acts 6:7, we read that “a large number of priests” became believers; they were originally enemies, maybe even some of them helped condemn Jesus to death.
But then, we so easily forget that we are all “enemies of Christ” to begin with. “Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behaviour. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death” (Colossians 1:21f). We do not understand how our sin hurts him; we think our sins are merely little peccadilloes he has to put up with! We forget we are indeed “sheep that have gone astray” (1 Peter 2:25).
So if we have been reconciled while still enemies, as Paul tells us in Romans 5:10, we must be concerned to win over ourdirection of his life, not to bear sin, of course, but to reflect his attitudes and deep concern and caring for others, even his enemies. “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34). We are to imitate Christ. enemies to Christ through respectful behaviour, without threats or retaliation. Our attitude towards those who hurt is key here. Do we love them as Jesus does? God calls us to do just this. “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (verse 21). This means we are to follow in the same
Peter is a good person to talk about this. The whole thrust of Peter’s letter is how to bear up under unjust suffering, especially for doing what God desires. However, when Jesus first spoke to him about the necessity of his suffering and death, of taking up your cross, of losing your life instead of saving it (Mark 8:34ff), Peter vehemently opposed him. Jesus then rebuked him for thinking like Satan! So when Peter saw Christ’s humility, suffering, and patience, especially at the time of his passion, it left a deep imprint on his mind. He must have wondered how Jesus could have done it. The key he found he writes in his letter: “He entrusted himself to him who judges justly” (verse23). Jesus left the vindicating, the showing he was in the right, up to God. God will set things right and so Jesus would not take it upon himself to take action against his enemies.
This is the full picture of love for those who hurt us. It does not ignore questions of injustice, but by leaving those ultimately in God’s hands, leaves us free to remove the focus from ourselves and our hurts and place it on the offender and his or her needs for healing and salvation. When we have been healed ourselves by the wounds of Christ we can act in the pattern of his life. As we do this, we open up the path of healing and reconciliation for our offenders to both God and others. It is the only way which really works in the long run.
Conclusion
I conclude with the following true story of loving the offender – “The Garden.”[3]
Carl was a quiet man. He didn’t talk much. He would always greet you with a big smile and a firm handshake, but even after living in our neighbourhood for over 50 years, no one could really say they knew him very well. As his retirement approached and he grew older, the lone sight of him walking down the street often worried us. He had a slight limp from a bullet wound received in WWII. Watching him, we worried that although he had survived WWII, he may not make it through our changing uptown neighbourhood with its ever-increasing random violence, gangs, and drug activity. When he saw the flyer at our local church asking for volunteers to work in the church’s garden, he responded in his characteristically unassuming manner. Without fanfare, he just signed up.
He was well into his 87th year when the very thing we had always feared finally happened. He was just finishing his watering for the day when three gang members approached him. Ignoring their attempt to intimidate him, he simply asked, “Would you like a drink from the hose?” The tallest and toughest-looking of the three said, “Yeah, sure”, with a malevolent little smile. As Carl offered the hose to him, the other two grabbed Carl’s arm, throwing him down. As the hose snaked crazily over the ground, dousing everything in its way, Carl’s assailants stole his retirement watch and his wallet, and then fled.
Carl tried to get himself up, but he had been thrown down on his bad leg. He lay there trying to gather himself as the minister came running to help him. Although the minister had witnessed the attack from his window, he couldn’t get there fast enough to stop it. “Carl, are you okay? Are you hurt?” the minister kept asking as he helped Carl to his feet. Carl just passed a hand over his brow and sighed, shaking his head. “Just some punk kids. I hope they’ll wise-up someday.” His wet clothes clung to his slight frame as he bent to pick up the hose. He adjusted the nozzle again and started to water. Confused and a little concerned, the minister asked, “Carl, what are you doing?” “I’ve got to finish my watering. It’s been very dry lately,” came the calm reply. Satisfying himself that Carl really was all right, the minister could only marvel. Carl was a man from a different time and place.
A few weeks later, the three returned. Just as before, their threat was unchallenged. Carl again offered them a drink from his hose. This time they didn’t rob him. They wrenched the hose from his hand and drenched him head to foot in the icy water as he tried unsuccessfully to fend them off. When they had finished their humiliation of him, they sauntered off down the street, throwing catcalls and curses, falling over one another laughing at the hilarity of what they had just done. Carl just watched them. Then he picked up his hose and went on with his watering.
The summer was quickly fading into fall. Carl was doing some tilling when he was startled by the sudden approach of someone behind him. He stumbled and fell into some evergreen branches. As he struggled to regain his footing, he turned to see the tall leader of his summer tormenters reaching down for him. He braced himself for the expected attack. “Don’t worry old man, I’m not gonna hurt you this time.” The young man spoke softly, still offering the tattooed and scarred hand to Carl.
As he helped Carl get up, the man pulled a crumpled bag from his pocket and handed it to Carl. “What’s this?”, Carl asked. “It’s your stuff,” the young man explained. “It’s your stuff back. Even the money in your wallet.” “I don’t understand,” Carl said. “Why would you help me now?” The man shifted his feet, seeming embarrassed and ill at ease. “I learned something from you”, he said. “I ran with that gang and hurt people like you. We picked you because you were old and we knew we could do it. But every time we came and did something to you, instead of yelling and fighting back, you tried to give us a drink. You didn’t hate us for hating you. You kept showing love against our hate.” He stopped for a moment. “I couldn’t sleep after we stole your stuff, so here it is back.” He paused for another awkward moment, not knowing what more there was to say. “That bag’s my way of saying thanks for straightening me out, I guess.” And with that, he walked off down the street.
Carl looked down at the sack in his hands and gingerly opened it. He took out his retirement watch and put it back on his wrist. Opening his wallet, he checked for his wedding photo. He gazed for a moment at the young bride that still smiled back at him from all those years ago, and then put the photo back in its place.
He died one cold day after Christmas that winter. Many people attended his funeral, in spite of the weather. In particular, the minister noticed a tall young man that he didn’t know sitting quietly in a distant corner of the church. The minister spoke of Carl’s garden as a lesson in life. In a voice made thick with unshed tears, he said, “Do your best and make your garden as beautiful as you can. We will never forget Carl and his garden.”
The following spring another flyer went up. It read: “Person needed to care for Carl’s garden.” The flyer went unnoticed by the busy parishioners until one day when a knock was heard at the minister’s office door. Opening the door, the minister saw a pair of scarred and tattooed hands holding the flyer. “I believe this is my job, if you’ll have me,” the young man said.
The minister recognized him as the same young man who had returned the stolen watch and wallet to Carl. He knew that Carl’s kindness had turned this man’s life around. As the minister handed him the keys to the garden shed, he said, “Yes, go take care of Carl’s garden and honour him.” The man went to work and, over the next several years, he tended the flowers and vegetables just as Carl had done. In that time, he went to college, got married and became a prominent businessman in the community. But he never forgot his promise to Carl’s memory and kept the garden as beautiful as he thought Carl would have kept it.
One day he approached the new minister and told him that he couldn’t care for the garden any longer. He explained with a shy and happy smile, “My wife just had our baby last night, and she’s coming home Saturday.” “Well, congratulations!” said the minister, “That’s wonderful! What’s the baby’s name?” “Carl,” he replied.
[1] J. N. D. Kelly, The Epistles of Peter and Jude. (London: A. and C. Black, 1969), pg. 20.
[2] Ibid., pg. 116.
[3] “The Garden,” (slightly abbreviated) by Alex & Dawn Edwards, in Allison Bottke (ed.), God Allows U-Turns.(2002)
