Representing Hope

Message Title: Representing Hope
Theme: Living the Resurrection
Season: Easter
Main Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22
Scripture Reading: Psalm 66:8-20
RCL Scripture: *Acts 17:22-31; Psalm 66:8-20; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21
Focus: Peter encourages believers to show their faith with humility.
Function: To engage with others outside of our faith with genuine respect, an attitude of curiosity, and representation of Christ’s hope.
Other Notes: MOTHER’S DAY

SCRIPTURE READING: Psalm 66:8-20 ⁸ All you nations, bless our God! Let the sound of his praise be heard! ⁹ God preserved us among the living; he didn’t let our feet slip a bit. ¹⁰ But you, God, have tested us—you’ve refined us like silver, ¹¹trapped us in a net, laid burdens on our backs, ¹²let other people run right over our heads—we’ve been through fire and water. But you brought us out to freedom! ¹³So I’ll enter your house with entirely burned offerings. I’ll keep the promises I made to you, ¹⁴the ones my lips uttered, the ones my mouth spoke when I was in deep trouble. ¹⁵ I will offer the best burned offerings to you along with the smoke of sacrificed rams. I will offer both bulls and goats. Selah ¹⁶ Come close and listen, all you who honor God; I will tell you what God has done for me: ¹⁷ My mouth cried out to him with praise on my tongue. ¹⁸ If I had cherished evil in my heart, my Lord would not have listened. ¹⁹ But God definitely listened. He heard the sound of my prayer. ²⁰ Bless God! He didn’t reject my prayer; he didn’t withhold his faithful love from me.

INTRODUCTION:

1. AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: What is your favorite “ethnic” food (including European)? Would you say the food was a good example of authentic cuisine?
   1. Americans do not do ethnic food right
   1. If I’m honest – I used to be super judge-y in comparing American versions of ethnic food to their true forms. I heard a talk about Chinese food in the immigration diaspora and how American-Chinese food is an example of enduring through adversity. Most Chinese immigrants, originally were young men working on the American railroads, were not taught how to cook. These men learned to create their mother’s recipes with the ingredients immediately available to them.
      1. Was it “authentic”? NOPE but it showed not just survival but thriving.

TRANSITION:  Last week we talked about dwelling in the Already, Not yet of Salvation. This week Paul is discussing our faith surviving regardless of circumstances.

MAIN TEXT: 1 Peter 3:13-22 ¹³ Who will harm you if you are zealous for good? ¹⁴ But happy are you, even if you suffer because of righteousness! Don’t be terrified or upset by them. ¹⁵ Instead, regard Christ the Lord as holy in your hearts. Whenever anyone asks you to speak of your hope, be ready to defend it. ¹⁶ Yet do this with respectful humility, maintaining a good conscience. Act in this way so that those who malign your good lifestyle in Christ may be ashamed when they slander you. ¹⁷ It is better to suffer for doing good (if this could possibly be God’s will) than for doing evil. ¹⁸ Christ himself suffered on account of sins, once for all, the righteous one on behalf of the unrighteous. He did this in order to bring you into the presence of God. Christ was put to death as a human, but made alive by the Spirit. ¹⁹ And it was by the Spirit that he went to preach to the spirits in prison. ²⁰ In the past, these spirits were disobedient—when God patiently waited during the time of Noah. Noah built an ark in which a few (that is, eight) lives were rescued through water. ²¹ Baptism is like that. It saves you now—not because it removes dirt from your body but because it is the mark of a good conscience toward God. Your salvation comes through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who is at God’s right side. Now that he has gone into heaven, he rules over all angels, authorities, and powers.

EXPLAINATION:

1. Chapter 3 context : From the middle of chapter 2 until this point, Paul has given instructions on behaving as Christians in a household of non-believers. These are called “household codes.”
   1. (ch 2 slaves, ch 3 wives & husbands)
   1. All Christians in relationships with non-Christians
   1. When we walk in the light—we will find resistance from the darkness. (we talked about that 2 weeks ago)
2. When someone asks….YET do this with respectful humility.
   1. Psalm – let me tell you what God has done
3. Preach to the spirits in prison—even the disobedient spirits got to see the message of hope

INTERPRETATION:

1. Christians are called to thrive in this world regardless of circumstances. BUT our thriving does not mean creating a Christian bubble isolated from anyone that believes different from us.
   1. We are called to be hope represented.
   1. We are called to be in the world but behaving distinct from it. Not through judgement or condemnation but by living like Jesus.
2. Marks of a Christian: Sometimes we get confused about this – let’s take a moment to discuss the marks of a Christian.
   1. FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, generosity, self-control, endurance (Gal 6) Retranslate “love” for “Christians”
   1. 1 Cor 13 (Love chapter – about the church’s behavior in worship not romantic love)
   1. REFLECT ON LAST WEEK: it is not honoring our faith to broadcast our beliefs as an excuse to be rude or judge others—think of the Pharisees that Jesus interacted with and how frequently they pushed people away from the faith.
      1. INTERNET EXAMPLE: getting nails done by a Christian because not wanting someone with a Buddha statute doing nails. …What? (set up for a joke about Jesus getting nails from Romans….)
3. Jesus engaged with culture. The disciples engaged with culture. Jesus behaved in a loving way, calling us to follow his example of love and truth.

APPLICATION: To engage with others outside of our faith with genuine respect, an attitude of curiosity, and representation of Christ’s hope.

1. BACK TO INTRO: WHEN IT COMES TO FOOD, I was a pretty basic Midwesterner only liking American-Chinese, American-Italian, and American-Mexican food.
   1. Eventually, in college I learned to like 1 or 2 dishes of Greek, Ethiopian, Indian, Vietnamese, and Japanese. I still played it safe with ingredients I recognized.
   1. Thanks to my relationship with Josh, I’ve not only gotten more adventurous especially loving multiple Japanese, Thai, & Korean dishes BUT also building my spice tolerance and learning to cook these recipes.
2. AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT: How are you at cross cultural or interfaith interactions?
   1. In Barbara Brown Taylor’s book Holy Envy, she suggests the importance of interacting with other faiths AND EVEN finding things to envy in their faith. This engagement informs us about our own beliefs and helps us to have a firmer foundation about what we believe and why. 
3. It’s Mother’s Day – it’s not helpful to highlight your differences within your family today. Perhaps this is a perfect day for interfaith relations. Show love, kindness, and curiosity for your differences.
   1. Take a family photo
   1. Enjoy a meal
4. Persevere, Faith, Diaspora

CONCLUSION: Avoid fighting while not ignoring the differences between you—love each other not in spite of differences but including them.

Living the resurrection is not demonstrating haughty or self-righteous behavior. Living the resurrection is representing hope with respectful humility.