“Be Good”

1 Peter 3:13-17

May 1, 2005

St. Paul United Methodist Church

Rev. John Fleming

When Peter writes to these small little groups of Christians in Asia Minor, he doesn’t

tell them to go out to a busy intersection, find a box to stand on, perhaps a way to amplify their voices and preach. He doesn’t tell them to rent an outside arena like an amphitheater, the Alltel Arena of their day, ask great bands and musicians to come, contract with a motivational speaker for a major rally like the Billy Graham crusade of their day. Peter does not even tell them to insert the good news of Jesus Christ every time they had the chance to speak. Peter doesn’t tell them to insist on praying in school. Instead of any of those things, Peter tells these Christians that they are to do good. His advice is that as Christians they ought to distinguish themselves by doing good things. “Just keep doing good”, he says. The public gossip mill that happens in the coffee shops and at the town square ought to sound something like this: “Who are these people, these Christians? They are always doing good things! What’s that all about!?

It is a strategy, of course, and a carefully organized one at that. Look at the first words of our lesson. Right out of the shoot, Peter asks, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” It is a safe way to go. Nobody will pick on you or beat you up if you do good. Those who were reading these words of Peter for the first time knew that Peter was wrong. We, too, know that he is wrong. My guess is that he, too, knew that he was wrong.

We have all seen the good suffer for doing good things. We’ve seen this all of our lives Kids probably see it first. Youth remember it. Imagine this youthful scene. It is a Friday night and there you are out with your friends. You are having a great time, cruising around the city. There are five of you in the car. A couple are in the front seat and three of you are in the back. It is then and there that the driver reaches under the seat and pulls out some beers that he has carefully placed there. He takes one and passed it to the one sitting beside him. You are in the back seat, just behind the driver and the alcohol is coming your way. And you remember what your dad has told you about drinking. You recall how has pleaded with you not to drink, never to drink, because your family and several members in it have a real problem with alcohol. And the law of the evening is being laid out with each of your friends taking a beer for themselves. If you want to be one of us. If you want to be cool, then take one. One surely won’t hurt you. And you remember your dad’s words. They ring in your ears. Now what will you do? What will you do? You are at a new school. You are trying to make your mark. And if you say no, then there is a good chance that you will be ostracized and left out. And all you want to do is to be good and to do good.

Peter is wrong. Who will hurt you if you do good? When I lived in Camden, Arkansas, the first time, I had a youth in my church whose father was a great man. If you needed anything done, he would do it. His wife and three kids were a joy to be around. And Ian had a great job, a top job. My guess is that he made a lot of money. But he left that job, he walked away from it because he was being asked to do things that he thought were not ethical, moral or even right. His company may not have hurt him, but they certainly didn’t help him.

Who will hurt you if you do good? Peter knows that he is wrong, because he quickly moves to his next line of thinking. He writes, “But even if you suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear. Do not be frightened.” Now Peter had as good a right as anyone else to be frightened. This letter of his, written to the churches in Asia Minor, most likely, was dictated by the Apostle, Peter, to his trusted secretary, Silvaus in Rome, about 63 AD. At the time, Rome was a hornet’s nest for Christians. In a short time, Paul would be executed there. Nero, the emperor, was about to burn down the city and blame the Christians for it. In that situation, Peter was scheduled for execution. And on the eve of it, he dictated this message to the Christian churches urging them to be brave and steadfast in that difficult time. He did not tell the Christians to run and hide. On the contrary, he encouraged them to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. One of the best ways to do that, he thinks, is to keep doing good even when you have been knocked down, beat up, left out, and abused. Because, says Peter, there will be a point and a time when someone will come up to you and ask you what in the world gives you the courage to keep doing good. And when they do, you will have your chance to tell them.

They will want to know with everything that is wrong with the world, why you keep doing the right thing. They will want to know why you are honest and dependable. They will want to know why you use words like integrity when no one else uses that word anymore. They may say, “Can’t you see that it’s hopeless? Why do you keep doing good? And Peter says that when they do, and they most certainly will, we must be ready with our answer. Peter puts it this way: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. You will have the chance, and if you are not ready, it will pass you by.

A preacher tells of a luncheon that he went to one week. It probably was a civic club function. The speaker was a surgeon who told of his growing up years. His mother raised him and his siblings without their father. She worked three jobs to pay the bills. And she demanded that her children learn. She demanded extra work from her children. She taught them the love of reading and required that each week they do a book report for her, not for school, for her, and they did that. When they were due, she would sit down with each of them. She would run her fingers over the pages and then she would stop and say, “Wait, tell me what this means. What are you trying to say here?” And they would explain. It wasn’t until after her children had graduated from high school that they learned that their mother, herself, could not read. Still, she knew the value of education. The surgeon, speaking to this civic club, told that story. It was his way of saying both that education is important and that there is no reason for hopelessness. Out of that he rose to great heights. There was someone in the room, when he finished his story, who asked: “Doctor, what gave you the courage to keep going? What helped you to get up every morning and keep going to your classes? What made the difference?” Right then and there he was being asked for a defense, for an explanation of the hope that was inside of him. It came so quickly, so unexpectedly, and it was there for only a few seconds. The doctor shook his head, shrugged his shoulders, flipped his hands in the air and said something trite. He missed his chance. Peter is sure that human nature being what it is, if we Christians keep doing good, if we keep siding with the poor and the sick. If we keep standing up for the wrong and taking the high road. If we keep doing the right thing, then someone will ask us, “Why do you do that?”

Not long ago, there was an interview on one of the ABC television news shows. When the interview was over, the ABC employee said some powerful things she said that people are willing to get on television and reveal the most intimate details of their sexual lives. She said that people will talk about their families in front of millions. She said that reality television shows being what they are, people will allow others to come into the privacy of their homes and their lives for weeks at a time. But when it comes time to speak about their faith, what they believe and why they believe it, they skirt the issue and quickly change the subject. Why is that? If I were to ask you this morning to go out into the world and have a conversation with someone with this leading question: “Why are you a Christian? Why do you believe what you believe?” would you want to do that? And perhaps a harder task even than that, to invite someone to church. Our church, tucked away neat and snug here on Durwood Road must be an inviting church if we are to be the church at all!

I know, I know. Things like this get you out of your comfort zone. But Peter insists that just living a good life isn’t enough. We must also be prepared to tell about it. So he offers a couple of suggestions that I would like for us to go home with this morning. But before we get to Peter’s advice, I would like to offer one of my own. When we speak of Christ and why we believe what we believe and why we think that a relationship with Christ is a great thing, we must use words that everyone can understand. We can’t use seminary words. We can’t use stained glass words. We must use simple words.

I heard of a preacher who told how he first made a commitment to Jesus and his church. It was way back in the mid 1920s. He went to church and felt moved that day to go down to the altar, to pray, and to join the church. He was ten years old. The pastor of the church asked him the questions of membership. The questions are much easier these days. We can quote them, that we will be loyal to the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, and service. But the question asked in 1925 was this one: “Do you renounce the devil and the pomp and ceremony of this world’s goods?” The preacher to be had no idea what that meant. His pastor looked up at him and asked the question again, “Do you renounce the devil and the pomp and ceremony of this world’s goods?” He didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to answer the question and so he said, “Well, sir, I will if you will.” When we speak of our faith, we ought to do it in a way that anyone can understand us. I hope that anyone from the youngest to the oldest can understand the message of my sermons.

Speak clearly and simply. Peter adds two to the list. Peter says that we are to have our answer ready and to say it with gentleness and reverence. I have never been one to beat people over the head with my Bible. It just doesn’t work. You won’t be able to argue someone into the kingdom of God. I heard of a man who wanted to take a good, solid, Bible course so he could quote scriptures back to people who accosted him. He says that he wanted to be able to say, “I’ll see your 1 Peter 3:14 and raise you a Galatians 3:28!” My experience is that that sort of thing isn’t helpful.

I have taught many Bible study lessons in my three years as your pastor. In many of them the idea of talking with others about our faith has often come up. You have asked how to do that, when to do that. There is a fear of rejection. That is there. That is always there. But be ready. What will you do when the opportunity presents itself. And it will present itself. Perhaps someone will reach out to you. Maybe they will with a big problem in their lives. They will ask you how you get through trying times. You must be ready with your answer. What will you say? Will you shrug your shoulders, lift up your hands and say, “I don’t know.” Or will you say something about how Jesus changes lives? Statistics tell us that fifty percent of the people that we work with and live close to, our neighbors, don’t have a significant relationship with God.

A friend of mine is a part of a big corporation here in Little Rock. He is a manager,

high up in the company. He is a Christian and started a Bible study. It meets once a week. It begins with prayer and lasts thirty minutes. Those involved take turns leading it. Sometimes a special speaker comes in. There is no pressure to attend. Participation will not get you a raise or a promotion. Every week a gentle witness is offered to anyone who cares to attend. With gentleness and reverence; that is how you do it says Peter. My last question for you this morning is this, “Will you be ready with your answer?” Let us pray.