Give Your Anxiety to God -- A Lectionary Reflection for Easter 7A (1 Peter 4-5)

1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

¹² Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. 

⁶ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. ⁸ Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. ¹⁰ And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. ¹¹ To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

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                Our journey through Easter is coming to a close. Pentecost is on the horizon. Preachers and congregations have choices this week. They can go with Ascension Sunday texts or they can continue with the Eastertide texts. If one chooses to stay with Eastertide, the Seventh Sunday of Easter offers us one final opportunity to engage with the letter we know as 1 Peter. Considering the moment in which we’re living, perhaps 1 Peter is a good text to stay with. Eastertide is supposed to be a season of triumph and glory. It offers us continuing opportunities to reflect on the meaning of the resurrection. The presence of the resurrection is not as evident as it is in other readings from 1 Peter, but Peter does point our attention towards the future when the glory of the Lord will be revealed, and the current moments of suffering will meet their match. 

When Peter talks about suffering and anxiety in this letter he has something specific in mind, even if we don’t know the full extent of what is going on. It’s clear that the community is facing some form of suffering, most likely harassment on the part of their neighbors. There is no evidence in the letter itself that this harassment is part of widespread imperial persecution. After all, Peter encourages them to honor the emperor and obey the governing authorities, who are authorized to punish those who do what is evil and Peter is insistent that if they suffer it should be on account of doing good and not doing evil (1 Pet. 2:11-14). Peter seems to have a bigger picture in mind here, one in which current suffering has to be endured so they can reach a larger reward, the salvation of their souls.

As we read 1 Peter, we may hear a different word that speaks to our moment in time. I’m reminded by Karl Barth that preaching is God’s word in the present, but it is a momentary word, not an enduring word. The enduring Word of God, which Peter speaks of earlier, if we follow Barth, the person of Christ. So in this moment, as we hear this word from 1 Peter as presented to us by the lectionary creators, we do so amid a global pandemic that has shut down much of daily life. There is a great deal of anxiety present in our communities, especially among those asked to go to work at this moment. While our anxieties might be different from those experienced by Peter’s audience in Asia Minor, they’re just as real. They can challenge our faith in God, whom Peter suggests we turn to and cast our anxieties on God who cares for us. Perhaps this will be for us at this moment a comforting word.

                The reading begins in chapter four with Peter suggesting that this “fiery ordeal” the Christians of Asia Minor were experiencing served as a test of their faith. That declaration may cause us a bit of discomfort. Is suffering a test to be endured? We have to hear this word with a degree of caution, but the truth is, being uncomfortable with the things of God isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Complacency can easily set in for us. We can rest on the promise that we’re saved by grace, and then go off and live dissolute lives believing that we’re free from all restrictions. Living in Christendom allowed Christians to become comfortable with their situation; something not possible for first-century Christians. In our day we can claim to be Christians and live lives that in no way reflect the way of Jesus. We can claim to be Christians and engage in racist and bigoted actions. We can turn our backs on those in need, even as we go to church and sing the songs of faith. So, Peter says to us, consider it an honor to suffer with Jesus. So, as Heidi Haverkamp writes “First Peter reminds us not to be surprised by adversity or tough times. Too often, we believe that to be ‘normal’ is to be happy, carefree, healthy, and successful. All of Scripture can witness this is not the case. To be normal is to struggle.” [Connections: A Lectionary Commentary for Preaching and Worship (Kindle Locations 10076-10078)].

                This week’s reading is divided into two sections. The first section is found in chapter 4, which contains the reference to the fiery ordeal with which faith is tested. Consider yourself blessed if you suffer for what is right, Peter says, because it is a sign that the Spirit is with you. The second section offers a word of comfort, but first, there is an admonishment. Be humble and let God lift you up. Then, “cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.” This word from Peter looks back to Psalm 55:22, which declares: “Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you.” Whether from the Psalmist or Peter, that’s a word for this moment in time. We all seem burdened by anxiety, due to the uncertainty of the moment.

                While there is a word of encouragement here, a word about releasing our burdens and anxieties to God, there is another word. That word is straightforward: “Discipline yourselves.” That too is a word for us at this moment, as we become increasingly restless at our situation. We may want to go out and push boundaries. No masks, no social distancing. After all, don’t I have my rights? But then Peter tells us to be disciplined and alert, because the adversary, the devil, is on the prowl like a roaring lion. Resist the adversary. Stay focused. Be steadfast. Know that others among the faithful are also experiencing suffering. They’re not alone. This is standard procedure. But know this, Peter tells them, “after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you” (1 Pet. 5:10). While this is a helpful word, reminding us that simply being a Christian doesn’t mean we’re free from suffering, there is danger in this admonition. As Luke Powery reminds us there are those who suggest that all suffering is redemptive. That is not the case. Allowing oneself to be subjected to unjust suffering, especially when that involves domestic abuse or racial injustice is not something to countenance. So, as Powery notes, “there are life lessons learned through pain, yet those in pain need to be ministered to and not left to drown in despair” (Preaching God’sTransforming Justice, p. 249).

                Peter is working here with an eschatological framework. He wants the church to know that temporal suffering will give way to eternal blessing. As Peter writes we can see that the early Christians are still working with the premise that time is short. The Parousia, the coming of Jesus in his glory is close at hand. Standing as we do two thousand years later, we may not be working with the same sense of time. Nevertheless, the call to stay alert might not be a bad one to embrace. As we do, we can celebrate the power of God forever which is revealed in the message of Easter.

               

New Growth, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=57419 [retrieved May 16, 2020]. Original source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mua_Mission_sculpture.JPG.