1 Peter 4:12-19 "Trusting God Through Suffering"

Hi, my name is George Sinclair. I'm the lead pastor of Church of the Messiah. It is wonderful

that you would like to check out some of the sermons done by Church of the Messiah, either

by myself or some of the others. Listen, just a couple of things. First of all, would you pray

for us that we will open God's Word well to His glory and for the good of people like yourself?

The second thing is, if you aren't connected to a church and if you are a Christian, we really,

I would really like to encourage you to find a good local church where they believe the Bible,

they preach the gospel, and if you have some trouble finding that, send us an email. We will

do what we can to help connect you with a good local church wherever you are. And if you're a

non-Christian checking us out, we're really, really, really glad you're doing that. Don't

hesitate to send us questions. It helps me actually to know, as I'm preaching, how to deal with the

types of things that you're really struggling with. So God bless.

For a moment, let's bow our heads in prayer. Father,

Father, you know how there are times when we have a sense that we could maybe say something about

Christianity or the gospel or our hope, but we know that if we say something, or we have a sense

if we say something, it'll hurt our reputation or people might laugh at us or make jokes about us.

And so, Father, you know those times when we have those opportunities and we turn away from doing

it because we don't want to be mocked. We don't want to be thought of as fools. We don't want to

be thought of as bad people. And Father, we're so thankful that you know our heart. You know the

problems that we have and the things that we're tempted to do and the things that we're tempted to

avoid that we should do. So, Father, we praise you. We're grateful for your profound knowledge of

each of us. And we give you thanks and praise that your word speaks to the real us in our real world

and our real situation. And we ask, Father, that you tune our hearts this morning to hear your word

and to receive the healthy music, the healthy food that you desire to give us this morning,

that we might be free, that we might do good, that we might bring you glory. And we ask these things

in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen. Please be seated.

So, a couple of weeks ago in one of the coffee shops which I frequent where I'm a regular,

within a day of each other, I had two very interesting conversations. The first one was

with this fellow. I'll call him Andy. I have to watch. I don't say his name out loud in public

by accident, but we'll call him Andy. There happened to be a bigger lineup to order a coffee. And so,

I was in front of him and we got chatting and I just said, oh, by the way, are you an Ottawa boy?

I was just making conversation. And he said, yeah. And I said, oh, where'd you go to high school?

And he told me where he went to high school and he asked me where I went to high school because I did

grade 10 and up. Here in Ottawa, I did earlier grades in Montreal, actually in Laval, a Jewish

suburb, actually, of Montreal. And then he just asked me a little bit about high school and I asked him

about it. And then he really, his whole face and demeanor changed. He said to me, he didn't like

high school. And then he said, I was terribly bullied. I was terribly bullied all the way through

high school. And it's really, you could, I mean, this is 40 years ago, probably, guessing his age,

but 40 some odd years ago. And when he said it, you could still really see that it had impacted him

and affected him. And all I could say was, that must be so hard. Like, I didn't know what else to say.

And then it was my time to order the coffee and he, and I'll talk to him again because I see him all

the time. Then about a day or two later, I talked to another fellow who was a regular and he just

making some chit chat. And he asked me if I grew up in Ottawa. And I asked him about where he went to

high school, where I went to high school. Turns out we probably overlapped by a couple of years.

And he was in sort of the rival school closest to the high school that I went to. And for some reason,

he wouldn't have known that I just had this conversation a day or two earlier with this

fellow. He wasn't even in the coffee shop at that time. And he doesn't know that fellow, in fact,

to my knowledge. And all of a sudden, he just said, you know what, you know, one of the things about

high school that I look back on now as I'm older, because he's probably about my age.

And he said, I realized there was a lot of bullying that went on in my high school. Now,

the two guys didn't go to the same high school, just in case you're wondering. But he said there

was a lot of bullying in the high school that I grew up in. And, you know, at the time, I thought,

oh, well, the bullying's not that bad. It's just words. Not much physical, just words. But now that

I'm older, I realized that that was actually probably way worse for people. Like, it's just like a really

random thing for him to say, that it was probably way worse, the words, the insults that we give to

people. And I didn't ask him, but the way he said it made me wonder if he'd been one of the bullies

that, in fact, had been doing those things. I mention all of this because the Bible's going

to talk about the problem of insults this morning. And it's going to talk about the problem of suffering,

suffering, but suffering in particular in the context of insults. And this is actually like a,

this is, I mean, all the texts in the Bible are very important, but this is very important because

so many of us struggle with insults. I would, I wonder sometimes if one of the reasons that people

walk away from the Christian faith is because they'd rather avoid insults. And I wonder sometimes

if one of the reasons why people don't want to actually take the step of becoming a Christian is

because they're worried about how their friends and family and coworkers will see them if they

become a Christian. That there's, because in Canada, we really value trying to figure out a way of life

where you never suffer. Like, in fact, if you were to ask Christian, many Canadians, is one of your goals

in life to never suffer? I think most people would say, yeah, that's, that'd be one of my goals. One of my

goals in life is to never suffer. So let's look. We're going to look and see what the Bible says.

The Bible walks right towards this issue, and I think it has great wisdom. It's, it's, it's, it's

1 Peter chapter 4, verses 12 to 19. 1 Peter 4, 12 to 19. And actually, one of the things, I'm going

1 Peter 4:12–19

to begin with the end. So sorry about that, Claire. I'm going to go to verse 19 first, and then go to

12 to 12 and then, and then come down. This isn't the summary of all of what Peter's talked about.

He's talked about suffering a fair bit. There's going to be an important bit to the last little

bit of a first Peter. But this is a really important summary statement. And I, I actually, I want to

share it with you first, then we'll go back and we'll look at insults and all the things to do with

suffering. But I just think it's such a, such a beautiful verse. If you would put it up on the

screen, it's verse 19. Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls

to a faithful creator while doing good. And I'll, I'll hopefully mention it again. The word which is

translated there is entrust. Some of your Bibles will use the word commit. But if you look and you,

you try to figure out the last words that Jesus said on the cross, of course, the second to last

word is it is finished. And then the very last thing is he says into your hands, Father, I commend

my spirit. I commit my spirit. And that word commend or commit is the same word as entrust.

So you have to wonder, that would have been something because there were women, and then a lot of other

people who observed the crucifixion would have later become Christians. And you have to wonder if,

if even as Peter was writing this, if there's a bit of a catch in his mouth, a little bit of a catch

in his heart, to see, to recommend this, that this is what Jesus did as he's dying on the cross.

But what's so beautiful? I don't, I don't know how people can go through hard times in life if there

isn't a God that they can pour out their hearts to. I mean, if you get nothing else from my sermon,

I mean, that's just it. Are there challenges to being a Christian? Are there, is there a cost to

being a Christian? Yes, yes, yes. But I don't know how you can go through life without having

a God who really is there, not just imaginary, but really is there, that you can be reconciled to,

and you can pour out your heart to, and that you know that he loves you, that he doesn't crush you.

I, this week, did I write down her name? I hope I wrote down her name, because I can never pronounce

it, and I apologize if I mispronounce it, but there's this organization in England called Unherd,

U-N-H-E-R-D, and it's, it's, it publishes articles for those who don't want to think like the herd.

So it's trying to unherd you, so you don't think like the herd. Anyway, they published,

they put out a debate or a conversation this, a week or two ago in New York City between Christopher

Dawkins, who's a legendary atheist, and, and here's, where's her name? Iann Hersey Ali.

And some of you might have heard of, of her. You might have heard, you know, some of you might

remember about 15 years ago, there was a Dutch filmmaker stabbed to death, I think in the streets

of Amsterdam, and he was stabbed to death because he was making a, a video that was critical of, of,

of Islam, and the, the person who starred in the video was, was Iann Hersey Ali, and she had to,

to, to be in hiding for quite a while because of multiple death threats to her.

But she grew up a fundamentalist Muslim. She became, renounced all of that, became an

outspoken atheist, a social commentator, a best-selling author, public intellectual,

close friend of all of the, the leading atheist writers, including Christopher Dawkins.

And about a year ago, she shocked everybody in Unheard of saying she'd become a Christian.

And there's been a lot of talk about whether it was a real conversion or whatever. Anyway,

there was this conversation that she had in New York City just a week or two ago, you can see it

on the YouTube of Christopher Dawkins and her having a conversation. And one of the things that he says

to her is that Christianity is obsessed with sin. And without missing a beat, she said,

that's not how I read the Bible. When I read the Bible, it's obsessed with love.

It's obsessed with love. And they go on and have a bit of a conversation about that. And it's a very

perceptive thing, I think, to, to see. So anyway, we have this, I don't know how you,

how you can endure suffering if there isn't a God who really is there. And it's the God that is revealed

in the person of Jesus. And it's a God who is obsessed with love. So that you can pour out your

heart when you're having really hard times, knowing that he'll hear you and not crush you.

He'll hear you and not diminish you. He'll hear you and not hate you. I don't know how you can live

without that. But let's get to this verse. If you go back to me with verse 12, it begins with something

which is very off-putting to Canadians. Look at verse 12 of chapter 4. Beloved, do not be surprised

at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to

you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you all, that you may also rejoice

and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you were insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed

because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. Now just pause here. Lots of interesting things

here, but here's the part that would be very off-putting to a lot of Canadians. It says this,

Beloved, verse 12, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you

as though something strange were happening to you. Now that's the part which is off-putting.

What he's saying is, if you are a Christian and if you have committed your life to Christ and you are

trying to follow him, there will inevitably be times when people insult you, when people think less of

you. It might mean you don't get the promotion, you don't get invited to the parties or the dinner

parties. It will cost you. And that's not strange. It's not a bug that has to be fixed.

And this is going to explain in a moment. It's in a sense a design feature of the whole Christian,

what it means to, why Christ came and why he died and why he rose again and what he calls us to.

Now, for a lot of Canadians to hear this, you'd say,

Okay, George, you just gave me one more reason not to be a Christian. Like, George, don't you think

the goal of life should be to suffer as little as possible? And you're saying that if you become

a follower of Jesus, there are going to be times when people insult you and belittle you and scorn you?

Like, George, really? That's what you want to tell me? Like, why would anybody become a Christian?

Like, surely, George, you agree that the goal of life should be to avoid suffering.

And in fact, in this way, Buddhism and much of its Eastern religions and secular thought all agree.

They have different types of techniques, although Canadian secular thought is quite happy to borrow

different techniques from Buddhism and Hinduism and turn them into a type of a therapy

and a self-help type of thing, all of them to avoid suffering because most Canadians agree that

the goal of life is to have as little suffering as possible because suffering is inherently meaningless.

Suffering is inherently meaningless and bad.

Now, there's a problem with this which is not reflected upon very much by the average Canadian

or people throughout the world. Some of you have heard me share how a few years ago there was a

well-known actress who, she was asked if there was one thing she had, like, a godlike power to change

one thing in the world, what would it be? And what she said is if she had godlike power to change one

thing in the world, she would get rid of guilt. Nobody would feel guilt. And as I've shared before,

maybe you're hearing it for the first time, I don't expect you to remember everything I say. I couldn't

tell you how long ago I said it or anything. But the person doing the interview obviously thought this

was a piece of wisdom that would be, oh, okay, she said that, let's write that down. That's a keeper.

That's something I want to remember. But the unintended consequence of her advice is she just wished

that all human beings become sociopaths and psychopaths. Because what characterizes sociopaths

and psychopaths, the definition of the two of them is a bit fluid, might be one or the other,

depends how you work it, is a person who feels no guilt. Now, in fact, when I immediately read it,

when I read it, I immediately thought of that. She just wishes that she was a sociopath or a psychopath.

Like, does she realize? Does the newspaper writer thinking this is a real wise thing I want to

write down just realize that if he wishes that he never experiences guilt again, that he's actually

wishing that he becomes a sociopath or a psychopath? We could add that now to a raging narcissist who

don't seem to feel any guilt no matter how bad they treat others. Really? That's your goal in life?

So how does this fit with suffering? Well, there's a very, very simple analogy there,

which is exactly the same, which is that if that is actually the goal of you as a Canadian,

or somebody else, to live a guilt-free life, you've just become the people in the stories that

everybody hates, that nobody wants to be. Now, it depends on whether the types of novels or movies

that you like to watch. I often like police novels or private detective things, you know,

where there's a death or a robbery or some great tragedy and people are trying to be rescued,

et cetera, et cetera. But one of the enduring themes in books and movies like that, you read the John

Sanford Prey novels, you read the Michael Connolly Prey, Michael Connolly Bosch novels, I could go on

and on and on. You read the Joe Pickett novels, great novel series of a game warden in Wyoming,

if you've not read them by C.J. Box. But in all of these things, what characterizes the hero

is that he is obsessed, maybe that's too strong a word, but he is deeply committed to doing what is

right, to making sure there's justice. And not only does he, of course, have to deal with,

and I could also do the Sue Grafton, Kinsey Mulholland novels, to have a woman author in there,

a woman hero. So it's not just that they're all men heroes, it's the same thing with her novels.

And in all of these cases, not only do they have to deal with the people who've done wrong

and try to capture them and try to figure out, like, who the guilty person is and bring them

to justice, but they also have to deal with the time servers, bean counters, who don't give a hoot

about this. They have to fight the bureaucrats and the people who only want the thing to go away

and don't really care if it ends up being, if the right person is captured or the wrong person is

captured. They want to be able to do their day, they want to be able to go home, they want to have no

suffering, they want to have no bother, they don't want the paperwork, they don't want any of that type

of things. And so these heroes are trying to not only pursue that which is right and good and just,

but they're also having to deal with this bureaucracy and often captains and others and politicians

who just want to have a problem-free, suffering-free life. And let me tell you, I can't imagine that

anybody reads those novels and say, dang, I'd like to be that boss. I'd like to be the person who has no

concern for justice. I'd like to be that person. I'd like to be that person who's just, you know, whatever,

don't do it, too much bother, who cares, I just want to go home and, and I don't know, watch Netflix.

Like, nobody wants to be that person who reads those novels or watches those movies.

But if your philosophy and theology of life is one, that it's going to be a life which has as little

suffering as possible, you've just wished that you've become the one in the books that nobody wants

to be. You see, this is what, this is why, like, if you remember verse 19, that, you know, at the end

of the day, we need to entrust or commit ourselves, our very selves, at a very deep level into the hands

of a faithful creator and continue to do good, is that as we've seen over previous weeks, what the

Bible is saying this is, if you desire to live a life which is committed to doing good, is committed

to doing justice, is committed to mercy, is committed to compassion, is committed to generosity, is committed

to forgiveness. If you are committed to do those things, you will be insulted.

And people will not, will look down their nose at you, and you will run into trouble. It is inevitable.

And so the Bible is casting before us, at the end of the day, a far more beautiful vision,

and in our, and if, if the average person is honest, on one hand, they, they wish there was a way of pursuing

that vision, where they're never going to be insulted, they're never going to be looked down upon, or anything

like that, but at the end of the day, that's really, most people would say, do you, do you want to just be a,

is your goal in life to be a Netflix-watching, couch-sitting,

bean counter, or is your goal in life

to be committed to doing that which is good, and true and just.

And at least at a surface level,

we'd know that's what we want to be. That's the second one's

what we want to be.

And that's really what the Bible is just saying.

When it says in verse 12,

do not be surprised at the firing trial

that comes upon you to test you as though

something strange were happening to you.

It's just saying, listen, if you're committed

to doing that which is good,

and in particular here as Christians, because it's

not just that you're doing good, but that part of

doing good for us as Christians is to tell

the world,

death doesn't win.

There is a God,

and that God

is a God of love.

From all eternity, the Father has loved

the Son, and the Son has loved the Father,

and the Holy Spirit has loved the Father,

and the Son, and from all eternity,

there is a God of love who loves you and loves you

so much that in real

life, not just a

once upon a time story, not a

Santa Claus story, not

a work of fiction, not a work of

mythology, but in real life, this

God who really does exist,

who really is a God of love,

seeing our desperate

need and our inability to fix

ourselves or save ourselves,

sent his Son to live amongst

us, to ultimately die

on the cross for us, to be the

one who can reconcile us to him,

and this is news for

you.

It's news for you.

And our hope and prayer is that you will say

yes.

That's

sounds too good to be true. Well, it's not too

good to be true. It's actually true.

Not too good to be true. It's actually true,

and it can be true for you, and that's,

and if that means that we get insulted, we get

insulted.

Now, one of

the problems that

lurks in our culture

is the problem of meaninglessness,

and most of

Canadian culture deals with

meaninglessness by

distraction.

You don't have to think about

the problems of death and suffering

and meaninglessness if you can just get

lost in TikTok, or just get lost

in Netflix, or get lost in books, or

get lost in alcohol, or drugs, or some

other type of thing.

Other types of more sophisticated

ways to practice

distraction.

But, you know,

when it says here, verse 13,

but rejoice insofar as you share

Christ's sufferings, that you may also

rejoice and be glad when his glory is

revealed. What this is telling us

is this, that,

I mean, in fact, as I've

shared before many, many times,

the Christian life begins when you

either make a conscious decision

around this, or you realize that you

have made a decision around this

at some point in time in your life,

that you, in a sense,

give your life to Christ,

and you want to, you say, Jesus,

I believe that you're my Savior,

I want you to be my Savior,

I come to you, please come to me,

please come into me and be my Savior

and my Lord. And when we have

that, maybe not with those

words, but we realize at some

point in time, either we use those

words or something like it, or we

came to realize that at some

point in time in our journey of

life, that that's happened in us.

And the wonderful thing is that

Christ actually does come in.

And the Bible describes this

wonderful thing that on one hand

you can describe becoming a

Christian as Christ, and in fact,

God the Father and the Holy Spirit

entering into you. And in another

way you can understand it as

entering into Christ. And so that

in some ways then, Christ's story

becomes yours. Not that you died to

save anybody, but that you've

entered him, and so the saving

thing that he did on his life,

sinless life and death upon the

cross, and tasting all there is to

taste of death, and his

resurrection, when you put your

faith and trust in the risen Christ,

that whole history of Christ and what

he did on earth, and in some ways

becomes yours. You identify with him,

and because he rose, it's because

you are in him that he rose, you will

rise, and death is not the final word

about you, and that's the wonder of

the gospel. And what Peter is saying

here is that it's not just this

mystical union that you have with

Christ, which is unbelievably precious,

but the story itself is precious.

Because, you see, if you understand that

the story is your story now, and you

remember and understand the ending of

that story, and then you understand as

that story becomes more real to you, and

the ending of the story becomes more

real to you, it changes the story of the

life that you've lived up until now, and

the life you're living right now. Because

the end of the story changes everything

in the story. Like a very, very simple

example would be if you, sorry for those

of you who've never read or watched the

Lord of the Rings, but if you've read or

watched the Lord of the Rings, it's all

about this quest to defeat this profoundly

evil power that's going to overwhelm the

entire world, and there's a connection

that if you were able to destroy this

ring that's sort of like the repository or

the link to his power, if you can destroy

in a particular mountain, it will bring an

end to this unbelievably evil creature and

all the evil and destruction that he's

brought into the world. And the Lord of

the Rings is a story of this quest by

this little hobbit to be the one who's

going to actually have to put the ring in

this particular fire, and he suffers, and

there's death, and he has trial and trial

and trial. But if at the very, very end he

comes to the edge and he isn't able to

throw it in, well in fact there's nobody

would have ever read that story. Like maybe

it would have been read by five university

professors and one PhD student looking for

a dissertation. The whole story, when he

throws the ring into the fire at the end,

spoiler alert, and evil is destroyed, all of

the suffering of his life takes on a very

different meaning. It was still suffering.

He still was parched. He still was beaten.

He still, all those things still happened

to him, but everything in the story is

completely and utterly transformed. So when

Peter is saying here, you think about the

gospel, the thing which is so wonderful

about the gospel is that on one hand the

gospel is true. Jesus really did die on

the cross. It's true because Jesus really

did taste all there is to taste of death. It's

true because he really did rise from the

death. All of these things are completely

and utterly true, but it's also a story

that doesn't crush you, that ennobles you.

For much of the world and for much of time,

there's some variation of the karma story

that you live in. And the thing about

karma is that if you are suffering, you

deserve it. In a sense, if I see you

suffering, all I can say to you is, sucks to

be you. I'm not suffering. My karma is

pretty good. It creates pride and it creates

despair. And it's very interesting that

even the goal of life of most Eastern

religions and secular Canadians is all

death. But if the end of all of our story

is death, how can your life have any type

of meaning? That's what's so wonderful and

beautiful about the gospel. That God, the

Son of God, actually dies and death is not

the final word. There is a real resurrection

that happens. A resurrection that you and I

can share in when we put our faith and

trust in him. And the end of the human

story is not death. It's not nothingness. It

is, in fact, that there will be a new heaven

and the new earth. And that's why in verse

19, Peter can say, you need to just

remember that you can entrust your hands to

a faithful creator and commit yourself to

doing good. And it's so wonderful. You can't

commit yourself to nothingness and therefore

do good. You can't commit yourself to

meaningless death and therefore do good. Those

things don't follow. There's nowhere to go and

the story doesn't ennoble you. It doesn't

empower you. And Peter is just saying, be

gripped by this story. And we spent a long

time on the first bit. We'll start to wrap

it up. On the way to the end, Peter has a

very, very interesting aside which we need

to pay attention to. Let's look at his verse

15. But let none of you suffer as a murderer

or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Now,

those are four very odd different types of

problems, aren't they? Like, okay, yeah, yeah.

Obviously, if you're suffering in jail because

you murdered somebody, like, of course, like,

why shouldn't you do that, right? And, okay,

like you were a thief, like you stole things

and now you're sort of suffering. People don't

like you. They want to give you a job. You spent

some time in jail. We can sort of say, understand

that. An evildoer? Well, evildoer sounds

pretty strong and we could see that. And if

somebody said, I'm a Christian, I'm suffering

for being a Christian and, oh, by the way, I

murdered somebody, you say, well, maybe you're

suffering in jail because you murdered somebody.

And then if somebody said, well, I'm Christian

and I'm suffering and the reason I'm suffering,

you know, is because I'm a Christian, but they

said, no, no, actually, aren't you in jail

because you robbed a bank? Like, that's not

because you're a Christian. And then if even

somebody said, oh, no, I'm suffering for a

Christian, but they said, no, don't you go

around doing, like, these really, really terrible

evil things? Maybe you're suffering because you do

terrible, really evil things. It's not because

you're a Christian. But then he adds meddler.

Years ago, I was on a national leadership team

and it was while I was still part of the

Anglican Church of Canada. And we brought a

person onto our team who would have told

everybody, had a reputation that he was

suffering for being a Christian in a very

liberal diocese. And what we discovered was

this about him. This is how one person put it.

He was a knit picker who left no knit unpicked.

So we'd have a meeting and the minutes would

come out. And I literally don't know what he

did with his time. Because within that first

week, we would get three emails a day about

the minutes. And then over the next week, it

would maybe go from down to two a day to down

to one a day. And good grief, over two weeks,

we probably had at least 25 or 30 emails.

Every email was two to three thousand words

long. And then he'd get bothered when we

didn't respond to them, which would create

more emails. And so we got him off our

leadership team. Not because he's a Christian.

I expect to see him in heaven. But because he

was a knit picker who left no knit unpicked, he

was a busybody and a meddler. And it's actually

really good warning to us. You know, listen,

listen. You know, it's like at the last synod

that was in Ottawa. Somebody was just telling

me this. You know, one of the coffee shops that I

go to regularly is right near St. Peter's and St. Paul's.

And somebody was telling me that one of the clergy

went in there with his collar and all dressed up

like a priest. And then he gave the barista a hard

time for having a name tag that said they on it and

them. Okay, listen, you're not suffering for being a

Christian. You're suffering for being a jerk. Okay? Like

you're suffering for being a meddler in this

particular case. Like don't say you're doing anything

heroic. You're just being a busybody. Like just call

them by their name. You know, if their name's Sue, call

them Sue. You don't have to call them they. And you

don't have to make a big show about it and look. You

get the point. So just a good thing for us to take a

step back about in terms of there's going to be enough

things that you, if you actually walk towards

opportunities to share the gospel, or if because of your

love of Jesus and your allegiance to the gospel, you're

going to do that which is right. Even if it means your

whole team is mad at you, you want to do that which is

just, even though your whole team is mad at you. There's

enough things like that that will lead you to being

insulted and put down. You don't need to add being a

meddler. But now let's close. Let's look at the last few

verses, 16 and following. Yet if anyone suffers as a

Christian, let him not be ashamed. Let him glorify God in

that name. Just a little pause. We're just very used to the word

Christian nowadays. But the word Christian was actually coined by

non-Christians to put down Christians. In a sense, when our

LGBTQ plus friends, they a few years ago decided that rather than having

queer as an insult, they'd proudly say they were queer. They're actually just

learning something from the early Christians. You see, we don't think about

it very much, but when Jesus died on the cross, he died a slave's death. He died a

death that was designed to humiliate him and shame him to the maximum degree.

They strip him naked on a public place. They give him a very, very painful death,

which is usually quite slow. And it's a great, like nobody would want to put down,

by the way, I have a really fantastic family tree. My dad, my grandfather, my

great-grandfather were all crucified. No, that wouldn't happen. If you, in fact,

had been a Roman citizen, that was your case. You'd pretend you'd been adopted or

something like that, that you didn't know who your parents or your grandparents

were. And so it's non-Christians who call Christians Christians as a bit of

abuse. And this is the first time in the Bible that a Christian says to other

Christians, embrace the shame.

Embrace it. Look what it says. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed,

but let him glorify God in that name.

In fact, here's another thing which is really important for us.

You know, the difference between guilt and shame, it's a very important difference.

And most insults try to, and especially if there's a gang of insulters, what they want

to do is try to create shame within you, not just guilt. When I feel guilty, it's because

I know I've done something wrong. When I feel shame, it's because I start to believe that

I'm wrong, that there's something actually deeply wrong about me, something not right about me.

And that's partially why I do the things I do. And what Peter's saying here is very important

advice to us. The big advice is, listen, just fill your mind with who Jesus is and what his life was

really like and what his death was really like and the truth of his resurrection and the truth of his

coming again. Fill your mind with that. Have that story become so much part of how you think that it

becomes how you see yourself and you see the world. And one of the best ways to combat shame

or the growth of shame in your life is not just thinking about that story, but to spend time glorifying

God. You know, like in a sense what we just did. I need you. Lord, I need you. Every hour I need you.

And that's just so true. I need Jesus every hour. So do you. Anyway, verse 17, for it is time for

judgment to begin at the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for

those who do not obey the gospel of God? That's just really, I'm not going to spend time on it. It's

really just saying, oh, verse 18, and if the righteous is scarcely safe, what will become of

the ungodly and the sinner? It's just also another thing which we could do if we had more time is that

it's one of the ways for us to understand what insults and other things, it's a way that God is

purifying Christians and purifying the church. But we're going through a process of purification

because the justice, the judgment that we deserve, it's not because we don't deserve God's judgment,

but the judgment that we deserve fell on Christ. But those who've rejected Christ, that judgment

they deserve will one day come upon them. But for us, we're to see things as a type of purifying

that's going on. And then this wonderful verse in closing, once again, therefore, a good verse to

memorize, therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will. What is it according to God's will?

Remember, as I said, that God's will is that if you want to share the gospel, if you want to do good,

if there's an opportunity for you to be generous, if there's an opportunity for you to be merciful or

forgiving or show compassion or to be just. And obviously not every time that you do this will

people think badly of you, but there will be times when you do these things and people will think

you're sort of nuts. They'll look askance at you. They'll think that you're a bit unhinged.

Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator

while continuing to do good. People mock you for being a Christian, be a Christian anyway.

People mock you for being generous, be generous anyway. People mock you for turning the other cheek,

turn the other cheek anyway. People mock you for being concerned for the poor, be concerned for the

poor anyway. People mock you for chastity, be chased anyway. People mock you for not watching porn,

Don't watch porn anyway.

Trust yourself to Creator.

Be committed to doing good.

That is the way of wisdom.

I invite you to stand.

Let's bow our heads in prayer.

Father, we thank you for the sound of children outside

and in the lobby.

Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit

move deeply within each of these children.

Help them, Father, not to be consumed

by the idols and fears and mockery

and foolishness of our culture,

but to be grounded and rooted in Christ

and the wisdom that comes from knowing him

and being immersed in your word, his word.

And we ask, Father, the same thing for ourselves.

It is easy, Father, for the foolishness

and the idolatry and the mockery

and the idolatry and the foolishness

and the mockery of this world

to fill our souls so that we don't want to stand for you.

And we ask, Father, that you would just bring

the truth of your word home to us,

that you would make the gospel more and more real

to our hearts, both in terms of our final destiny,

but as the story that just governs

how we should see who we are

and what the world is really like.

And Father, we ask that your Holy Spirit

would do this gentle but deep and powerful work

in us to make the gospel more real,

that we might be wise, that we might be free,

that we might pursue that which is good

and just and merciful and generous

and compassionate.

Father, we ask that you would do this wonderful work

not only in each of our lives,

but in us as a church as a whole

and in all of the gospel-shaped churches

of this community.

And we ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.