Message
OLH: Suffering for Doing Good
1 Peter 3:8-22
I heard someone say the other day, “If this happens, I’m going to do such and such!” And what this person said they would do wasn’t something good, in fact, it was very bad. I suppose that could be said another way, “This person did this to me, so I’m going to do such and such.”
Peter says in 1st Peter 2 &3, that bad things happen to good people. He says we may suffer for doing good. So I guess we can expect this to happen from time to time. It could be something someone does to us, or something bad that just comes to us because we live in a broken and sinful world. All the while we are simply ‘doing good’ and trying to be good.
Love your enemies? Return evil with good? That’s a radical call.
What are we to do, as followers of Jesus, when these things happen? I recently reviewed the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7, and was stunned to find once again, the radical teachings of Jesus. He says to ‘love our enemies’, to ‘turn the other cheek’, and to ‘do unto others as you would have them do to you’. He doesn’t say, ‘do to others what they have done (bad) to you.’
Peter says another radical thing in response to ‘suffering for doing good.’ He says, “Do not repay evil for evil, or insult for insult. On the contrary, return evil with blessing.” Wow. He even says that ‘if you suffer for doing good, you are blessed.’ That’s a radical statement.
How can this posture be maintained in a world of trouble and sin, insult and Injury, hatred and revenge? ONLY in the power of God through Jesus Christ. Looking forward to Sunday – Potluck Fellowship Meal, Communion, Worship, the Word Proclaimed, Engaged in Community, learning about Grace, Truth, Love, and Witness.
Love your enemies? Return evil with good? That’s a radical call.
Pastor Mark