I was ordained in 1988, thirty-eight years ago. I
realize that this is not even close to my much (much) older brother, Michael,
but still, it’s a long time ago, in a galaxy far away.
In all that time, however, I’m pretty sure that I have
never preached on First Peter. And I’m positive that I have not done so on this
day, the Sunday after Ascension Day, when I’ve normally felt obligated to say something
about the Ascension. Not once in nearly four decades! But I’m going to do just
that today.
Although
the author of this epistle presents himself as Peter the Apostle, the ending of the letter includes a statement
that implies that it was written from "Babylon", which is likely a reference to Rome.
The letter is addressed to the "chosen pilgrims of the diaspora" in Asia Minor suffering
religious persecution. All of this leads most scholars to date it later than
Simon Peter the Fisherman from Galilee, and closer to the time when the Book of
Revelation was written under Emperor Domitian.
I’m
not going to linger on this point for too long. Honestly, it’s not a ditch
worth dying in. But context matters. What is clear is this: whoever wrote it
was living through difficult times. It was never easy to try to make your life
in an occupied territory of the Roman Empire, but things got much worse later
in the first century, and so it makes some sense as context to hear these words
addressed to a later first-century Church.
Notice the language used
to describe this context: the writer calls attention to the “fiery ordeal” and
to sharing in Christ’s sufferings, and being reviled for the name of Christ.
The writer speaks of the anxiety this causes as the devil prowls around like a
roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. The writer reminds these early
followers of Jesus that this suffering is not local but global: look around and
notice that there is suffering in all the world.
What to do? Despair? Give
up? It’s very tempting, isn’t it. But no. Like John of Patmos in the Book of
Revelation, the recipients of this letter are encouraged to rejoice, and shout
for joy. When reviled, to remember they are blessed. To be humble, to know God
cares for them. To keep alert. To resist evil and remain steadfast in the faith.
The hearers of this Word are promised that Christ will restore, support,
strengthen and establish this community, and that in the end God is in charge.
So do not lose hope! All will be well, and all manner of
things will be well, eventually.
It’s a word
of encouragement in a very difficult time. It’s a reminder that en-couragement
is about cultivating and finding courage. We can choose to dis-courage
one another and ourselves when faced with big challenges but that’s not a
given. We can choose to en-courage one another, reminding ourselves and one another
to be brave. As that great hymn of the Church puts it: grant us wisdom, grant
us courage, for the living of these days.
I know some
of you know about the lawyer and activist, Frank William Stringfellow, a
layperson who was born on April 28, 1928 in Johnston, Rhode Island, but was
raised in Northampton. Stringfellow graduated from Northampton High School in
1945. He died in 1985 but if he was still alive he would be 98 years old, so a
local and near contemporary saint among the great cloud of witnesses. If you
don’t know about him I encourage you to check out his writings.
Stringfellow
left Northampton for Bates College and then Harvard Law School. He’s a person I
think we need to listen to, a visionary and critic of the social, military and
economic policies of the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. He was a
tireless advocate for racial and social justice which he insisted could only be
pursued according to a serious understanding of Biblical faith. He wrote lots
of amazing commentary on the Book of Revelation. Do you all know about this
local saint?
One of his
books is called “An Ethic for Christians and Other Aliens in a Strange Land.” I
commend it to you along with this quote from it:
…in the face
of death, live humanly. In the middle of chaos, celebrate the Word. Amidst
Babel, I repeat, speak the truth. Confront the noise and the verbiage and the
falsehood of death with the truth and potency and efficacy of the Word of God.
Know the Word, teach the Word, nurture the Word, preach the Word, defend the
Word, incarnate the Word, do the Word, live the Word. And more than that, in
the Word of God, expose death and all death’s works and wiles, rebuke lies,
cast out demons, exorcise, cleanse the possessed, raise those who are dead in
mind and conscience.
We are living
in perilous times and both Michael and I have been around a while. Let’s be
honest: it’s never been easy to be a follower of Jesus: not when the Epistle of
Peter was written and not when William Stringfellow spoke up during the 1960s
and 1970s, and not today. It’s never been easy to be a follower of Jesus but
there are seasons in human history where it seems especially hard. And I think
we are living through one of those.
But we should
also remember that hard times can bring about moral clarity about who and whose
we are and what we are called to be about. When all is going well in the world
around us, it may be more difficult to be clear about what the good news of
Jesus Christ is all about and why it matters. But when the world around us
feels like it’s coming unglued, when we see violence and degradation and wars
and rumors of wars and anxiety is high, it also becomes clear what it means to
be a community that resists evil and strives for justice and peace. It becomes
clearer what it means to be a community that respects the dignity of every
human being. No exceptions. We don’t defend holy wars because we know there is
no such thing and that an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.
The writer of
First Peter, whether our fiend Simon Peter or some later disciple, knew and
understood the costs of discipleship with great clarity. William Stringfellow
knew as he confronted injustice in this nation the costs of discipleship with
great clarity.
This is, I
think, what we are called to in this time as well. To face our fears directly,
to know that these perilous times cannot define us, because we are called to be
an Easter people, a people after God’s own heart. We are not called to react to
every news story; it seems to me that keeps us off balance and we lose our way
pretty quickly. Rather, we are called to keep our eyes on the prize. To focus
on Jesus, the Word made flesh. To pray for courage and wisdom for the living of
these days, and to build up the Body of Christ.
Although no
longer on the Bishop’s staff I pay attention and the reason I’m here today is
that I’m covering a sabbatical for the rector of St. John’s, Northampton. There
is life and vitality in that congregation as there is life and vitality here at
St. Philip’s. God isn’t finished with us yet. For a long time we Episcopalians
have adapted a narrative of decline. Actually the post-war period when all
those baby boomers were born turns out to have been a moment of growth mostly
based on pure demographics. Suburban churches with nice red doors had lots of
kids in their Sunday School classrooms in the late 1950s and early 1960s. If
you start there then it feels like we’ve been in a 65-year decline. But who
said that was the place to start? If you take the longer view you find there
are ups and downs along the way. And if you look at what is happening coming
out of the pandemic there is growth and signs of new life in many of our
congregations. People are scared and hungry and looking for community and
purpose. And they are beginning to find what they seek in the Episcopal Church.
This time of
growth is about more than demographics; it’s about purpose. Why are we here on
a Sunday morning in May 2026? I think more and more of us are here because it
feels like the world has gone off the rails and we need a place where hope is
cultivated by courageous and kind actions, a place where love forms community
that is stronger than hate and fear.
Here at St.
Philip’s, Michael has served faithfully. Well done, good and faithful servant. But
the work isn’t finished. So I wonder where God is calling this congregation
next and how you will build on the good work that has been done here. Know that
there are not magical pills or easy answers to what lies ahead. We live in
perilous times. And yet by God’s grace we put our trust in the living God, one
day at a time.
…in the face
of death, live humanly. In the middle of chaos, celebrate the Word. Amidst
Babel, I repeat, speak the truth. Confront the noise and the verbiage and the
falsehood of death with the truth and potency and efficacy of the Word of God.
Know the Word, teach the Word, nurture the Word, preach the Word, defend the
Word, incarnate the Word, do the Word, live the Word. And more than that, in
the Word of God, expose death and all death’s works and wiles, rebuke lies,
cast out demons, exorcise, cleanse the possessed, raise those who are dead in
mind and conscience.
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