17 th May: 6 th Sunday of Easter

Always Be Prepared

The way we live as Christians matters. It matters not only to the quality of our own lives, as drawing upon the strength and hope of Christ helps us navigate the ups and downs of life, but also for the world in which we live. By thanking God for the joys and blessings in our lives, we acknowledge the grace and love of God, and rightly recognize that ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like the shifting shadows’ (James 1:17). But we all know that life is complex and that while there are many joys, there are also struggles, and moments that we wish would quickly pass, or even better, to have never even happened. Unlike ‘the shifting shadows’, however, the character of God is steadfast and does not change. Therefore, the love of God that we felt so clearly in the moment of joy does not abandon us during challenges and difficulties. Instead, it sees us through whatever joy or challenge we experience, providing the strength and grace we need. Throughout this Epistle, Peter argues that in these moments of trial, Christians must live by faith, maintaining hope in the promises of God. It is important for Christian themselves, as well as for the world around them because it provides a powerful witness to the strength of faith in our lives.

Writing ‘to the exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia’, Peter delivered a message of comfort and encouragement with practical wisdom for living the life of God in the world. In so doing, he gives a powerful charge to the church today. Peter urges the church to hold onto faith, even amid a competing culture and hostile environment, so that the church can provide a light for God. While the early church faced trials, Peter urged them to not only hold onto faith but to live by faith, so that they would show God to the world. In this effort, Peter sought to reconcile faith and the trials they experienced to encourage the church to live with hope, even when the world seemed hopeless. Linking faith and hope, the Epistle to the Hebrews famously states, ‘Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see’ (Heb. 11:1). Hope helps support faith when the experiences of life challenge us with duress and difficulty, and holding onto hope, even amid hardship, serves as a powerful witness to the world. According to Peter, it is this hope that sets Christians apart in order to be an example and light for Christ. Peter instructed the recipients of the Epistle to ‘always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence’ (1 Pet. 3:15). Here Peter urges us to be thoughtful about our faith and to be prepared to give a ‘defense’ or ‘accounting’ of the hope our faith is based upon. Further, within this passage, it seems that the hope of the church makes them distinct from the world around them. Why else would one demand a defense for hope from them? According to Peter, despite difficulties, the church should maintain a ‘living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ’, and strive for the ‘inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade’, even amid trials (1 Pet. 1:3–4). According to Peter, future hope serves to strengthen believers today, thereby serving as a witness to the world. More than simply living as a people prepared to defend or explain our faith, we must be a people who live and embody hope in the first place, so that others will see our hope.

Maintaining this hope amid difficulty helps us to navigate hard times with courage and resilience, but it can be challenging to do. In the preface to his book, The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis wrote that when first asked to write a book on pain, he wanted ‘to write it anonymously’, stating, ‘if I were to say what I really thought about pain, I should be forced to make statements of such apparent fortitude that they would become ridiculous if anyone knew who made them’. ¹ Indeed, living with faith and hope amid challenge can be difficult, but that is exactly why we so look up to those who do. Throughout my life, I have been inspired by those who have lived by faith when facing trying circumstances. I am in awe of not only Christian martyrs, who have courageously died because of their faith, but also those that I have personally met who maintain resiliency of faith through times of illness, strife, and tremendous difficulty. These people serve as inspiring examples that might compel others to examine their faith. Rather than becoming hopeless during challenging times, Christians who maintain hope amid difficulty serve as examples on how to navigate difficulty with courage and strength by demonstrating trust in God through moments of joy as well as hardship. In so doing, they put weight behind whatever words they use to describe their faith. Peter is not just one who advocates for this courageous way of life, but one who would also live it regardless of his circumstances, even to the point of death. But he does not point the Epistle’s earliest readers to his own example, but to Jesus Christ’s. Peter urges, ‘Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord’, and asserts, ‘For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God’ (1 Pet. 3:14, 18). Jesus Christ is our ultimate example. Although we may so often feel as Lewis did and realize that gap between the faith we know to be true and our shortcomings in living it out, we turn to Christ, who is the ‘pioneer and perfecter of our faith’ (Hebrews 12:2). Christ is the source of our hope, and we must strive to live by faith into the fullness of that hope through every vicissitude of life. It will not only help us live by what we know to be true amid every varying circumstance but help our world by inspiring thoughtful reflection on the hope that sets us apart. Therefore, let us be a people of hope