Suffering for Justice!
I Peter 2:19-25
For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
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From his jail cell in Birmingham in 1963, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. penned his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail. Now you may ask what led to the imprisonment of Dr. King. Indeed, there had to be a just cause for detaining him, right? Well, no, Dr. King was arrested for leading a nonviolent protest to advocate for the desegregation of America. Within the confines of the prison walls, Martin Luther King Jr. presented the foundations that lead one to engage in nonviolent demonstrations. Suffering, whether it be from unjust governments or systems of oppression, are what we come face to face within this reading from Peter's letter. And once we identify these injustices and areas of suffering, how will we respond?
That is what we must ask ourselves this morning as we hear these words from the apostle Peter. In our suffering, our enduring, of injustice, we work towards the reconciliation and justice that Christ desires. In many ways, the passage this morning brings us back to the words of Jesus while he gave the Sermon on the Mount, "You have heard that it was said, "An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth." But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matthew 5:38-39) We aren't good at "turning the other cheek," our fight or flight biology tends to say that doing so would be foolish. Yet it is in our endurance of suffering from injustice where we are told that we are doing what is right in the eyes of God.
I don't want to get too far ahead of myself here, because there are a couple of things that we need to clear up. 1.) Passages like these have been used to justify the mistreatment of many different people groups. And 2.) If we think that Peter is telling us that suffering is all we can do about injustice, then we've seriously missed the mark! At the core of Peter's message is the foundational truth that our standing up for truth and justice is directly tied to how Jesus would have acted. From Peter's point of view, we are called to stand against such wrongdoings, but if we do not embody the Spirit of Christ in doing so then, our words and actions are empty.
This time has demonstrated the many ways in which our current systems need realigning. Our awareness of the suffering and injustices that others experience cannot be ignored: from the laborers who tend our fields, mail couriers, the homeless who sleep in parking lots, essential workers who do not have the necessary protective equipment, and many more. Suffering these wrongs, do not mean we accept them as an everyday part of life. The Church (with a big "C"), along with you and me, has been called to speak up against such suffering and to take action that is in line with the heart of God. Jesus came into our world not just to show us the way to enter into a deeper relationship with God but also to show us what it means to live in a society that places compassion and love above all else.
So once we have identified the areas that need readjusting, how are we going to take action? Or you might ask, "How are we going to respond in a way that models the hands and feet work of Christ?" In his letter from Birmingham jail, Dr. King wrote, "In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action." We can follow in the footsteps of Dr. King and the many who came before him who were Christians who spoke up for the plight of the poor, the widow, the orphan, and the stranger who came from a different land. It is vital, even now, for us to live out our faith in this season where suffering is ever-present. If we can identify the broken aspects of our world, then we can begin the necessary work of healing and restorative justice that grants dignity to all of humanity and creation.
In many ways, you might say that the old song, "They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love," is the anthem for today's passage and message. Our actions and our inaction’s will speak to whether or not the world will see us as people who embrace the transforming love of God. We won't all agree on how to live out our calling from God, that's a fact. Each of us possesses various gifts and talents, so it is only natural that at some point, we will disagree. The crucial thing to remember is that our lives have been claimed and sealed in God's eternal love, and our decisions and actions will be a reflection of whether or not we have lived into that transformative hope of Easter. No one should suffer for the sake of suffering, and in our pursuit to speak truth to power and bring justice to those who have been denied justice, we can live, move and have our being in the one who first modeled true sacrificial love.
It has been a blessing to see how our local community has stepped up to meet the growing need of our neighbors. The food drives hosted by the Knights of Columbus, the Putnam Mask Maskers Guild and our own mask making group, and the countless others who are going above and beyond to help each other out is fantastic. Yet I would hope that when we start getting back out into the world, we will strive to create systems that will keep those who are suffering and experiencing injustices from falling through the cracks of our society. And the key is you and me with the inspiration and courage we receive from God's Holy Spirit. We can follow the rules and laws that govern the world around and, at the same time, be a living testimony to the spiritual and secular truths of Jesus' teachings. Again, just because suffering and injustice exist, doesn't mean we let it happen without questions or taking action.
Suffering, suffering from isolation, injustice, or any other source is a sign of brokenness and an opportunity to bring about restoration. As we celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper this Sunday, we recall the ultimate act of suffering that Christ underwent so that we might take on lives that are not centered on ourselves, but the well being of all humankind. It's not about you; it's about us. That law of God's love demands that every one of us be an active participant in this work of justice. In our being a voice for the voiceless, an advocate for workers, widows, orphans, the homeless, the sick, and even ourselves, we take our collective suffering to the table and ask that God transform what we bring so that we might create something new.
Suffering for justice and restoration may bring us to prison like Dr. King, or it may ask that we stay indoors a while longer. However, this suffering or waiting has shown what we can do as people of faith to take a stand for equity and fairness in a society and culture that has forgotten how to care for the least of these. They will know we are Christians by whether or not we come out of this learning how to live more deeply in community with one another, and by our ability or inability to advocate for the kind of justice that is held close to the heart of God. So in our suffering, let us continue onward with resilience and hope that in our pain, we will be led to know God more fully and create communities where we care more sincerely about the well being of one another as Christ would have us do. Amen.