First Reading: Acts 1:12-26
12Then {the disciples} returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. 15In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20“For it is written in the Book of Psalms, ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and ‘Let another take his office.’ 21So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us — one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Psalm 68:1-10
1Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered; let those who hate him flee before him. 2Let them vanish like smoke when the wind drives it away; as the wax melts at the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 3But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; let them also be merry and joyful. 4Sing to God, sing praises to his Name; exalt him who rides upon the heavens; Yahweh is his name, rejoice before him! 5Father of orphans, defender of widows, God in his holy habitation! 6God gives the solitary a home and brings forth prisoners into freedom; but the rebels shall live in dry places. 7O God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness, 8The earth shook, and the skies poured down rain, at the presence of God, the God of Sinai, at the presence of God, the God of Israel. 9You sent a gracious rain, O God, upon your inheritance; you refreshed the land when it was weary. 10Your people found their home in it; in your goodness, O God, you have made provision for the poor.
Second Reading: 1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11
12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. 17For 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? 18And “If the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?” 19Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.
5 6Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Gospel: John 17:1-11
1When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you, 2since you have given him authority over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. 3And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. 4I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. 5And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. 6I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. 7Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you. 8For I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. 9I am praying for them. I am not praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours. 10All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.”
Staying Power
Trials, struggles, temptations, unwelcomed surprises, we all experience them. Many will ask why? How many times have we heard someone say, why is this happening to me? Why has God done this? The reality is, trials, struggles, temptations, and unwelcomed surprises are simply part of life. None of us get to escape the difficulties that come with living in this world. So, from the outset, we need to remember two very important things. First, God does not send persecution, He allows it, but He is not the source of it. St. James makes it clear that God is not the source of temptation. The brother of our Lord wrote, “When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed” (James 1:13-14).
Second, we must acknowledge that all the bad in this world is a result of sin. When sin entered this world in the Garden of Eden, satan was allowed to do his evil works, and our epistle reading makes this clear. [Our] advisory, the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Now let me be clear here, I’m not saying that everything bad that happens in our lives is because we sinned. No, we can be innocent bystanders. What I’m saying is, because sin is so prevalent in our world, bad things are the result of someone sinning. This is what St. Peter is trying to help the new Christians he’s writing to understand.
One of the things I would love to do is assign readings from the book of Job as our Old Testament lesson for today. For those who have studied this book, we know that what happened to Job is a good example of what St. Peter is talking about. Satan comes to God in essence to challenge God concerning Job. God allows bad things to happen to prove that Job isn’t faithful because of God’s blessings, but because Job placed his faith in God. And as we learn from Job’s story, satan takes everything away from Job but a nagging wife and accusing friends, and in the end, Job proves what God said in the beginning; Job trusted God, not the blessings God had given him.
The point of Job’s ordeal is that bad things can and do happen to good people because of satan and sin in this world, and these oftentimes, affect us. Second, and this is important, we must also acknowledge that sometimes the bad things that happen are because of our own sin. You drink and drive, chances are something bad will happen. Abuse your body with drugs, and bad choices, bad things will happen. Choose sinful behavior, and there are consequences. We must take responsibility for our decisions and actions and acknowledge that the bad things that happen are because of our own choices. And just as we must recognize our guilt in the things that happen to us, we must also acknowledge that the innocent suffer as well, all because of sin.
Plenty of people suffer the consequences of the bad choices of others. One of the things you can find on Facebook is a tab called reels. These are short videos that people post for a variety of reasons. One of the categories of videos I came across the other day is called Dashcam videos. These are videos recorded by cameras that people have mounted in their cars showing the poor decisions of other drivers. Most of the time, someone has spliced together 8 or 10 clips they have recorded of people making bad decisions that cause wrecks. Some run red lights, some make illegal turns, some show distracted drivers, and some show the impatience of other drivers who force their way into traffic. What’s interesting is that many of these people find themselves surprised by another driver, that driver oftentimes comes from seemingly out of nowhere. The point I’m making is that in life we often find ourselves surprised by the actions of someone or something else.
Now everyone hopes that the surprises that come in life are good surprises. But the reality is, many of life’s surprises are the bad kind. The new Christians Peter wrote to were being surprised by the persecution they were facing for their faith. In verse one we read, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (v.12). Some of the new Christians thought that just because they had become faithful followers of Jesus, that they would now lead a charmed life. Sometimes it’s quite the opposite.
The Jews, especially the Jews who lived outside of Palestine, were used to being treated as different and sometimes were despised for their faith. Yet, these Christians Peter writes to are Gentiles and so they’re shocked. In most of the Pegan cultures, being religious was simply part of life and they blamed bad things on this god or that god; the blame or responsibility for bad actions or decisions was shifted to an unhappy deity. The new Christians found that they had become the focus of blame. So Peter needs to break the news that persecution was common for Christians. Jesus said that if they persecuted Him, they’ll will certainly persecute His followers.
In the face of suffering, Peter reminds Christians of the living evil that infects our world. He says, “Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” As Christians we need to be alert in two directions — sensitive for God’s leading and resisting against evil’s temptations. Evil doesn’t go away once we were claimed by God. Plenty of people hadn’t really struggled with evil until they became Christians. As difficult as it is for modern Americans to conceive of a personal God in Jesus Christ, it’s even harder for them to think of evil as a living being. For modern Americans who dismiss the idea of spiritual evil, they’re left with the weak weapons of science, education, and democracy to solve problems. The scriptures, however, explain that, like God, the devil is alive and at work in this world; the devil can corrupt science, education, and democracy as well as any other area of human life.
Some people and movements are obsessed by speculations about the devil. And granted Jesus didn’t say, “Follow me and believe there’s a devil,” He didn’t have to. Scripture has affirmed the devil’s existence from the beginning. I saw a t-shirt not long ago with the slogan, “It’s not about me.” That’s a good way to explain the role of a disciple. Every aspect of our lives should point others to Christ. In the same way, the New Testament proclamation isn’t centered on the devil. Peter and all the other Biblical writes point us to God. Peter doesn’t spend time speculating on where the devil came from or why he’s opposed to God. Peter just warns us that evil stalks its victims, saying that the devil prowls among us with temptations and unwelcomed surprises.
I think of all the scam get free money emails I’ve received. They’re temptations. The email’s usual theme is that some devout Christian has a guaranteed source of funding, which at the moment, they don’t have access to directly and they need some trusting individual, an absolute stranger in the US, to serve as the first leg of a giant circle of money transfers. “So, if you’ll just send a certain amount to their bank account, or worse yet, allow them access to your bank account, this will allow their wonderful missionary work to continue, and they will pay you back double when we finally get access to our money.” Sadly, people still give in to such temptations, even to the extent of going into debt to send away for a “sure thing.”
Whether it’s from pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, sloth, or even fear, evil tries to establish a stronghold in an individual and that influence can then spread like a contagious disease to others. If you don’t believe that evil spreads from soul to soul, think about what led to World War II and what came out of it. “Keep alert,” (5:8) Peter warns us against evil. More important, stay sensitive to God’s presence, “because he cares for you” (5:7). God isn’t an impersonal entity that blindly intervenes in life. God is personal, and God cares for us personally. Some people want to think of God as an impersonal force whose wagon we either leap onto or whose wheels we get crushed under. The New Testament proclaims that God revealed Himself to us in the person Jesus Christ, and He cares about us.
We experience God’s care partly through our fellow Christians. Verse 9 reassures us, “that our brothers and sisters throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.” It oftentimes helps to remember that others are in this faith with us. That’s one reason the New Testament tells us to study our faith together, to speak together of our hope, to gather for worship. I have Christian friends I haven’t seen for years. Yet, we still pray for one another. This isn’t a silly practice we causally apply. Praying for one another is God’s gift to the church that grants strength to live for God even in times of trials, struggles, temptations, and unwelcomed surprises in life.
During World War II, theologian and pastor, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was arrested for his part in a plan to assassinate Hitler. He was consoled during his months in prison that he and his close conspirators didn’t implicate anyone else. They cared enough for one another that they’d each suffer in silence. Every Christian throughout the world, has the potential of strengthening one another to endure the times when following Jesus is most difficult.
As we meet the problems life throws at our faith, Peter instructs us to “cast all our anxiety on God, because He cares about us.” The word translated as “anxiety” means “cares, worries, or anxiety” depending on the context. It’s the word Jesus uses to tell us not to worry about what we are going through. St. Paul employs the exact same word to talk about his concern for the church. The same word, but it refers either to an anxiety about ourselves that eats us up, or to a legitimate care for others. As Christians we’re to toss our anxieties about ourselves onto God so that we will have better things to occupy our time and energy — caring for others.
In St. John gospel, Jesus used a different word but the same concept. In the night of His arrest, Jesus told his disciples, “Do not let your hearts be troubled” (14:1). Yet that same night Jesus would tell His followers that He was troubled in soul and spirit. Peter learned from Jesus that we should let Jesus be worried for us. Don’t fixate on your problems until they become worries that constantly occupy you and then grow into anxieties that terrorize you. God cares for us as His people, give your anxieties to Him.
God cares enough about us even to be troubled for us. Again, the difference is enormous between trusting God as personal or assuming God to be some distant being that merely shoves life around randomly. Peter says “cast” or “throw” your cares onto God. We are directed to heave our problems onto God before they become anxieties. I assure you, God can take it. Do it before real problems break out. God cares about each of us more than we care about our problems.
This doesn’t mean that God will instantly fix all our difficulties. Our parents cared about us, but they didn’t set out to fix all our problems. Just knowing that our parents cared for us made all the difference during difficult times. Most high school graduates heading out to careers or to college are strengthened by just the knowledge that their parents care about them. Knowledge that someone loves them has strengthened students away at school, soldiers deployed to hostile areas, and Christians enduring persecution.
The believers Peter wrote to were losing friends because of their faith. Their neighbors didn’t trust them. The government was wary of them. Peter says that such struggles test us, and, in the sense, refine us. If we stay open to God’s strengthening Spirit during difficult times, the problems that the devil would use to tempt us, God will redirect to strengthen us and to refine us. God never said that the Christian life would be easy. It’s just that following Jesus is more important than anything else.
During World War II, a small village in southern France, consistently resisted Nazi occupiers by hiding Jews and helping them to escape. The village of Le Chambon with 3,000 mostly Huguenot Protestants was led by Pastor André Trocmé. Without weapons, they nonviolently defied the Nazis right under the nose of their occupiers. Amazingly, the Nazi commander turned a blind eye to the village’s activities and allowed Jews to be saved. No villager ever betrayed their efforts to the authorities. The methods of their rescue operation included not allowing themselves to hate either the Germans or the French who collaborated with them. By the war’s end, it is estimated they’d helped save between 3,000 and 5,000 Jews, many of them children. In doing so, they risked their individual lives and the lives of every person in town. Whereas evil is contagious, spreading and infecting people, so the Holy Spirit fills people and spreads the faith to others and grants others the strength and the ability to resist evil.
The town of Le Chambon had something enduring to offer not only to fleeing Jews but to the world beyond. Years later, a despairing professor researching the cruelties of World War II and becoming more and more despondent at the state of humanity, read a brief account of the village of Le Chambon and its victorious, practical, and courageous love for others. Philip Hallie tells that he finished reading the report of Le Chambon and then laid awake that night thinking. He wept that people would live with such Christian integrity that they’d defy evil at the risk of death. He got up from bed that night and returned to his office to reread the article about such faithful bravery dedicated to the helpless.
Later that year, Philip Hallie went to the village of Le Chambon to interview those still alive in order to report the events. His book, Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed, records the memories of the folks of Le Chambon. Hallie was a witness to what the village did, and also a witness to our created need for a faith that will recognize and resist evil.
People today need a realistic faith that helps them to understand and how to deal with evil. Christians are better equipped to meet life’s unwelcomed surprises, tragedies, and atrocities when we center our thinking upon our Lord’s crucifixion and resurrection. Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection are the outline of hope for us. We acknowledge by Jesus’ death that evil and tragedy cause needless suffering in the world. Yet Jesus’ resurrection proclaims that evil doesn’t get the last word. God’s grace does. God shows up here with second chances, even when life or entire nations seem hopeless.
When we’re anxious, we need to cast our cares upon God who has shown us the pattern that undergirds all of life: the promises we have Jesus’ death and resurrection. As Christians we are part of God’s great, grand, and cosmic work. God continues to fight evil through us, to deliver gracious love to others through us, and to bring life from death in us.
God’s working in our lives may not be obvious every minute. Sometimes we must look closely to perceive what God is accomplishing in quiet ways in ordinary people to bring life out of death. We trust that God will restore us, conform us, support us, strengthen us, and establish us. The Christian faith isn’t centered on us or on the devil but on God’s surprising, recurring grace in Jesus. Therefore, we can trust that God’s continuing grace is always among us, and we can cast our cares upon God, no matter the circumstances. And as we do, we affirm our faith with Peter’s last statement, “To [God] be the dominion forever and ever.”
Amen