Themes of subversion in 1 Peter 3:8-4:7
Christianity isn't supposed to make sense
…so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. For,
“Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”3:8-121
These verses form a summary of the previous section, and the subversive element of Peter’s advice is on full display: we fight evil by repaying it with a blessing where the world would say to stoop to their level. The similarities with Romans 12-13 continue to pop up.
If we let Peter’s words sink in, we realize he sees the political world as something of an illusion. It’s not that human authorities, from emperors to governors to slave owners, don’t exist or have an impact. They do! And it’s not that their function or influence is all evil or all good. But where we place extreme importance on political systems, from the “archaic” Ancient Near-Eastern ones to the Greco-Roman ones that prefigure our modern systems, God places greater importance on the acts of individuals who stand before him.
I don’t think Peter is saying we should have nothing to do with the authorities we are called to obey in 2:17-3:7. That would be impossible. But we can’t put them on a pedestal, succumbing to the myths of nation and progress our societies are so enraptured by, either. The world says that to fix an unjust system, we jump in and fix it. This is the basis of our supposed civic duty, from voting to protesting to legislating to enforcing and everything in between. But God says to hand out blessings.
Peter quotes from Psalm 34,2 but the advice in this psalm isn’t very good, if we’re honest. It doesn’t work. To turn from evil and do good does not save us from evil in this life! We’re supposed to sit around and let evil defeat itself (Psalm 34:21) while we focus on being a good neighbor?! Apparently.
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”
3:13-14
It’s a perspective that makes no sense to the world, and that’s ok. Christians these days, in my corner of the world at least, spend a lot of time talking about how we should be ready to logically argue for our positions as Christians. And that’s not all a waste of time, but it’s not what Peter is talking about in the next verse.
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
3:15-16
“Always be prepared to give an answer.” Peter isn’t talking about the response of a rhetorician to a critic of Christianity. He’s talking about the response of a suffering Christian to an incredulous neighbor, who can’t wrap their mind around why we wouldn’t live out a more logical version of Christianity “under the sun.” Our lives are a sermon, but not the perfectly crafted message of a demagogue or marketer or televangelist—this sermon is a stumbling block. We preach Christ crucified even if we preach it silently, for we are called to be his body as the church, that individual eaten by the world. This sermon is the Lord’s Supper, the Eucharist, Communion.
For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. After being made alive, he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits—to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.
3:17-22
We believe, paradoxically, that the war is already won and all evil is already defeated. The interim between the already and the not-yet is painful, and we have to accept this if we are to avoid the extremes the Christian tradition so often falls prey to: the error of thinking we ourselves can save the world materially and becoming oppressors of the needy in the name of Christ, and the error of thinking this material world is unredeemable and becoming a useless ascetic who does nothing for it.
“In avoiding Scylla we would cautiously guard against being wrecked upon the Charybdis.” — Thomas Campbell, and lots of other people
We have to stand in both worlds, heaven and earth, simultaneously. We have to represent the marriage of the two, the reconciliation of all things to Christ.3 And that’s impossible, I know. But we have an infinite power pouring out of us, if we will only allow it to happen, ever since we were buried in baptism. The earth was baptized once, in the days of Noah. I don’t think they had a good time. Sounded pretty miserable if you ask me. Why should it be any different today for those of us who have been baptized into death?
I don’t know whether the people baptized in the Great Deluge got to experience resurrection.4 But I know we get to.
Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.
The end of all things is near…
4:1-6
“They are surprised,” and they should be surprised at our life, and not because we have it so great as Christians. So we who have been living in the end times for the last 2,000 years must be prepared to give an answer for the reason for the hope we have and they can’t see. Some 2,000 years ago, the clock struck midnight and the Day of the Lord began. But the sun hasn't risen yet, so we can hardly be surprised at someone who is confused, and even justifiably a little angry, that we are running around in the dark banging on cymbals and declaring that a new strategy for world peace is afoot. I’d be groggy too.5
“Unto you is born this day a Savior—and yet it was night when he was born. That is an eternal illustration: it must be night—and becomes day in the middle of the night when the Savior is born.” — Søren Kierkegaard
6Peter’s co-laborer Paul says,
And do this [Romans 12-13], understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.
Romans 13:11-14
Let’s become that individual, the bride, clothed with Christ, as we get to work in the wee hours.
Biblical quotations are in NIV. Verse addresses without book references are for 1 Peter.
There’s a lot of overlap in Psalm 34 with other psalms, including 37 which is one of my favorites and I’ve written about before.
Cf. Colossians 1:20.
The debates surrounding this passage are fascinating and maybe I’ll post about it one day, but it’s beyond the scope of this discussion. Feel free to spitball in the comments!
Sorry for mixing my metaphors, I know I’ve been talking about the world we see as “under the sun” and now I’m talking about the present end times as the final hours of nighttime. Hopefully you get the gist.
Quote is from Kierkegaard’s journals. It can also be found in A Kierkegaard Anthology, ed. by Robert Bretall. Pg 339 in my copy, First Princeton Paperback Edition, 1973 (Princeton University Press).
The audio voiceover is great, Wayne, and you do a good job with distinguishing the quotes from the regular text. Interesting commentary too, I like the idea that we are working in the wee hours of the morning.