1 Peter 3:13-22

I started reading a book last week entitled Simply Christian: Why Christianity Makes Sense. It is by an Anglican bishop named N. T. Wright, of whom some are saying that he is filling a similar role for our generation that C. S. Lewis played in the 20^th century – i.e., explaining our faith to an unbelieving and often skeptical culture.  In the first part of the book Wright sets the stage for the rest of it in describing four deep seated desires, or longings, that we find embedded in every culture – four things that we seem to be built as human beings to seek after; yet so often, our desire for these things never quite seems to be fulfilled.  The four are justice… spirituality… human relationships and beauty.  He then makes the case that these four things are ‘echoes of God’s call’; they are longings which have been placed in us by our Creator, and are only satisfied in God. 

In speaking of that second longing (our desire for a meaningful spirituality), he begins with a parable. I found this to be very powerful; its imagery has stayed with me. I think it’s meaningful. So I’d like to share it with you today as we begin: it’s a little longer than a typical quotation in one of my sermons, but I really think it’s worth pondering… 

There was once a powerful dictator who ruled his country with an iron will. Every aspect of life was thought through and worked out according to a rational system.  Nothing was left to chance.

    The dictator noticed that the water sources around the country were erratic and in some cases dangerous. There were thousands of springs of water, often in the middle of towns and cities. They got polluted, and often they burst out in new places and damaged roads, fields, and houses.

    The dictator decided on a sensible, rational policy. The whole country, or at least every part where there was any suggestion of water, would be paved over with concrete so thick that no spring of water could ever penetrate it.  The water that people needed would be brought to them by a complex system of pipes. Furthermore, the dictator decided, he would use the opportunity, while he was at it, to put into the water various chemicals that would make the people healthy. With the dictator controlling the supply, everyone would have what he decided they needed, and there wouldn’t be any more nuisance from unregulated springs.

     For many years the plan worked just fine.  People got used to their water coming from the new system. It sometimes tasted a bit strange, and from time to time they would look back wistfully to the bubbling streams and fresh springs they used to enjoy…But mostly the new system seemed efficient.  People praised the dictator for his forward-looking wisdom.

    A generation passed. All seemed to be well. Then without warning, the springs that had gone on bubbling and sparkling beneath the solid concrete could no longer be contained.  In a sudden explosion – a cross between a volcano and an earthquake – they burst through the concrete that people had come to take for granted. 

    Muddy, dirty water shot into the air and rushed through the streets and into the houses, shops, and factories.  Roads were torn up; whole cities were in chaos. Some people were delighted: at last they could get water again without depending on The System.  But the people who ran the official waterpipes were at a loss: suddenly everyone had more than enough water, but it wasn’t pure and couldn’t be controlled. 

*** 

Wright then explains his parable: We in the Western world are the citizens of that country. And the dictator is the philosophy that has been shaping our world for the past 200 years – up until about 1980 – a philosophy that has turned most people in our western culture into materialists by suppressing our very nature – which having been created in the image of God, is very much spiritual. But the prevailing philosophy of the Western world had tried very hard to control or suppress that. 

   “We will pipe you (said the prevailing philosophy) the water you need; we will arrange for “religion” to become a small sub department of ordinary life; it will be quite safe – harmless, in fact – with church life carefully separated off from everything else in the world, whether politics, art, sex, economics, or whatever.  Those who want it can have enough to keep them going. Those who don’t want their life, and their way of life, disrupted by anything “religious” can enjoy driving along concrete roads, visiting concrete-based shopping malls, living in concrete-floored houses. Live as if the rumor of God had never existed! … From this point of view, spirituality is a private hobby, an up-market version of daydreaming for those who like that kind of thing.

     Millions in the Western world have enjoyed the temporary separation from “religious” interference that this philosophy has brought.  Millions more, aware of the deep subterranean bubblings and yearnings of the water systems we call “spirituality” which can no more ultimately be denied than can endless springs of water under thick concrete, have done their best secretly to tap into it, using the official channels (the churches), but aware that there’s more water available than most churches have let on. Many more again have been aware of an indefinable thirst, a longing for springs of living, refreshing water that they can bathe in, delight in, and drink to the full.

      Now at last it has happened: the hidden springs have erupted, the concrete foundation has burst open, and life can never be the same again.[1]

I found that parable especially interesting in light of another book I heard about recently. It is by a Princeton University professor Robert Wuthnow called After the Baby Boomers:
How Twenty- and Thirty-Somethings Are Shaping the Future of American Religion
. Withnow makes a number of observations about ‘post-Baby boomers’ and religion (which he simply calls ‘young adults’); many of which should, frankly, be a wake up call to prayer to our churches across the Western world. But one trend he notes particularly is in the area of evangelism.  Which is pretty crucial, because this is the main way that God has designed to bring his Message to future generations! 

Withnow says that the philosophy of ‘the golden rule’ is being strongly applied by many young adults when it comes to speaking about their own faith – even when they consider themselves to be Christians, or ‘religious’ people.  “I don’t want anybody proselytizing me” they reason, “so I will not proselytize them, either!”  Meaning, ‘I will not talk about my faith with anyone else.’ 

So we find ourselves culturally in this place where the lid has blown off the world, spiritually speaking – where the concrete has broken loose and the water of spirituality is flowing freely everywhere (albeit much of that water is muddy and polluted), but we still are clinging to the ‘concrete age’ notions that this is really, all just a private matter. So while we’re standing waist deep – or over our heads – in fast running water, along with practically everyone else around us, we feel that we really can’t talk about it… can’t talk about the Biblical promise of ‘streams of living water’ that will spring up in the hearts of all who find the Truth. Which lies in a relationship with the living God of the Scripture. Wow. Talk about irony! 

I think that the problem here lies in the nature of what many people in our culture consider ‘evangelism’ to actually be.  The cultural view of how the Christian faith is shared is very different from the picture of ‘evangelism’ that we get in the book of 1 Peter 3. Part of the problem with the concrete, water pipe fed age of Christianity (that Wight refers to in his parable) is that there was incredible pressure to reduce the Christian faith to a series of propositions. We were convinced that giving assent to these certain propositions, or ‘laws’ meant that one was a ‘believer’, and that was enough. Evangelism then became focused on teaching techniques designed to bring a person to ‘a decision’ – i.e., to get a person to give their assent to these propositions. 

Sometimes in that process, the technique became more important than the product, and the central point of our faith got blurry: to be a Christian isn’t knowing certain teachings; to be a Christian means having a living relationship with God through Jesus Christ!  Jesus said, (John 17:3). “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”  Jesus’ call – again and again – was to ‘follow me’; to be in a living, dynamic, growing, active relationship with God in Christ Jesus. 

So when Peter talks about sharing our faith with the world, he doesn’t talk about knocking on stranger’s doors, he doesn’t talk about maneuvering people into intellectual corners, he’s not endorsing hard sell, ‘can’t miss’ methods.  No, he says “…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…” 

Do you realize, in these few words Peter is assuming a number of things? (At least 3 that I can count.) 

1. He’s assuming that people who revere Christ as Lord will be hopeful people.  Christ’s followers will be people of hope. Does that characterize you?  You know I’m not talking about Pollyanna ‘pie in the sky’ stuff.  But as Paul says in referring to death – “We grieve, but not as though without hope.” We can take the worst the world has to give us. 

Or, from that great passage in 1 Corinthians 4 (the Message) “We've been surrounded and battered by troubles, but we're not demoralized; we're not sure what to do, but we know that God knows what to do; we've been spiritually terrorized, but God hasn't left our side; we've been thrown down, but we haven't broken.”  That’s what hope looks like in real life… 

And related to that: 2. He’s assuming that other people will notice that kind of hope. And how could they not? We live in a world that desperately lacks anything of substance for people to put their hope in. The economy and money worked for some for awhile, but that’s not really going to do it, and we all know it; and now a recession is hopefully going to be a wake-up call away from the false hope of ‘stuff’.  Pleasure, possessions, fame, fortune – it comes in different formats but its been the same for a thousand years. These are the alternatives to faith. And none of these things last, they don’t give lasting hope. They ultimately fail to deliver what they promise. 

‘Religion’ is closer to a satisfying answer, and forms of spirituality are springing up all over the place - and thus Wright’s muddy water analogy – but teaching different things, they can’t all be true. Yet how can one know? 

As Christians we believe that authentic hope is found only in the true God, it is found in the gift of eternal life, it is built on the word of a God who has broken into history, who has shown us the character of God himself, who died our death and broke the choke hold that death and sin held over us. That’s a foundation for hope! There are no others. 

A third assumption that Peter makes is also critical. He assumes that not only will Christians be hopeful people, so much so that others will notice; but he assumes that #3: others will want to know where our hope comes from. They will want to know: “where can I find that hope for myself?”  And they will never know unless they are told… 

As we live out our faith in the day to day of life, as we demonstrate as best we can the love of Christ in action – by our giving natures, by our willingness to serve others in true humility, by our willingness to sacrifice for the good of others, by turning aside our innate desire for vengeance and forgiving those who hurt us and sin against us, when we do these things consistently, people are going to wonder “why?” Why are you like that?  How come you’re not ‘going under’ after all you’ve faced? What’s your secret to happiness? 

And Peter says, when they ask, be ready to give an answer for the hope that is in you. But don’t do it with anger, don’t do it with an attitude. Don’t do it with an agenda. Share your faith with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience so we have no reason to be ashamed. So that our message won’t be muddled up by the character of the messenger. This is the most important work we have to do! This is our calling. 

We may not all have the gift of ‘evangelism’ (you know if you do because people come to you fairly often and ask these questions) but we all  - ALL – have been given the role of witness. We are all called to live out our faith in real life, in real time. 

And when we do that, we need to keep our ears open, because someone will see a difference in you. They are going to want to know why we’re like we are… 

Listen to Peter’s words from the Message: “Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick.” 

This is not proselytizing … this is that wonderful summary of evangelism that someone came up with years ago: evangelism is one beggar showing another where to find bread.  And this is how God has always built his church. And it is how God will continue to get the Message of his amazing love out into a world that as yet, only knows that love as a distant yearning. 

Amen