Sunday, May 10, 2026
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Text: 1 Peter 3:13-22
Sermon Audio
As we gather… St. Peter seems to be warning his readers in our Epistle reading today. He is writing to Christians in a pagan society who have been newly baptized as God’s own special people. They have been exhorted that they are now a royal priesthood and a holy nation in Christ through the faith that they have received. They are to live in this world as people who have inherited a heavenly kingdom. Peter knows that this will bring suffering. When we live for Christ in a world that despises the truth of Scripture we will endure many things. You can boldly serve your family, friends, and neighbors in such a way that your love will proclaim God’s love to all who see you. You have a good conscience before God through the resurrection of Christ Jesus in your baptism that saves you. When persecution comes the Holy Spirit is with you and you share in Christ’s suffering as those who are God’s own special people. You endure this life because your life is in Christ.
Alleluia! Christ is risen! Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
“Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?” St. Peter seems to be preparing the recipients of his letter for something. He is writing to Christians who live in a pagan culture that indulges in whatever their sinful heart desires. Our reading comes after Peter has assured them that they are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, and God’s own special people and that they are to proclaim the praises of Him in the world. God called them out of the darkness of the world into His marvelous light. Christians are the people of God and have obtained His mercy. What a message we have! Peter goes on to tell them that now that they have been made God’s people, that they should abstain from the lusts of the flesh that wage war on their soul, and live their lives in submission to God and to the station in life that God has placed them.
These Christians aren’t given to do anything remarkable. They are to live as citizens in their country as those who serve God. They are to go to work and obey their boss as they are obeying Christ. Wives are to submit to their husbands as to the Lord and husbands are to honor their wives. They are to keep on living their lives, except now they are to live them as a people who have been chosen by God to live on earth as those whose permanent residence is with Christ in His heavenly kingdom; even if the people that God has placed around them aren’t members of His holy nation. Here lies the problem. The people that are neighbors to these Christians abuse their power to their own gain. They abandon the sanctity of the marriage bed to pursue their own lusts. They live as those who are still firmly in the realm of Satan. Yet, Peter is encouraging the people to not hide, but to serve, even the wicked, as Christ has served us. This means that these Christians are about to get run through the ringer, and Peter knows it. If you don’t go along with the world the world will hate you. Jesus telling us to take up our cross and follow Him was not just a platitude. Jesus, the truly righteous one, suffered for walking a life zealous for God’s good. We who have been united to Christ are called to be zealous for good just as Christ is. Wicked men in the world persecuted Christ unto death. Christ suffered because the dark and evil world can’t stand the righteous light that Jesus came to bring. Yet for the world’s sake He suffered all unto death so that all might know the righteousness of God. Those who now bear the light of Christ need to be prepared to suffer as Christ did, because suffering just might come for us, but can it really harm us?
St Peter continues, “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” To suffer for the sake of righteousness is a blessed thing. That is hard to think about. No one wants to suffer. When a Christian suffers for being zealous for good, they aren’t suffering alone. Who is good but Christ? They are sharing in Christ’s suffering. Suffering for the sake of the cross is a mark of the true church by which the Holy Spirit works through trials to solidify a Christian’s faith and draw others to the cross of Christ. Yet as much as we are not supposed to fear suffering for righteousness’ sake, it is not something we want to endure.
Even Jesus, when the time of His suffering on the cross was at hand, asked His Father to take this cup from Him. Yet, He trusts the will of the Father and submits to the earthly authorities so He could be tortured and hung on the tree and be cursed for our sake. He even prays for those who were harming Him by nailing Him to the cross for being zealous for the good that God would bring to the world through Him, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Jesus shows us how to suffer in Him. He breathes His Spirit out for us and gives Him to us in Holy Baptism and through His Word so that we regard Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is continuing to sanctify us and strengthen us so if suffering comes for us we may stand firm in the Lord and not deny Him but sing His praises in the face of persecution. After all, our life is not in this world, we belong to the kingdom of God and this world can’t harm those who are members of Christ’s royal priesthood.
We stand in the shadow of many faithful witnesses who have shown us how to suffer so that God’s glory may be shown even in our suffering. Many have counted it joy to share in the sufferings of Christ so that their suffering may proclaim Christ’s suffering. When our faith is certain and we regard our life in Christ more valuable than our life on earth, it shows the genuineness of Christ’s love for the world through us. We must either be a fool or we have a certain hope that the world can’t comprehend… and you, who are in Christ, are no fool. Our faith hopes in the resurrection of Christ that is ours because we have been united to His death and resurrection in our baptism. This world can’t harm us because we have died in Christ and now live in His newness of life.
This is the faith of the martyrs of God. Stephen echoed our Lord on the cross just before he breathed his last when he was stoned to death for proclaiming the truth about Jesus as the Christ through Scripture. He asked that God would not charge this sin against those who were killing him. Andrew the apostle is said to have longed for the cross and counted it as a joy that he would suffer death by crucifixion for the faith. St. Peter, the author of this epistle, felt unworthy to be crucified in the exact same way as Jesus, so he requested to be crucified upside down. His successor as the leader of the church in Antioch, Ignatius, was taken under heavy guard from Antioch to Rome to be fed to wild beasts; but everywhere they stopped he strengthened and confirmed the parishes along the way. He was being put to death for preaching Christ crucified, and the guards were watching him, yet he couldn’t help himself. He warned the churches throughout Asia to beware of heresies and cleave strictly to the traditions of the apostles. The very Word of God that proclaims the mercy of God through Christ’s atoning death and His victorious resurrection was too important to not proclaim. This is the hope they have and we have in the resurrection, even in the face of persecution.
On this Mother’s Day, it is hard not to remember the mothers who have suffered for the sake of Christ. Mary, the mother of our Lord, suffered at the foot of the cross as she watched her Son bear the sins of the world. She knew that this must happen. This moment was why He was conceived in the first place, yet the pain she went through was tremendous. She suffered, all the while knowing that the world would be redeemed in Him. One of my favorite martyrs of the early church was from the second century, Felicity. She was sacrificed to beasts for her faith yet refused to renounce Christ even though she had just given birth in prison. She trusted that the Lord would care for her child and was glad that her death would proclaim Christ’s death. When guards wondered how she would react to her sentence she responded, “Now my sufferings are only mine. But when I face the beasts there will be another who will live in me, and will suffer for me since I shall be suffering for Him.” Her child was adopted by Christians and would have been raised to know the sure and certain hope of eternal life that Felicity died for. Even in death she witnessed Christ crucified for our sins and raised for our justification to her child. Mothers suffer many things on account of their children. When you endure the pain of watching your child being mocked for their faith you weep with them and point them to certainty that they suffer with Christ. When you take shame and ridicule for standing firm in your faith in a world that despises Christ, you embody the faith that your children can emulate in the hope of Jesus’ resurrection.
The witness of the martyrs serves as an example and emboldens us to always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is within us. Christ has sanctified your heart with His Spirit and strengthens you through His Word and through His body and blood; because of this, you who are in Christ, have been given the strength to walk against the grain of the sinful world that surrounds us. Morality in modern day America isn’t much different than the ancient Roman Empire. Christians here aren’t martyred in the same brutal ways yet, but who knows what the future may bring. We still sacrifice in other ways. We live in a culture of comfort and self-indulgence. We can stand out as those who refuse to abandon their Lord for simple pleasures. If our friends want to go out late on a Saturday night and throw back some drinks and we say no, they may wonder why. You can then give them a reason for the hope that is within you. You can tell them, “I am a Christian and bear the name of Christ. I can’t drag the name of my Lord into all manners of debauchery and I want to have my full abilities to hear His word in the morning at church.” In this small witness you are crucifying your sinful desires and showing your friend that you live for Christ, not this world. They may just follow your lead, or they may mock you, but you live for Christ.
We live our lives zealous for God and His good. If your dear friend of 30 years wants you to embrace his granddaughter’s sexual immorality by attending her same-sex marriage ceremony, you can witness to him that you are a Chrisitian and you can’t bless what God condemns. You can witness to him the love of Christ and that He came into the world and took on all sin so the world might not be condemned, but saved through Him. The granddaughter may be struggling with her identity in this world, but you can point them to where to find true identity: in Christ, through baptism. Your friend may hurt you and crucify you all over social media or they may hear your words of Gospel and come to faith. Either way, you live in Christ. You have a good conscience before God because you have been saved through baptism as an appeal to the Father through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. All authority has been put under Him. You are safely in Him and whatever befalls you in this life, you can be sure that you are secure in eternity in our Lord. Suffering in these more minor forms helps us be prepared for the trials that could come. No matter what form of martyrdom might come your way, you can count yourself blessed as you share in the sufferings of Christ.
You need not fear or be troubled in these times because the Spirit of truth that you have received in your baptism is with you and fortifying you for whatever the world has to throw at you. You don’t suffer alone. You have been united to Christ in your baptism and the Holy Spirit is continuing to sanctify you in this life in His Word and in the Lord’s Supper. You can stand in these gray and latter days in the sure confidence that you have been called by God to be a member of His holy nation. You are His child. You have an eternal kingdom. No matter what trials may come your way, you can stand with a good conscience before God in the face of danger. You can stand and proclaim I am a Christian. I have been baptized and made God’s special child. In the death and resurrection of Christ is where I have life and have it abundantly. Believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ and be saved. Death has been defeated in His death and you have eternal life in His resurrection and now live to proclaim His praises. What more could we ever ask for? You belong to Christ. Thanks be to God!
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard and keep you in the true faith unto life everlasting. Amen. Alleluia! Christ is risen!