Sermon on 1 Peter 1:21-25, for the 3rd Sunday of Easter (1 YR lectionary), "Our Shepherd's Example"

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Discipleship is the word we use to describe following Jesus and all that means for our life. To be a disciple is to be a follower of Jesus. Our reading from 1 Peter 2:21 begins: “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” We follow in the example of Christ’s suffering for us? A good Lutheran question to ask is, “What does this mean?” First of all, clearly only Christ can redeem us from our sins by His suffering. Following Christ’s example does not include redeeming ourselves by suffering for our own sins. Jesus has already finished that for us! That chapter of salvation is already completed, the ink is dried, and it’s done! A chapter earlier, Peter tells how Christ ransomed us from our old sinful ways by the price of His precious, innocent blood.

So following Christ’s example in suffering, is not about paying for our sins or anybody else’s. Thank God He’s done that for us already! But what it does mean, is that God is doing something both incredible and challenging in our lives. He is modeling us after Jesus in the way in which He suffered. He suffered unjustly, for doing what is good. Jesus didn’t let His suffering become an opportunity for bitterness, hatred, or revenge—but responded with grace and forgiveness. This is how we “follow in His steps.” We learn from His example, and the Holy Spirit molds us and transforms us into His image.

Peter explains several times that there’s a difference between suffering for doing good, and suffering for doing evil. Obviously, he warns, there’s no credit for suffering for evil things we have done. If we suffer for something criminal, immoral or unethical that we have done,  that’s really our own fault, and we reap what we sow. But even in suffering for bad choices we may still learn “life lessons,” or may learn by the consequences of our actions why obedience to God is indeed the right path. Honestly much of our suffering falls into this category. And of course God forgives the repentant, and gives us strength to bear through this kind of suffering also—but it’s no credit or glory to us to suffer for doing what is wrong.

But to suffer unjustly for doing good—Peter tells us—this is “a gracious thing in the sight of God.” God shows His favor on those who endure such suffering. This is the category of most everything else. The suffering Jesus endured, where He was insulted, reviled, spat upon, and crucified—even though He had done nothing wrong. Or the suffering that a person endures for standing up and doing the right thing—even when it is unpopular. Or the suffering of Job, who experienced intense loss and grief, without ever knowing why. And the suffering of many Christians who have trouble or hardship in their lives—not by their own fault, and not with any attached “explanation tag.” And the suffering of our many Christian brothers and sisters around the world who are persecuted for their faith.

Perhaps you are cast into suffering like this. Recall what Christ endured, and know that we share in His sufferings. We need His strength to endure it. We need His Spirit to mold us, so that we don’t react in the predictable, sinful ways that are so easy and natural to us. The reading says “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly”. It’s amazing that Jesus never cursed or grew angry with those who tormented Him. His mouth remained pure and without sin.

In similar situations, how easy and tempting it can be for us to fly off the handle and give someone a piece of our mind! The level of insult that Jesus faced was simply extraordinary. Chances are good that what we may experience is usually much lower. But in any case, how we respond is what is important. Responding to evil with more evil is never productive. Romans 12:21 says: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Good is the right weapon against evil. Good brings the true defeat of evil. Not evil defeating evil. If evil defeats evil—what’s left in its place? Just a new form of evil! So the “good” that overcomes evil is to follow Christ’s example. Kindness and forgiveness in the face of cruelness and sin. Truth and humility in the face of lies and pride. Patience in the face of impatience. Love in the face of hate. These are the tools and the gifts of the Spirit, to overcome evil with good.

To follow after Christ’s example, walking in His steps, is an incredible call and challenge. But it’s no good to throw our hands up and say, “well good luck imitating that! He’s God, after all, and I’m just a lousy human!” That would be to treat God’s calling for us as an absurdity, as though God were unaware that we are frail humans. Rather, as Luther would say, we should give the Holy Spirit credit for being more learned than we are, and trust in His Word. And have faith that God knows our weakness, as one of my favorite verses from Psalm 103:13–14 says: “As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.” And because we are dust, God baptizes us into His Son Christ Jesus, so that He lives in us, and we live in Him. And so that His Holy Spirit dwells in us, sanctifying us and pouring His gifts into our lives. Our concern is not to obsess about the progress we are making, but to continually have our eyes turned up to Him, knowing that grace and every blessing comes from His hand. Far from an absurdity, God does really and truly begin to shape and mold us after the pattern of Christ’s own suffering, using our sufferings to refine us like gold tested by fire. It’s His work in us.

The reading continues: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.” Our sin is dealt with already at the cross. Now we daily die to that sin, and live to righteousness. We “detoxify” from our sins by confession and absolution—getting the bad stuff out of our system—and we are sanctified and made new as we rise and walk with Christ. “By His wounds you have been healed” is part of the amazing Isaiah 53 prophecy, that described Jesus’ death in astonishing predictive detail, 7 centuries before it happened. That simple fact, that God endured wounded-ness on our behalf, because of our sins, is too great to fathom, and we could ponder that mystery for all time. God, who is the Highest and Most Holy, incarnated or took on human flesh, in the person of Jesus Christ, and He let us wound Him with our sins. He endured our slander, insults, and mockery, carried the weight of sins aimed at Him, and not aimed at Him—but He bore them all anyways. And in His wounds, we find healing.

Interestingly, after Jesus rose from the dead, we heard last week how His scars from the nails, were the sign to His disciples, that He was the same Jesus, alive, and in the flesh. And what is a scar, but a wound that has healed! Jesus turns our wounds into scars also, as He heals the wounds that sin has left on us. In Jesus, we find the hope that all the injustices that we have endured will be made right and taken care of by God, who judges justly. Remember how the verse says that Jesus endured His suffering, by trusting that God judges justly? So also we trust, when we don’t see the solution or resolution of our suffering. God gives us strength, and all things are in His hand, to judge according to His justice, in His own time.

“For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” How do sheep come home to their Shepherd? They’re not known for their “homing devices” like homing pigeons, or salmon, who have an uncanny knack for finding their way home. But sheep wander away and get stuck, and are helpless—endangering their own lives, away from the tender care of their Shepherd. No, sheep don’t find their own way home—but as Jesus’ parables teach us, He, the Good Shepherd, goes and retrieves His lost sheep. He finds the lost sheep and carries it home on His shoulders, rejoicing. We have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for us. He is an Overseer, a faithful watchman, who steers us away from harm, and leads us in the right path. And ever rescuing us from our foolish wandering.

We began by reflecting on the walk of discipleship—following in Jesus’ footsteps, walking after His path. It’s an awesome challenge and an incredible work that Jesus is doing in our lives. Viewed from God’s perspective, we see the grace and the glory of what He is doing in our lives, shaping us to be like Christ. Yet viewed from our human perspective, we often see the hardship and suffering that God uses to refine us like gold in this life. With only the human perspective, we can let suffering and trouble grind us down in this life. But with eyes opened by faith, to see God’s perspective, and to know that He’s at work, even in our sufferings—we can be encouraged to follow in His steps, and die to our sin, and live to righteousness. We can know that God has a greater purpose for us, even in our sufferings. By His wounds you have been healed! All glory be to Christ. Amen.

Sermon Talking Points

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1. Read 1 Peter 2:19-25. Why is a Christian called to endure suffering while doing good? What is our natural instinct about how to react against unfair bad treatment? Contrast our instinct to vs. 23. What example did Jesus set, by how He responded?
2. 1 Peter 2:22 is one of several passages that affirm Jesus’ sinlessness. Cf. Hebrews 4:16; 7:26; John 8:46; 2 Corinthians 5:21. Why is it necessary that Jesus would live a perfectly sinless life? 1 Peter 1:18-19; Galatians 4:4-6.
3. Jesus endured His suffering by “entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” How do we learn to do the same? What does that free us from? Romans 12:17-21. What does it free us to do for others?
4. 1 Peter 2:24 speaks of the death and life that we experience in Christ. How does this reality come to us? Romans 6:1-14. How does Jesus’ resurrection from the dead assure us that sin can be defeated?
5. “By His wounds you are healed” is a powerful verse from Isaiah 53:5, that prophesies in amazing detail Jesus’ crucifixion. How does it affect your perception of God, knowing that He endured wounded-ness and death for you? Jesus’ wounds turned into scars (i.e., “healed” wounds). He heals our “wounds” also. What hope does that give us?
6. 1 Peter 2:25. How has Jesus returned us “sheep” to His fold and His care? John 10; Luke 15:1-7. What is the watchfulness and the care of our Good Shepherd like?
7. Read through 1 Peter 2, the whole chapter, and identify all the statements that speak to God’s purpose for your life. How does knowing this encourage or challenge you? How does it make you depend all the more completely upon God and His grace?