“Jesus Our Servant” (1 Peter 2:19-25)

 

*"Mocking of Christ" by Fra Angelico (1440) 

Facing the Giants
Watchman Nee, a faithful church leader in China, suffered from many serious illnesses, including a chronic stomach disorder and heart disease. Every day, he prayed for healing. One night, he had a dream. In the dream, he was crossing a river by boat when suddenly, a huge rock appeared and blocked his way. He prayed, “Lord, please remove this rock!” Then he heard a voice saying, “My beloved son, do you want me to take away the rock, or raise the water so you can pass over it?” He thought for a moment and answered, “Lord, please raise the water.” For the rest of his life, he was never fully healed. Yet day by day, he discovered that grace was always greater, and God continued to carry him through.

Called to Suffering
Today many of us are facing giants. We carry difficult questions:

If God is good, why is there so many suffering?

If God is good, why is there so many injustice?

If God is good, why does healing not come?

In today’s scripture, Peter exhorts his fellow believers to endure suffering unjustly. He knew the Roman government was corrupt. He knew relationships (ex. husband-wife relationship) were often unequal and broken. He knew slavery was unjust. But still, Peter said, “You were called to suffering” – not because suffering itself is good, and not because God delights in pain, but because God can use even suffering for his purpose and for the salvation of others. Then, Peter gives us three reasons why we Christians can endure suffering faithfully.

Christ Suffered for You
First, we are called to endure suffering because Christ suffered for us. Peter says, “Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (2:21) We often think about incarnation (“God became human”) as a warm and beautiful image. And it is beautiful. But we should remember: the incarnation was an act of humiliation and suffering, and even violence. When God came to us in Jesus Christ, he humbled himself. He emptied himself. He laid aside the privileges of heaven. He entered our broken world. He became poor, rejected, misunderstood, and vulnerable. The king of heaven became the servant (slave) of all.

Psalm 69, our call to worship today, is Jesus’ prayer – his own diary during his suffering, especially on the cross. He said something like this:

· “Save me, God, because the waters have reached my neck! (1)
· “More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me for no reason.” (4)
· “I am insulted because of you. Shame covers my face.” (7)
· “I hoped for sympathy, but there wasn’t any, I hoped for comforters, but couldn’t find any. They gave me poison for food. To quench my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” (20-21)

After World War II, a German pastor and playwright named Günter Rutenborn wrote a famous play called The Sign of Jonah. The whole play wrestles with one haunting question: Who is to blame? After the horrors of the Holocaust and the war, everyone tried to defend themselves. The soldier said, “I only followed orders.” The citizen said, “I stayed silent.” Others blamed leaders, systems, or history itself. And finally, in the play, the crowd cries out: “Yes, we are guilty, but God is most to blame. Put God on trial.” And the shocking sentence given to God is this: “God must become human. God must enter suffering himself. God must be stripped of rights, rejected, homeless, thirsty, and condemned.”

The irony, of course, is that this is exactly what God already did in Jesus Christ. Jesus did not come to blame us. He came to bear our blame. He took the hit. He entered our violence, our injustice, our sin, and our shame. Christ suffered for us.

Christ Empowers You
Second, we are called to endure suffering today because Christ empowers us. Peter exhorts this way: “He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.” (2:24-25, NLT) In other words, because of Christ’s atoning, finished work on the cross, now we have freedom for a new life by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Pastor Yang-won Son from Korea gives us a powerful example of this Christ-shaped, Spirit-empowered life. In 1948, during political violence in Korea, Pastor Son’s two sons were killed by Communists because of their Christian faith. Later, a young man named Chai-sun was identified as one of the killers and was sentenced to death. But Pastor Son did something astonishing. He went to the court and asked for the young man to be forgiven and released into his care. He even adopted him as his own son.

Why? Because Pastor Son believed the gospel is not only about receiving forgiveness from Jesus, but also about becoming like Jesus, suffering like him. Humanly speaking, that kind of forgiveness is impossible. But Christ empowers us for a new life. “By his wounds you are healed.” Jesus not only forgives us; he changes us. He gives us strength to love, forgive, and live differently.

Christ Will Restore You
Third, we are called to endure suffering for a little while because Christ will restore us in his time. In his letter Peter comforts and encourages his fellow believers going through unjust suffering and struggling with unanswered prayers. At the end of his letter Peter said, “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace will himself restore, empower, strengthen, and establish you.” (5:10, CEB) Be encouraged. God will make all things right.

One movie that beautifully captures this hope is Greater. The film tells the true story of Brandon Burlsworth, a Christian football player whose life ended suddenly in a car accident just as his dream was coming true. His older brother is overwhelmed with grief and anger. He cannot understand why God would allow such a tragedy. Throughout the movie, he wrestles deeply with suffering. But by the end of the movie, he begins to see a greater and eternal perspective. At the funeral, these words are spoken: “Our loss is great, but God is greater.” That does not ease the sorrow. But it gives hope.

Conclusion
Today our suffering is real. And many of our questions remain unanswered. But in the meantime, even in hardship, we Christians are called to serve others, to go the second mile, to endure injustice without demanding our rights. Why? Because Christ suffered for us. Because Christ empowers us. And because Christ will restore and vindicate us at last. There is purpose. There are answers. Thanks be to God.