“Prepared to Give an Answer”

Let’s pray together before we study here in 1 Peter 3:13–17:

Father, your Word is powerful and vital and transforming. The word of man is empty and facile and unable to change lives. And so we pray that the Word of God may take root within us to teach, to transform, and to equip, so that when we walk out of the door, we might be able to go back into the environment in which you have set us to live in a way that magnifies your Son. For we ask it in his name. Amen.

With 3:13 here, you will discover, if you look carefully, that Peter is beginning a new section in which he is going to tackle the whole question of the possibility of suffering for righteousness’ sake. Indeed, the section which follows for some way now has to do with suffering in its various dimensions. And in light of this, and in light of the fact that we will spend a certain amount of time on this by virtue of the preponderance of the chapter, I want, this morning, to focus within that overall context on the instruction which Peter provides for us concerning practical guidance relating to Christian witness. And I’m thinking primarily of the fifteenth and sixteenth verse. Because nestled into his instruction here concerning what it will mean to suffer for well-doing is a very clear statement concerning the tremendous privilege and responsibility which falls to the believer to testify, to witness, to proclaim concerning our hope and our assurance in Jesus Christ.

Therefore, along with the other apostles and in light of the rest of the New Testament, Peter takes it for granted that those who are truly in Christ will be about the business of sharing their faith; that they will be going out from the mealtime, as it were, to share the food that they have received; that they will be going out to gossip the gospel; that they will be seizing opportunities within the home and within the workplace and in the environment of recreation to share concerning this Jesus, who is the bridge—the only way between God, who is holy, and man, who is sinful.

A Challenging Question

So that, therefore, brings a question to each one of us this morning, which is a challenge for us to face and yet necessary. And it is this: How many of us are actively involved in sharing our faith? How many of us are actively involved in seeking opportunities to share our faith—on a weekly basis, a daily basis, whatever it might be?

Some may say, “Well, I’m not, because I didn’t know I was supposed to.” I read a church manual this week in which the express purpose of the church was stated—not in these words, but this was the gist of it: “This church exists so that people can come together and worship God and have a nice time,” full stop. Well, that cannot be if the church is going to be what Jesus said it was going to be, because fellowship in and of itself can never be self-contained. It can never be ultimately inward looking. It must always be looking out and beyond. And so it may be that for some of us, it is a revelation, and yet a necessary one, to come face-to-face with the fact that Jesus, who is head of the church, said that we are to always to be prepared to speak concerning him.

Other people may respond and say, “No, I am not actively sharing my faith. I don’t want to. I just don’t want to. I want to leave it to other people to do that. There are people who are better than me. There are people who can talk more than me.” Well, that may well be true, but it doesn’t allow us to evade our responsibility. For the way in which God has made you, with the peculiarities which are your own—he has express purposes for you to be able to communicate Christ in your place and in your way.

Another person may reply, “Well, I’m not sharing my faith. I’m afraid to.” And I understand that one. You get in a situation, and you see the door opening wide before you, and you know you have the opportunity to say something, and your heart begins to beat a little faster, and the palms of your hands become a little sweaty, and you say to yourself, “Oh, maybe I will, maybe I won’t.” And before you’ve mustered up the courage, the opportunity is gone.

And it may well be that a large number of people are saying, “Well, I’m not actively involved in sharing my faith. I don’t know how to. Nobody ever taught me to.” And one of the things I’m thinking about (I haven’t really mentioned it to anyone; actually, I’ve mentioned it to one person) is the possibility of Sunday evenings, coming the autumn—is actually turning our evening service, at least for three months, into a whole program on how to give away your faith, with manuals, and sheets, and fill-in-the-spaces, and do the whole thing, and everyone with a loose-leaf book, and just turn the evening service into a gigantic class on personal evangelism. If any of you are interested in that, write your answers on your card and let me know—the famous card.

Anyway, that’s actually what we’re going to try and tackle this morning. And yet what I would like you to do is to recognize the one who is addressing us in this way. Peter is the one who is writing these words. You’ll notice what he says, verse 13: “Who[’s] going to harm you if you[’re] eager to do good?” He’s the one who’s saying, “Do[n’t] fear what they fear; do[n’t] be frightened.” He’s the one who says, “Set Christ as Lord in your hearts, and always be prepared to give an answer.” If I was making a movie of the life of Peter and he was writing this on the scroll of 1 Peter, I would do a flashback at this point. And while he wrote, I’d cut and flash back into the courtyard scene, where he—the one who writes, “Don’t be afraid of what they’re afraid of; don’t fear what they fear”; the one who says, “Always be ready to give an answer; be up there with the news”—while he writes, we see him in the scene in the courtyard as the servant girl says to him, “Aren’t you one of those Galileans too? Weren’t you with Jesus Christ?” And Peter’s going, “No! I didn’t know him.”[1] And yet over here, in this frame, he’s saying, “I want you always to be prepared. Always do this.”

As I read these words this week, I said, “To pen these words cost Peter something.” Because he could not possibly have written these words without remembering how he had failed so wretchedly to do the very thing he was encouraging his readers to do. And yet that would only have lasted for a season in his mind, because then, superimposed on that scene—which he doubtless brought to his mind—in the courtyard was then superimposed the scene of Jesus on the seashore with him, saying, “Peter, do you love me? Then feed my sheep.”[2] He would have recalled the words of Jesus, “You know, you’re going to mess up, Peter. But after you have turned again, I want you to strengthen the brethren.”[3] And I can’t but that imagine that as he took his pen and as he wrote these words to the scattered believers of his day, there was a deep cost to him to write these words, and yet there was a tremendous reminder of encouragement of all that Jesus had become to him.

And there ought to be a reminder of encouragement to all of us this morning in this. Because doubtless, when we look at a verse like this, we can remember scenes of declension and failure. We can think of times where we were less then we might have been. But it is within the providence and purposes of God that he takes individuals, frail like Peter and like you and me, and garnishes us, once again, into usefulness. And for that we ought to praise him.

“Do Not Fear Them”

Now, 1 Peter 3:15 is so often taken out of its immediate context that I don’t want to be guilty of doing that. And so let me just set it in the context before we launch off from it.

Peter, as I say, is taking it for granted that his readers are following after Christ in a meaningful way, and furthermore, he assumes that those who are following after Jesus are “eager to do good.” “Eager to do good.” In other words, those to whom he writes, he says, must surely be actively involved in the pursuit of goodness. Not only do they know—Psalm 34, which is there in verses 11–12—that they are supposed to “turn from evil” and to “do good,” but they are actually keen to apply it. Indeed, the way the original reads, it makes the emphasis even stronger. This is what it says: “If of the good zealots you become…” “If of the good zealots you become, who is there to harm you?” So, Peter is writing. He says, “Okay. You are the zealots, and you are zealous for goodness.” Now, this is very, very important—because of what follows concerning a clear conscience, because of what follows concerning living in such a way, displaying good behavior, that it might contrast with the surrounding culture in which the believer is settled.

As I read this, I found myself challenged by it. I said, “I wonder: Am I actively involved in the pursuit of goodness? Am I eager to do good?” Sir John Seely, whom I’m sure you will all remember, once wrote these words: “No heart is pure that is not passionate; no virtue[’s] safe [which] is not enthusiastic.”[4] You think that out, it’s a great statement. “No heart is pure that is not passionate,” and “no virtue is safe that is not enthusiastic.”

And Peter is writing to these dear ones, and he says, “Now, I know that you are a group that is enthusiastic about goodness, as God’s people are supposed to be.” And so he says, “In the normal course of events, if you’re enthusiastic to do good, you shouldn’t expect condemnation, but rather, you should expect commendation. You shouldn’t expect to be persecuted; you should expect to be praised.” Because he’s already taught that the magistrates are set in place, in the society that God has intended, for the punishment of those who do wrong and for the well-being of those who do right. And so his argument is logical. If the society’s jurisdiction is there for the commendation of those who do good, and you do good, who’s going to harm you? But then he goes on to say, “However, if you should suffer for doing good…”

So, what does he mean, “harm you”? I think what he means here is simply in the ultimate sense. I think that he would be akin to Paul’s words in Romans chapter 8—you can read them—verse 31 and following, where he says, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”[5] Who, in the ultimate sense, can rob us of that which is so meaningful to us? There is no ultimate harm which the believer fears—not even death—because of the victory which is theirs in Christ.

Now, suffering is part and parcel of living in a fallen world. An observation over the thirty-eight years of my life has led me to the conclusion that Christians are equally open to the suffering which is part and parcel of humanity. Have you decided that, incidentally? Have you noticed that? Have you noticed that in terms of disabled children, there are as many disabled children that live in Christian homes as in non-Christian homes proportionally? Have you noticed that where pain and suffering comes into lives, it happens just as frequently within the framework of those who profess faith in Jesus Christ? And some people are bothered by that, and they say, “I can’t imagine that this would be so. After all, Mr. and Mrs. So-and-So,” or “Miss So-and-So—she was such a lovely girl, such a good girl. I don’t understand why this could possibly be.” And the answer may never be found in time. It only may be found in heaven. But it will be answered one day.

But for the time being, we need to recognize that despite what so much of society says, despite so much of what has already been preached on American television this morning—just a section of which I saw for a moment, concerning “Claim your victory,” and “Claim your power,” and “Claim your glory over suffering”—Peter doesn’t do any of that. He takes it head-on, and he says, “Listen: suffering is part and parcel of humanity. People die. People get sick. People face distress of mind. People have to go into psychiatric hospitals. People find their bodies being poisoned by things. People are weary as a result of life. And,” he says, “you as believers will know what it is to suffer in that way. There is a suffering which is a part of humanity. But, and beyond that, there is a suffering which is part and parcel of Christianity.” And it is to this that he gives his attention. He says, “You’re not going to ultimately be harmed. And by and large, if you do good, you shouldn’t face much. But,” he says, “even if you do suffer for what is right”—which is akin to the words of Jesus: “Suffering for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed.”[6] He uses the very same phraseology.

How do we suffer for being Christians? Well, we immediately turn and look across the globe and halfway around the world, and we read stories of dreadful predicaments which our fellow believers face. And so we should, and so we ought to pray. But every day, to some degree, we bear the marks of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. Businessmen are snubbed if they are prepared to follow after Christ. Ladies are not necessarily as welcome at those same little circles where they once were when they used the same language and talked about the same things and laughed at the same stories. Youngsters in high school who have set their course firmly after Jesus may not play on that team, may certainly not hang out with the same gang at the end of the game. There is that which attaches to life when we are prepared to hold to biblical principle. There is difficulty which attends the narrow way. But, says Peter, there is a blessedness which accompanies even that.

Suffering is part and parcel of living in a fallen world. Christians are equally open to the suffering which is part and parcel of humanity.

You think this out just for a moment with me—and we’ll eventually come to our study this morning. If a man’s heart or a woman’s heart is set on earthly things—right?—on possessions, on happiness, on pleasure, on ease, on comfort, then that individual is extremely vulnerable. Because if all of my life is wrapped up in that—if the focus of my days and the relaxation of my evenings is tied inevitably to that—then I am most vulnerable. Because in a moment, that may be gone, or at least the ability to enjoy it may be gone. And so I may be ultimately harmed when my focus is there. But, says Peter, when the believer, who may have varying degrees of these things—may have been greatly blessed in material ways, or may not—but when the believer’s focus is all on Jesus, when Christ is reverenced on the throne of their hearts, then all of these things may go—ultimately, life itself—but the believer rests secure, for they cannot ultimately be harmed.

Somebody put it well when they took Paul’s words and they said, “For me to live is x, to die is gain.”[7] Have you ever heard somebody say that? They’d asked the question, “What can you fill in the blank and still make sense of the sentence?” All right? “For me to live is cars, and to die is gain.” No, it’s not, ’cause you leave your car behind. “For me to live is money, and to die is gain.” No, it can’t be, ’cause the money stays. And so we could go through. There’s only one word which fills the sentence: “For me to live is Christ”! And then “to die is gain.” And that’s why some people are afraid that to die will not be gain for them, because for them is not “to live is Christ”! Well then, come on! Live for Christ! Live for him! That’s what he’s saying.

Now, his instruction at the end of verse 14 is open to alternative renderings and alternative explanations. “But even if you should suffer for what is right, you[’re] blessed. ‘Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened.’” Now, it may simply mean that what he’s saying is “Don’t allow the things that frighten your non-Christian neighbors to frighten you.” So make a big list of all the things that people are frightened by, and you don’t get frightened by them. That’s the obvious and plain rendering of it, but I wonder whether the second alternative isn’t actually better. I.e., the context here is of the worship of Caesar, and the instruction given to the people in the Roman jurisdiction was to worship Caesar. And one of the words for worship is the word “to fear.” “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”[8] It may equally be translated “reverence.” So it may be that what Peter is saying is, here, “Don’t you reverence what they reverence. When they go and worship at their shrines, when they bow before Caesar, when they greet one another in the morning and say, ‘Caesar is lord,’ don’t you fear what they fear.” That makes sense, then, of the final four words: “Do not be frightened.” Then it’s not a Hebrew parallelism; he’s adding something to it. He’s saying, “Don’t worship what they worship. And if you don’t worship Caesar, you’re in big trouble. And because you’re going to be in big trouble, I’ve got four more words for you: do not be frightened.”

And then he comes to the fifteenth verse. And it may even be that what he’s envisaging is a situation in which they’re unable to worship publicly. And that’s why he says, “I want you to set apart Christ as Lord in your hearts.” You know, those who cannot worship publicly long to worship publicly. Do you realize that? That there are people throughout the world today who would love to come to worship, but they can’t. So what can they do? Well, they may gather in a group. They may gather in a home. They may not even be able to do that. There are missionaries today who can’t go anywhere. There may be just he and his wife and their two children, and they’re gathered around their kitchen table. What are they going to do? They’re going to set apart Christ as Lord in their hearts. In their hearts. And what Peter is instructing us in here is that ultimately, the nature of true spiritual worship is an affair of the heart. Whether it has a public dimension to it or not, then it must be within our hearts that worship begins and reaches its apex.

And so he says, “I want you, then, to be prepared to give an answer.” And the word which is used here is of courtroom terminology. And so some have taught that in the logical flow of things, Peter is saying, “Here’s my instruction to you: Don’t worship what they worship. Because you don’t worship what they worship, you’ll get frightened. And you will have reason to be frightened, because they will grab you, and they will haul you into jail. And after they’ve left you in jail for a little bit, they’ll bring you out, and they’ll put you on the stand. And when you get up on that stand, here’s what to do: always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you for a reason of the hope you have.”

But is it limited simply to that notion? I’m sure that was part of it. I don’t think so, for this reason: that there is a great generalization to what he is saying. “Always do this, and always do this in relation to everyone.” If he had wanted to describe specifically the courtroom context, he doubtless would have said, “Always be prepared to give an answer to the judge when he asks you.” But he broadens it. That’s certainly part, but it’s not all. So he says, “Whether you’re in the court and called upon to give an official answer under oath, or whether you’re in the cafe having a cup of first-century coffee with some of your friends, always be prepared to do this.”

Okay. That brings us to this morning’s study, which you’ll be thrilled about. But what I want to do is just give you six things, now, with hardly any expansion. And these we will return to at another time and bring them to bear upon our lives with great practicality, I trust.

What, then, is involved? This is the question with which we conclude this morning. What is involved, then, in always being ready to give an answer? What’s involved in it? What does it take?

A Matter of the Heart

Number one: it is a matter of the heart. It is a matter of the heart.

The Bible uses the heart as betokening the nerve center of our existence. It speaks about the heart of man in terms of the essence of who he is. And so when we think about it being “the heart of the matter,” we’re right there. When you fall in love with a girl, it’s an “affair of the heart.” It does something to you inside. It impacts you in a special way. You don’t know what in the world happened, but you know it happened. You bore your friends with tales of this girl. You bore and confuse your parents as you show them the photographs and describe all the wonders of this person. Your father doesn’t come in the morning and knock the door: “Alistair, could you come down, please, and give us another session on that American girl you met?” He doesn’t need to! I just come down and start the session. It’s a matter of the heart!

Now, some of us have been to courses that would make our head spin. We have more manuals on witnessing than we’ve had hot dinners. We have video tapes, audio tapes, cliché-ridden presentations that would confuse the brightest Muslim—but we’re not witnessing! Why? The answer is here, right here: “In your hearts set apart Christ as Lord.” You see, it is into our hearts that Jesus comes. It is within our hearts that we believe. Isn’t that Romans 10:9—that if we believe within our hearts, we’re saved? And is it not from our hearts that Jesus said would flow rivers of living water? “On that last great day of the feast”—John 7:37—“Jesus cried out, ‘If anyone’s thirsty, let him come to me and drink. And if he comes to me and drinks, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”[9] So in other words, the whole affair of being ready with an answer for Jesus concerns our hearts—the compelling power of an affection for Jesus Christ.

At Sunday school years ago, we used to sing the little chorus:

Into my heart, into my heart,
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus;
Come in today,
Come in to stay,
Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.[10]

And then we added a second verse:

Out of my heart, out of my heart,
Out of my heart, Lord Jesus;
Flow out today
In every way;
Flow out of my heart, Lord Jesus.

People don’t understand our theology! They’re not ready to read Strong’s Analytical! They don’t understand the difference between the Trinity and some other thing! They regard that as a bunch of theological lumber, carted around on a big forty-foot truck. But they can identify the heart that’s in tune with Jesus. So I turn the spotlight of the Word upon my life today, and I ask myself, “Would I ever be ready with an answer? Question one: How is my heart?” Spiritual cardiograph time.

A Matter of Obedience

What’s involved? One: it is a matter of the heart. Two: it is a matter of obedience. “But in your hearts set apart Christ as” what? “Lord.” Lord! Master! Ruler! In charge! He says, “Go!” Like the centurion: “I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and I say to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes.”[11] Jesus said, “That’s the way I’m going to operate. I’m going to take those that I redeem, and I’m going to say to them, ‘Go,’ and they’ll go.” See, once Jesus says, “Go,” if we stand still, we’re not standing still. You figured that? If Jesus says, “Go forward,” and we stand still, we’re actually going backwards, even though we don’t move. ’Cause he left. And Jesus said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel. Be ready. Be prepared.”[12] Go into Solon, and turn it upside down for Jesus Christ. It’s a matter of obedience.

The whole affair of being ready with an answer for Jesus concerns our hearts—the compelling power of an affection for Jesus Christ.

This is why it’s so important that we put the heart and obedience together, because some of us, listening to the first one, get all convicted because we haven’t had a feeling in our tummies. “Oh dear! My heart! My heart! What shall I do?” And then we come onto obedience, and then we go, “Now I’m disobedient. Now what am I going to do? We’re only at number two, and there’s four to go, and I feel wretched already. This is going to be terrible! Lord, make him stop before the third point!” Do you see the perfect balance of Scripture? In other words, how can you say you’re in love if it doesn’t touch your heart? How can you say you’re a servant if you don’t follow the Master? It’s simple. And yet is the average Christian witnessing? Don’t believe it! Don’t believe it! The odd mention of church, a couple of things about this or that, but in terms of straight in your face “Hey, let me tell you about Jesus Christ…”

There’s a guy here this morning. I won’t embarrass him, but I got a letter from him. And on the front of the letter, it said, “Hey, Mr. Postman, it’s time that you believed in Jesus Christ.” So I said, “Don’t do that! Please!” That’s point number four; we’re coming to it.

The narrow way was never hit upon by chance, nor did a heedless man ever lead a holy life. You won’t wake up one morning and be a witnesser for Jesus Christ. It’s a matter of obedience. Are you going to do what Jesus said? Am I going to do what Jesus said? He said do it. Are you going to do it?

Being on the Alert

Thirdly, it means being on the alert. “In your hearts”—it’s a matter of the heart. “Set apart Christ as Lord”—it’s a matter of obedience. And “always be prepared to give an answer.” In other words, be on the alert. Conveys the notion of a willing spirit. Conveys the notion of being prepared to take the time, to make the effort, to care enough.

I’ve still never forgotten the visit of Helen Roseveare to the old building—I don’t know if you have, those of you who were here—and how she told those stories of being there in Ireland. How she told of how she had gone to the hospital there in Belfast, and she’d been diagnosed with breast cancer. And how she’d come down the stairs to get on the train, and she was standing on the platform, and she looked across at a lady on the platform, and the lady was standing there, dreadfully dejected. And how she turned to her, and she said, “Are you okay?” And the lady says, “No, I’m not.” And the train came, and they got on the train, and they sat together, and she said, “Why not?” And the lady said, “Because I’ve just came from upstairs, and they gave me the most dreadful news.” And Helen said, “You know what? I’ve just come from upstairs as well, and they gave me the most dreadful news.” And so they shared concerning that, and then Helen shared with her concerning the hope and the reality and the truth of Jesus Christ, and she led her to faith in Jesus Christ before the two of them got off the train at their destination.

She told the story of standing in the supermarket line. Do you remember that? And of seeing a girl there with a big bag of groceries and a couple of children, and just stressed out. And in her heart, the Lord said to her, “Say to this girl, ‘Young lady, Jesus loves you.’” Helen Roseveare is a qualified medical doctor. She’s very bright. Helen Roseveare had really done her thing for God over there in the Congo—went through great pain. She is a lovely lady, as many of you will know, and she was just going about the business of her day. So the idea of stepping forward in the supermarket line and saying out of the blue to someone you’ve never met, “Young lady, did you know that Jesus loves you?” was absolutely anathema to her. And she fought the battle as the girl got closer to the checkout. And eventually, she could do no other, and she stood forward, and she said, “Excuse me, did you know that Jesus loves you?” And the girl turned round, and she burst instantaneously into tears. And Helen helped her through with her groceries as she sobbed. She took the girl out and into her car. She put her in the car, and they drove off somewhere to get some coffee, and she shared with this girl, who was all prepared and ready for someone to be obedient to the promptings of the Spirit of God within their lives.

Listen, loved ones: they’re out there every day, are they not?

I can see them pass me by,
I can see it in their eye:
Lonely people, wracked with care,
Going who knows where?

People need the Lord.[13]

It’s a matter of the heart. It’s a matter of obedience. It’s a matter of being on the alert. Some of you businessmen have got a great door of opportunity with all this Trump stuff right now. Everybody wants to talk about Donald Trump. What a great window of opportunity to talk about the emptiness! Get the Ecclesiastes out there and run a little line on that for a while. “What [does] it profit a man…”[14] Speak concerning Christ.

Careful Study

Number four (we’ll move to these, finally): it involves careful study. It involves not only being on the alert, but it involves careful study. The word that is used here for “reason” in the middle of the fifteenth verse is the word from which we derive our English word logical. Logical. So in other words, we’re not responsible simply to walk out into an environment of intelligence and blabber. It’s not sufficient simply to get, as it were, the thread off our bobbins, because we may get it off our bobbins and just down onto the floor. We have somehow to engage the minds of men and women, whereby we can get the thread from our bobbins onto their bobbins.

And this is where some of us fall down. Because we have given great time to the study of physics. We’ve given great time to the study of actuarial tables. We know the manuals for our employment, as we should, inside out and upside down. We can tell somebody what a mortgage figure is at the drop of a hat. We can explain to them what the percentage return will be on this or on that commodity. Fine! That’s good! We should do our jobs well. But what a shame to be coursing through our days and doing such little meaningful study in the Scriptures, whereby, when people ask us a question concerning the hope we have, we’re reduced to some kind of blithering nincompoop: “Oh, I know, yeah! There’s something in the Bible about that. Yeah! Oh yeah, yeah. Sure, yeah. Well, I’ve got to phone the office, man. There’s something…”

And that’s why I was challenged in my own heart to do this whole study concerning personal evangelism. I don’t want to chide you about something that we as a church have not prepared you adequately for. That would be disgraceful, right? That I have failed, or we have failed, in teaching you how, effectively, to communicate your faith and then stand up and give you a bad time for not communicating your faith? No, we’ll get to that. We’re going to do that. But it involves careful study.

Hope and Goodness on Display

Penultimately, it presumes that we’ll be living in such a way as to cause others to ask questions. It presupposes that our opportunity and our platform for answering will be because people are asking. And of course, if nobody’s asking, then there’s no opportunity for answering. And why will they be asking? They’ll be asking because we display hope in an environment of hopelessness. They’ll be asking because we display good behavior in an environment of bad behavior.

Our Consideration

And finally, if we’re going to do this, it demands consideration on our part. ’Cause when our hearts are prepared, and our spirits are obedient, and our minds are trained, and our alert nature is functioning, we need to recognize that when we engage in this, we must do so “with gentleness and with respect.”

It’s a great word, isn’t it? Especially from Peter. You know, you think about Peter, you don’t immediately think of these two words, do you? At least I don’t. You don’t think immediately, “Gentleness and respect.” Peter was… Man, he put one foot in, took it out so that he could put the other foot in. And so he’s teaching himself as I’m teaching myself this morning. He’s saying, “Now, wait a minute: if you’re going to be about this business, you need to have a clear conscience as a result of your good behavior. And a clear conscience and good behavior will bring questions. And when people ask the questions, don’t treat them like nits. Don’t come at them with a bunch of cliché-ridden jargon right out of the last book you read. Don’t hit them with a whole ton of words that you can’t even spell, let alone they can understand. Just talk to them the way Jesus talked to people.” “Could I have a drink of water, please? Hey, let me tell you: You know what? If you got a drink of water from me, you’d never be thirsty again.”[15] No big theological inroads, was it? Simple stuff. “Hey, Zacchaeus, been cheating lately?”

For your homework—for our homework—read 2 Kings chapter 7. Second Kings 7. And when you get there, you have that fantastic story about the camp of the Arameans, and how Elisha had instructed the people, and how these four lepers—remember?—had worked it out: “You know, we’re going to die one way or another. If we stay here, we’ll die. If we go in the city, we’ll die. So what do you think we ought to do?” So one of them says, “Well, why don’t we go over to the camp of the Arameans? If they kill us, at least it’ll be quick. And if they don’t kill us, maybe we’ll get something over there that we’re not getting over here.”[16] Real logical boys, you know? And so they set off to the camp of the Arameans. And when they get in there, they think that there’s a fair chance they’ll be killed and die, but there’s nobody there. And the reason there’s nobody there is because the Lord had caused the Arameans to hear the sound of horses and everything. It’s a great story! All these people are in their beds, and they’re waking one another up, and going, “The horses are coming! The horses are coming!” you know. “Chariots are coming!” People going, “Huh? Oh yeah! So they are.”

So they all split. There’s nobody left. In come the four lepers. And “the men who had leprosy”—verse 8—“reached the edge of the camp and entered one of the tents.” And they get there, and “they ate,” and they “drank,” and they “carried away silver, gold and clothes,” and they “went off” and started an investment account with them; they “hid them.” And “they returned and entered another tent and took some things from it and hid them also.” So here are these four guys. They can’t believe it. The sight is incredible! One minute they’re about to die from leprosy or get a sword through the middle, and now they’re setting up all these little mounds all around the camp of the Arameans—beautiful little things. And there’s the gold and the silver, a few clothes, different bits and pieces. And then, all of a sudden, the truth dawns on them. And they look at one another, and this is what they said: “They said to each other, ‘[We are] not doing right. This is a day of good news and we are keeping it to ourselves.’”

You know, there’s a word there for the average local church, is there not? We come and we’re fed. We come and we worship. We come and we enjoy the precious things which God provides. It’s a day of good news. But are you going to go home and bury it in the ground? Am I going to just preach this sermon, and get in my car, and drive off, and that’s the end of it? Or am I going to go out and be about the business of sharing the good news of Jesus Christ?

Let’s bow together in prayer.

Another little chorus from childhood that many of you will remember went like this:

Lead me to some soul today,
… Teach me, Lord, just what to say;
Friends of mine are lost in sin,
And cannot find their way.[17]

Father, thank you for the example of Peter, for the words that, by the Spirit, he has recorded for our edification. We realize that to study this this morning lays us open to the responsibility of action. Many of us are about the business, and we take this as an encouragement to go on. Some of us are fearful, and it’s an impetus for us to begin. Others of us, frankly, have been clueless, and we tell you this morning that we want to start. We want to say this is a day of good news, and we don’t want to keep it to ourselves.

Look upon us in your grace and mercy, we pray—a great congregation of your people spread throughout greater Cleveland in the days of this coming week, with manifold opportunities to display good behavior, to live with a clear conscience, to be prepared with an answer, and to do so with gentleness and great respect.

And now unto him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, today and forevermore. Amen.

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[1] Matthew 26:69–70, 73–74; Mark 14:66–68, 70–71; Luke 22:56–57, 59–60; John 18:17 (paraphrased).

[2] John 21:17 (paraphrased).

[3] Luke 22:32 (paraphrased).

[4] Ecce Homo: A Survey of the Life and Work of Jesus Christ (Boston: Roberts Brothers, 1866), 14.

[5] Romans 8:31 (KJV).

[6] Matthew 5:10 (paraphrased).

[7] See Philippians 1:21.

[8] Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 9:10 (NIV 1984).

[9] John 7:37–38 (paraphrased).

[10] Harry D. Clarke, “Into My Heart” (1924).

[11] Matthew 8:9; Luke 7:8 (paraphrased).

[12] See Matthew 24:44; 28:19.

[13] Greg Nelson and Phil McHugh, “People Need the Lord” (1984). Lyrics lightly altered.

[14] Mark 8:36 (KJV).

[15] John 4:7, 14 (paraphrased).

[16] 2 Kings 7:3–4 (paraphrased).

[17] Will Henry Houghton, “Lead Me to Some Soul Today” (1936).