Articulate the Faith

Sermon by Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Ph.D.

Scripture: 1 Peter 3:13-22

As we learned last Sunday, the letter of First Peter was written for early Christians who were facing opposition. We don’t know exactly what the opposition was, whether merely prejudice against them locally or full-scale persecution instituted by the government (although we know that came eventually). We can tell the author wanted to offer advice to these new believers. They were told to stay firm in their faith, to be able to articulate the reasons they believe in Jesus, and to keep living according to his guidance. The writer of the letter also called the community to accept their suffering, remembering that our Lord suffered, too.

Obviously, living the Christian life in the first century was not easy. It went against societal norms. Even though many of them were poor, they shared what they had with anyone less well-off. People saw them as a screwball, fringe, anti-Roman, cult. So what a gift they received when this letter came to encourage and comfort this marginalized community. We were reminded last week that the first century church sounds much like the minority, fringe group that St. Andrew is.

Here is 1 Peter 3:13-22.

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.

For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water.

And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Did you hear the line? Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts. What a lovely sounding phrase. In your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Sounds all churchly and holy. But then you have to ask yourselves, what does it mean? Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts?

In the ancient world, you remember, the heart was the seat of human thinking. Today you would say sanctify Christ as Lord in your minds. In other words, make sure all your thinking is holy, focused on what it means for Jesus Christ to be in charge. Think through what it means to claim Jesus is in charge of how you live.

From scripture, you know already how God wants the world to be. God wants each person to have enough to eat. Each child to be able to go to school. Each person to live in a safe place without worrying about getting shot. So if you already know what God wants; and you believe in Jesus as Messiah of God, the Risen Christ, then the letter of First Peter is calling you to figure out in your heart/mind how to let the goodness of Jesus shape your lives.

The writer knows it takes mental work to determine what it means to allow Jesus to be, what scripture would call, “Lord of your life.” Should you let Jesus control all your possessions? Sounds good, but how would you do that? You could put your car title in Jesus’ name, but probably that would be more troublesome than faithful. A better idea might be to treat your car as if Jesus were the owner. In fact, all your possessions might be best viewed as if Jesus were in charge of them. Someone once said she tries to see the world through the eyes of God. Every person she passes on the street, every news story she listens to, she tries to see those people as God sees them. Consider the holiness of Jesus Christ as the guiding light of your life. You are called to sanctify Christ as Lord in your mind.

Then we should be able to articulate our commitment. If we think through our belief in Jesus, we should be able to verbalize our reasoning. Peter’s letter advises: “Always be ready to make [a] defense to anyone who demands an accounting for the hope [in us].” People benefit from hearing why we are following the guidance of Jesus Christ. If someone wonders why we are driving our old car when they know we could afford a new one, we need to be able to explain how our Christian faith shapes our finances. We think of God’s will for the world before our own desires.

Nineteenth century Danish theologian Søren Kierkegaard once asked a man if he were a Christian. The man replied that Denmark is a Christian country, he was born into a Christian family, he was baptized a Christian, he attends church regularly. Of course he is a Christian. The man seemed unable to explain what being a Christian meant. Kierkegaard’s famous response to him was: “A mouse can be in a cookie jar, but that doesn’t make it a cookie.”

We each need to be able to articulate what we believe and why. In the 21st century, with people living all around us often using God’s name as a defense for particular opinions, we can find it very difficult to formulate aloud the grounds for our faith. What does it mean to follow Christ? And why have we chosen this path? When asked why she believed, a young widow fell silent for a moment, then replied, “When my husband was dying, God kept putting people in my path to help me. People I would not normally have met kept appearing; they propped me up without judging. Those caring people convinced me I was not going to sink after all. I knew it was God … So, since God was faithful during the worst time of my life, I’m not going to give up on God now.” Sounds simple, but what a witness. She believed in God because God kept putting people in her life to help her survive.

Wouldn’t it be terrific if each of us could articulate so well why we believe? Formulating an answer for when someone asks why we follow Jesus. That sounds like good homework. We need to be able to witness to Jesus Christ in words.

Then we can defend specific positions, too. If we know why we believe in Jesus Christ, we should be able to articulate why we are committed to specific justice issues. We should be able to defend what we support. So let’s think through how we would explain a stand for sensible gun laws, as an example. We start with our faith. As a Christian, a person needs to gather information and think through the issue in light of our most basic theological claims.

Here’s some of my research. In the 18th century, to “bear arms” meant to participate in an organized militia. In other words, a person has the right to be in the army. The Tennessee Supreme Court in 1840 explained that someone carrying a rifle to hunt would not be considered bearing arms. (1) Misinterpreting the Second Amendment aside, it wasn’t until the mid-1970s and the influence of the NRA that “gun rights” became such a huge issue. In the U.S. there are 120 guns for every 100 people.

Important for our thinking as Christians, according to the CDC, the New England Journal of Medicine, and Forbes, shootings have now surpassed automobile accidents as the leading cause of death for people between 1 and 24 years of age. (2) One million people have died from gun violence in the US since 1990. (3)

So if we take Peter’s admonition to be able to defend our faith seriously, let’s see the facts in light of one of our most basic theological claims: God creates each person on purpose. Thinking about guns through our faith, every person’s right to life must take precedence over anyone’s right to own a gun. If God creates people on purpose, then every person is precious. This basic theological claim is an over-riding claim, meaning no one is expendable.

So where does such thinking lead? At the very least it leads me to support: waiting periods for gun purchases, universal registration, red flag laws, mandatory training before owning a gun, raising or keeping age restrictions, and reinstituting the assault weapon ban since the purpose of assault weapons is to kill multiple people quickly.

You may not agree with all my reasoning, so let me challenge you to think through how your commitment to Jesus Christ shapes your beliefs about gun laws. When we take time to think about issues through the lens of our faith, we find we can articulate why we believe what we believe.

As followers of Jesus Christ, we need to be able to make a defense for the hope that it is in us, which means we need to be able to talk about why we believe in Jesus Christ, and why we believe he calls us to particular social justice positions. I am happy to listen and respond to your thoughts. Feel free to call the church office and make an appointment for a conversation.

Most Sundays, there are no “I” statements in the sermon. Today however, there are a number, because we cannot be expected to agree on all aspects of social justice issues. But we do need to talk about them. How we think about social justice issues is a crucial part of our faith. And it is important to think deeply and talk openly about them.

1 This information is from Heather Cox Richardson, “Letters from an American,” May 6, 2023.

2 Nina Shapiro, “The Leading Cause of Death in Children and Youth is Now Guns,” Forbes April 18, 2022

3 Omnilert.com – blog, accessed May 12, 2023.