David Bahn – Reflections

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. ⁹ Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. ¹⁰ For

Jerry was my high school buddy. He introduced me to the darkroom, photography, plain talk, and the Lutheran faith. God used him to point me to becoming a pastor. He had a profound impact in my life. Click here for a slightly fuller story of Jerry and his impact on me.

Jerry wasn’t afraid to speak his mind. At his interview to be admitted to Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, he said, “You can pretty much take the Old Testament and shove it out the window.” He may have been overstating his case, but that was his conviction at the time. He later came to appreciate the fullness of God’s revelation in the words of both the Old and New Testaments.

“The Old Testament is,” as one of my seminary professors said, “prelude to the New Testament. And the New Testament is a commentary on the Old Testament.” Luther said that the Old Testament is “the cradle of Christ.”

Some folks want to take away the Law of God and for that reason wish to ignore the Old Testament. Peter sees clearly how the teaching of Jesus flows from the Old Testament, and quotes here from Psalm 34:12-16. This passage raises the bar above an easy-believism that puts the grace of God at our disposal at our convenience without any true sense of our need for it. If we have no heart for repentance our faith will lay very shallow in our souls.

The implications of believing in Jesus go beyond belief in the grace of God and the forgiveness of sins. It starts there to be sure. Without that there is no hope at all. We who believe, however, are called to a life that reflects our faith. We have been saved from a life of self-service and hedonistic epicureanism. That is because God loves not only you and me, but he loves our neighbor as well. He commands that we love him first and love our neighbor as ourselves.

This is nothing new. It is as old as Adam and Eve. Yet it is a new as today’s dawn and the opportunities God will bring into our lives to seek peace and pursue it with our neighbor – the same way God sought peace and pursued us to be his own and live under Christ in his rule and reign, and serve him in eternal righteousness. (Cf. Luther’s explanation to the 2nd Article of the Apostle’s Creed)

Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives,² when they see your respectful and pure conduct. ³ Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear— ⁴ but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. ⁵ For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, ⁶ as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

⁷ Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. – 1 Peter 3:1-7

At the risk of meddling, and stirring up unnecessary controversy, let’s take on the issue of wives and husbands, and the proper manner in which each us supposed to relate to the other. Simply put, wives here are called to be subject to their husbands, and husbands are admonished to honor their wives. There is plenty of inflammatory power in these verses (“weaker vessel” or “submitting”), and they can become a stumbling block to the larger issue.

The larger issue is how our Christian faith informs all of our relationships, and attitudes toward God, others and life’s issues. If it does not – from marriage relationships to women’s and men’s issues, to the manner in which we comport ourselves in deference to the world’s value systems (think “politically-correct”) – then we have eviscerated the fullness of Jesus’ work and ignored the radically-different way in which he calls us to live.

Some might shy away from these verses; and indeed they are prone to misunderstanding and may incite out-of-hand rejection. But consider this: the basis for Peter’s admonition here is to express the profound difference Jesus makes when he dwells in the heart of a believer. We come to care more about our neighbor’s good than our own reputation. We grow to be more aware of the opportunities to pray for others than whether or not we are properly respected.

Notice here that Peter doesn’t say to the husband: Make certain your wife submits to you. He doesn’t even make his call to honor our wives dependent on their submission. He calls husbands to honor their wives because they are co-heirs with them of the grace of life. This is a call for husbands to honor their wives because they are not just possessions or chattel, they are heirs of eternal life the same as the husband.

Likewise he does not direct the wives to demand that their husbands honor them. He simply calls wives to a life of submission. This is not blind obeisance or gratuitous compliance; it amounts to being under the mission of God who has given his Son for our salvation, and wants all people to be saved – including stubborn, godless husbands!

It is lost on our modern minds how radical this is toward women – for the good! Women were too often treated without honor. They had no standing and would more often than not be denied an inheritance. Peter raises the bar for their proper place in the household of God. He calls for a perfect beauty in women and a godly strength in men that is worthy of all followers of Jesus.

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. ²² He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. ²³ 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. ²⁴ 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. ²⁵ For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. – 1 Peter 2:21-25

See the lyrics to this hymn below: powerful!

Perhaps you know someone whom you love very much, but who is constantly showing himself to be his own worst enemy. Every opportunity to make a good decision is missed or rejected and every chance to follow a wayward path is welcomed. There comes a time when such people simply use up their quota of your grace and kindness. It’s not that you don’t love him. It’s not that she doesn’t matter to you. But you simply have no more grace to give.

Jesus never reached that point with anyone. That’s why he died. He took on all our sin, our self-destructive ways and wrong choices. He embraced every evil thing we did to him, to our sister in Christ, our neighbor and our enemy. And it killed him. He died of a broken heart – a completely broken, crushed, and wrung-out heart. In Jesus’ death is our forgiveness, redemption, restoration, and reconciliation.

Having been forgiven we can look upon Jesus as a lover of our souls – which he is. We can see him as our wonderful, merciful Savior – and certainly he is that. Peter says here that Jesus did that so that we would die to sin and live to righteousness. It’s not merely a once-and-done event, our salvation. It’s a once and done with lasting and far-reaching implications.

It is one thing to confess Jesus as Savior and Lord. The fullness of that confession will reach into our lives in ways that mark us as quite different from the rest of the world. While the rest of the world reviles when reviled, threatens when suffering comes, is happy to be able to deceive others when it is to their advantage. But Jesus’ followers have been redeemed from such futile ways, and been pointed to One in whom every investment of trust and every act of faithful following is vindicated and upheld.

What a shepherd for our souls! What an overseer of our hearts! He is a wonderful merciful Savior!

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. ¹⁹ For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. ²⁰ But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. ²¹ To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. – 1 Peter 2:18-21

The young man sat in my office pouring out his heart to me. “I just can’t understand how God could let my grandmother suffer so. She was the most godly person I ever knew.” He told me that she had a hand-written Bible that she had copied herself. She had raised him and shown him the most love anyone had ever shown him.

She got very ill in her last years and suffered so terribly that he was traumatized by the ordeal he saw unfold before him. So severe was that trauma that when we first began to talk it was difficult for him to acknowledge that Jesus of Nazareth really ever existed. Through much prayer and grace-filled conversation God brought him back to faith. I consider it one of the most significant spiritual wins of my ministry.

When we experience unfair treatment, or great suffering through no fault of our own, we can despair of God’s grace. We can be led to wonder, “Where is God in all this? Why has he turned his back on me?”

Peter urges those most likely to be unfairly treated to do a remarkable thing: he urges slaves to submit to their masters. This is a concept we find difficult to grasp in the first place. But he goes even farther: they are to submit to their masters whether they are good or evil. Then he relates the why: For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.

This is a radical application of the Christian faith. Casual and even committed followers of Jesus will gladly confess their sins, seek his grace, call upon him in prayer, praise him and worship him. Dedicated followers of Jesus will even seek to share the message of the gospel with others. We put those witnesses at the top of our list of godly examples of righteousness; there’s nothing more impressive than a dedicated Christian witness, evangelist, or missionary.

Peter, however, says that it is commendable when we suffer unjustly because we are conscious of God. He then says that Christ set such an example for us. This is not everyone’s calling. Some may be chosen for such a profound witness. But we all experience injustice of one sort or another. God calls us to look to Christ and seek his help in such times that when we do suffer in that way, we are experiencing the deepest possible fellowship with Jesus.

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. – 1 Peter 2:13-17

There are few people today who would claim that our current president is a paragon of godliness, virtue, and gentleness. But compare Trump to Nero and one might be thankful that we do not live in First Century Rome. The History Channel speaks of Nero’s proclivity to ungodliness:

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹ Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. ¹² Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. – 1 Peter 2:9-12

Just today I learned that a Christian leader whom I greatly respect in many ways had fallen. At least he had resigned a number of months earlier than he had planned to. (If you want to read a brief account of that, click here.) I do not believe he fell from faith. In fact his statement indicates a repentant heart and a clear desire for the good of the church. This is still a very sad story, and a sobering reminder to us all: Be careful if we think we stand, lest we fall.

Peter speaks here of a greater lesson that can be learned from those who stumble or abandon their faith because they reject the cornerstone of faith. A cornerstone in Peter’s day was more than a decoration on the side of a building. It literally defined the building. All measurements were taken from it; it was the reference point for the entire building. Have a faulty cornerstone, you’ll have a faulty building. Reject the perfect cornerstone and you’ll have an inferior building.

Sadly, Jesus’ own people stumbled over him. They completely rejected him. They sought to build an earthly kingdom rather than an eternal one. So complete was their rejection that they had run the followers of Jesus out of the territory. Peter writes to the “elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” They are not in Jerusalem anymore – thanks to the builders who had not only rejected Christ but scattered his followers far and wide. They had made a grave mistake.

Those who were followers of Jesus, the elect, were not like them. They were the chosen nation, the people of God, the royal priesthood, chosen by God to declare his glory.

It is difficult for us today to recognize our fellowship with those 1st century Christians. We have not been scattered for our confession of Christ. We have not been rejected by our own faith community. But we, like they, are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people. We are to declare the glory of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light. Whenever we conduct ourselves in a godly manner – against the grain of temptation and ungodliness – we place ourselves in a position to offer witness to God’s goodness, and thereby glorify him.

One more important thought bears expressing: This is written to and applicable to all of Jesus’ followers. There was no clerical hierarchy in Peter’s day; though there were certainly elders and pastors who had significant leadership and soul-care responsibilities. This passage is used by wise followers of Jesus to shape our understanding of the Priesthood of all Believers. All of us may bear witness to Jesus. All of us may glorify God. All of us have access to God through the cornerstone of our faith and the Church: Jesus Christ our Lord.

So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.² Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

⁴ As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, ⁵ you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ For it stands in Scripture:

⁷ So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,

⁸ and

They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. – 1 Peter 2:1-8

When I was in college my parents decided to remodel the basement of the 60-plus-year-old house in which we lived. There are many realities that go along with a house built in 1923, with uneven basement floors, challenging plumbing and electrical wiring, and low ceilings. To top it off, we decided to do this on the cheap.

We bought used 2X4’s for the framing, and the cheapest particle board paneling we could find. We laid vinyl tile over the very uneven floor. We hung 2X4 ceiling tiles (again the cheapest we could buy) in the grid that we had to finagle to get straight cuts and square tiles to fit. By we, I actually mean me. During that project we took the throw-away lumber and other overlooked building materials to do our project.

Although Jesus is described here as the stone the builders rejected, he is not inferior building material. In fact he is the most precious, choice, and worthy cornerstone upon which God’s church will be built.

Peter speaks here of the church as a building; something built on stone. Recall how Jesus spoke to Peter, “You are Peter and on this rock [emphasis mine] I will build my church…” (cf. Matthew 16). Peter uses the image of a house to describe the church, no doubt because he was deeply touched by Jesus’ words to him.

Perhaps that also shaped his commentary on doing away with “malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.” Peter was a colorful, full-throttle man with his heart on his sleeve. He struggled to keep his mouth shut. It would make sense that he would recognize how an uncontrolled mouth might not be the best reflection of God’s work in your life. 

The grace and truth revealed in God’s word is precious and powerful. God’s word is pure, gracious, truthful, with grace and mercy for all. Through that pure spiritual milk of God’s word we will  grow up into the salvation that has been won for us by our Lord Jesus.

There are some people whom I know love me, and for whom I truly give thanks. They may not always agree with me, but they have my best interest at heart and will speak the truth in love. Not everyone in my experience over the years has been willing to do that. Those folks come in two flavors.

One flavor is epitomized in a conversation I had with a fourth-year seminary student  the first day I set foot on the Concordia Theological Seminary campus in Springfield, Illinois. Somehow we got into a conversation in which he was determined to straighten me out and make certain that I walked the straight and narrow theological pathway in terms of who my friends were and with whom I aligned myself in the church. This brother in the faith spoke the truth according to himself, but I did not experience it as loving at all – sad.

The other flavor will smile and say whatever they think pleases you to your face, yet harbor ill will and a contrary thought in their hearts. Eventually their lack of humble honesty not only suppresses the truth, but also quenches true brotherly love. They mediate neither truth nor love – doubly sad.

Then there are those women and men of good character who love deeply from the heart. They love truth and the brother or sister. They are willing to speak the hard word when necessary, but those words are offered in a spirit of humility and grace. They know that God’s word is a word of law and a word of grace, and that the word of grace always prevails.

Grace is precious to those who love truth. Truth is able to be embraced within an atmosphere of grace. True brotherly love honors grace and truth. It loves truth and the brother or sister. It is a precious thing and a product of God’s Holy Spirit mediating that same grace and truth to us centered and founded in Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is the good news we share and believe.

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, ¹⁵ but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,¹⁶ since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” ¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, ¹⁸ knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. ²⁰ He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. – 1 Peter 1:13-21

Imagine yourself high up on a trapeze swing. There is a net below you in case you fall off. The net is strong and well-secured. It will hold you and prevent you from falling to the ground, saving your life. Your faith may be very weak. You may wonder whether or not you’ll be safe. But you entrust your wellbeing to the net’s care. Your faith may be weak, but if the net is strong, you will be safe should you fall.

Now imagine this same scenario with one key and critical difference. The net to which you entrust your wellbeing is poorly constructed and made of inferior materials. I won’t even hold the weight of a bowling ball if it would be dropped. No matter how strong your faith may be, a faulty net will not save you.

Faith is only as strong as its object. Faith is fully as strong as its object. The strength of our faith is not in how strongly we hold it in our hearts – though that will certainly impact the manner and frequency with which we engage our faith.

There are many ways in which we are tempted to turn away from the true source of hope and rescue. So many ways to be drawn off the path of following Jesus. So our course of faithfulness – and the source of a strong faith – are founded upon looking constantly to the object of our faith – Jesus Christ.

Consider his credentials and accomplishments: he is the lamb without blemish that was sacrificed for the sins of the world and who was raised from the dead. He has redeemed us; bought us back from sin and Satan’s power, and from futile faith and false hope.

Keeping our passions in check and focusing on God’s word and promise will serve us well, and bolster our faith and keep our hope alive.

Note about the Bougainvillea Photo

Look closely at the edge of the white flower in the photo above and you will notice a tinge of red around the edge of the blossom. The first time I took a close-up photo of a bougainvillea plant, I noticed this faint red tinge around the edge of the white flower. I wondered if it was a digital artifact that my camera had falsely captured. Diane, my wife, encouraged me to take a closer look. So I took a magnifying loop outside and examined the white flower (the red on a bougainvillea plant are bracts (like the red on a poinsettia). Sure enough: there is actually a tinge of red on the tips of the bougainvillea flowers. Now you know…it’s not a digital artifact, but a delightful bonus of God’s creative glory!

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, ²³ since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; ²⁴ for

And this word is the good news that was preached to you. – 1 Peter 1:22-25

A conversation the other day about Easter hymns reminded me of an early experience in the Baptist church which we attended growing up. “Love Lifted Me!” is a hymn about our state apart from Jesus’ redemption and our conversion to faith in him.

Peter is clear here: The love of God has motivated him to redeem us, cause us to be born again, and inspired in us a brotherly love for one another.

We have been born again by the power of God’s word. We have purified our souls by obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love. In other words, God’s word has made its way into our hearts and by God’s power we have aligned our lives with that truth. It is a truth from and for brotherly love.

Love is not only cause of God’s grace to us in Jesus Christ. Love is also the supreme expression of faithfulness to God. Jesus taught that love for God and love for neighbor are the two most important commandments of God. Paul says that love is the fulfillment of the law (cf. Romans 13:10).

God’s love is always mediated through people. It was most fully expressed in Jesus’ life, teaching, suffering, death, and resurrection. But whenever we express love to others, we are also mediating God’s love. Our high privilege is not only to be loved, but to love one another, and by that lifting others out of the troubles and despair of sin.