Prepared For the Defense

                                        1 Peter 3: 13-16

 

 

          Memorial Day used to be just a holiday to me. Mostly, it was the last holiday before school let out, the day we used for makeup day if it snowed too much that winter. I knew, of course, that it was a patriotic day.  It was a day we always recognized veterans and the mothers of veterans. Later, when I was serving in the Navy, it came to mean more to me. Now, when I have a Naval Aviator for a son and a Coast Guard non-commissioned officer in Guam for a son in law, it means a lot more to me. In recent years, people have begun saying nice things about veterans, like “Thank you for your service.” Coming from the Vietnam era, that still sounds strange, but it sounds absolutely wonderful when they say it about my son and son in law. I always add to that a silent thank you for the service my baby daughter renders those young men and women when she works abroad in base recreation activities.

Memorial Day is a day to remember. While we thank those whom we can for their service, we remember those whom we can no longer thank for their sacrifice. Remembering is a good thing. It helps us to keep from revisiting bad places, whether they are places on a map or places in the heart.

In America, we talk a lot about God and country. As America has grown, it has come to be home to the practice of many religions by many subcultures represented in this land of religious freedom. For Christians, we sometimes look around and wonder what has happened to our Christian nation. The answer is remarkably simple. In our desire to be ethical and our ambition to be great, in our yearning to be fair and our mantle of world protector, we have opened the door to all faiths and creeds. Have we forsaken our God? Of course not. Can we still worship in a nation of plurality where no one religion dominates? Absolutely!

But how do we remember? How do we find our way in a land with so many choices? We follow the example of Peter, Peter who had to find Christ in the middle of a Greco-Roman culture which not only tolerated but even encouraged the worship of many pagan gods. Our society is not unique in its challenges to find God’s path.

Peter had this to say: Be zealous for what is good. If you do, if you occupy yourself with this task, who can hurt you? Who can really impact your thoughts if they are full of goodness? The goodness itself will pervade your mind and you will be blessed. Peter sounds like a Motocross commercial. “No Fear!”  This from the guy who betrayed his Lord three times in a matter of minutes when he let the fear overtake him. But Peter learned from his mistakes. He went on to become one of the great leaders of the early church. How, we ask, and Peter answers: Honor Christ in your heart and always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who challenges your belief.

The first dozen years of my legal career were largely devoted to trial practice. I saw and worked against all kinds of lawyers. Some were incredibly talented. Some were brilliant. I was probably neither, but I was one thing, and that thing won a lot of cases. I was prepared. I don’t think I ever got beaten based on my lack of preparation and I’m sure that a lot of cases went my way for the simple reason that I came to court knowing my case. I knew the facts. I knew the law. I knew my client.

Christian preparation is a lot like trial preparation. You don’t just wander in to Christianity. Once you accept Christ, there is a lot of preparation to get ready for what will come. There is prayer. There is Bible study. There is fellowship and worship and witness as you grow in the faith.

And there is challenge. Oh yes, there is plenty of challenge. Along with challenge will eventually come suffering. Peter reminds us of that. He says that we will suffer for righteousness’ sake, but he adds that we will be blessed. Peter came to know exactly what suffering for Christ could ultimately mean. When his time came to be martyred for Christ, legend has it that he requested that he be crucified upside down, in order not to even pretend that he could suffer the same fate as did his Lord.

Peter has some more advice for his followers and for us. He says that being prepared is a number of things. It is an “always” thing. In other words, being prepared doesn’t last for a season or a year. It lasts a lifetime. Being prepared involves knowing the facts and being able to reason them to another. It involves tact and gentleness. No one ever paid much attention to a bully. And being prepared involves respect, respect in a couple of ways. Not only do we respect the ways of people who come from another place and another way of looking at things; we also respect the ability of our Almighty God to use us as tools and messengers to carry the word. If we will honor him and plant the seeds, he will show us his harvest.

Peter is talking about witness. If we do not spend time in preparation, then what will be our witness? We will be given the time necessary for preparation. Of that, you may rest assured. The question is not whether God will provide for our preparation, but whether we will exercise the discipline to prepare. The soldiers and sailors we remember today spent much of their time in preparation. Many soldiers spend years preparing for what may be only one life defining event. They want to be ready to defend.

Many of us worry about what we will say if confronted with questions about our faith.  And yet, so much of the time, we will need no words. I saw plenty of Christian witness this past Wednesday as Johnny Clark, a career soldier himself, planted new flags in our cemetery to commemorate the veterans buried here. Johnny didn’t say a word. His actions spoke for him. A couple hours later, a baker’s dozen more gathered to assemble playground equipment for children to play on for years to come. They didn’t need to witness with words. Their Christianity was speaking volumes in the care to which they came to their task. The church narthex always seems to contain a signup sheet for something or another and miraculously, it always seems to get filled in by folks whose simple witness through food or clothing or meals or some other anonymous offering sends that witness forward with or without words.

Sometimes it will take words. That’s why we read and pray and have fellowship with one another. That’s why we gather to worship our Lord. That’s why we sing praises to him. We are in relationship with our Lord Jesus. So when someone asks us why, we have answers. The God of all that ever was or ever will be sent him, his only son, down to us. God became a man and lived with us. He faced our temptation, bled our blood, ate and drank with us and voluntarily died for us.  He told us he would do what he did and then he did what he told us he would do. And he did it because he loved us that much! He promised that if we believe in him that we will be joining him for eternity.

Why do we believe? Why do any Christians believe? Because the Holy Spirit that he sent to us, that lives within us, enables us to see him, to feel him, to be in relationship with him. We defend that which is real! Jesus is the reason for our hope. He lives! He lives just as much now as he did when he walked among us. When we tell that good news to those who do not know, when we suffer for the righteousness that God gives to us, we defend that which knows no boundary and transcends all time and space.

He is the reason for our hope. Nations will fall. Civilizations will pass away, but Jesus lives. Defend him and all else will fall away.   Do as Peter says: “Let your hearts honor Christ the Lord.”