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Morning Devotion for the Season after Pentecost
August 26, 2024
Reading: I Peter 3:13-17
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 respect. Maintain a good conscience 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.
Meditation - Peter Vanderveen
Imagine sitting down with a friend for lunch, the kind of occasion that is entirely social. And after the usual niceties are exchanged and the conversation is supposed to turn to recent travels or plans for the fall or light commentary on various public issues, what would you do if, instead, your friend asked you to “give an account of the hope that is in you?” What would you say? Or would you be inclined to defer to the menu, noting the wonderful number of healthy and delicious choices?
Peter’s choice of words was brilliant. To give “an accounting” is much more than to offer a loose description or to gesture at some semblance of what might be construed as hope. An accounting is something that can stand up to scrutiny. It has substance. Hope is often confused with wishfulness or dreaming, as if the exercise were simply to let one’s thoughts wander. But Peter asks for more. Hope, for him, was not magical projection; it was, rather, the clearing away of mere appearances to get at the truth of things. It was laying hold of the deep order of the world and, thus, of that which endures – however much that might seem to be contradicted in any passing moment. And, as such, it is a hope that isn’t a distant desire that remains beyond our reach; it can be found within us, as that which informs all that we do.
If you were asked, could you say what this is for you?
One of the stubborn troubles that has arisen from the church’s identifying certain writings as Scripture and, thereby, granting them particular authority, is that they are then read chiefly as sources for rules, telling us what we ought to do or how we ought to live. Rules, by nature, are unambiguous. They’re not meant to be conversational. The verses above, however, have come from an epistle, a letter, and letters should be read as if someone were engaging us in a conversation, seeking a dialogue more than obeisance. Read in this manner, these four short verses could generate lengthy discussion – the kind of consideration that sheds much light on the beauty and complexity of life. They’d provide much to talk about over lunch. And it’s this kind of engagement – with the text and in dialogue with others – that readies us to offer, at any time, a well considered accounting of the hope that is vibrant and active within us.
Prayer
Our Father, who is there, wherever it may be – who is really there,
hallowed be thy name,
thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, and the power,
and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen
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