Giving a Child to Christ

What is the greatest gift we have been given? Our life, our breath and body, is an obvious candidate. Next the life of another in friendship and love and perhaps marriage. Furthermore the gift of new life in the form of a child, even if this gift is a loan really, as we need to let go off our children as they grow mature. Having been given a child for a season, why would you want to give them away so soon, as in effect you do in baptism? In a Christening a child is given to Christ who claims the child as His own – it is no longer yours. Why give your child to Christ? Because there the child is in good hands.

In John 17:1-11 we read four times of God the Father having given people to Jesus and these verses can also help us see why it is a good thing to give a child to Jesus. First, using the NCV,

You gave the Son power over all people so that the Son could give eternal life to all those you gave him.

Even if we have in some way been involved in giving life to a child, Jesus can give the child something we cannot give: eternal life. If life is about relationships, life ends when our relationships come to an end. We have not the power to maintain relationships forever but God has:

And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent

This relates closely to a second reason for giving a child to Christ. Jesus says in His prayer

I showed what you are like to those you gave me from the world.

In Jesus we see exactly what God is like. Others can tell us about God but no one else can show us God. We give a child to Christ because we long for the child to see what God is like. Why would we need to know what God is like? Because in any case we belong to God:

They belonged to you, and you gave them to me, and they have obeyed your teaching.

As creatures we all belong to the Creator but we long for our child to belong to God in a more intimate way, responding with obedience rather than rebellion to the teaching of their Creator. Baptism signals a homecoming, belonging again to the One to whom we really belonged from the beginning and from whom we have been snatched away.

Jesus cares for all people but those given to Him are His first priority:

I am praying for them. I am not praying for people in the world but for those you gave me, because they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And my glory is shown through them.

Christians are Christ’s first priority because through them His glory is shown to others. A Christening is always also a commissioning: we are claimed by Christ also for the sake of others. By showing off the beauty, goodness, grace and truth of Christ to others we can become the means by which others come to know Jesus Christ and the only true God and so find eternal life. It is a glorious task even if it is not undertaken in a safe space which is why Jesus prays

Holy Father, keep them safe by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they will be one, just as you and I are one.

With Jesus we pray for children (and adults) that are Christened that they will be kept safe, not by the power of a mighty hand that eliminates all obstacles and evil, not by the power of a superior intelligence that easily navigates the deceitfulness and treacheries of this world, but by the power of God’s name, which is to say God’s character, being made like Christ who by innocent suffering defeats evil.

For that the baptised needs the community and unity of the church, as we each receive with gladness and obedience the name and teaching of God.

Accepting Put-Downs

The final instalment in the series of Easter season reflections from 1 Peter.

Being marginalised or maligned for the sake of Christ should not come as a surprise to Christians. First of all, it is not at all strange that a world that is in rebellion against its Creator should show hostility towards those who have pledged allegiance to Christ, in whom and for whom the world was made. Secondly, those trials are not without purpose – they test and reveal the genuineness of our faith and that we have made Christ, not being at ease, our true joy.

A proper perspective on suffering for the sake of Christ enables us to endure rather than succumb to external pressures and so leads to the greater (and noisier) joy when Christ is revealed to all for who He is. It is not a case of suffering now for the sake of joy later; we are called to rejoice now. We find joy not in the suffering as such but in the fact that suffering for the name of Christ makes us partners with Him. We rejoice in our association with Christ.

This of course presumes that we do not have brought suffering upon ourselves for good reason. If we suffer as a Christian, there is nothing shameful about it for us and we are to accept this suffering by entrusting ourselves to our faithful Creator, ‘while continuing to do good’ (1 Peter 4:19), refusing to repay evil with evil. Our non-retaliation bears witness to our trust in God. Undeserved suffering will be vindicated, this is why 1 Peter 4:14 speaks of those who are reviled for the name of Christ as blessed, echoing the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:10-12). If the Beatitudes suggest that ‘you are with the king, therefore you will inherit the kingdom,’ 1 Peter 4:14 perhaps means to say that ‘you have the Spirit of God resting on you, therefore glory will be yours, the Spirit of God being the spirit of glory’ but the syntax here is difficult.

Having stressed the importance of putting on ‘the apron of humility’ (TEV of 1 Peter 5:5), the letter comes back to the encouragement to humble ourselves, or perhaps (interpreting the passive form as a genuine passive) to accept being made low, knowing that the hand of God which is mighty in bringing judgement (beginning with the household of God, 1 Peter 4:17) is also mighty in bringing deliverance.  How do we accept humiliation? By casting all our anxiety on God. We can do so because we know that He cares for us.  The call to alertness in 1 Peter 5:8 indicates that we are not talking about passivity here but active resistance to the one ultimately responsible for the evil in the world. The devil wants to devour us, enticing us to give in to the desires of the flesh (2:11; 4:2-4) or to respond inappropriately to suffering. By not taking matters into our own hands we remain steadfast in faith. Remembering that if we are being harassed or ostracised for the sake of Christ, this is not unique to us – brothers and sisters all over the world are ‘undergoing’ (better: enduring, completing) the same kind of suffering (1 Peter 5:9).

The critical thing is our calling in Christ whose resurrection has born us into a living hope (cf. 1 Peter 1:3). We know that the short while of suffering will have to give way to eternal glory. Our God is a God of all grace and He will make everything right beyond our wildest dreams. He will take charge of this Himself (1 Peter 5:10). ‘To him is the power forever and ever’ (1 Peter 5:11; cf. 4:11).

The Blessing of Unjust Suffering

 Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? (1 Peter 3:13).

The rhetorical question expresses an ideal. This is how it should be:

• people who do good are applauded and rewarded, and
• people who do harm are reprimanded and punished.

But the world doesn’t work like that. Being eager to do what is good is no guarantee for people wishing you well. Treasuring the truth, seeking the good, doing what is right can even get you into trouble.

But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed (1 Peter 3:13) — how so?

How can this be true? How can unjust suffering be a blessing?

(1) This is a question of what we fear and what we hope for [what we think lies ahead of us].

Do we fear being uncomfortable now? Do we fear being side-lined? Put differently: Do we hope to be respected by those around us and to have a comfortable life? Such hopes and fears will lower our pain threshold.

Or do we, e.g., fear being a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution in relation to climate change? Are we truly afraid of benefitting from the exploitation of others? Such fears would increase our threshold for pain. We would be more ready to make sacrifices or to pay more for the products we buy to ensure fair compensation of workers and minimising our negative impact on the environment.

Examples could be multiplied. Our hopes and fears profoundly shape what kind of suffering we are prepared to tolerate or desperately seek to avoid.

Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated…Always be ready to make your defence to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you (1 Peter 3:14-15)

It would be good to examine our hopes and fears and, if need be, seek to correct them. Do we hope to hear the ‘well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25) from the lips of Jesus on the last day? And so we are talking about

(2) A question of authority [who or what holds sway over us].

Are we governed by our hopes and fears? Or are we submitting our hopes and fears and everything else to Christ our Lord? But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord (1 Peter 3:15).

Are we ready to follow his example, trusting that all powers are subject to him?

Conflict challenges us to take sides. Sometimes such a challenge to take sides should not be taken up. But when it is a matter of truth or falsehood, good or bad, right or wrong, we proclaim our trust in Christ by choosing what is true, good, and right even if this seems to get us nowhere, nowhere pleasant anyway.

And so this is also

(3) A question of conscience [what we listen to within us]

Do we believe that there is good and evil, right and wrong, true and false? That life is not simply about powers and preferences? Keep your conscience clear (1 Peter 3:16). God wills that we do what is right…even if and when this results in suffering.

Christ has forged ahead and shown us suffering as a path to glory. And so this is also

(4) A question of our belonging/calling [what carries us underneath]

A righteous one has led us unrighteous people to God through his death and resurrection (1 Peter 3:17). Christ was put to death in the flesh, in the weakness of human nature, but made alive in the spirit, in the power of the life to come (1 Peter 3:18). He has moved from a mortal existence into the realm of undying resurrection life.

Christ has suffered even unto death but has overcome death and reigns victorious over the forces of evil. He thereby demonstrates that the way of suffering for doing good leads to glory and vindication from God. Are we Christians? Then we can and should be confident following on this path that he has trod before.

Back in 1 Peter 3:9 we have a basic principle expressed:

• don’t give as good as you get (responding to abuse with abuse)
• but give what you expect to get (repay abuse with a blessing).

The natural human response to hostility (in the flesh) is retaliation. But giving as good as you get perpetuates the cycle of violence and death. Our giving what we expect to get (in the spirit) breaks through the cycle of violence and death and is evidence of resurrection life.

Now what about the second half of our text?

1 Peter 2:19-22 counts as one of the most difficult texts in the NT. But there are big clues to the correct understanding if we first of all bear in mind that this is still about Jesus showing the power of suffering for doing good.

Suffering for doing good was vindicated when Jesus was made alive in the spirit. He then went to the underworld to make a proclamation to ‘the spirits in prison’. Who are they? In Jewish tradition they are the supernatural beings whose intercourse with human beings was a key factor in God bringing the flood (Genesis 6).

Their imprisonment in the underworld is the punishment for their disobedience. They are suffering for having done evil and this holds them imprisoned. But Jesus entered death having done no evil, therefore death has no hold over him. When he enters the underworld he says in effect ‘hello – and goodbye’, thereby announcing his victory over death.

In other words, Christ announced his triumph over evil – bad news for the imprisoned spirits but good news, comfort and encouragement for the few who suffer now for their righteousness. Like Noah for whom the destructive waters of the flood were also a means of salvation, as they carried the ark.

‘The water of the flood washed away sin and wickedness and brought a new world with a fresh start before God. The water of baptism does the same thing, providing a passage from the old to the new.’ (David Guzik)

This is because the death of Christ washed away sin and wickedness and the resurrection of Christ brought a new world into being.

Baptism saves us (1 Peter 3:21) in the sense that it unites us with Christ who has made all powers subject to him. Not automatically but ‘as an appeal to God for a good conscience’ (NRSV) or perhaps better ‘a pledge of a good conscience towards God’ (NIV, cf. NRSV footnote).

Such a pledge is made possible through the resurrection of Jesus. He has forged ahead and shown us suffering as a path to glory, His perfect righteousness bringing victory over death.

If we give as good as we get, we reveal our fear that if we don’t defend ourselves, forcefully if need be, no one will. (We thereby reveal that we do not really trust that God’s eyes and ears are open towards us, verse 12.)

If we respond to abuse with blessing, we give expression to the hope of our calling and wonderful inheritance (shortly I will come into so much blessing that I can afford to be generous now). This expression of hope is a blessing.

If we are prepared to suffer for doing good, we proclaim that Jesus is Lord and that we trust in his victory. This proclamation and expression of trust is a blessing.

If we seek the good even in the face of criticism, insult and worse, we keep a clear conscience, as pledged in our baptism. A clear conscience is a blessing.

If we follow Christ on the path of suffering to glory, we reveal to whom we belong. The greatest blessing is belonging to Christ.

 

What does it mean to be a Christian?

What does it mean to be a Christian? One way of answering the question, looking at 1 Peter, is to say that Christians have experienced that the Lord is ‘good’ or ‘kind’ (1 Peter 2:3; the Greek word sounds very much like "Christ" which is surely deliberate) and so they nurture a taste for uncontaminated truth by which they grow into salvation (1 Peter 2:2).

Another way of answering the question is to say that Christians are those who have come to Jesus, the living cornerstone, and so are being built into a spiritual house to be a royal priesthood.

Being a Christian is all about Christ Jesus. Re-using ‘chosen race’ and ‘holy nation’ (1 Peter 2:9) paradoxically underlines the point because the church is formed as a people from all tribes and languages. Ethnic identity is not a factor in true Christianity (unlike Judaism, Hinduism). It is the new birth which is all decisive and which creates a unity from diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Being Christian is about the person of Christ. While the teachings of Christ are of supreme importance to us -- indeed, our longing for the Scriptures shows our (spiritual) health -- Christianity is not primarily about the teachings of Christ (not like Buddhism is primarily about the teachings of the Buddha, "the enlightened one").

Being Christian is about belonging to Christ. This does of course mean that allegiance and submission to Christ are pretty important but Christianity is not primarily about submission (unlike Islam as traditionally understood). Being Christian is about being incorporated into Christ which does involve submission to Christ, listening to Christ (“the sheep know his voice”) but is more than that: being made one with Christ.

The experience of being marginalised and rejected by others while being God’s chosen was Christ’s before it was that of Christians then and now. As one commentator put it, ‘Peter reads the situation of his Christian audience from the perspective of the career of Jesus Christ, and the career of Jesus Christ from the perspective of the Scriptures.’

The image of the cornerstone (1 Peter 2:4-8) also implies as much: everything centres on Christ, the decisive stone which sets the direction of the walls and so the orientation and alignment for the whole house. His experience (living stone) becomes ours (living stones who belong to Him):

• He is rejected by society, so those who belong to him get rejected too.
• Christ is chosen by God, so those who belong to him are too.
• He is holy, so those who belong to him are holy too.

The house being built is a ‘spiritual house’ – the place where the Holy Spirit is to be found; the building is a temple. Hence the language of a holy priesthood which is to offer spiritual sacrifices.

The resurrection of Christ makes it possible for us to offer our lives to God by the power of the Holy Spirit. Such lives dedicated to God include bearing witness to the mighty acts of God in Christ. Why? Because of the inescapability of Christ. He is not only the be-all and end-all of the church; Christ affects the fate of every person, depending on the reaction to Him, whether positive or negative.

‘We must either build on Him, or be dashed against Him.’ (Calvin)

The second half of 1 Peter 2:8 can be understood in one of two ways. Either: ‘Yes, they stumble at the Word of God for in their hearts they are unwilling to obey it—which makes stumbling a foregone conclusion.’ (JB Phillips). Or: God is in control of all things, He establishes the evil as well as the good.

In any case this does not exclude responsibility of those who reject Christ, who are said to ‘disobey’ him. Our responsibility towards those who reject Christ is to be a holy nation, proclaiming with our words ‘the mighty acts of him who called us out of darkness into his marvellous light’ (1 Peter 2:9) and showing forth in our lives the truth of this proclamation.

Let this joy of ours be made known:

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. (1 Peter 2:10)