More or less, here’s the sermon I delivered at Salem UMC and Pleasant Hill UMC on April 30, 2023.
1 PETER 2:19-25 (NLT)
For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you.
21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered[a] for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.
22 He never sinned,
nor ever deceived anyone.[b]
23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted,
nor threaten revenge when he suffered.
He left his case in the hands of God,
who always judges fairly.
24 He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.
25 Once you were like sheep
who wandered away.
But now you have turned to your Shepherd,
the Guardian of your souls.
In 2006, a movie called The Guardian was released. The film stars Kevin Costner who plays decorated Coast Guard rescue swimmer Ben Randall and Ashton Kutcher who plays a rookie rescue swimmer named Jake Fischer. Kutcher’s character is a young, cocky swimmer bent on being the best. Jake is obsessed with breaking the training center’s records, most of which are held by his lead instructor Ben Randall. Ben spends much of the time as Jake’s instructor trying to knock the chip off the younger swimmer’s shoulder, which turns out to be the result of trying to make up for being the driver of a car that was hit, an accident that killed most of the other members of his high school swim team. Jake asks Ben repeatedly what his “number” is, meaning the number of people he has rescued during his career. Finally, toward the end of the movie, Ben provides an answer: “22.” Jake is surprised that it’s not more and Ben responds, “22 is the number of people I lost, Jake. The only number I kept track of.”
Like a good person who does things for the right reasons, Ben doesn’t keep track of the numbers that some people may view as important, rather he does his job but uses the tragedies to improve his skills and to fuel his determination. Later, Ben dies during a rescue mission. Later, another mission in the same area is conducted and Jake responds as the primary rescue swimmer. One of the men who’s rescued asks who the other guy who saved him was. Jake smiles at the thought that his friend and mentor may have had a spiritual hand on saving the man’s life. Thus, the legend of the guardian of the Alaskan sea was born.
A few years ago, I attended a workshop where the speaker reminded us that Jesus is in the rescue business. Indeed, Jesus rescues the sin sick soul from certain eternal death through his death and resurrection. It’s no accident that we talk of people “being saved” when they convert their lives over to the ways of Jesus, because their souls are being saved. Jesus makes this possible. We often look at Jesus as a shepherd and, perhaps, you’ve seen that shepherd theme in our scriptures today (if you’re joining us late online, our responsive reading today was Psalm 23). Today’s gospel reading is John 10:1-10 that records Jesus giving a lesson of his being the messiah being like the gate that separates the sheep from those seeking to harm them. Verses 6 through 9 says this:
Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me[a] were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved.
This sounds very guardian-like to me. Jesus, protecting the sheep – that is, his people – from evil. Jesus is the guardian of our souls.
Remember that Peter’s purpose for writing this letter is to encourage Christians in the Roman world who are suffering under the oppression of the government. We do have some historical records that recorded the kind of persecution the early believers often suffered. I won’t go into all of that today but, suffice it to say, the level of persecution was heavy. No matter how strong and committed someone is to a cause, everyone has their breaking point. Peter knew that some of these folks were getting close to theirs. Perhaps some of them had already caved under the pressure, fearful of death or what might await them on the other side. Perhaps some uncertainty had crept in with some of them. It’s easy to criticize but, when your family is starving because the government says Christians can’t buy the essentials of life, it’s also easy to understand that the temptation to cave is intense.
Peter is reminding them that they have a savior who has their back, front, sides, and everything else under his protection, especially their souls. Peter is telling them that it’s a safe move to follow the example of Jesus who suffered a human death and everything that came before it. As he points out, Jesus never returned the abuse he suffered at the hands of the Romans with insults or any sort of retaliation. As I mentioned, everyone has their breaking point and there were people who felt that responding to Roman oppression in kind was justified. Peter reminds them that it was Jesus who didn’t defend himself physically and instead let God have the final say. Peter gives us this example to remind us that God can still be trusted to deliver us as well. Remember that final say that God had: That death does not win, the sword does not win, that love wins, resurrection wins, and nothing can beat those facts no matter how hard one wants them to be beaten.
Peter is so convinced of God’s keeping these promises that he breaks out into song. If you look at verses 22 through 25, see that it’s intended. Indention typically indicates poetry or song. I can’t help but think that Peter is giving us a hymn, praising God’s faithfulness and praising Jesus for being the one who defends us against every evil. This isn’t a lament; this means that we should celebrate and be excited about Jesus defending us with his very life and defeating death for us by rising from the grave even when the enemy tried every trick in the book to keep him in that tomb.
Note: It was at this point in the sermon that I opted to trust the Spirit and say something prophetic for each church. Obviously, it came out a bit different at each church. To see how it came out, watch the videos on each of the church Facebook pages linked at the top of the post.
We need to be excited about the fact that we have a savior, a defender, a shepherd, a guardian, who watches over us every single day. Y’all, our guardian has secured the victory for us out of his immeasurable and eternal love for us. Bad things may come our way. Poverty may happen. Any number of things may come our way. BUT GOD… is watching over our souls. Peter calls Jesus the guardian of our souls. Think of what a guardian is – a defender, protector, or keeper. This is Jesus! We can trust him with everything we have and everything we are. If you’re doubting him, let him prove himself to you. He will not let you down. He already died and rose again from the dead for you.
Don’t worry about what the future holds. Trust in Jesus to guard your soul.