“Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, and do it with gentleness and reverence.”

– 1 Peter 3:15

Dearly Beloved,

The sentence above from 1^st Peter has my attention as I write.  We’ll hear the full passage on May 10^th in worship, part of a series from 1 Peter this Easter season.  In the letter Peter addresses Christian converts scattered about the cities of the Roman Empire, writing to people feeling the pinch of the Empire’s rising opposition to the newest religion on the block.  At times the letter seems to have a kind of complacent “go along to get along” undertone to it; a tone I find hard to swallow—especially in these times in which we’re living.  But this verse strikes me entirely differently:  “Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, and do it with gentleness and reverence.”  The focus is on testimony.  The focus is on initiative.  We owe to any who would ask us, we owe to Christ, a clear articulation for why we are a hope-full rather than hope-less people.  And not only that, we are encouraged to share our testimony in such a way that dialog and relationship building are supported.

Now I’ll admit, TESTIMONY has not been a primary category practiced by Lutherans!  In a world that’s going all to heck, we Lutherans may be quite ready to place our hope in Christ rather than the myriad other voices clamoring for our allegiance…but to talk about our faith?  To witness to that hope?  Heaven forbid!  The odd thing is, the founder of the Lutheran movement, Brother Martin, had no such hesitancy in expressing where his hope was founded.  In fact, you could hardly get him to shut up on the subject!  And once movable type was invented?—forget it!  His published opinions on all manner of things sacred and secular flew off the presses.  (The 55 volumes of Luther’s Works in my Study at Peace testify to this fact.)

Come to think of it, maybe that’s the issue—maybe we’ve let Brother Martin and other preachers and authors do the talking for us rather than seeing the need to speak hope to a hopeless world ourselves.  Well, friends, what can we do to change that? 

Recent Interfaith Builds, Potluck Project gatherings, Singing Resistance events, and service opportunities have affirmed for me the truth that making connections with others is easier than one might imagine—even for introverts!  This is especially true when I remember that giving voice to “the hope that is in me” isn’t about judging the faith claims of others or suggesting that my faith tradition is “better than” theirs.  Jesus was gifted at making human to human connections with people—especially with those whose circumstances and identities had isolated them and kept them from participating in community life.  The saving grace he offers includes safety, healing, and wholeness that begins now, rather than being postponed to a distant future. He calls us to follow him into that way of connecting, a way that leaves judgment behind and finds common threads for hope. 

Recently, I was in Minneapolis to hear my son Nathan and his wife Deyhdra in a performance of THIS LOVE BETWEEN US, a seven-movement piece written for choir, chamber orchestra, sitar, and tabla by Indian-American composer Reena Esmail.  Reena’s work juxtaposes the words of seven major religious traditions of India (Buddhism, Sikhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Jainism and Islam), exploring specifically how each of these traditions approaches the topic of unity, of brotherhood, of being kind to one another.  The performance was stunning, an eclectic blend of Western and Eastern instruments and playing and singing styles that drew all of us in the audience into its spell.  Following animated conversations after the performance, I came away more hopeful, touched by renewed appreciation that the hope planted in me through faith in Christ, can find connection in the longing for safety, healing, and wholeness that all people share.

On Pentecost the ability to connect with each other across the boundaries of race and ethnicity, language and tradition, became turbocharged for Christ’s followers.  We could all use that same energy today to counter the pessimism and fatalism that seeks to bend us into postures of despair and hopelessness.  And the good news is—the seeds for hope are planted anew whenever we gather together at Christ’s Table, and blossom when we share hope with others. What seeds of hope will you cultivate today—and with whom will you share them? 

Living in hope!

Pastor Erik