Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.
Peter has been one of my favorite Bible characters since I performed in an original musical about his life. At 12, I didn’t understand deeply what the writers of the musical did—that he was a screw up. Great intentions but poor delivery. Huge bravado but cowardice when it counted.
The New Testament, in some ways, is a tale of two Peters. The first story tells the misadventures of a man who looked down at the waves and almost drowned, asked Jesus to give him a bath, and then, in the pivot point of history, denied Christ three times. The second story is of The Rock, the man on whose shoulders and testimony Christ built His fledgling church.
I once heard a Bible teacher say that Simon, the given name of the man in question, means “pebble” but Peter, the name given to him by Jesus, means “rock.” That sounds amazing, doesn’t it? Jesus found a guy who was like a pebble and made him into a stone. That’s what I want for my life, right? I don’t know what concordance he was smoking because I’ve never been able to confirm that.
Simon comes from Simeon which means “heard” in Hebrew. In essence, Simon means “echo.” An echo isn’t the real sound, it’s a shadow of the real sound. An echo can come from a completely different direction than the original sound. It fakes you out. It’s like a good intention of a sound.
So what does all of this background on the writer have to do with today’s “fear not” passage?
Simon the Echo seemed nervous of Jesus’s enemies, even when he was puffing up his chest to take them on. He was “troubled” by them. Simon the Echo, full of good intentions, was afraid of what they might do—to the point of slicing off an ear. His fear and worry mixed together to make a toxic potion that caused him to curse Jesus around a campfire on the night of Jesus’s arrest. Simon the Echo lived fear and “trouble.”
But Peter the Rock, receiver of the Spirit of God in power on the day of Pentecost, says, “don’t be afraid or be troubled.” Peter the Rock who rushed to the tomb, saw the nail scars, and squinted into the sun as Jesus ascended says, “don’t be afraid or be troubled.”
I am afraid. I cower in anxiety. I avoid making the phone call that might actually bring relief. I pull a U-Turn in the hallway at church to avoid running into someone whom I need to ask for forgiveness. I procrastinate sending the email to the person who falsely accused me because I’m worried about the backlash. I am a mere echo of the man I want to be.
I love that Peter the Rock doesn’t stop with the negative double command. He doesn’t just say, “don’t be afraid or troubled.” He gives us a positive double substitute: “honor Christ the Lord and be prepared.”
Honor Christ the Lord as Holy
Peter’s antidote for suffering, enduring slander, and being reviled is “Honor Christ the Lord as holy.” When I think about the way I pray when under stress, I don’t worship; I call for Superjesus to swoop down from the sky and obliterate the situation or my enemies. Honoring Christ the Lord as holy doesn’t mean singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy” or “You Are Holy (Prince of Peace)” as I stand facing the firing squad of my to do list. (Although, that might not be the worst idea.) The word “holy” means “wholly other”. I struggle to see Him as anything other than a genie or a superhero when in physical and spiritual reality, He is so much more.
The best exercise I ever did (and probably should again) was to sit for a while with a pen, notebook, and dictionary with the 4th answer from the Shorter Catechism.
“God is a spirit; infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.”
That is what it means to be wholly other.
Most of the time when I feel the stress, worry, and fear of my life creeping in around the edges, I long for something to hold onto. I should reach for this.
Think about this: He is unchangeable. I can’t change his being, his wisdom, his power, his holiness, his justice, his goodness, or his truth.
Okay self: the next time you are afraid and troubled, reach for that.
Always Being Prepared to Make a Defense
I’ve heard this verse taken out of the context of the paragraph and used as a bludgeon. I’ve heard others twist it to mean, “Be ready! You never know when it’s going to happen. It could be on the airplane. It could be at PTA. Every person you meet is a target! Share Jesus with them! The Bible says ‘always be prepared.'”
In the times of fear Peter envisions in this verse, I am not defending myself. I am not defending God, because He doesn’t need my defense. I am providing “a reasoned statement or argument” in defense of the hope that is in me.
The Greek word for hope, elpis, means “the expectation of good; hope.” In Strong’s Concordance, he goes deeper to say hope is the “joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation.”
If I make a reasoned argument that I am joyfully confident of eternity, I bet I will feel less afraid.
The passage continues with some admonitions for how to make that defense but closes with an ominous line. Again, I’m grateful that Simon the Echo is saying this because he did it a bunch. I can take his word for this behavior being a bad idea.
He says, “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”
In my fear, I have justified my sinful actions. I have said to myself, to others, and even to God in confession, “I did the wrong thing for the right reasons. Nobody was hurt by that lie. See, I covered up my crap long enough that it all worked out. Now, I’ll keep telling the lie so no one will know what a a horrible journey I’ve been on these past few weeks. Oh, and by the way, please forgive me for doing the wrong thing.”
Simon the Echo responded in fear and trouble with knee-jerk quickness throughout the three years he walked beside Jesus. Here, at the end of his life, Peter the Rock teaches from his regret.
Don’t fear. Don’t worry. Instead, remind yourself and others that Jesus is holy. And if someone challenges you, remind yourself and them that you are secured for eternity. Do it with gentleness and respect. And by the way, it’s always better to suffer through what you’re afraid of and do the right thing than to sin and feel less afraid for a little while.