William Yagel
Grace Radford
April 30, 2023
4th Easter, Year A
Holy and Loving God - may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all of our hearts be pleasing in your sight oh Lord for you are our rock and our redeemer.
Amen
Those of you who were at Spero Moche’s funeral yesterday heard me speak about the Explicit, Null, and Implicit curricula in educational theory. I won’t wade into the definition of all of them again, but I will tell that the null curriculum is that information which a system does not teach. That which would be unavailable to a student in a system. And today our lectionary has a really left something out. The null curriculum today is the verse just before the reading from First Peter today, chapter 2, verse 18..
Our reading speaks to the endurance in the face of unjust suffering. Being beaten when we do something wrong? Well, that is reasonable, Peter says, but to endure that same beating when have not earned it, then you have God’s approval. That notion is hard enough on its own, but it seems to get worse with the verse prior. That missing verse along with the first couple from our reading says:
“Slaves, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only those who are good and gentle but also those who are dishonest. For it is a commendable thing if, being aware of God, a person endures pain while suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that? But if you endure when you do good and suffer for it, this is a commendable thing before God.”
Makes me want to hold my nose when I read it. This addition of the behavior of slaves adds a whole new layer of challenge for me. It can be applied to nearly any abusive relationship. It serves as a confounding and chilling piece of scripture that has been and can continue to be so easily used by those on the top side of power to subjugate, oppress, and manipulate those who lack the ability or power to resist. This recognition, at the very least, of practice that we all find evil is counterintuitive to my understanding of God, to God’s word, and yet, here it is.
Seems to be the right week for it because at our Noonday prayer service on Wednesday, we heard about Zita of Tuscany. She was recognized for her dedication to her role as a servant and the ferocity with which she sought to do her work. Because of this we heard Colossians 3:23, “Whatever your task, put yourselves into it, as done for the Lord and not for your masters.” Again, not easy for us to hear. I mentioned on Wednesday that the Colossians passage, and now, our Epistle reading this morning from Frist Peter were used not so long ago, in this country, to justify our institution of chattel slavery. They were prooftexts or biblical texts that were isolated and emphasized to support the institution of slavery.
Worse, our text today was used to coerce the enslaved into believing not just that the institution was acceptable, but that enduring the wicked behavior of cruel men within that institution was exactly what God wanted. That words of our holy scriptures have been twisted in this way is some of the vilest misappropriation I can imagine. I wish it to be far from me. I wish that work to have been done by others, but I know it is closer to me than I want. Because recognizing that this church, which I love, joined in that dehumanization is something I must grapple with.
In 1834, William Meade, who was an Episcopal priest, a founder of my Seminary in Alexandria, a Bishop of Virginia, and a respected theologian in his day penned a letter to the clergy of the Virginia Diocese telling the priests that they needed to teach Christianity to the enslaved in their parishes. He argued that their souls needed to be saved, that they needed to be cared for by the church, but supported their ownership and subjugation. He could validate their intellect and their souls but was not able to justify their personhood. I read the letter a few years ago, required reading for all the VTS students. It is a grim reminder that our holy scriptures deserve our attention especially and particularly when they are challenging.
There is an important defense of Peter that is rooted in context, or in a historical critique right? I imagine we have all heard some version. Most often I hear something like, slavery was different back then. It was not the vile institution that we saw in the Antebellum South. Because it was different folks from our context really can’t understand it. I believe that is right and that it is a reasonable and accurate position. It is true on a number of levels. It speaks to the challenges of viewing history exclusively through our modern lens. It is really important to remember as we look at any historical writing. But if I am honest, I need a little more. I get stuck when I hear Peter say “when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.”
Peter knew it was wrong, that’s why he used it as his metaphor.
I think there are a couple ways to think about it.
One way is to dive deeper into this passage. To reflect more fully on the message, on what Peter is trying to say. Where verse 18 sounds like and endorsement for slavey on its own, the rest of the passage is really about the gift of Christ. It is about recognizing the suffering that Christ endured for our salvation, and what our reaction to that can mean. Yes, maybe his example is challenging, but so is the notion of Christ’s sacrifice.
Peter in this reflection is doing some important theological work. He is insisting that our lives here on earth are not insignificant. That the way we lead our lives matters to God.
Theologian NT Wright offers that “the sufferings of Christ are not the only means by which we are rescued from our own sin. His sufferings are the means, when extended through the life his people, by which the world itself may be brought to a new place.” It is Peter’s belief that what we do in this world, with our mortal lives is part of the sacred. Even in the mundane, the endurance of our faith is of vital importance. The work of our lives is significant not because of what it is, but because of the way we do it. Your motivation matters in every piece of your life. Yes, the suffering is bad, that is clear and Peter isn’t arguing against it but we are still called to a live a life centered on Christ.
Now, the second way to consider this passage is at a greater distance. Focusing not merely on the words of verse 18, or the book of Peter, but upon the biblical canon as a whole. The entirety of scripture, the revelation of God to humanity over millennia reveals how God feels about this subject. From the beginning at the explosion of God’s love in creation we see it is for good, for love, for freedom. The salvific work of Christ captured in all the Gospels is not overturned by a line in first century letter!
I mean, Exodus exists. It is the second book of the bible and it seems to provide some insight into the importance and value God places on freedom. The second book, you don’t have to read too long to see God’s position on slavery, but historically we as a church and as a people lost track of that.
Our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, would summarize by saying. “If it is not about Love, it is not about God.” Or as John said this morning: “ I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” This is the great proof text that we should hold up against anything else. We are given abundant life, and justifying efforts to limit that in creation certainly have an uphill battle.
God is not in the business of pain and suffering. But God IS in the business of being with us through our pain and our suffering. God is in the business of Loving Creation, of loving us. And passages like this viewed through that lens change from an endorsement of evil to a recognition of all the suffering in the world. And in light of all that suffering we were given a companion to join us on the way, and an advocate to remain with us. We find faith in a God who says, yes, I know how very badly that hurts, and I am here to love you through it.
Amen