Eastertide
April 30, 2020
Scripture Reading: 1 Peter 2:19-25
[Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all
deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.]
For it is to your credit if, being aware of God, you endure pain while
suffering unjustly. If you endure when you are beaten for doing wrong, where is
the credit in that? But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you
have God’s approval. For to this you have been called, because Christ also
suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his
steps.
‘He committed no sin,
and no deceit was found in his mouth.’
–1 Peter 2:18-22
The lectionary scripture for today seemed to begin in the middle of the subject. Originally I though this scripture from first Peter was discussing the pain inflicted on the early disciples. Using an online source, I was not seeing the full context of the scripture, so I pulled up the previous page and discovered verse 18 which is not included in the scripture reading above, even though it was the first verse in a new segment clearly marked.
We 21st century Christians have a hard time dealing with the Biblical coverage of slavery. Do we just ignore it. That was then this is now. I do agree it is good advice to learn from the bad things that happen in life as well as the good. Recently I told someone that while my education included course work on management of staff, I learned more about good management of staff from the man who was my boss when I was a waitress in high school and college than I did in all my management courses. I then went on to say that I had also learned how not to supervise from some bad examples from other bosses.
The words we cannot ignore in this scripture are suffering unjustly. The pain of injustice is not limited to the sting of the whip or otherwise being misused or abused. Many African Americans in the USA in tracing their ancestry find their black ancestor’s white owner among their great grandfathers. The mental pain of mistreatment can and is passed from generation to generation. Some slave holders wanted their slaves to count in the apportionment of representation but not have the right to vote. The original USA Constitution included a provision that slaves were to be counted as three-fifths human.
We are all called to end suffering unjustly as a part of loving our neighbors as we love ourselves. We cannot rectify our past with our faith until we face it and work together to ameliorate it.
Prayer: Lord, grant us insight into the things that cause unjust suffering and help us identify and implement ways to end it and heal the wounds it causes. Amen.
All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.