Reflections on “Making your Defense” I Peter 3: 13-22

Two weeks ago (the last time I preached), 1 Peter got the best of me.  This week, the sermon felt better.   The Presbyterian woman mentioned was a composite of several people (one man, who took over for his wife after she died) who have been bread bakers for their churches.  I have always found it fascinating how they turn the making of the bread into a spiritual practice.  

I just realized that after the 1 Peter series, we are spending the summer in "the Footsteps of Paul," so we are getting a reading through a lot of the epistles (and Acts with the Paul series).  

“Making your Defense” I Peter 3: 13-22; John 14: 15-24; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; May 10, 2026; Post-easter Peter series

I Peter 3: 13-22

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? 14 But even if you do suffer for doing what is right,[a] you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear,[b] and do not be intimidated, 15 but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, 16 yet do it with gentleness and respect. Maintain a good conscience so that, when you are maligned,[c] those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered[d] for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you[e] to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, 20 who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight lives, were saved through water. 21 And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for[f] a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 22 who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

Introduction:  We continue reading in the 1st Letter of Peter about what it means to be a follower of the resurrected Christ

Notice that the actions called for in this passage can be done by any follower, regardless of their status in the world.  

In some ways, these actions are internal to us, as you remember, which was important to those household slaves who first read this letter.

They had little control over their situations in life,

But they could control how they lived within themselves and 

they acted toward others, and how

One of our challenges in interpreting this text in our time is the changed circumstances in which most of us live.

We do have choices about where we live,

what we do,

where we go,

We have opportunities to impact the world around us because we have independence and can make many more choices than a household slave who first received this letter.

Keep that in mind as we reflect on this passage.

Although each verse seems to have its own powerful comment on life as a follower of Christ, we’re going to reflect on just a couple of them.

Move 1: “Sanctify Christ in your heart.”

a.  Maybe a fancy way of saying make Christ the center of your life.

1. Sanctify, of course, has theological nuances, but this is about who or what will be our centering point.

2. The heart speaks to the core of who we are.

the place that no one else can control.

Even if you are a slave, you can still choose who is central in your heart.

b. This is not a new concept.

Generation after generation, God’s people had been called to make God the center of their faith, 

And now that understanding takes on new meaning after the resurrection of Christ.

Christ is now to be the center point, which gives it more concrete expression.

1.  If we sanctify Christ in our hearts, we have made a choice that the world cannot make for us

and cannot take away from us.

No matter what happens in the world around us;

no matter what decisions others make about what they will do and what they will say;

We get to choose whether we respond in keeping with having Christ as the center point of our lives 

or whether we will give in to the pressures and allure of the world.

c.  We are familiar, of course,  with the concept of asking jesus into our hearts.

It may not be a Presbyterian talking point, but we hear others speak in those terms.

It is an expression used to signify making that connection with Christ and choosing to profess him as our Lord and Savior.

Among our evangelical cousins of the faith, it would signify a particular moment when a person has been saved.

This letter is not calling for us to ask Jesus into our hearts as a way of being saved, 

Rather, it calls us to sanctify Christ in our hearts as a way of focusing us on Christ’s ways instead of the ways of the world.

it is not about one particular moment, but about the centering point for our lives today and for all of our tomorrows.

1.  As we hear this letter in our context, it invites us to consider new possibilities for how we live out our Christian calling.

3. We are not household slaves who can only control how they handle themselves in their particular circumstances.

We can take action.

We can speak out in the world.

Because when Christ is our centering point, we are free from the pressures and demands of the world.

Which begs the question - if Christ is your centering point, what do you want to say and do?

Sanctify Christ in your heart.

Move 2:  Peter’s letter also ties sanctifying Christ in our hearts with hope.

a.  As if those who have Christ as their centering point will evoke a sense of hope that others will notice.

1. It makes sense, I suppose.

If you look around the world,

feel it’s anxiety

Look at how other people are dealing with the world and its anxieties, 

Whom are you going to ask about their hope?

The people who seem overwhelmed by the pressures of the world, or give in to the ways of the world?

or the people who seem to be under the pressures of the world.

I don’t think so.   If you are looking for hope, you are looking for someone who is guided by something other than the pressures and values of the world.

b.   I suspect that in our world today, many people are looking for others who have hope.

They are tired of chasing what the world has to offer and want something more.

They look around for someone who looks to have something more.

Not someone who is perfect.

not someone who has all the answers.

but someone who is rooted in someone or something different than what the world offers.

Maybe you are that someone! You know those people.

1. So if you sanctified Christ in your heart;

If you are a person who dares to have hope because you have chosen to trust in the God of resurrection rather than the ways of the world, 

Be ready to have others ask about your hope.

Or as the letter tells us, be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you,

3.  I am reminded of a Presbyterian woman who loved baking bread. 

So she began baking the communion bread each month for the congregation where she was a member.  

Praying as she kneaded the bread.

Praying for the world.

Praying for her church family.

1. When the church started a breakfast ministry for the community on Saturday mornings, she extended her bread-making to baking fresh bread for the Saturday morning breakfasts.

Now, she was making bread and praying for others every week.

2. She was also a mother with three kids.

When her kids were teenagers, she discovered another important part of her bread making -  when one of her kids seemed to be struggling

or getting in trouble, 

or dealing with lots of anger,

She would make them bake bread with her.

they would knead the bread together,

shape and form it,

She would invite them to pray with her over the world, the church community and the hungry people who would eat her bread on Saturday mornings.

if one of her kids was making bread with her because they were working through an angry moment, she would knead and pray.

if one of her kids was making bread because they were in a spot where they felt out of control in their lives, she would knead and pray.

if one of her kids had gotten in trouble at school, she would knead and pray.

As their mother shaped and formed the bread over the years, she shaped and formed her children to make the center point of their lives, not the world around them, but Jesus Christ, the one in whom to whom she prayed and the one in whom she found her hope.

At her funeral, one of her children told the gathered congregation, “My mom never preached to me about Jesus; she just showed me how to knead bread and pray to Jesus.”

a mother defending her hope by making bread.

b.  1st Peter calls for us to be prepared to share why we have hope in a world that may not seem to be very hopeful.

1. If someone asked you, what would you tell them about where you find your hope?

2. Or how would you show them,

where you find your hope,

a hope that is grounded in Jesus Christ.

Move 3:  A final thought - surely Peter would have been a Presbyterian, or at least one of our Reformed cousins, because of his emphasis on baptism.

a. he finishes this section of sanctifying Christ in our hearts, he reminds us about our baptism and its ongoing claim on how we live our lives. 

1.  And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you—not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for[f] a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, 

2. Baptism is not a one-time washing away of dirt, but the call to a new way of living.

b.  John Calvin, one of the early reformers, interpreted the word appeal in this letter as describing baptism as an appeal, as what in Roman law was known as a stipulatio,

or a verbal contract.

The person offering the contract says, "Do you promise?"  and the other person in the contract says, ”I promise.”

Calvin argues that in Baptism, God "stipulates" or asks the believer if they repent and believe, 

and the believer offers their "answer" or "appeal" through a good conscience and the way they live their lives.

b. One of the things I love about the new baptismal font we got last fall is that it commands the attention of those who gather for worship.

You cannot miss it.

Whether you understand the theology of baptism or not, you know that baptism is central to who we are as God’s people.

1.  Our baptism is not a past event we forget. 

2. It is a current "pledge" to live with a good conscience before God, fueled by the power of the Resurrection (v. 22).

3. As we are reminded each week that we are people of baptism,

We are reminded that when we are united with Christ in the waters of baptism, it calls us to sanctify Christ in our hearts, 

to make him our centering point.

4  When we are reminded each week that we are people of baptism, 

We are reminded that in baptism we are united in Christ, the one in whom we have our hope.

 Conclusion:  Go and live as followers of the resurrected Christ.

John 14: 15-22   “If you love me, you will keep[a] my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,[b] to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and he will be[c] in[d] you.

18 “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.

Reflections on “Next Steps” I Peter 2: 19-25; Psalm 23

In the early prep work, this sermon started out well.  Then, I started working with the historic connection to slave theology.  Suddenly, it seemed important to include that in the sermon.  Plus, I began focusing on "next steps," but the central point of the passage is suffering.  I ended up with too many points to make and no coherent theme.

We sang Psalm 23 for the first Scripture reading in worship, which was a nice change of pace.

 “Next Steps” I Peter 2: 19-25; Psalm 23; St. Andrew Presbyterian Church; April 26, 2026; Post-easter Peter series

I Peter 2: 19-25

19 For it is a commendable thing if, being aware of God, a person endures pain while suffering unjustly. 20 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. 21 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.

22 

“He committed no sin,
    and no deceit was found in his mouth.”

23 When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross,[a] so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds[b] you have been healed. 25 For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.

Introduction: As we mentioned last week, this 1st letter of Peter is written to early Christians who are trying to figure out what it means to be followers of Christ.

Move 1:  the letter shares with those early Christian’s 

and with us the need to take our next steps in shaping our lives to be more like Christ.

a.  Peter’s letter pushes us beyond just believing that Christ has been resurrected from the dead,

but challenges us to live our lives accordingly.

It is not enough to believe in the resurrection,

That belief must shape the way you live your life.

1.  In vs. 21, we are given a wonderful image of what it means to model our lives after Christ.

When the letter tells us that Jesus leaves us an example,  the Greek word for “example” is hypogrammos 

A hypogrammos was a model of letters that a student would trace to learn how to write. 

That brings back memories of learning to write and then helping teach my own kids how to write, or maybe just observing as their teachers taught them.

I’m not sure if they do it anymore, but there used to be worksheets with the letters outlined in little dotted lines, so you could trace over the lines to get the feel for what each letter was.

As you practiced tracing the letter, you learned how to write the letter correctly. 

2.  Life as people of the resurrection calls us to practice living our lives in the way Christ did.

We work to trace his ways, if you will.

3. How might you trace the life of Jesus in your own life?

You begin, of course, by picking the aspect of Jesus’ life you feel called to trace over in your own life,

Jesus extended himself to others, even strangers.  How might you trace that in your own life?

Jesus acted as a good shepherd toward others? Caring for them, providing for their needs.  How might you trace being a good shepherd to others in your own life?

Jesus challenged those whose actions seem more concerned with controlling others than allowing others to grow into the person God calls them to be?  How might you trace that in your own life?

Or Feeding the hungry?

Or bringing hope to those who feel helpless and hopeless?

It would be overwhelming and unattainable to trace the perfect life of Jesus so that we become perfect ourselves.

But, just as you learn to write one letter at a time, we can pick one aspect of how Jesus lived his life and work on tracing it in our own lives.

Today, what aspect of Jesus’ life do you want to trace in your own life?

Move 2: In the passage we read from 1 Peter this morning, suffering is a specific way in which those early Christians are called to trace the life of Jesus and follow his example.

a.  You may recall earlier this year, we reflected on the prophecy of Isaiah, which includes images of the suffering servant.

1.  This letter ties images of the suffering servant with the actions of Jesus, who suffered for the sake of others.

2.  Remember, this letter is being read by household servants, who struggle with why they sometimes have to suffer at the hands of their masters.

This letter urges these servants who suffer to maintain their allegiance to God, which frees them from being controlled by the suffering that is inflicted upon them by their earthly masters.

4. The point is not that they should choose suffering in a masochistic way, but that the suffering does not control them and their ability to follow Jesus.

Their master’s cruelty does not bind them in a way that keeps them from being able to follow Jesus, because even in their suffering, they are linked to Christ, who himself suffered.

b.  The example of suffering like Christ brings with it many challenges, one of which is that historically, this was one of the favorite texts slave owners used to justify slavery and demand absolute obedience from enslaved people.

1. In fact, the lectionary deliberately leaves out vs 18 in this week’s reading because of the way this passage has been used to promote the institution of slavery.  

hear vs.  18:   Slaves, be subject to your masters with all respect,[a] not only those who are good and gentle but also those who are dishonest.  

which leads right into vs 19 and its comment about suffering unjustly.

1.  In the 18th and 19th centuries, this I Peter passage became a cornerstone of what historians call "Slave Theology" or "Proslavery Christianity.”

It contains The Command to Submit, Verse 18, which was used to argue that the hierarchy of slavery was divinely ordained. By framing submission as a duty to God, slaveholders made disobedience a sin against the divine, not just a violation of secular law.

The "Harsh Master" Clause also grew out of this passage, arguing that even a cruel master must be obeyed without complaint.

Slave theology also romanticized the suffering of enslaved people. By equating the pain of slavery with the suffering of Jesus, owners told enslaved people that their endurance of misery would lead to spiritual rewards, effectively using the Gospel to discourage rebellion or escape.

In fact, special versions of the Bible and religious instructional books (catechisms) were created for enslaved people, prominently featuring this passage from 1 Peter. 

2. I think we can unequivocally say that, as this text calls us to the next steps, those next steps do not involve 

telling those who suffer at the hands of others,

like those caught in abusive situations, to just put up with the suffering and follow Jesus 

Next steps do not include telling ourselves that we should stay in abusive relationships so that we can trace the suffering of Jesus in our own lives

Next steps do not involve treating other people as slaves, using our power to control others

Next steps do not include inflicting suffering on others

c.  But, we can learn from this letter that the next steps do mean following Jesus in ways that defy any categories the world imposes,

Next steps can take place in any circumstance we find ourselves.

1.  As we try to trace Jesus’ life with our own lives, we announce that no one and nothing can keep us from choosing to follow Christ.

2.  Notice the implicit statement made by this letter -

the slaves, who do not control the circumstances of their own lives,

who do not have freedom of choice,

who may even suffer at the hands of their masters

These household slaves can still live and choose to model their lives after Christ.

No one can control who they choose to follow.

3.  Obviously, in our own context, we have more power and more choices than those household slaves to whom this letter was first addressed.

And yet, we live in a world that makes demands on us;

We live in a world with constraints placed on us.

We live in a world where we often feel like we have little control.

We live in a world where we can find ourselves suffering in real ways.

4.  But in our very different context, it is still true that no one 

And no circumstances can dictate to us whom we choose to follow.

Every day, we can choose to model our lives after Jesus,

Or we can choose other models that the world has for us.

When you imagine how you are going to trace the life of Jesus in your own life, you do it within the context in which you find yourself.

d.  As we trace our lives after Jesus, 

as we take those next steps,

We move toward the shepherd.

The Good Shepherd who loves his sheep,

who knows them by name

who calls them to the hope and promise of salvation, which the shepherd has already given to us through his own suffering.

Conclusion:  Amen.