Alien Life: Defense
We Give Reason for our Hope by Sharing Jesus
1 Peter 3:13-22
Rev. Tim Callow
Preached Sun. May 14th, 2023
One of my friends grew up Lutheran but after he was confirmed didn’t attend Church much. He worked with a lot of atheists and agnostics who could be pretty vocal about their opinions and he didn’t know what to say. But he knew me well enough that I was the argumentative sort. Still am to a degree. And that I would likely relish the chance to discuss these matters with one of his co-workers. So he arranged for us to have breakfast on short notice.
I was still in undergrad at the time and this was before I learned the pleasures of waking up in the morning. Generally I’d wake up more around lunch time. So I groggily walked into the restaurant, wishing I had a chance to sleep in. I sat down and we all exchanged niceties. My friend brought up the topic of discussion, can we be sure of the existence of God? Now, under most any other circumstance I would have been well able to make a case. I knew about the cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments for God. I was comfortable discussing the historicity of the Bible and the life of Jesus. I could launch an offense on the argumentation and assumptions of my friend’s co-worker. But I really wanted to sleep.
So rather than get into all that, I asked him why he thought what he thought. He told me about some childhood experiences. I expressed my sympathy. And I switched topics to 90’s television shows we both watched. I could tell my friend was disappointed.
Did I fail to “make a defense” for “the hope that is in me”? This verse is often used by apologists, or people who rationally defend the faith. They not only use it to justify their work, but oftentimes suggest that all Christians ought to be able to rationally defend the faith. That this is what it means to make a defense for the hope that is within us.
I certainly think there is a place for making a rational defense of the faith. Like I said, I do like to argue. I enjoy the give and take and the chess match of finding my way a step or two ahead. I know the cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments for God. I don’t think that’s wasted knowledge. But I also know that’s me, and that’s not necessarily anyone else. Not everyone enjoys an argument, and not everyone can retain the knowledge needed to sustain a good argument.
I would hate for anyone to think there is some defect in their discipleship if they cannot memorize all these arguments or employ them effectively. Sometimes people are in situations like my friend where they are close to someone, a co-worker or family, who challenges them and they don’t know how to answer. But what would Peter say?
Apologetics can be a useful tool, and I emphasize that it’s only a tool. But Peter is not talking about apologetics in our passage this morning. When he calls for the exiles of the dispersion to give a defense for the hope that is within them he is not asking them to pick up some Josh McDowell books. What he means is that we ought to be prepared to tell people about Jesus.
Peter expects that the exiles of the dispersion, that we, would be people of hope. And he also expects that this hope will be strange and peculiar. That there will be something noticeable about the hope that is within us, something that would make even persecutors enquire. He expects that we should be so patient, so kind, so long-suffering, and so merciful that people will want an accounting of how this can be.
When we give a defense for the hope that is within us, when we give an accounting for why it is we are so patient and forgiving, we wouldn’t say “well imagine a being greater than that which can be conceived…” Or “nothing comes from nothing.” Rather we would tell a story about this man Jesus who was also patient and kind. Who also endured suffering. Who also endured mockery. And overcame the shame of the cross, being raised on the third day. And that I can endure what I endure because I have hope that as he lives so too I may live. I can forgive because I have hope that he has forgiven me.
That’s a defense that can be given in season and out of season. That’s a defense that doesn’t require a seminary class or a dusty old book. That’s a defense that is born out of our living faith. Our witnessing to the truth in word and deed, and our telling the story that our lives depend on.