Sermon:  "It Is Better To Do Something . . ."
Date:   May 29, 2011
Minister:  The Rev. Charles Ensley

Lesson:  1 Peter 3:13-22

I might not have selected today’s epistle reading from First Peter were it not for the novel I read last week:  John Grisham’s latest, The Confession.  The story begins in a Lutheran church in Topeka, Kansas on a Monday morning.  The Rev. Keith Schroeder is doing some premarital counseling, when an ex-con, who had worshipped there on Sunday, comes into the office.  Travis Boyette asks to see the pastor, and confesses that he was the real killer of a high school cheerleader in Texas nine years ago; not the black man Donté, who was her classmate and now sentenced to be executed in Texas on Thursday.

Pastor Keith has several more encounters with Travis, but by Wednesday had lost contact.  At midnight on Wednesday, eighteen hours before Donté is to be executed, Travis calls Keith and tells him that he needs to take him to Texas to save Donté from being killed.  Keith explains that the town in Texas is 550 miles away.  Meanwhile, Keith’s wife is violently shaking her head no from the other side of the bed.

Within the hour, and over the protest of both his wife and a prosecuting attorney who was a member of his church, Keith and Travis set off on a hectic and grueling car trip to Texas.  By the time they arrive in the early afternoon, about five hours before the scheduled execution at six o’clock, there was frantic activity going on in the office of Donté’s attorney as his staff scurries to make a last-minute appeal.  At two o’clock, a local judge arrives and asks Keith if it’s possible to search for the body to verify the veracity of Travis’ assertion that he is really the killer.  Listen to Pastor Keith’s reply:

“Not now.  Two days ago, Tuesday I think it was, I’m not sure—I feel as though I’ve lived with this guy for a year—but anyway, Tuesday I suggested the best way to stop the execution was to find the body.  He said that it would be difficult.  He buried her nine years ago in a secluded area that is heavily wooded. … Then I lost contact with him.  I searched and searched and I was determined to somehow corral him and insist that we notify the authorities, here and in Missouri, if that is in fact where Nicole is buried, but he would not agree.  Then we lost contact again.  He’s a strange guy, very strange.  He called me around midnight last night; I was already in bed sound asleep, and he said he wanted to come here, to tell his story, to stop the execution.  I felt as though I had no choice.  I’ve never done anything like this before, I can promise you that.  I know it’s wrong to help a convict violate his parole, but so be it.  Anyway, we left Topeka around one o’clock this morning, and again I suggested that we notify the authorities and at least begin the search for the body.  He wanted no part of that.” 

(John Grisham, The Confession, New York:  Doubleday, © 2010 by Belfry Holdings, Inc., 227.)

Now I resonate with Rev. Keith Schroeder’s dilemma, for I have been faced with it many times.  Not driving a convict across state lines I assure you, although I have visited church members in jail.  It’s that moment when you are asked for help and you must decide whether it is better to do something  . . . or not.  In the past two months, I have been involved with three persons facing eviction—two I could assist with funds from the church, one I could not.  On behalf of the church, I assisted a young woman fresh out of Community Hospital’s emergency room with $249 of prescriptions.  One man I gave two bags of groceries from the bin in the Concert Hall.  I could not provide the used laptop he requested.  Otis stops by every month or so, asking for socks, a bottle of water and $5 for lunch.  I turned down an unknown person calling from a local motel before worship one Sunday who needed to have the bill paid.  I’ve used church funds to assist in the past, but I know personally that some people just keep calling around and have this pastor provide a day or two’s rental, and then on to the next pastor.  One motel clerk verified that when I once stepped into the lobby with my credit card.  “Oh, so you’re paying today,” he declared.

The author of the First Letter of Peter seems to address such a dilemma in today’s lesson:  “Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?  But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed.”  (3:13-14)  Pastor Keith had to deal with this.  He knew it was illegal to take a convict across state lines in violation of his parole, so he wanted to confess to the police.  While all concerned thought he did the good and right thing, he had to face the consequences, both of the legal system and with his Lutheran bishop.  Even the sleazy confessed killer Travis Boyette wanted to do the right thing after nine years, knowing there would be consequences for him as well.

However, the circumstances addressed in today’s lesson are a little different.  The social position of Christians in predominantly pagan cultures in the first three centuries of the Christian church was no easy situation.  Whether speaking of state-level persecution, such as occurred in the days of Nero (circa A.D. 65), during which many believe Peter himself lost his life, or speaking simply of the social ostracism and criticism that come with being a member of a minority religious group, it is certain that the Christian communities of Asia Minor to whom the epistle is addressed endured serious persecution for the sake of Christ. 

Today’s passage addresses how one should conduct oneself in light of persecution.  The community is instructed to be patient and forbearing in the face of intimidation, but without simply giving up.  They are reminded of Christ’s suffering and ultimate sacrifice.  It is possible that those who persecute them today might well become the believers of tomorrow.  The Apostle Paul and John Newton are prime examples.

It is worth noting that this same passage has been misapplied both historically and within our own day.  These texts were used to encourage slaves in Antebellum America to acquiesce to brutal physical abuse by their owners.  More recently, others have argued that Christian victims of domestic abuse should remain in those dangerous situations and model Christ’s acceptance of suffering.  Both of these are unconscionable and inappropriate interpretations of First Peter 3.  Some Southern legislators formerly in favor of segregation have since admitted they were wrong.

When choosing whether it is better to do something or not for a just and noble cause, there can be consequences.  Half a century ago, any number of civil rights activists in the South, among them Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., several United Church of Christ ministers of my acquaintance and other clergy, as well as citizens both black and white who were tired of segregation in churches, schools, theaters, restaurants, restrooms, at water fountains and other public places were arrested for their protests.  They were penalized and paid the price.  But their cause ultimately prevailed. 

I, too, ponder whether to take action or not when confronted by those who come by or call the church asking for help.  Some are just working their way through the Yellow Pages listing of churches.  One such man who left a message here on my day off earlier this month was surprised when I returned his call the next day.  When I met him two weeks ago to give him the $20 he needed for a bus pass, within minutes I saw him enter a liquor store on Second Street—to buy a bottle of water, or something else?  Others say they will work for money, which we cannot allow due to liability concerns, or they promise to repay what we give them—something that has never happened even once in my 38 years of ministry.

I am certain you are faced with similar dilemmas.  Someone on the street corner asks for “spare change.”  A family member asks for a loan.  A co-worker asks for a favor that makes you uncomfortable.  Someone asks you to take them someplace when you don’t really have the time.  You’re asked to serve as a reference when, due to your feelings about the requester, you’d really rather not.  Your college calls during its annual alumni fund drive.  It’s a tight time for you financially, but if you give by June 30, an alum will match your gift.

To do or not to do?  That is the question.

As long as well-meaning people struggle with that question and respond as they are able, knowing that sometimes the cause is just and sometimes they will get duped, then we who follow Christ’s way are trying as best we can to do good for others.  Rarely can we control their actions.  We can only control how we choose to respond to the request.

And if you think I’ve given it away by telling you all about Pastor Keith and Travis Boyette, I haven’t even told ten percent of the story.  You’ll have to read The Confession yourself.  I finished it at 11:30 on Wednesday night.  I couldn’t put it down.