15-16: Have no fear, Peter encourages us. Do not fear the one at whose hand you suffer, for you endure in the hands of one far stronger. In the inner man honor Christ. With not only your outward actions, but with the inward thoughts of the heart, honor Christ. In honoring Him we acknowledge that He is God, and that we are not; we confess our complete dependence on Him, owning our own inability to live uprightly in our own strength; and we trust the story that He is telling through the different chapters of our life, knowing, as we do, the last page of the book. We honor Him as holy. We acknowledge Him to be set apart, a name above all names, the name which every tongue will confess, and in front of whom every knee will bow. He is the Lord, and there is no other. We confess our own unholiness, our falling short of the standard. But we trust that His righteousness, and the beauty of His holiness covers us, and transforms us into sons and daughters worthy of the Name, made holy and set apart for service under His banner. It is through acknowledging, confessing, and trusting that we are able to give a defense of the hope that resides in us.
We are to be ready at all times to defend the faith to those who question our hope. This presupposes a transparent cup, where the outside allows outsiders to see what the cup contains. If our external lives do not give anyone the notion to ask about our hope, we are failing to honor Christ the Lord as holy. If to the watching world we look no different than every hopeless son of Adam among their ranks, then we need to take a hard look at the inside of our cup, and ask if there really is hope within. What hope do we have that our lives have purpose, that our suffering has meaning, that every day is drawing us closer to a three times Holy God who has declared Himself our Father? Do we live in such a way that such hope is plain to see? We are children of the Living God who made all things. He is in the process of making all things new. He has taken us out of the kingdom of darkness and placed us in the kingdom of everlasting light. If there is no hope in Him, there is no hope anywhere. But indeed there is hope, for we belong to Him. Therefore be at ease to live in such a way that banks on that hope. This hope is not a wishing well, it is a foundation of solid stone. It will hold the house of life through wind and storm. And this is the defense that we give when onlookers see our house standing firm against the rain. Why do we hope, they ask? What reasons do we have for hoping against all hope that our lives will not crumble into nothingness and eternal void? Our defense is this: First, we are already nothing. In our own shirts we are of no importance. We can crumble no further than our father Adam already did. Secondly, there is no void, for the God of Heaven and Earth has filled every conceivable and inconceivable space with the beauty of His holiness. The risen Christ has turned the world upside down and emptied its pockets. Light has filled the dark corners. The mountains have been brought low, and the valleys are lifted up. The world is a different place. It has a new center of gravity. He sits enthroned in Heaven, and He has called us friend. Who can help but hope? This is our defense. This is the reason for the hope that is within us. We are in the middle act of a three act comedy. Everything is jumbled and confused. The villain is still at large. Not all wrongs have yet been made right. But they will. The sun rises and we know that day is here. The Son has risen, the Day is upon us. Therefore Christian, hope. As the with the passing of night, so too with our sufferings. After winter, spring.
But be gentle in your reasoning. Trust the sovereignty of God in the manner of your defense. Show respect to all, so that through the purity and grace of your response, the Lord might put to shame those who slander your good name, and revile your upright behavior. It is not our job or our place to convince the unbelieving world that we are in the right. We can no more convince an unbelieving heart than turn coal into diamonds using nothing but our words. Our words carry little power, only reflected power. The One who holds all things by the power of His word, His words have creative power. His words become galaxies of stars, thick with matter. Only such a Voice can speak life where once was death, flesh where once was stone. Our role is to defend with a cheerful and gentle heart. If we do so trusting God for the outcome, the burden of saving people will be lifted from our shoulders and we will be free to simply share what God has done for us. If we are reviled for trusting in such a God then we put to shame those who revile, for their taunting carries no water. They reduce themselves to a playground bully, insecure in their own skin, forced to find fault in others, lest they are overwhelmed by the emptiness within. But this is exactly why we defend our hope in the face of such harassment. God brings low those who lift themselves up. In bringing them low He exposes their need for grace, their need for the hope that is within us. Then we see that He has placed us in just the right spot to not only defend the hope, but also offer it to the lowly. In such a way, the Father brings all His children home.
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