By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 10, 2026
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1 Peter 3:13–22 (ESV)
13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, 15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, 16 having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. 17 For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit, 19 in which he went and proclaimed to the spirits in prison, 20 because they formerly did not obey, when God’s patience waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through water. 21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for 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 having been subjected to him.
We have been looking at the words written by Peter for a few weeks now. This letter is considered the first catholic epistles. And I mention that for one reasons, mainly it gets us a bit excited. What it means is that it was not written to one church in particular like most of Paul’s letters, but it was written to the universal or catholic church or all the churches in general. That being said it was written for a reason. There was an area of the church, particularly Asia Minor, that was facing intense persecution.
It is not something that was new to the church in the first century. We see throughout the writings of John that there was persecution from the established religion within Israel. John would write things like, “for fear of the Jews.” This has given that Apostle some criticism because they see it as being anti-Semitic, but it is important to remember that the early Christians were fiercely persecuted by the established religion. They were stoned, thrown off the roof of the temple, and many faced ridicule or were disowned by their family. They faced this because the established religion thought them to be heretical. They saw Jesus as heretical. They saw the miracles, they listened to the teachings, they saw the crowds, but they did not understand.
We need to be mindful of this in our own lives. I am often examining my response to traditions I am not used to. I examine my response because at times I will judge groups without looking a bit deeper. I will also examine what they say and teach and make an attempt to understand. I do this with many faith traditions. I used to work with several people of Muslim faith, and we had great conversations at lunch, I asked them many questions and they asked some of me as well. After about a year, I asked one of them to read a book that I had read about their faith. I asked them to do this because I found that book to be beneficial but I wanted to make sure the author was accurately portraying the basics of their faith. I told them that it was written by a christian, and I went so far as to tell them which chapters because I only wanted to know if the history and basic beliefs were accurate. It surprised me that he took the time to read the book, he made comments, and asked if it would be alright if he read the rest because he was curious about why this man was writing about the Muslim faith to Christians. I let him keep the book and let him know that I would love to talk with him after, if he had questions or concerns that might be presenting things in a light that might not be true.
We need to examine and study. We need to explore and interact. We as humans were not created to live alone but we were commissioned by God to go into the world name the animals, gain understanding of the earth, and to use what we have to be fruitful and multiply. This is more than just having big families. It is studying science. It is exploring interpersonal relationships, and systems of government. We were created to live in community for the benefit of the community. We cannot do this well if we do not develop understanding and discernment.
The early Christians in Jerusalem faced persecution. The persecution they faced was expected, they had the resources to speak to it because both the established religion and the early Christians were using the similar teachings and scriptures. They were also living among people that had similar life experiences. When the Church was dispersed throughout the empire they faced something different. They were not living among their countrymen anymore. They were no long just one branch of teaching within the established religion already being practiced within Judea. They were foreigners. They were the minority.
They were forced out of their homeland and were living among people that had completely different lifestyle, and religious practices. There were Jewish communities within these lands, but even these communities rejected them. They would come to Ephesus or Corinth, thinking they could join the Hebrew communities. The people within those communities would see them as Jewish, but the Jews rejected them. This then caused the ones outside the Hebrew faith to look at them suspiciously. It did not help that many of these communities were built and dedicated to the worship of other deities, and once the Christians began to teach people began to neglect those temples.
They accused them of being antisocial for not attending the celebrations of the roman gods. They accused them of being atheists, because they did not worship with idols. They made laws attempting to keep them on the outside of the community and potentially to encourage them to leave. Laws that would force them to prove that they had made sacrifices to the Roman gods, before they were able to purchase the things they needed. They were wrongfully accused of causing earthquakes, or other disasters. And the leaders were hunted and at times killed.
Peter wrote this letter to the churches of Asia Minor because they were the ones that were feeling this pressure. Widespread persecution had not yet begun throughout the empire. It was focused mainly in this one area.
Peter tells them, “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.” This word blessed, is the same word that Jesus used in his teaching. And that is what Peter is reminding them of. In just a few words he is reminding them of the Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the poor, the meek, the sorrowful, the peacemaker. Why? Why are we blessed when we suffer for righteousness’ sake?
A few years ago there was a ministry that was taking food out to those that did not have homes. This ministry had been doing this for years, but one day they had trouble. The city decided that the food was not prepared in a kitchen properly licensed and they followed the vans out into the community confiscated the food, and in front of the hungry people they poured chemicals in them to make it inedible. I was shocked when I first read that story. I was shocked because they were doing good things to help people. I was shocked because to me it was excessive. Now do not get me wrong, the city did have concerns that needed to be addressed. The kitchen should have been licensed and the ministry should have been doing all they could to ensure that the food was safe.
They were persecuted in a way, they suffered. What happened from that? People were motivated. They could not believe that such a horrendous thing happened, and they for a while provided additional funding. It stopped the ministry for a day, but the ministry continued, and it continued more safely.
If we are doing good, if we loving our neighbors with all that we have and all that are, who is there that can really cause us harm? Peter goes on to say, “Have no fear of them, nor be troubled but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,”. It is important to look at this portion of scripture more deeply because it almost seems like Peter is repeating himself. “Have no fear, nor be troubled.”
The word fear is one that has multiple and often contradictory meanings. It can mean being afraid of something or someone because it could potentially cause harm. But it can also mean having respect or honoring something or someone. Scripture says in Proverbs, that the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the lord. We can twist that to do our bidding if we would like, telling our children that God is always watching so you better be good. But that is not what that means, the writer of Proverbs is encouraging us to honor and respect God first, or before everything else. Honoring God, putting ourselves into a proper position or mental framework of knowing that who ever we are or how important we are, God is still greater is the beginning of wisdom. So Peter is saying have no fear of them. He is telling us to not give them any greater honor nor respect than they deserve.
Why is this important? How many of us have heard of Romans 13? “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.” This is a passage that is often used during campaigns. I say used, but in reality it is misused. To be subject to the governing authorities does not mean to accept everything they do as being blessed by God. It means that if you oppose injustice being committed by governing bodies and you do resist, which scripture also tells us to do, then we are willing to submit ourselves to what the governing body sees fit for punishment. Basically it means you are not to use violence.
Peter says, “Have no fear of them.” Do not give them greater honor or respect than they deserve as they too are subject to the justice of God. Peter is saying be zealous for what is good, be bold even if the people around you speak out against you. Be zealous for what is good all the more, and do not be troubled by what others will do. Be zealous, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy.
In our zeal, are we honoring Christ the Lord as holy?
This is where I have found myself stopping as I prayed and studied this week. I can be a very outspoken person on things I care about. This has gotten me into some trouble at times, but usually I am willing to accept the rebuke. But in my zeal for what I perceive to be good, am I honoring Christ the Lord as holy? I have had to stop and think deeper about this. I have often said that we can be right and still be wrong. We can be right but if we take improper actions to achieve the goal it does not matter because we have closed the door of opportunity.
“Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. This was where I spent much of my young adult life. I wanted to have all the answers. I wanted to be able to win every debate. I wanted to prove to everyone what was true. This is part of my argumentative nature. And I gravitated toward people that I thought had good answers. I wanted to live in a black and white, right and wrong world. There are classes and books that you can take that focus on these very things. The word defense here is apologia, which is what forms the word apologetics. The sense of the word is to give a legal defense, or to be able to prove something.
It would be nice to be able to have all the answers, unfortunately from all my study of apologetics the questions that are often covered in the books are not the questions I have received. Occasionally I have been asked the typical can God make a rock so big that he cannot lift it. I have read the defenses of that question and have found them laughable, because there is not an answer. But usually the questions that we are really asked have nothing to do with our knowledge of scripture. The questions we are asked are usually not even expressed in words.
Twenty-seven years ago, I had one of those questions. I was mourning the loss of my little sister. I was questioning my faith. I was studying genetics and crop science and the things I was reading in the science books and the things I was hearing at church were not coming together. I was struggling and I could not formulate questions let alone ask them. In that state I had to admit to my mom that I had sinned. My girlfriend was pregnant and we were not married. What was I going to do?
There are countless answers to that question. Some we might agree with and others we might find appalling, but what is the person in that moment actually asking?
It is not black and white, right or wrong in that moment. The real question being asked is am I still loved? Am I still part of the community? Am I still accepted? Will you be here for me when everything seems to fall apart?
“Always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.”
You can make a defense for whatever position you have but those are just words. Will you be there, zealous for what is good, no matter what happens? I was asking questions I did not even know I was asking, and my church was giving me answers. They did not gloss over the sinful aspects of my actions, but they also did not let that define who I am. I was a confused young man looking for a reason to go or to stay, they gave me hope. They did not have fancy words or arguments that could convince me one way or the other. They expressed their beliefs and I knew they were true because they were ready to help no matter what.
We are not going to know what someone will need. We are not going to know the questions that they might ask. That is why we should always be prepared. We should always be actively learning, asking questions, finding solutions. We should always be looking around to see a place or person that needs some attention and strive to shine light. We should speak out when we see injustice, but we should not only speak out we should be zealous for what is good, meaning our words and our actions should resemble one another. But we should know why we do what we do.
When I was in Ukraine, I was asked a lot of questions. But one of the funniest questions I was asked was, “Is that why we do this in church?” I grew up thinking that the Soviet Union was filled with a bunch of atheists, and that is not completely wrong, it is not completely right either. They were facing the very same struggles that we in America and everyone else in the world was facing. They like us, were looking at the technology, the various social practices and philosophies, science, and everything else and they were trying to make sense of it all. An author I respect once said this, “science excels at explaining ‘how’ the universe works (mechanisms), while faith and theology address the ‘why’ (meaning, purpose, and the existence of God).” This is what the students of Ukraine were wrestling with. It was what I was wrestling with. I would go through the things the we were supposed to share, and then we would just talk. I did not know anything. I was just a punk kid, but I would share stories of my life and they would ask why I did what I did and I would answer. Eventually it came down to the, “Is that why we do this in church?” They were Orthodox and I am a Quaker. I answered honestly. I have absolutely no idea why your church does that, but from what you are saying I would make that assumption. Ukraine is filled with Christian. It is filled with people that are asking the same questions we are. It is filled with people looking for answers and looking for a reason to believe.
I presented the 4 spiritual laws more times than I can remember, and not a single person was convinced by my arguments. But I saw light. I saw people turn back to God. I saw God change lives. It was not the arguments, it was the conversations. It was the honesty of me being there zealous for what is good, and being willing to talk to them not as a project but as a friend. And together a bunch of confused college students found hope.
Peter wrote this letter to a church that was facing struggles that not many had yet witnessed. He encouraged them to learn as much as they can about everything around them so that they could speak. And he encouraged them to be zealous for what is good. What is good, and how do we honor Christ the Lord as holy in our hearts? It is found within the rhythm of life Jesus taught us. Worship with the community. Withdraw often to isolated places to pray. And minister to the people around you with words and actions. We as a meeting of Friends have translated that into our mission or purpose statement. We encourage each other to become a people: “Loving God, Embracing the Holy Spirit, and Living the love of Christ with others.” It is the same thing that Peter is encouraging. Know God’s ways by learning the depths of his teachings. Spend time in conversation with God, not only talking to him but listening to the Spirit as his teachings peculate within us. And then take what we have learned and apply it.
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 10, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 3:13–22 (ESV) 13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? 14 But even if you should suffer for…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church May 03, 2026 Click here to Join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili 1 Peter 2:2–10 (ESV) 2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have…
By Jared Warner Willow Creek Friends Church April 26, 2026 Click here to join our Meeting for Worship Click to read in Swahili Bofya kusoma kwa Kiswahili Query 4 (Faith and Practice of EFC-MAYM pg 61) Do you provide for the suitable Christian education and recreation of your children and those under your care, and…
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