But what I also remember from those two weeks is that my father wrote me a lot of letters, notes in which he encouraged me, was very positive about what I was doing, and urged me to stick with it. Those letters really helped me through a hard time, and that’s exactly what Peter was trying to do by writing letters to his Christian friends. They were having a hard time: back in those days, Christians were viewed very suspiciously, maybe because they went around looking happier than other people thought they should be. And when the giant city of Rome burned in the year 64, the emperor Nero looked for someone to blame, and guess who fit the bill perfectly—the Christians. Christians were harassed, and criticized, and imprisoned, and sometimes even killed. Everywhere, Christians were given a hard time.

And so Peter writes to them, and, in our passage for this morning, says, “do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you.” Peter anticipated that disciples might very well be surprised: they had become Christians because they had heard good news, news that God loved them, and that if they trusted in God, everything would be OK—and then people start giving them a hard time—sometimes a very hard time—just because they were Christians. No wonder they were surprised.

But Peter was right. He knew better than most that when Jesus taught and preached and healed, a lot of people didn’t like it, and he remembered how, in the end, some people didn’t like it so much that they put him on trial and had him crucified. Peter realized that when people followed Jesus, tried to act like him, they might get into trouble the same way. Now, we don’t live in ancient Rome, and Christians aren’t given anywhere near as much trouble as back then. But in a way, Peter is still right. We shouldn’t be surprised when following Jesus gets us into trouble and makes life hard sometimes.

Now, you might well ask, on this particular Sunday, when young and old are worshipping together, when we’ve just commissioned our newest Deacon, when we’re celebrating the sacrament of Holy Communion, why would the preacher zero in on the problems that being a disciple can create? Wouldn’t it be smarter just to highlight the good stuff? Well, to be honest, we do that all the time, and there is lots of good stuff to be highlighted: God loves us, God is with us, God never lets go of us; and, together and on our own, we can do amazing things through our faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, that’s all true. But it wouldn’t be fair to tell only the good parts without acknowledging the hard ones. The younger among us this morning learned about “stranger danger” early on at school, and to buckle their seat belts, and these days have DARE programs all the way through high school. Those lessons and programs aren’t meant to say the world is all bad, or that every time you get in the car there’s going to be an accident, but to make sure that in addition to all the positive, good, trustworthy opportunities and people out there, there are some realities to be aware of so they can be recognized and minimized.

Being a disciple, a follower of Jesus Christ IS the way to a confident, happy, and helpful life, the kind of life that pleases God. But sometimes, and it is only sometimes, doing the right thing, behaving as a Christian, can get us in trouble and make us feel lousy when we expected to feel good. Peter is saying that if we see that ahead of time, we won’t be as surprised by it, and we won’t be undone when it happens, we’ll get through it better.

So how could being a good disciple, a friend of Jesus, ever get you or me in trouble, or make us unhappy? Well, I can think of a few reasons. First of all, we Christians march to a different beat than much of the world. To start with, we like going to church—which—let’s face it—a lot of people think is weird. We look to the Bible for guidance and advice. We see the good things in our lives as blessings from God, not as rewards we deserve for the hard work we do. We’re not motivated first by money, we don’t trample people to get ahead, and we know that beauty and goodness is more than skin deep. We’re willing to talk about God—mysterious, invisible, but real to us. All those things make us a little different, and no matter how old you get, some people just don’t respond well, sometimes don’t always like, people who are different. Grownups can make fun of those who are different as much as kids do, and can be just as cruel.

Another reason being a follower of Jesus sometimes makes things harder rather than easier is that Jesus has woken us up to injustice. Because of the things Jesus has taught us, you and I see when other people are hurting, and we notice how “the way things are” can leave some people with less than they need, or keep others from having their voices heard, or make others feel like they don’t belong at all. We Christians talk about subjects that often others don’t want to talk about. Sometimes we disciples walk into a situation and say, “Hey, that isn’t right,” and the response isn’t “Thank you, you’re right,” it’s “Well, what business is that of yours?!” We look up to people like Martin Luther King because, as a Christian, he kept naming what was wrong with the racial kind of inequality, even though every time he did he made some people more and more angry because they didn’t want things to change.

And still another reason that being a Christian can sometime make us feel hurt instead of whole is maybe the hardest to understand. It’s certainly the one that keeps surprising me. There are just some mean people in the world. There always have been and there always will be. Sometimes bad things happen that make people broken, sometimes they don’t have parents to love and care for them, sometimes they have bad role models and they just end up being mean. And along comes a follower of Jesus like you or me, and we forgive, and try to be nice, and work to solve problems, and those broken people see that as kinds of weakness to make fun of, or to criticize, or sometimes to hurt. Peacemaking—of all kinds—can be dangerous because those making war often don’t want to stop.

Brothers and sisters, young and old, nine times out of ten, doing the right thing, the thing Jesus would want you to do, bears good fruit, and makes you feel good, closer to God. But every once in a while it doesn’t, and we come away stung, or hurt, or sad. So where’s the good news in this? Well, there’s actually a lot.

If we look at Jesus’ life, if we look at what life was like for those Christians Peter was writing to, we know that sometimes doing what God wants gets us in trouble. If your discipleship, if your obedience to Jesus gets you in trouble, causes you problems every now and then, you can be sure…. you’re doing it right. The Christian faith is good news, glorious news, but that doesn’t mean that it’s all meant to be easy. Sometimes the return on discipleship is painful, and if it’s never that way, we may not be trying hard enough.

Peter also reassures the readers of his letter that other Christians unknown to them go through the same thing, and they should take heart in that awareness. It isn’t just some disciples who find themselves in tough spots because of their faith, it’s all disciples. God does not intend for we Christians to go it alone, but calls us together into the church so that we can lean on each other, be comforted by each other, be inspired by each other—especially when we experience the cost that discipleship sometimes brings when we take it out into the world. The next time you are wronged and choose to turn the other cheek as Jesus taught, and it gets slapped, too, don’t give up on that approach, come here among your church family. You will be with those who have had exactly the same experience, felt the same sting of disappointment, and you will also be among those who have turned that other cheek and seen it bring the hoped-for result, which will perhaps give you encouragement not to behave any differently the next time.

And then Peter writes down the best news of all when he says that for those who endure the hard moments of discipleship, “the God of all grace…. will himself restore, establish and strengthen you.” Exactly as Jesus’ promised, exactly as we affirm for each other week after week, year after year, generation after generation, Peter affirms that those who do as God wants—even if it turns into a big mess—will always be healed and restored and strengthened.

Friends, God is good, God is always present, God will never let go of us. But in following Jesus you and I will experience—once in a while—some difficult or uncomfortable or even painful moments because of that discipleship. It wouldn’t be fair to pretend that being a Christian is all smooth sailing. But God knows it can be hard to do that right and faithful thing; knows that people aren’t always ready to hear or witness good news through us. And so God promises strength and healing—through this sacrament, through the wealth of experience of this family, and through the grace, the inner strength that is always poured out on all of us who trust enough to step forward and do things the way Jesus did.