Don’t Be Surprised!
I have opinions about a lot of things. In my opinion Jim Brown is the best running back to ever walk onto a football field.
Brown played for 9 seasons and was in 9 straight Pro Bowls. He was on the first team all-league team 8 of the 9 years he played. In his career the average gain he got per rush was 5.22 yards the highest in NFL history.
In 1963 he rushed for 1,863 yards, and that was in a 14-game season, not 17 games like today. He had more games rushing more than 100 yards in his career than any other back in history, 58 games.
Imagine that the quarterback handed the ball to Jim Brown, and he took off through the interior of the line and was tackled by a big defensive lineman and a linebacker.
Then Jim comes back to the huddle and says to the quarterback, Frank Ryan, “Frank, you won’t believe this, but those guys tackled me.” Frank said, “Don’t be surprised, Jim you were carrying the ball!”
The apostle Peter says something similar to us in 1 Peter 4:12, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you,” (NIV)
He’s speaking to people he calls “dear friends,” which is the phrase He used often that older translations translated “beloved.” These were people who chose to follow Jesus as Lord and He’s saying, “don’t be surprised when you suffer because you are following Jesus as Lord.” It’s the same kind of thing as Jim Brown carrying the ball and saying, “look at that, they tackled me.”
Painful trials is literally, a word for “burning,” in fact that Greek word is PYROSIS, a word we can trace words like “pyromaniac” to. Don’t be stunned when the heat gets turned up, because you’re following Jesus and it’s just part of the life you live, like getting tackled was part of Jim Brown’s life as a running back.
Remember the words of Jesus in John 15:18, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.” (NIV)
The world didn’t dig Jesus, and when you and I take Him on as Lord of life, the world is probably not going to dig us too much either. Taking on the Lordship of Christ is like taking the ball as a running back, at some point you will get tackled!
Peter has much to say about the painful trials we might be called to go through, and he says that in 1 Peter 4:12-19. I want to look at it around four words, rejoice, blessed, suffer and judgement. First, rejoice.
1 Peter 4:13, “But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed.” (NIV)
The idea of rejoicing because I’m suffering doesn’t seem to make an extra lot of sense, does it?
I have suffered before. Some for a day or two in the hospital after openheart surgery! It wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be, but it still did seem like suffering at some level.
If you asked me if I would go into a fit of rejoicing to have to go through that suffering again, I would probably choose to decline that opportunity.
Notice how the apostle frames this, you rejoice in suffering so you can be overjoyed when His glory is revealed. I rejoice because, though I’m suffering now, I’m assured the time will come when His glory will be revealed and I will share in that glory in the coming of Christ and His Kingdom, guaranteeing all suffering is ended forever and for good!
That heart surgery was January 28, 2014, and it fixed my heart resulting in some temporary suffering, but now the suffering is over. Why? I’m on the other side of it and recovered.
We’re in the suffering phase now until Jesus returns! When He returns the recovery stage isn’t what starts, but the recovered stage starts.
Romans 8:17 gets at the same idea, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” (NIV)
Rejoice when you share in Christ’s suffering, because it affirms you’re God’s child and God’s heir and when you share with Him in His suffering it guarantees you will share with Him in His glory when He returns!
The second word is blessed.
1 Peter 4:14, “If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” (NIV)
Have you ever been insulted for Christ? It happens, doesn’t it? I think about a hockey player who’s a Christian and his team asked him to wear a gay pride jersey and he declined saying it was against his religion. He didn’t make a big scene about it, he just declined.
This happened in Canada and a Canadian sports journalist just lit him up in an insulting way! He’s being insulted because of the name of Christ, because he refuses to bow to the cultural rot that’s going on and he’s not radical about it, just saying, “no, I’m not going to wear the gay pride jersey.”
Jesus summed this all up perfectly in Matthew 5:11-12, “(11) Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. (12) Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (NIV)
We’re blessed when people insult and persecute us! There are two qualifiers. First, what people say has to be a false accusation against you. In other word, they’re not complaining and insulting about some evil thing you have done. What they accuse you of is false.
One observation I would make is almost always when someone insults and persecutes you when you’re consistent with Christ, they’re accusing you of a falsehood. They make up stuff to accuse you of.
Second, the motive behind their accusation is you’re following Jesus and their insults are because of Jesus.
Have you ever been in total darkness and then someone hits the bright lights? You cover up and get away from the light because it hurts your eyes.
When you walk with Jesus in front of people walking in darkness, you shine the light in their eyes blinded by darkness, and they respond with insult and persecution. They do that because they’re covering up!
Understand when that happens the spirit of glory and the spirit of God rests on you! You’re blessed bigger than the insult and persecution can hurt, making you the winner!
The third word is suffer.
1 Peter 4:15-16, “(15) If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or a thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. (16) However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name.” (NIV)
You never want to suffer for the wrong reason. The wrong reason to suffer is for being a criminal or even a meddler. Obviously, the criminal isn’t suffering for Christ. Criminality is the wrong reason to suffer.
Meddling is another wrong reason to suffer! A meddler interferes in something that’s not his concern. He’s the guy who butts in! Don’t suffer for butting into other people’s business!
But never be ashamed for suffering as a Christian. A Christian is a person who has chosen to follow Jesus as his ruler and Lord. Never be ashamed to suffer because you bear the name of Christ.
Praise God you bear the name of Christ! The glory He has waiting for us will far outshine any suffering we will do here!
The fourth word is judgement.
1 Peter 4:17-18, “(17) For it is time for judgement to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (18) And, “if it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner.” (NIV)
He’s talking about judgement for the family of God, or judgement for God’s people, the Christians. He’s not talking about eternal judgement! This is judgement in the sense of tough times on the way to the full unfolding of the Kingdom of God at the day of the Lord.
If it will be tough for the Christian, what is it going to look like for the ungodly and the sinner, that is the unrepentant sinner!
There are two kinds of judgement, one is tough times on the way to the full kingdom of God. The other is the lake of fire for eternity for the lost sinner.
Rejoice when you suffer with Christ as you will share in His glory.
You’re blessed when you’re insulted for Christ because His glory is on you.
Suffer as a Christian and praise God that you bear His name.
Understand that judgement for you is some tough times coming into the full unfolding of the Kingdom of God.
The passage closes with 1 Peter 4:19, “So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful creator and continue to do good.” (NIV)
Don’t be surprised if you suffer for the Lord, commit yourself to the Lord and continue to do good!
Just like Jim Brown taking the football, don’t be surprised if you get tackled carrying the ball! Getting tackled carrying the ball is being persecuted because you have taken on the Lordship of Christ and are living it out.
Jesus took the ball first, and He got tackled! Don’t be surprised when He gives the ball to you, and you get tackled. Bottom line: Jesus will pick you up and get you through it, after all He went first and knows the way!