LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2004, Page 88

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CONVENTION BIBLE STUDIES
1. Ablaze in One Mission
with Hope-Filled Hearts
Ready to Speak from a Hope-Filled Heart
(1 Peter 3:15)
Introduction
Grace and peace to you all in Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Amen. 1 Peter 3:15, our key verse, is the only place among
all of the New Testament letters that an apostle exhorts believers to witness about Christ. Peter writes, “But in your
hearts sanctify Christ as Lord, always ready for a defense
to everyone who requests from you a word concerning the
hope that is in you all.”
This is an important and remarkable statement. But
like all of Scripture, Peter’s words here are active and living, and like all living things, these words are planted in a
certain location—in a context. If you yank a plant out of its
context, it will die. And if we read this verse out of its context, we run the risk of missing its meaning. Let us turn,
then, first of all to understanding more fully 1 Peter 3:15
in its context.

I. Peter’s Exhortation in Context
The believers are to be ready to offer a word, a message
about the hope that is in them all. The very word hope
points to the future. Hope means that there’s something
lacking in the present. Peter’s first letter makes it very
clear that Christians in the first century—or in the twentyfirst century—are living in hope because in the present
time they are travelers, pilgrims, resident aliens who don’t
really belong where and when they are. The first words of
this letter are “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those
who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, etc.” Elect exiles; people whom God has chosen to be His own, and yet who are living in exile. Elect exiles of the dispersion—God’s people were scattered around
the eastern Mediterranean, and now are scattered around
the world—not yet at home. In verse 17 of this first chapter
the apostle writes, “conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.” Then in 2:11 he writes,
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles.” Christians
live—both then and now—in a time and in a place that is
not really their home. We are travelers, on the way to somewhere. So we need hope.
Even though we are now exiles, God gives to us different vocations, places in life in which we relate to others,
many of whom do not yet believe in Jesus. We are not isolated from them; we work with them, sometimes live with
them. In the first century things had started to heat up for
the believers in their lives as Christian servants and slaves,
wives and husbands. Christians were rubbing shoulders
with others who did not know Jesus Christ and who increasingly thought that those who did know Christ were
. . . strange, to say the least. Beginning in 2:13 and running
all the way up to our key verse, Peter encourages the be89

lievers who increasingly run the risk of ridicule and rejection.
In the verses immediately before our key verse, 1 Peter
3:13–14, the apostle writes, “Now who is there to harm you
if you are zealous for what is good?” You can tell that the
difficulties have not grown to the point of certain and regular persecution. But Peter continues, “But even if you
should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.
Have no fear of them, nor be troubled” (v. 14). When you
choose the right and turn from evil, you may very well take
some punishment for that. But do not fear them. None of
them, not even Caesar himself, is Lord. Do not fear them.
Do not in your hearts sanctify any of them as the Lord.
Now the key verse—“But in your hearts sanctify Christ
as Lord, always ready for a defense to everyone who requests from you a word concerning the hope that is in you
all.” Peter continues in verses 16–17: speak gently and reverently, keep your conscience clear. It’s better to suffer for
doing good, if that’s what God wants, than for doing evil!
This is his word to a pilgrim people, travelers in the wilderness, exiles waiting to reach their true home.
In other words, Peter’s exhortation to speak about the
hope that is within the believers is part of a package deal,
just part of their life and it’s, at times, a difficult life. The
believers are to do good in their callings as husbands or
wives, as masters or slaves, as craftsman or rulers, or wherever they are. As they live out their lives, they may suffer.
But that does not rob them of their hope. And as part of
that life, they are to be ready to speak—all of them—ready
to give a defense, an explanation to those who ask for a
2004 Convention Proceedings