The Power of the Powerless
The Power of the Powerless
Accept the deception or tell the truth
I.
Taking a stand for what’s right is only easy when (a) it’s clear what the right thing to do is, and (b) everyone agrees.
In other words, you would never have to make a stand under these circumstances. Doing the right thing is the majority view and things are set up in such a way as to encourage it.
For instance, in days gone by, going to church on Sunday morning was considered the right thing to do. Furthermore, blue laws and social convention prohibited just about anything else from happening on Sunday morning.
Identifying as a Christian in a culture that was, by and large, Christian did not require taking a stand. It was the default setting.
That’s not true anymore.
II.
Peter is writing to the early Christians, both Jewish believers in Jesus and Gentile converts, in a culture similar to our own, one that is indifferent to the Faith at best, and hostile to it at worse.
Peter’s advice is worth going over carefully, with an eye to how we might apply it today.
Peter writes:
“Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?”
Peter’s advice here is to live a quiet and peaceful life. Earlier he wrote:
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”
Peter is saying that if you are a law-abiding citizen, that is, if you are “eager to do good,” you will be left alone. Peter’s first word of advice to Christians living under hostile conditions is not to stir things up and draw attention.
However, Peter knows that will not work for long. A hostile regime is, after all, hostile. It has its police, its spies, its informers. That’s what Peter has in mind when he writes:
“But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated.”
Peter’s church was suffering for what it believed. That is why he wrote this letter to them. His advice is, “do not fear what they fear.” “Do not be afraid of the things the world is afraid of.”
III.
Vaclav Havel described how this kind of fear works his 1978 essay, “The Power of the Powerless.”
Havel was a Czech statesman, author, poet, playwright, and former dissident.Being a dissident meant he was on the receiving end of a lot of threats. In fact, a year after writing this essay, he was imprisoned.
Havel tells the story of a shopkeeper:
“The manager of a fruit-and-vegetable shop [who] places in his window, among the onions and carrots, the slogan: ‘Workers of the world, unite!’”
Havel points out the “that the overwhelming majority of shopkeepers never think about the slogans they put in their windows, nor do they use them to express their real opinions.”
The poster comes ready-made for the shopkeeper to display and arrives with the produce delivery. It’s all coordinated, as I preached last week, all the circumstances of his life are arranged to achieve the desired outcome. He never thinks about why he posts the poster but he knows if he were to refuse there could be trouble.
Havel continues:
“He could be reproached for not having the proper decoration in his window; someone might even accuse him of disloyalty. He does it because these things must be done if one is to get along in life. It is one of the thousands of details that guarantee him a relatively tranquil life ‘in harmony with society,’ as they say.”
Here, Havel sounds very much like Peter: “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?” But Peter knows that the gospel puts believers on a collision course with this kind of tranquil life because the gospel is about freedom and our shopkeeper is a slave.
Havel concludes that what this sign does is reveal the “low foundations” of the shopkeeper’s obedience. The sign allows the shopkeeper to shrug his shoulders indifferently and say, “What’s wrong with the workers of the world uniting?”
“Thus the sign helps the greengrocer to conceal from himself the low foundations of his obedience, at the same time concealing the low foundations of power.”
Thus, to Peter’s admonishment not to “fear what they fear” Havel would add, “because that fear makes you easy to control.”
IV.
One of the recurring messages of the Bible is that we must fear God and obey His commandments. Ecclesiastes says that is our whole duty.
It is the only way to be free. Jesus said:“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Yet one of our main objections to the Bible is that we say that obeying God’s Word takes away our freedom. What both Havel and Peter tell us, however, is that in disobeying God we haven’t managed to preserve our freedom at all, in fact, we’ve only sold ourselves to the lowest bidder.
There is a deep deception involved in this transaction, one that allows people to remain indifferent to their condition.
Havel says:
“Let us take note: if the greengrocer had been instructed to display the slogan ‘I am afraid and therefore unquestioningly obedient;’ he would not be nearly as indifferent to its semantics, even though the statement would reflect the truth. The greengrocer would be embarrassed and ashamed to put such an unequivocal statement of his own degradation in the shop window, and quite naturally so, for he is a human being and thus has a sense of his own dignity.”
It’s sort of like the “S-word” — sin. People object when the Church calls out sinners in their sin. Each revision of the Book of Common Prayer has watered down the idea of sin. The confession used to read:
“We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; And we have done those things which we ought not to have done; And there is no health in us.”
But that was a bit too much like the greengrocer hanging a sign in his window that tells the truth about himself and the regime he lives under, so now we no longer say, “And there is no health in us.”
But we still have a choice as to whether to accept the deception or to tell the truth.
Peter writes:
“Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and respect.”
In other words, don’t post a sign on the wall (or on your front lawn) that is a lie, and be prepared — politely — to explain why you won’t, even if you have to suffer for it:
“For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.”
We have to do what is right even if we suffer for it, because God wills what is right, and we want to obey God’s will. Besides, we will surely suffer for doing wrong.
V.
Why is Peter unafraid of what everyone else is afraid of, and how is it he can tell us not to be afraid?
After all, some of you may be thinking, “It is easy to read Peter’s words as comforting, but powerless to stop the persecution. What did he actually do to help?”
Peter therefore reminds his readers that Christ endured similar suffering, and Noah similar ridicule. Meanwhile, since His resurrection, Peter tells us that Christ has gone so far as to proclaim defeat to the “to the spirits in prison.”
That may sound strange to modern ears, but it’s a good reminder that dark forces oppose the Church and her message. Christ has conquered even these, and these “powers [are now] made subject to him.”
Peter’s practical advice is to have a better sign to post. It may not always be necessary to stir the pot. Peter says, “in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord.” To me that means much, much more than wearing a cross on your neck or putting a “Jesus is Lord” bumper sticker on your car.
You see, sometimes even the regime calls itself Christian and makes greengrocers post Christian signs. Admittedly, I think that’s much better than communist slogans or today’s corporate propaganda, but even Christian signs and slogans are meaningless without faith, without making Christ the Lord of your heart.
That is why the Church has always been very cautious with her signs and sacraments. Only those who understand what they are doing should partake of them and we need to guard against the tokenism and conformity that comes with Christian art and iconography.
I preach to you standing in front of two symbols, a Christus Rex and an American flag, both deeply meaningful, but both capable of signaling a “low foundation” of obedience and power.
I would gladly forgo the symbols to “maintain,” as Peter says, “a good conscience so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.”
Our symbols will never put the enemies of Christ to shame. Our converted hearts will. If they see us willing to suffer patiently for the truth, they will be convicted, either to repentance, in which case they will join us in friendship, or to judgment.
Paul told the Athenians:
“While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
Praise and thanks be to God who will overlook all the stupid slogans and signs we have uttered (and posted) and instead looks only on the Christ who “suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring [us] to God.” Amen.
Preached on May 14, 2023 at St. Peter’s Lithgow, Millbrook, New York.
Easter 6, Year A – Notes
Acts 17:22-31; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21
Questions for reflection and discussion:
1. Explain how the culture of the First Century Roman Empire is like our own.
2. Peter’s first counsel to Christians living in a hostile culture is ____________.
3. Peter’s second counsel is do not ____________ and do not be ____________.
4. Believers are ____________ when they suffer for what is right.
5. What is a dissident?
6. Explain what Havel meant by “low foundations” of obedience and power.
7. Fear makes you easy to ____________.
8. Jesus says the ____________ will set you free.
9. Each revision of the Book of Common Prayer has watered down the idea of ____________.
10. When we explain our faith to someone who demands it, we should do so ____________.
11. We have to do what is ____________ even if we suffer for it.
12. This is because God ____________ what is right, and we want to obey God’s ____________.
Parents and Grandparents, you are responsible to apply God’s Word to your children’s lives. Here is some help. Young Children – draw a picture about something you hear during the sermon. Explain your picture(s) to your parents or the minister after church. Older Children – Do one or more of the following: 1) Count how many times “suffer/suffering” is mentioned. 2) Discuss with your parents the importance of knowing what you believe and being able to explain it.
(1) pagan and hostile/indifferent to Christian belief; (2) live quiet and peaceably; (3) fear/intimidated; (4) blessed; (5) Someone who disagrees with prevailing opinion or belief; (6) people submit and conform with very little resistance (7) control; (8) truth; (9) sin; (10) with gentleness and respect; (11) right; (12) wills/ God’s will
The Hannah Arendt Center, “‘The Power of the Powerless’ - Vaclav Havel,” Bard HAC, accessed May 10, 2023, https://hac.bard.edu/amor-mundi/the-power-of-the-powerless-vaclav-havel-2011-12-23.