It's Always Something

Scripture: 1 Peter 5:6-11

In 1989 musician Billy Joel was at a turning point in his career.  The successes of songs like Piano Man were well behind him.   In 1989 he turned 40, which in Rock and Roll years is well over the hill.   He was in the studio working on recording Storm Front, which would be his first album in over three years.  While there one day he struck up a conversation with a much younger recording artist.  This person had just turned 21 and they were complaining about coming of age in the 1980s.   He saw his current times as one of upheaval and uncertainty and he lamented about how much easier young people had it thirty years ago.  Billy Joel was a fan of history as well as having more life experience, did not agree with this assessment.   This conversation led him to write the lyrics for what would become the biggest hit off his Storm Front album.   In “We Didn’t Start the Fire” Billy Joel goes through 117 events or people between 1949 and 1989 to illustrate a simple fact.   It does not matter what era one comes of age in, “We didn’t start the fire, it’s been burning since the world’s been turning.”

               Of course, today for a lot of people 1989, when the song was released, feels like simpler times.  This is why almost half of young adults between 18-29 say they would rather live in the past than in the present.   No doubt all the unprecedented times that we have endured for the past several years could easily add a verse or two to “We didn’t start the fire.”   While I do not want to minimize the problems, difficulties, and issues that plague our modern world.  The fact that Bill Joel’s song is thirty-seven years old really shows that its always something.   This morning’s scripture from Peter is written for those days when those somethings feel a little extra heavy.   When it feels like the world is on fire, this morning’s scripture encourages us to stand firm and tells us how we do it. 

               In 1 Peter 5:12, it is stated the letter was written to encourage the recipients.  They needed encouragement because the groups of believers who were certainly going through something.  Unfortunately, we cannot say with 100% certainty what that something was.   .  1 Peter 1:6 acknowledges the believers are currently suffering grief in all kinds of trials.  As we read last week in 1 Peter 3:14, the believers were encouraged with “do not fear their threats, do not be frightened.”   Then in chapter 4, verse 12, Peter wrote, “do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you.” 

               Whatever these churches were enduring did not rise to the level of making the greater historical record, this was not some event like the general persecution of Christians that would come later.  It is likely that what these Christians faced was less formal and it was more experienced on a local level.  They could have been targeted by biased authorities, it could have been cultural pressure like shunning, or it could have been a loss of business or employment.   While we do not know exactly what the issues were, clearly it was always something. 

This morning’s scripture is Peter’s final encouragement to these believers.  Even though we are separated by oceans and centuries from these believers, for us it is also always something.  The encouragement and direction that Peter wrote in this morning’s scripture can still be incredibly relevant for us today.  To stand strong, to be firm and steadfast, Peter points out three things that the believers he wrote, and we, can do. 

               The first direction Peter gives is to “humble yourself, therefore under God’s mighty hand.”    Even though the bible tends to lift up being humble as a virtue, we tend to have a negative association with the word.  After all, the word humiliation comes from the same root.   We tend to shortcut being humble as downplaying ourselves, but I do not think that is the best definition of humility.   I think C.S. Lewis defined it best.  He defined being humble as “not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”  

               Being humble means that we strive not to always center ourselves.  Whenever there is something, instead of focusing on “how does this impact me?” the humble response is to center our focus elsewhere.  In this morning’s scripture, Peter specifically suggests to center our focus on God.  This is not surprising because it echoes what Jesus himself taught, we said the greatest commandment is to Love the Lord your God with all your heat and with all your soul and with all your mind.   

               To center on focus on something other than ourselves, does not mean that we make ourselves a martyr and ignore our basic physical, emotional, spiritual needs. What we are going through still matters, and how we feel about it is still valid.   When we center on something other than ourselves though, when we center on God, then our worries and problems do not often loom as large in our minds.  Helen Lemmel captured this idea in a song she wrote in 1922: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the tings of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”

               When we de-center ourselves, and center our Savior, then the second direction Peter gave becomes easier.  He wrote, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares about you.”   Based on the content of 1 Peter, the people the letter was originally addressed to had valid reasons to be anxious, and because it’s always something we do too.   A 2025 study found that almost half of US adults report having clinical levels of anxiety, and almost half report they felt more anxious than they did the previous year.   Which I get, because there is a lot to be anxious about right now.  

Putting a focus on God and casting our anxieties God’s way has the potential to lessen how big and overwhelming they feel.  Because we can remember that God is bigger than that worries and troubles us.   We can remember that even though it is always something, it does not matter what that something is because God is still God, Jesus is still a savior who defeated death and sin, and there will still be a day when Jesus comes back, God wipes way every tear and there will be no more crying or suffering ever again. 

While casting our anxieties upon God can be helpful, that does not minimize having feelings of anxiety in the first place.   We do have to be cautious not to overemphasize things and treat feelings like anxiety as something that will go away if someone just prayed harder or had a stronger faith.  Because you can still trust in Jesus and go to therapy.  You can take your medicine in the morning and still cast your anxieties towards God.  Faith and outside help are not mutually exclusive and to suggest otherwise is absurd and harmful.  Seeking help is not an admission of spiritual weakness.  Casting our anxieties on God and focusing on the eternal care God has for us, can be helpful in dealing with the overwhelming somethings of life, but it does not need to be, and perhaps shouldn’t be, the only method we look towards to deal with the troubles of any given day. 

               This leads to the next direction that Peter gives in verses 8-9: “Be alter and of sober mind.  Your enemy, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, standing firm in the faith.”  This is an area where we do have to be careful not to get too lost in the weeds.  I do not deny that there are spiritual forces of evil in this world, but I am also confident that every setback and inconvenience in our lives is the work of the devil.  It does not matter if the cause is supernatural or not, the fact of the matter is that is always something, and no matter what the cause Peter’s advice here is worth taking to heart. 

               The phrase be “alert and of sober mind” specifically is a reference to drunkenness, but in general it is also a warning not to let ourselves get too distracted.   Whenever our focus is more on what we can do to avoid our worries or how we can ignore the problems of the world, then we are not being alert and sober minded.   When we are focused on hiding or running from problems, then it allows sin to take root in our lives in some unexpected ways.   

               Often, we think of sin as the wrong that we do, but there are other ways that we can fall short of the glory of God and not live the way God would have us live.   There is a theological concept of sins of omission.  This is when we do not do the good that we know we should do.  Our communion liturgy recognizes how prone we are to this kind of sin, because the prayer we confess together states “we have not loved our neighbors, and we have not heard the cry of the needy. Forgive us, we pray.”  When we are busy trying to distract ourselves from the problems of the world, then we completely fail to see the good God would have us to do.    In a similar fashion there is a theological concept known as systemic sin.  These are sinful attitudes and actions that are held up by cultural forces or even institutional structures like laws.  One of the easiest examples to point to of a systemic sin is racism.  When we are not alert and sober to the needs of the world around us, then we can end up participating in these sinful systems.   Our actions or our inactions can then cause harm to others.   Perhaps this is what it means the devil is looking for someone to devour.  By not being alert and of sober mind we get dragged into accepting what is wrong as normal, we get used to not doing the good God would have us to do. 

               Instead of seeking to avoid our worries and the problems of the world, Peter’s advice is to stand firm in the faith.  Because this morning’s scripture is just one big thought, this connects back to Peter’s other directions.  We stand firm in the faith, when we de-center ourselves and focus on Jesus.   We stand firm with our minds and our secured in the knowledge that Jesus is the foundation upon which we are planted.   I think that Baptist Minister Edward Mote put it best.  Mote was born in London in the 19th century to tavern owners.  He grew up with know concept of religion or even God.  As an apprentice cabinet maker though, the master craftsman he was under insisted he attend church with him.  There, very much like the first believers that Peter wrote this morning’s scripture to, Mote learned of a new way of life, he experienced grace, and forgiveness of sins.  It was while working in the workshop one morning, while reflecting on how following Jesus changed his life that verses to a song started to form in his mind.   While the whole song is a personal favorite, I think the third verse really speaks to this morning’s scripture.  Mote wrote, “His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood.  When all around my soul gives way, he then is all my hope and stay.  On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.”     
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               I think Billy Joel was right, “we didn’t start the fire, it’s been burning since the world’s been turning”, but I think Edward Mote hit on an even more profound truth.  It’s always something, but throughout it all Jesus Christ is the solid rock upon which we stand.   When Jesus is our center, when he is the foundation that we are built from, then it is possible to de-center ourselves, cast our anxieties on him, and stand firm in the faith.   I know the world is an anxious place right now, and (again) I do not want to minimize how that might make you feel, but I hope we all may better put our focus on the God who cares for us instead of all that makes us anxious.  At the same time though, may we be alert and sober so that we stand strong, firm, and steadfast.  Even though it’s always something, may we truly be able to say my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.