Alexamenos Graffito

1 Peter : Aliens & Strangers  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  41:32
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Today, I need you to engage your imagination for our time together. I’d like you to imagine for a moment that you go home after our gathering, and you find this carved on the side of your house. This is very old graffiti, so I know it is hard to see… so let me show you an artists rendering of the graffiti. So… Imagine you find this carved on the side of your house. Now, every time you walk out of your house, you’re going to see this… every time you return home, you’re going to see this. It’s in the face of all of your friends, all of your neighbors… this is what they see when they come by your house.
This graffiti was carved about 150-200 years after the life of Jesus. What you have on the left is a young man, and on the right is a slanderous depiction of Jesus being crucified on a cross… and he’s been given a donkey’s head. The inscription reads Alexamenos Worships His God. You can imagine that the person who created this graffiti did not think too highly of Jesus… and they did not think too highly of Alexamenos… the person who’s house this was carved into.
What would you do if this were on the side of your house? What would you do if you knew that the people in your community… the people living right next door to you… felt this way about you and your faith? How would you explain this to your children? If your children had to see this everyday… and had to feel the weight of what this represents? The mocking and the shame that would come from other children… How would you respond?
My message this morning is going to be in story format. I’m going to share with you the fictional story of Alexamenos. And although it is a fictional story… the entire story is truthful in that it represents the time that Alexamenos lived… we just don’t have his story on record… only the graffiti from the wall of his home.
Alexamenos was born in 180 A.D. in the city of Antioch. Antioch, at this time, was the 3rd largest city in the Roman Empire. It was referred to as “Queen of the East”. It was a college city. It had magnificent temples and ornate public buildings. It was also a destination for tourists… it was a dream for business owners… and it was the home to many retired Roman officials. It was truly a significant city in the Roman Empire.
It’s also an important city in Christian history. There was a relatively significant Christian population shortly after the life of Christ. Luke’s letter, The Acts of the Apostles, tells us that it was in Antioch that Jesus followers were first called Christians (ACTS 11:26). Two of the most well-known people in the church at that time, Paul & Barnabas, spent some time teaching in Antioch and building up the believers there. It was the church in Antioch that laid their hands on Paul & Barnabas, to send them out as missionaries across the Roman Empire to share the Gospel of Christ.
But despite being somewhat of an epicenter for Christian history, Christians were still very much a minority in Antioch. Christians were completely different from everyone else in the city. They believed different things… and they lived their lives in different ways. Alexamenos was no exception. Every day as he lived his life… as he went to school… as he went to market… Alexamenos knew he stuck out like a sore thumb.
Antioch was an extremely crowded city. Like most cities in the Roman Empire, there was a wall built around Antioch… and most residents lived inside those walls. Antioch had literally hundreds of thousands of residents living in a couple of square miles.
Imagine this… Chicago has a population density of about 20 people per acre. Manhattan has a population density of about 100 people per acre. But when you think about how those cities are built… they have very tall buildings. It’s estimated that Antioch had a population density of 120 people per acre… yet the tallest building was only five stories tall. This is a level of crowding that none of us have ever experienced. And this is one of the reasons everyone knew what Alexamenos believed.
Alexamenos and his family would’ve lived in one room. That one room is where they ate, where they slept, it’s where they got dressed, it’s where their animals stayed. The one room would’ve probably had windows, but they were basically holes in the wall with an animal skin as a curtain. There was no running water at the time… no bathrooms. When Alexamenos had to go the bathroom, he could either go down the street to the public bathrooms… or he could do what most people did… use a clay pot in the corner of that one room.
When Alexamenos looked outside his window, he saw thousands of families living exactly the way his family was living… this was common. Alexamenos never had a moment to himself. There were always people around. So everyone knew about his faith. Everyone knew that Alexamenos was one of those people who followed Jesus Christ. And for the most part, followers of Jesus were not thought highly of.
One of Alexamenos’ heroes was a man named Ignatius. Ignatius had died a few decades before Alexamenos was born at the hands of the Roman Emporer Trajan. Trajan was a Roman military hero. After winning a war and expanding the Roman Empire, Trajan issued a decree that everyone throughout the Roman Empire would go to the temple, and make sacrifices to the Roman gods to celebrate the victory. This was something Ignatius could not do.
Ignatius, who was Bishop of Antioch, was a strong defender of the faith… one that would not compromise. So Ignatius found himself in a particularly unique situation when Trajan decreed that EVERYONE would celebrate this victory by making sacrifices to the Roman gods. Ignatius’ allegiance to Jesus would not allow this.
So the Romans sentenced him as a traitor… and for that, he would be put to death. As Ignatius traveled through the Empire on his way to Rome, he wrote letters to the churches… letters that we still have today… “I’m writing to all the churches to state emphatically that I die willingly for God provided you do not interfere.” Ignatius was given to wild beasts as a public spectacle.
Ignatius was a hero to Alexamenos and other Christians now living in Antioch. They would gather together and read his letters to encourage and strengthen one another. And as they met… on lookers began starting rumors about Alexamenos and the other Christians.
There was a rumor that they were atheists because they refused to worship Roman gods. There were rumors that these Christians practiced incest. After all… they called one another brother and sister… yet these brothers and sisters were getting married to one another. There were rumors that these Christians were cannibals. Only many occasions people overheard them talking about partaking in the body and the blood of Jesus.
All of these rumors… and now, the graffiti on the wall of his house, made Alexamenos very uncomfortable. He felt like an alien and a stranger in his own city. The only time that Alexamenos found encouragement is when he met together with the church. And when they would gather, they would read Ignatius’ letters… and they would read Scripture together out loud. Alexamenos was especially encouraged when they opened up Peter’s letters. After all… Peter was the reason Ignatius became a Christian… and like Ignatius, Peter was also killed in Rome for his faith in Jesus.
Alexamenos remembers a time where they gathered together and he heard the words from Peter…
1 Peter 3:8 NIV
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
Being loving, compassionate, and humble was something that Alexamenos and the whole church in Antioch tried to do all the time… and they had lots of opportunities to practice.
Several years before, there was a huge earthquake in Antioch which leveled part of the city. This earthquake led to a lot of death and destruction. The church, though, decided this was an opportunity to show the love and compassion of Christ… so the church became the nurses and doctors of the city, and took care of the wounded. They also took it upon themselves to comfort those who had lost loved ones. On top of that… the church led the charge in rebuilding the city.
It was also common for health epidemics to sweep through the densely populated city. And when they did, rich, retired roman officials would abandon ship… not the church though. The Christians didn’t leave because they knew that they were called to live lives of love… they knew that they were called to live lives of compassion… they knew that they were to put other’s needs above their own… even if an epidemic was coming their way and it might impact them and their families. So, the Christians stayed and took care of the sick and the dying… and shared the gospel with them. This is what it looked like for Alexamenos to show love and compassion in his community.
Yet, although this is how Alexamenos lived his life… the rumors still continued to circulate… and the graffiti remained on his house. The people of the city continued to mock him… and they continued to mock Jesus.
Just like you and I would want to, Alexamenos wanted to retaliate. But then… Alexamenos heard these words from Peter…
1 Peter 3:9 NIV
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
Alexamenos knew that retaliation was not the way of Christ. Christ repaid evil with blessing. Christ repaid insult with love and compassion. But surely, if he kept showing the love and compassion of Christ, the mocking, the rumors, the graffiti would stop… right? Then Alexamenos heard these words from Peter…
1 Peter 3:13–14 NIV
Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”
Alexamenos finally understood that sometimes, it doesn’t matter how much good you do… sometimes, it doesn’t matter how loving you are… sometimes, it doesn’t matter how compassionate you are… sometimes, it doesn’t matter how humble you are. Sometimes, the world around us is just simply against Christ and His church. Sometimes, people just to reject Jesus, and so they reject any act of love that his people will do.
So as Alexamenos begins to put all of this together in his mind… I’m to love people… I’m to be compassionate… I’m to put other people’s needs above my own… I’m not to repay evil with evil… or insult with insult… but instead, repay evil and insult with blessing… how am I supposed to live like that in this culture? Why in the world would I do this? Then he hears these words from Peter…
1 Peter 3:15–16 NIV
But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
Alexamenos realizes that the reason that he shows love and compassion isn’t because he’s trying to win favor of the community… it’s because Jesus Christ has saved him… and he’s revering Him as Lord. He does it to please Jesus.
And while he’s showing this love and this compassion… there’s something attached to it. The reason. The reason for his hope. He’s supposed to be ready to share that reason with everyone.
The reason that Alexamenos has is the gospel of Jesus. That reason is that Jesus has defeated death for him… that Jesus had defeated sin for him. The reason that Alexamenos has is that his future is secure, no matter what society thought of him, because of the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Alexamenos realized that sometimes these trials, these sufferings, these malicious words are right in the middle of God’s will. Peter says…
1 Peter 3:17–18 NIV
For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
Alexamenos realized that doing God’s did not mean things would be easy or simple… that obeying God did not mean that his life would be smooth and straight. No… Peter says exactly the opposite. That living God’s will sometimes puts us in places where trials and suffering will happen. Isn’t that, after all, what happened in the life of Christ?
Jesus lived perfectly obedient to God… Jesus said, I only do what the Father tells me to do… Jesus living this perfect, sinless life… completely in sync with His Heavenly Father… and yet He experienced the greatest suffering you can imagine throughout his life. Mocking… the ridicule… the threats… the abandonment… and ultimately his murder on the cross. Being in God’s will did not prevent suffering… his suffering was a result of being in God’s will.
Alexamenos realized that if he was to live the Christ like life… that often that means willingly walking right into suffering. And that’s the life that Alexamenos experienced in Antioch because that’s the life that Jesus called him to.
So… This graffiti on the side of Alexamenos’ house… this graffiti on the side of your house… how do you respond?
Well 1st off… let me ask this question… is there enough evidence in your life that someone would graffiti this on your house? Is there evidence of your faith? Listen… let me be clear about something… we are saved by grace through faith alone… not of works, so that no one can boast. Works do not save. Evidence is exactly that… evidence of faith. And according to the book of James… if there’s no evidence… there’s no faith. To quote a 90s songwriter… faith without works is about as useless as a screen door on a submarine. Is there enough evidence for someone to graffiti this on your house?
And if so… how do you respond to it? How do you respond to a culture that thinks your beliefs are non-sensical? A culture that doesn’t understand why you’d follow a crucified Lord?
1st… you respond in humility, love, and compassion. You put other’s needs above your own… even if it’s during a destructive earthquake… or in the middle of a pandemic. You humbly show love and compassion no matter what comes your way. You don’t repay evil for evil, or insult for insult… but instead… you bless those who persecute you. You find that person that graffitied your house and you serve them.
2nd… You realize that suffering is going to happen even when you’re doing exactly what God wants you do to. In fact… if you’re doing what God wants you to do, you can pretty much expect MORE suffering… MORE ridicule… MORE slander.
And finally… while your serving, loving, showing compassion, you use those times as opportunities to share the gospel. Use those times to proclaim that Jesus Christ alone is the hope of the world. Proclaim that because of his life, death, and resurrection… Jesus is able to do the same for everyone else that he’s done for you… he has taken away all our sin, our guilt, our shame… and replaced it with his purity… with his righteousness. Proclaim that Jesus is coming again… and only those that trust Him, will live eternally with Him.
Would you pray with me?
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