A Life of Submission (1 Peter 2:13-3:12)
- I once asked a man to speak on the subject of how to have an impact on other people
- when I asked him, he said, "That’s going to be a short talk"
- I was surprised, but he continued: "We all have an impact on other people. The question is how to have a good impact on other people"
- it’s humbling to realize that you have an impact on other people
- the question we need to ask is, how can you have a positive impact on other people?
- enter the apostle Peter
- Peter was raised in the aggressiveness school of impact
- by all accounts, he was a bit of a bully
- by the force of his personality and his natural temperament, he was a natural leader
- but don’t get in his way, or Peter is likely to impact you with his fist, or his sword
- when Peter writes to a bunch of social nobodies – "aliens and strangers," he calls them, one of the topics he tackles is how to have a positive impact on other people
- an important question, especially for those who lack power
- aliens and exiles held the low status of people without rights and without permanent residence in the Roman empire
- how to have an impact was a crucial question for them, because with their limited power, injustice could be meted out to them with no recourse to justice or to power
- they were living in a pagan world, in which following a murdered rabbi by the name of Jesus Christ was a strange way to improve their lot
- if anything, it made life more difficult for them
- in the middle of secular chaos, Peter tells them how to have a positive impact on other people
- and it’s not the advice you might expect!
- (1 Peter 2:11) Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.
- (1 Peter 2:12) Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
- how do you have a positive impact on others around you?
- two points, Peter says – the first one in verse 11
- first, abstain from sinful desires
- Peter doesn’t get very specific about what these sinful desires are, but he’s clear that these desires war against the soul
- Peter tells them that if they want to have a positive impact on those around them, they need to deny themselves the temporary pleasures of indulging in physical, sinful passions, because these impulses and actions prevent them from living a spiritual life
- you can see Peter’s point
- people are watching us all the time, and if they see us following sinful passions all the time, we’re going to have an impact, but it’s not going to be a positive one
- Peter continues in verse 12, which in the original is the same sentence
- point two of how to have a positive impact – live such holy lives that unbelievers have nothing to pin on you
- (1 Peter 2:12) Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
- being a Christ-follower back then was suspect – I think you could argue the same for today
- Peter’s advice is, "If you social nobodies want to have a positive impact on others, here’s what you should do – live such a blameless life that when pagans accuse you of doing bad things, they’ll see your good behavior. And just maybe your example will be so strong that they, too, will be saved, and God glorified"
- and let me tell you, there’s no reason to doubt that such an strategy for evangelism would still work today
- as Saint Francis of Assisi said centuries later, "Preach the Gospel to all the world and if necessary, use words"
- if your actions are above reproach, even hostile people will end up praising God
- even when, as in Peter’s day, vicious lies were being spread about Christians, upright behavior could prove these rumors to be false, and could win unsaved critics to the Lord’s side
- Peter could say, don’t worry about the opposition
- live holy lives in the midst of secular chaos, and let God take care of the final results
- that’s how to have a positive impact on those around you
- Peter develops this theme by addressing these two principles to everyday life
- surely, the trick is in applying these lofty principles to everyday life
- on Tuesday morning at coffee break, how are you going to have a positive impact on your co-workers?
- Peter applies these two principles to four real-life situations
- and we’re going to look at each of these, because while there are changes, our worlds also have a great deal of similarities
- and one word keeps coming up in each of these scenarios – a word that isn’t very popular today – the word submit
- AS CITIZENS (2:13-17)
- (1 Peter 2:13) Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority,
- (1 Peter 2:14) or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.
- Peter told the believers that if they were to have an impact as believers in a hostile world, they had better submit to the governmental authorities of the day
- you might say, "That’s easy in Peter’s day – they had didn’t have the politicians we have today"
- the emperor when Peter wrote was Nero, a notoriously cruel tyrant
- a man who would eventually murder both his mother and his wife
- known for his brutality and scandals that would make modern political scandals look like nothing
- a man who, after Peter wrote this book, would arrest and kill Christians on charges of "hatred of the human race" – the man who would eventually kill Peter
- Peter says, "Submit to the government"
- the reason? in verse 15, "…so that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men"
- submit to God, but as far as obedience to God will allow, live according to the law of the land
- Peter also advises us how to have an impact
- AS EMPLOYEES (2:18-25)
- (1 Peter 2:18) Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.
- (1 Peter 2:19) For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God.
- when we read the word "slaves," we unfortunately think of the reprehensible slavery of modern times
- but slavery back then, while not desirable, was much better than we think
- many people chose slavery back then, because the alternative was finding odd jobs
- the entire Roman economy was based on the system of slavery
- doctors, teachers, writers, accountants, agents, bailiffs, overseers, secretaries, and sea-captains all comprised the slave population
- most slaves were freed by the age of thirty, and many became full-fledged Roman citizens by that time
- the closest parallel to today is that of being an employee
- and Peter is telling us how to have a good impact at work as believers
- now, as back then, believers find themselves in the situation of working for non-Christian bosses who are not always fair in their treatment of believers
- it was easy, back then as now, to work for bosses who are gentle and kind
- but how do you work for somebody who treats you unjustly?
- it’s one thing to live a holy life when other people respect you, but what about when you’re unfairly passed over for a promotion, or you don’t get that pay raise?
- Peter says, "Submit to your employer, whether they’re considerate or harsh. Be a good employee anyway. It might be better to endure shame and injustice than asserting your rights in times of injustice"
- let’s be crystal clear here, because this goes clear-cut against how we’d chose to operate
- back then a slave could say, "Get real, Peter. You don’t know my master. He sold my children. He raped my wife. If I don’t perform to his satisfaction, he whips me. He doesn’t deserve Christian respect!"
- or, today we could say, "You don’t know my employer. You don’t know his habits, his moral life, his moods. It’s easy for you to talk about submission, and working diligently, and respecting authority. You’ve never had a boss like mine!"
- it’s much easier to quit, or to sue, or to give your boss a piece of your mind
- but Peter’s point is excellent
- what sort of impact would you have on your boss if, in the coffee room at your office, instead of joining in on hostile attacks on your boss, you made an attempt to protect his reputation?
- it doesn’t mean you have to like him, or to carry his picture in your wallet
- what if you display an attitude of cooperation and respect and honor – following the example of Jesus, as Peter points out in verses 19 to 25
- what if you focused on living a holy life in the middle of secular chaos, and let God take care of the final results?
- the submissive life, in the face of injustice, is behavior rooted in the cross of Christ
- it’s not just pragmatic advice; it’s not a piece of power; it’s a piece of Christian theology
- live this way because that’s the way Jesus lived, and this is the kind of behavior God wills
- the path of submission in the face of injustice is not for the feeble or weak-kneed; it’s for those who are willing to pick up their cross daily and follow Jesus
- two more scenarios
- Peter tells us how to have an impact
- AS SPOUSES (3:1-7)
- when a man became a Christian, he would usually bring his whole family into church with him
- but a woman who became a believer would usually come into the church on her own
- under Roman law, the husband and father had absolute authority over every member of the household
- so what was a Christian woman with an unbelieving spouse to do?
- preach to her husband? challenge his authority?
- Peter recommends another approach: show your husbands the same sort of self-giving love that Christ has showed to you
- (1 Peter 3:1) Wives, in the same way be submissive to your husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives,
- (1 Peter 3:2) when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.
- at a time when women had more limited rights than men, Peter wants wives to submit – not because they are second-class, but because of the influence they can exert on their husbands
- how can they have a positive impact in their marriage?
- through the "eloquent silence of Christian deportment"
- similarly, in verse 7, how can husbands have the greatest impact on their wives?
- you could argue, and I will, that Peter is arguing that husbands likewise be submissive to their wives, in spite of the legal advantages they hold under Roman law
- he says they are weaker, I believe, in the sense that women are vulnerable to attack and abuse
- are women to submit to their husbands? yes
- are husbands to submit to their wives? absolutely!
- they are to be sensitive to their wives needs, and to relate to her with courtesy, consideration, insight, respect, and tact
- do you see what Peter is saying?
- he says, "You might have good government, you might have bad government. You might have a good boss, you might have a good boss. You might have a wonderful spouse, or you might have a spouse you would never marry again."
- "Regardless of what they’re like, here’s some advice. Watch your life! Submit to them! Live in such a way that they’ll have nothing bad to say, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll win them to Christ"
- imagine what would happen if spouses lived in a way that they looked for the happiness of the other and surrendered their will to the other
- this isn’t some utopian ideal
- a married partner who seeks to live for the other, who seeks the happiness of the other, and who learns to say no to personal wants and wishes will have an impact on the other, and will be living the sort of live Jesus Christ lived for us
- no wonder some of us aren’t having a positive impact on others!
- remember Peter’s advice in the first place?
- abstain from sinful desires
- and live such holy lives that others can’t pin anything on you
- live holy lives in the midst of secular chaos, and let God take care of the results
- submit, and maybe, just maybe, you’ll win them to Christ
- this is tough medicine
- but it’s the route to impact as citizens, employees, spouses, and lastly
- IN THE CHURCH (3:8-12)
- (1 Peter 3:8) Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble.
- a local church ought to be a model of what it means to live harmoniously, lovingly, righteously, and peacefully
- the church ought to be a living embodiment of what God wants for people in social relationships
- it’s the living incarnation of the love of Christ expressed for one another and the world
- churches at that time were havens in which people gained strength to endure persecution
- just as churches today need to become places where we can come and withstand the onslaught against personal morals and identity
- you might have learned, as I have, that following Peter’s command involves submission
- one man writes:
- "When the vote does not go according to the pastor’s plans, when the choir does not get behind a certain special service, when the pastor speaks on topics that you or I would not choose, or when others are elevated to positions of leadership we might want – in all of these, individual Christians are confronted with the option of cruciform living. Either we choose selfishness, and grumble or divide, or we choose cruciform living by conceding God’s will to other people and plans."
- in essence, Peter’s advice to us is simple
- if you want to have an impact on other people, stop being preoccupied with your personal rights, and start focusing on serving others
- live such holy lives that even hostile pagans will give glory to God
- preach God to all the world; if necessary, use words
- we live in a hostile world
- you’re not going to win too many points in this world for being a Christian
- you might be suffering with a bad boss or an impossible marriage situation
- but you can have an impact by living a holy life, submitting, and leaving the results up to God
- Martin Luther King Jr. said:
- You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know Plato and Aristotle. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics. All you need is a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
- let’s pray
- Gracious Father:
- thank you for your Word that we’ve studied this morning
- I would like to pray specifically in two areas this morning: work and marriage
- there might be some here who are in an impossible work situation
- perhaps they haven’t been consistent in living an exemplary life
- perhaps the work situation has become so challenging, that they’ve become more preoccupied with their personal rights rather than making an impact for Jesus Christ
- I pray that for these people, Lord, that you would enable them to be consumed not with getting the raise they deserve, but getting the praise from God
- not with getting the glory for themselves but giving the glory to you
- I pray that they would see themselves, regardless of their boss and regardless of their circumstances, in the prime position of making a deep spiritual impact, because they live holy lives in the midst of chaos, and leave the results up to you
- Father, there aren’t many married people here who couldn’t learn a thing or two about becoming a servant spouse
- what would happen, O Lord, if regardless of how our spouses acted, we chose to serve them
- if we looked for the happiness of the other, and learned to say no to our own personal wants and wishes
- what kind of impact would we have on our spouses if we became their servants
- what kind of impact would we have, O Lord, if we chose to live like Jesus did
- (Mark 10:43) Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,
- (Mark 10:44) and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.
- (Mark 10:45) For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
- as we come to the communion table, Lord, help us to become servants to each other, and to lead lives of submission, we pray. Amen.
- [COMMUNION]
- I told you earlier that Peter, by personality, was anything but submissive
- where did he get these ideas that would ultimately see him martyred for the faith?
- where did Peter get these crazy ideas?
- the answer is simple: Jesus
- Peter, who naturally lacked no hesitation in asserting his rights, watched firsthand as Jesus submitted to the cross
22He never sinned, and he never deceived anyone. 23He did not retaliate when he was insulted. When he suffered, he did not threaten to get even. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. 24 He personally carried away our sins in his own body on the cross so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. You have been healed by his wounds! 25Once you were wandering like lost sheep. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.