Living a Virtuous Life

Introduction:

The year is 2011. I served as a volunteer high school football coach while working toward my teacher’s certification. I volunteered at a high school with the lowest graduation rate and highest concentration of impoverished students and teen violence in the city. To make matters worse, the athletics director and head football coach did not get along.

In two seasons, the head coach completely turned around the football team’s performance in the classroom and playing field. The head coach’s emphasis on academic success increased the students athletic success, too. The team GPA quickly transformed from the lowest of all student sports to the top 3 of student sports in a few years. The team reached the high school playoffs the first time in over a decade and the head coach was awarded coach of the year by the local newspaper.

However, the conflict between the athletics director and head coach impacted the coaching staff, too. To sabotage the coach’s success, the athletics director intentionally created a compromising situation for the head coach.

As the newest and youngest coach on the team I volunteered to assist with the certification process. I was warned the athletics director may attempt to sabotage the start of the football season. Still, I volunteered to show my support for the head coaches’ vision and commitment to the process.

However, the athletics director would not allow me to assist in the certification process. She intentionally missed the certification deadline for 5 players. Due to a small varsity roster the head coach stuck between a rock and a hard place. Due to the limited budget within the school district, forfeiting the first game of the season would result in a fine. However, the school did not have enough money in the budget to pay the cost of the fine. One the other hand, play the ineligible players and argue our innocence before the school district.

The coaching staff decided to play the first game with ineligible players. This decision led to the head coach and I being suspended pending investigation. At the conclusion of the investigation the school district ruled the coach and I to not be at fault in the matter. There was enough evidence to prove the athletics director’s malicious intent and unethical behavior toward the head football coach.

Although the head coach was being unfairly attacked by his supervisor, he remained humble and resisted from seeking revenge. That’s the message we read in our text. Peter reminds us that Christians are to live a virtuous life, in every season of life, while resting in God. If we are to live a virtuous life in good seasons and during storms the suggests that we do three things.

Point 1:

First, the text suggests that we learn to live in harmony within our Christian community. Just look at the news. The US is currently experiencing the deadliest year in our young existence. We’re 10 months in 2022 and there have been over 300 mass shootings reported. That’s nearly 1 mass shooting per day. Clearly, our nation still has not learned to live in harmony.

While the religious statistics maybe changing, professing Christians are still the largest religious demographic in the nation. Therefore, if any community is going to ought to lead the way in demonstrating unity, it ought be to be Christians.

So, we can’t gloss over this verse and put it off as something that doesn’t pertain to us today. No, the instructions and encouragement from Peter is as necessary for the church today as it was for Christians in the 1st Century.

I know that can be a hard pill to swallow, but that’s what makes the Gospel different from contemporary social and philosophical ideals. The Gospel isn’t based on feel good quotes, social media popularity, and materialism. The Gospel is predicated upon the life and work of Jesus Christ. So, if we’re going to live in harmony with one another our character must be transformed to reflect the character of Christ.

Therefore, Peter is encouraging the Christians in Asia to display godlike character in the community. Seeking unity doesn’t mean life will always go according to plan. Seeking unity doesn’t mean people will always treat you with respect. Seeking unity doesn’t mean life will be without its share of challenges. And we aren’t called to a life that is predicated upon our feelings and demands, but we are called to model the character of Christ in every season of life.

Look at verse 8. Peter provides a list of virtues that are important to the Christian life. Peter tells the saints to be nice to one another, have compassion, develop deep, caring relationships, and most of all be humble. I’ve got to admit that’s where this passage smacks me right in the face. Because Peter is challenging us to care deeply about the Christians we don’t like. It’s easy to be nice and have compassion for people we like. But it’s another thing to have serious concern for the people we don’t get along with.

That’s why this portion of the text isn’t focused on the people outside of the faith. Peter isn’t talking about unbelievers. Peter is challenging Christians to be nice to one another. Peter is challenging Christians to show compassion and have empathy for one another. Peter is challenging Christians to consider the needs of others before the materialistic desires within ourselves.

Therefore, if we are going to live a virtuous life, we must seek harmony within the Christian community.

Point 2:

However, Peter doesn’t stop there. He moves from internal conduct to external conflict. Here the text suggests that a virtuous life resists revenge. Here it again, a virtuous life resists revenge.

Don’t tune me out. I know that might be disappointing, because the idea of revenge makes us feel good, when we’ve been deeply hurt. Let someone try to harm your parents, or your spouse, or your children. You’ll probably think of the most creative ideas to make the perpetrator feel your anxiety and pain.

But Peter must remind them of their legacy. Resisting retribution is important principle because it’s predicated upon God’s protection over Israel. In verse 9, Peter tells the Christians not to seek revenge for the evil things people have done. Don’t mistaken this as a message of passivity. Peter isn’t telling people not to protect themselves. He’s simply reminding Christians not to play tit for tat with your enemy.

To support his case, Peter quotes Paul in Romans 12. Romans 12 wouldn’t be unfamiliar to them the Christians in Asia, because Paul is quoting Jesus. Furthermore, Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy which is one of the books in the Torah. In other words, Peter is using this brief to remind the Christians in Asia of their history.

Deuteronomy 32 is called Moses Song. It’s less a traditional song and more like a prosecutor’s closing argument in a court case. Moses is fed up with the way the Israelites are living. They are still walking around the wilderness and Moses finds out he won’t make it to the promise land. But one of the things Moses reminds the Israelites about is the protection God has given.

God delivered the Israelites from Egyptian slavery. God ensured they successful escaped Egyptian pursuit. God has protected them ambushes and defeated their enemies. If nothing else, God has shown Israel that he will fight their battles.

That’s why Peter tells reminds them of their history because God says vengeance is mine. I know we all face the temptation to seek payback from the people who hurt us. But you’ve got to stop and remember what God has done for.

You’ve got to do what Peter is doing and remember your legacy. Revenge may not come when you want it or how you want it, but God’s got your back.

Peter doesn’t stop there he gives us an alternative. The alternative to seeking revenge is pursuing peace. I know this easier said than done. Because you aren’t going to forget what the bad people have done. You might be living with pain and disappointment of trauma for as long as you live, but God’s vengeance far exceeds our human effort for revenge.

An excellent example of pursuing peace occurred two weeks ago during Georgia’s Senate Race. Pastor and Senator Raphael Warnock is running to maintain his seat against NFL Legend Herschel Walker. Walker’s son recently posted on Twitter that his father paid a woman to have an abortion. The news of this alleged abortion would go against one of Walker’s primary political points, because his political platform is anti-abortion.

The next day news outlets peppered Pastor Warnock with questions about the allegations against Walker. Journalists were looking for quotes and talking points to stir up controversy between the two candidates. Instead of piling on Walker, Warnock chose not to say anything and focused on his campaign points. That’s how we pursue peace in the face of our opponents.

Peter lays out this alternative in verses 10 and 11. Peter gives us three principles for pursuing peace while in conflict with others.

First, watch what you say to people during conflict. In other words, don’t go off. Don’t try to get even. Don’t try to one up the person. We’ve got to watch we say.

Second, don’t seek ways to speak evil against people. When I worked in college sports, NFL scouts would come and talk to me about the character of prospective professional athletes. I knew I was working with college students who were on the cusp of being millionaires. And I didn’t want to sabotage their opportunities at the next level. So, I’d tell the athletes all the time. When scouts come to meet with me “I wouldn’t throw them under the bus, but I wouldn’t lie for them either.” Because the truth of a person’s character will always come to light.

Third, as much as you can, do good by people who aren’t good to you. The reality is a virtuous life isn’t centered around our personal gain, but modeling Christ’s character and ethics. This is what Peter describes as blessedness. As Christians we aren’t simply called to have a relationship with Christ, we are called to be transformed into his character, too.

Point 3:

If we are going to live a virtuous life, we must seek harmony within the Christian community resist the urge for revenge when people hurt us, and third rest in God.

Look at verse 12. Peter says the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer.

Let’s discuss this in two parts. First, the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous. God is watching over your life. God isn’t sleep. God doesn’t use sick days. God doesn’t need a vacation. God is constantly watching over your life.

The Lord sees what is going on. God doesn’t ignore the mistreatment and trauma you’ve experiencing because he’s watching over you. I think it’s important to mention this as well. No pastor, professor, or philosopher has solved the problem of evil in the world. We are always wrestling with the question: Why do bad things happen?

I’m not going to act like I can provide a deeply, satisfying response. Because no one can ever be God’s psychologist. But you can lean back into your history and remember God’s hand on your life. Remember the moments when situations could have turned for the worse and somehow you made it out alright. Those moments show that God is watching.

Second, God’s ears are open to your prayers. God sees your struggle and hears your pain. I hope that touches someone’s heart who needed to hear that today. God sees your struggle and hears your pain. In the conclusion of 1 Peter he reminds the church to cast their cares on God, because he cares for them. God wants to hear your prayers and is concerned about you.

Conclusion:

Finally, there’s one more thing I want to tell you about the story from the beginning of the sermon. When news broke out about the investigation, local coaches called the head coach to offer support and encouragement during the investigation.

The head coach and I would talk weekly. He was more concerned about me than I was concerned about myself. I’d been praying about the situation and believed that God would bring us through. Each time we talked I would tell him --- God is going to reveal the truth. And he did just that.

What I didn’t know was that my head coach was advocating on my behalf because I was pursuing a virtuous life during chaos. The day we were cleared in the investigation I had another coaching job in the city lined up.

I didn’t know what my future in coaching would look like after the investigation, but God blessed me for seeking unity, resisting revenge, and resting in Him. I shared that to testify that God’s word is true. Living a virtuous life isn’t easy. We must continually be transformed by the Holy Ghost to reflect God’s character. But God’s word never returns void.

You can hold on to the promise in this passage – living a virtuous lead to a blessing. However, the blessing isn’t simply about what we gain on earth, it’s ultimately about reflecting God’s character so that we might live in God’s presence eternally.

Let us pray.