Respond Right When Wronged
1 Peter: Living Hope • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Introduction
Sword Drill:
4 I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
13 But the Lord of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
We’ve talked about submission in several different social areas of life - government, work, marriage.
What should we do when
Anyone ever do the right thing and someone still does the wrong thing to you? Or someone does the wrong thing to you even when you have done nothing wrong to them?
I think this happens many times in our family, at work, with friends, in society, even in the church.
How should we respond when we are wronged? Before we answer that question, let’s ask another: How DO you respond when wronged?
When you respond differently than the world, you have the opportunity to change the world.
How DO you respond when wronged?
How DO you respond when wronged?
- when you are bullied at school
- brother or sister picks on you
- when someone spreads a rumor or untrue things about you just to hurt you
- When someone gains an advantage by doing the wrong thing and you are at a disadvantage by doing the right thing.
It is possible to live three different ways in our relationships with other people:
Return evil for good - Devil’s Way
Return evil for evil - World’s Way
Return good for evil - God’s Way
ILLUST - Jordan gives me candy and I hit him OR Jordan hits me and I hit him OR Jordan hits me and I give him candy.
Most of us probably respond (or want to respond) with option 2 - evil for evil. Why? We say it is only “fair.”
Because of our sinful nature and without God in view, we believe we should control how we are treated, so if someone hurts us, we’ll hurt them back.
And this makes sense if YOU are the one who is supposed to “balance the scales.”
How SHOULD you respond when wronged?
How SHOULD you respond when wronged?
Kids, what should you do if your brother or sister hits you? Hit them back? Cry?
Kids, who is responsible to fix the situation if your brother or sister hits you? (Mom or Dad)
Mom and Dad are ordained by God to correct the wrong and encourage the right. At school it is the teacher, at work it is the boss, in society it is the government.
Maybe the one in charge is not doing what God intended for them in stopping the bad and encouraging the right, or maybe the wrong done to you is not seen by the ones in charge.
What then?
I think verse 12 gives us a foundational truth to help us be able to respond right when wronged:
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
ILLUST - Ring Camera - mom and dad see all!
Peter is most likely writing from Rome in the shadow of Nero who will eventually kill him. Peter himself is experiencing wrong even though he is doing right and there are no parents, no teachers, no government who will stop Nero.
I can imagine Peter thinking about this, and then, maybe during his “quiet-time,” Peter reads Psalm 34.
David wrote Psalm 34 when he was being chased by Saul, who was trying to kill him even though David did nothing wrong, and David escapes to another kingdom which rejected him as well.
David writes this Psalm about his trust in God. I imagine Peter has recently read or remembered this Psalm in relation to his own circumstances because he references the Psalm in our passage today as well as in chapter 2 (2:3).
As Peter hears about the churches in Asia Minor who are beginning to experience unfair situations and people doing wrong to them even though they are doing the right things, he writes them a letter and weaves into it the Psalm which is on his mind - which reminds David, Peter, the churches, and now us that no matter who wrongs you, you can respond right because God sees, knows, and will act.
Which means you can respond right when wronged. How SHOULD you respond?
Be a blessing.
Be a blessing.
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Be different from how you want to normally respond and different from how the world usually responds.
When hurt, don’t hurt back, BLESS. Respond with goodness when given evil.
This does not mean we do not pursue justice for ourself or others. It means we respond with blessing while waiting for justice instead of reacting out of vengeance while trying to get justice for ourselves.
Peter says,
for to this you were called
We are called to bless others because we are already blessed.
We don’t need to “balance the scales” because they are already tipped in our favor.
ILLUST - For Halloween, you go trick-or-treating. You egg someone’s house. You smash their pumpkins, and in the process you break a window. They come out and, instead of calling the police, they give you all their candy - ten bags! And they tell you to come back tomorrow and they will give you 100 more. Was that ‘fair?’ NO, but in your favor!
Now, when you get home, your brother or sister takes one m&m out of your candy stash. And now you are ready to call the police!! They stole!! It’s only FAIR!!
But, you remember the blessing you were given. You remember the blessing that’s coming. When you keep that in mind, does that change how you can respond? YES!
This is what Peter is saying here. You can respond by blessing someone no matter what they do because 1) you’ve been blessed and, if you trust in Jesus, you have a blessing coming in heaven that nothing anyone can ever do on this Earth can outweigh.
And when Peter says this, he is not talking about candy. He will, without responding with evil, endure being unjustly killed upside down on a cross simply for believing and teaching about Jesus.
How can you be a blessing when wronged?
There are many ways, but we can see three right here in the section of Psalm 34 that Peter quotes:
Control what you say
10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;
Choose to do good
11 let him turn away from evil and do good;
This is an action. It is not simply to stop doing what is wrong, but to start doing what is right.
Try to create peace
let him seek peace and pursue it.
This doesn’t mean to be a doormat, and sometimes doing the right things breaks the peace when everyone is doing what is wrong. What Peter is getting at is when someone does something wrong against you, you don’t fight for your own rights - put out the fire, don’t feed it.
The second way to respond right when wronged is:
Be a witness.
Be a witness.
13 Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?
Normally, or usually, people are not out to get you if you do the right thing.
14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed.
Sometimes, that is not the case. You may do the right thing and someone does the wrong thing to you.
Here is where it gets interesting and different from the rest of the world:
Have no fear of them, nor be troubled,
Most people would be upset or even fearful that someone, like Nero, could do something really bad to Peter even though he is doing everything right.
Kids, you could get worried that someone at school might not be fair with you - they might be mean or bully you even though you don’t do anything wrong to them.
15 but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy,
When you remember that Jesus is over all things, that no one can do anything to you except what Jesus allows and that Jesus can ALWAYS redeem whatever happens to you for your good, then you can bless someone even when you are wronged. . . which is WEIRD! And that’s Peter’s point.
Because someone will most likely ask or at least think, “Why did you respond that way?” “Why are you not scared, or angry?”
always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
And you can explain it is not because you don’t understand right and wrong, or that you weren’t hurt by it; rather, you have a HOPE of a blessing that is stronger than any wrong they or anyone can do. And you’ve been so blessed, and are expecting such a blessing that you can bless them even when they wrong you.
This response confuses the world but resonates with every soul.
Get ready to Respond:
Get ready to Respond:
Reactions happen naturally; responses require preparation.
Five ways to prepare to respond right when wronged:
These are five adjectives
Be unifying
Be sympathetic
Love
Be compassionate
Be humble
When you respond differently from the world, you have the opportunity to change the world.
Let me show you a real-life example of this:
Acts 7:59–60 (ESV)
59 And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
Acts 7:58 (ESV)
58 Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Saul had been returning evil for good by persecuting Christians. After meeting Jesus and understanding his hope, he understood the witness of Stephen as he blessed Saul while receiving evil.
Conclusion:
How have you responded to:
your brother or sister this past week?
that person at work who is constantly belittling you in an attempt to make themselves look better?
Did you respond in kind? Or with kindness?
What do people see when something wrong happens to you even though you did nothing wrong?
Do they see what they would expect from everyone else? Do they see anything different from those in the church / Christians?
How do you need to prepare to respond?
Ask God for compassion
Ask God to make your heart more humble?