Excellence in Suffering
Notes
Transcript
Everybody knows the story of Cinderella, right? This story has a thousand variations, but the story we know most famously came from the Walt Disney classic. Cinderella has a wicked stepmother who practically enslaves her and forces her to do all the household chores and serve her stepmother’s and step-sisters’ every desire. Through no fault of her own, she is made to suffer at the hand of one who is supposed to love and care for her. Through a series of fortunate events, Cinderella is able to go to the royal ball where she captures the heart of the prince. They ultimately marry and she is rescued from the live of servitude she was forced into. It is a very touching story, but it also models to a degree the subject for today.
Starting in verse 11, Peter brought up the topic of excellence. It is our duty before God to live lives of excellence. We pay attention to our personal conduct in our everyday lives and we model excellence in the way we submit to governing authorities. We are called to be model citizens. We are also called to live out excellence in suffering.
When life gets tough, it is our duty to model Christlikeness through the way we suffer.
When life gets tough, it is our duty to model Christlikeness through the way we suffer.
Nobody likes the idea of suffering. We spend a fortune working on ways to alleviate suffering. We don’t go looking for trouble, but we live in a fallen world marred by sin. There is evil among us. So try as we might to alleviate suffering in our own lives and the lives of others, there is a real enemy who hates the things of God and he never sleeps. The Devil is still at work. If you and I dare to stand against evil, you will suffer. If you dare to live out authentic Christianity, you will suffer. Since we will suffer, Peter guides his readers how to suffer well.
Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.
For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.
For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;
and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
Today, we will talk about two reasons we model Christlikeness in suffering.
Suffering unjustly is part of our worship.
Suffering unjustly is part of our worship.
A portion of Peter’s audience are servants. It is important to note here that the word servant here is not the same word for slave used in other places. These servants are not slaves in the sense that they are the property of their owners. They were not like Joseph in Egypt or like Daniel in Babylon. These were like live-in servants in their master’s homes. Think Geoffrey the butler from the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air or Alfred from Batman.
Just like we all submit ourselves to governing authorities, these servants were called to submit themselves to their masters. Thankfully, you and I are under no one else’s authority. We could apply this to the employer and employee relationship, so we could say that as an employee, you ought to model Christlikeness regardless of whether you think you have a good boss or not.
But notice this call to submission is regardless of whether the master is good and gentle or unreasonable. Now, the word unreasonable literally means harsh or crooked. So let’s put this in the employer/employee relationship context. If you are working for somebody you can’t stand, it is still godly for you to show up and do your job with excellence. You do so for the glory of God more than you do it for the boss you hate. God calls you to do your work with excellence and Christians ought to be some of the hardest working people on the planet, but we should also be of such high reputation that people love to hire Christians because we are highly ethical, hardworking people.
Our work is our worship, but should we suffer unjustly, then that too is our worship. Verse 19 says that suffering unjustly finds favor with God and is good for one’s own conscience toward God. Suffering unjustly is part of our worship.
If you suffer for doing something wrong, what of it? That is something you deserve. If you get fired from a job because you are consistently late, under-perform, and have a bad attitude about it, that’s not anyone else’s fault. It is yours. If you are fired from a job because you were good at because you refused to lie, that would be unjust. If you lost your job because you wrote a social media post speaking against same sex marriage on your own time, that would be unjust. If you are mistreated for speaking up in support of biblical values, you would suffer unjustly, but those things are an act of worship to the God who purchased you out of slavery to sin.
Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble, but that we should take heart because he has overcome the world (reference?)
Suffering patiently though unjustly is a discipline. It has to be worked at. The problem is you have to experience it to get better at it. The author of Hebrews writes,
All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
Unjust suffering leads to righteousness. All righteousness glorifies God. We endure submission and even suffering for a time knowing that it honors God and is part of our worship to him.
Suffering unjustly follows Christ’s example.
Suffering unjustly follows Christ’s example.
Peter sets Christ as our example for suffering well. We have just discussed that nobody likes suffering, but Christianity is a call to suffer. If Christ suffered, so will his followers. There is no reason to think we should be exempt from suffering in this life. Let’s look again at verse 21:
For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps,
We have been called for this purpose. Suffering unjustly is not on anybody’s to-do list. But God does know that when you come to him for salvation, you are signing up for a life of suffering. We are called to this. The audience Peter is writing to is ready to lay down their lives for the gospel of Jesus Christ because it is true.
We need to understand that most of us suffer far less than most Christians in church history. We have had the privilege of growing up in one of the greatest countries on earth. We have enjoyed the highest degree of religious liberty than any other country in the world. But Christianity has fallen out of favor in the public square. We all hope that we see s resurgence of Christianity in our country, but we will have to endure some more unjust suffering to get there. I’m willing to do it knowing that I follow the example of Christ when I do.
So how did Christ do it? Let’s take a look...
who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth;
and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;
Now obviously, you are not going to fulfil the first one there. For we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. However, you can make sure that no deceit is found in your mouth. This is a quote from Isaiah 53:9, the famous suffering servant passage. Isaiah 53 describes the Messiah’s suffering, and Peter uses verse nine here to describe Jesus. He was sinless, and therefore, was not a deceiver in any way. You also are called to emulate Christ in that deception should be found nowhere in your mouth or in your life. If it is, lay it down on the altar and commit yourself to truth-telling from now on.
But look at what else Christ did. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he uttered no threats. How do you handle conflict? How do you handle when someone gets right up in your face and accuses you of doing something or being something you know you are not?
Jesus was betrayed by Judas and arrested. Throughout his trial experience, he was beaten and accused vehemently. When he was brought before Herod, he said nothing. There was a moment when he was brought before Pontius Pilate where he also remained silent. Even as the Romans whipped him before forcing him to carry his own cross, he remained silent. Even while he was hanging on a cross with nails driven through his feet and wrists, suffocating to death, he did not defend his innocence.
and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.
How do you handle the accusations thrown your way for living out righteousness? How do you handle being called names you know don’t fit you? How did you do this week when it came to the comments section of your social media feeds? It was tough this week, but I made it. As a heterosexual white male, I have been labeled a racist, homophobic, transphobic, fascist bigot who hates women (because of a pro-life stance) by people who don’t even know me, and I’m sick of it.
But I can take it. I can take all the name-calling, I can take all the slander, I can take all the hate when people think that as a pastor all I care about is the offering plate. I can take all the negative stuff people say about me. I can take it because I know who I am and I know who God has made me to be.
So what does the Bible say about you?
The Bible says you are loved (John 3:16). God loved you before you loved him. He loved you so much that he would send his son to die for you thousands of years before you were born! He designed you, he gave you life, and he sent his son to rescue you from sin and darkness.
The Bible also says you are chosen. Ephesians 1:4 says we were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless before him. He chose us before we chose him. He chose us not on our own merits, but of his own sovereignty. He chose us to be a royal priesthood, a people of his own possession.
The Bible says we are forgiven. Christ’s sacrifices secures for us a pardon for sin. It not only provides us a judicial pardon, where we escape the due penalty of our sin, which is separation from God, but we are also forgiven each and every day in our relationship with him. There is not a sin you commit today that God will not forgive. 1 John 1:9 says,
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Don’t believe the lie that God won’t forgive you. If you want forgiveness from God, all you have to do is ask.
The Bible says we are adopted. This is where we got our mission statement from. Galatians 4:4-5 says,
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
We are god’s children. Ephesians 2:10 says,
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
Some translations say we are God’s masterpiece. You may not feel like God’s masterpiece today, but your feelings will lie to you. Don’t listen to them. Believe what the God of the universe says. I am a loved, chosen, forgiven, adopted child of God. What do I care about what others will say about me?
For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
This models Christlikeness. This models the gospel. This is to what we have been called. Suffer in excellence. Remember that it is part of your worship and it models Christ for others to see.
