Saved to Suffer, Serve, and Steward God’s Grace

Sanctified: Purified for a Purpose  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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Followers of Jesus are called to bless, do good, pursue peace, and show hospitality, using whatever gifts we’ve been given to serve one another. This is what it looks like to live a saved life; but a saved life is not always a safe life. Sometimes Christians must follow Jesus’ example by suffering while doing good. Whether we travel to foreign countries or help people in our own neighborhoods, we must be willing to go wherever we’re called and steward the gifts that God has given us.

Notes
Transcript

Introduction:

Personal gratitude to the missionaries and medical professionals that have been here this weekend for the C
Christians are credited with creating hospitals
The Greeks and Romans had temples
Where the wealthy could come and try to find healing from their gods
But Christians cared for the sick and dying
not motivated by money
not motivated by fame
motivated by the compassion that saved them
In the third century, During a terrible epidemic, Dionysius of Alexandria said about Christians…
“Most of our brother Christians showed unbounded love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, they took charge of the sick, attending to their every need and ministering to them in Christ, and with them departed this life serenely happy .… Many, in nursing and curing others, transferred their death to themselves and died in their stead .… The best of our brothers lost their lives in this manner; a number of presbyters, deacons, and laymen winning high commendation so that death in this form, the result of great piety and strong faith, seems in every way the equal of martyrdom.”
(Source: Dionysius, AD 260).
The pagans were trying to save themselves FROM that situation
The Christians believed they were saved FOR that situation.
Do we try to save ourselves from DANGER and even DISCOMFORT?

Are we sometimes guilty of saving ourselves from the life Jesus is saving us for?

Doesn’t mean we put ourselves in harms way for no reason
But we also can’t avoid harm’s way if that’s the way Jesus is calling us
What sort of life is Jesus saving us for?
What does that life look like?
Especially in a world of danger and discomfort?

Biblical Text:

SUMMARY of what Paul said in chapters 2-4…

Sanctified Living in a World of Sin and Suffering (1 Peter 2-4)

Submit (Indirectly) to Authority (2:3, 18; 3:1)
Emperors, Governors, Masters, Husbands
Your submission isn’t directly to them, it’s to God
1 and 2 Peter and Jude Commentary (by Scot McKnight)
“…they were being challenged to reframe their life in the system as an act of love and service to God, and not to their masters. Their actions then would be acts of resistance while conforming to social expectations.”
“Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God (1 Peter 2:16).
You’re not the boss of me…
But I’m going to do what you want me to do anyway
Because Jesus is the boss of me
Do Good (1 Peter 2:12, 15, 20; 3:11, 17; 4:19).
1 Peter 2:12 “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.”
1 Peter 2:15 “For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.”
1 Peter 2:20 “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.”
1 Peter 3:11 “let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.”
1 Peter 3:17 “For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”
Follow the Example of Jesus (2:23; 3:9; 4:19)
Do not retaliate
Bless those who curse you
Entrust yourself to God while doing good
Some of us are called to live out this sanctified life HERE and some are called to live it out on the other side OF THE WORLD…BUT here is what we all must do…

1 Peter 3:8-12

1 Peter 3:8 ESV
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
This is how sanctified people treat each other…
unity / harmony
sympathy
brotherly love
tenderness
humility
And this is how we treat those who treat us poorly…
1 Peter 3:9 ESV
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.
This DOESN’T mean…
we’re passive
we say nothing in the face of evil
condone or endorse injustice
It means we “overcome evil with good”
But this is a messy business
Being a peacemaker
Going into environments that are hostile and ugly
Blessing people who curse us
1 Peter 3:10–12 ESV
10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 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.”
Psalm 34 reference
When you…
speak blessings rather than curses
speak truth rather than lies
do good
seek peace and pursue it
…you are partnered with God
His eyes on you
His ears are open to your prayers
Jump down to chapter 4, where Peter reminds them…

1 Peter 4:7-11

1 Peter 4:7 ESV
7 The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
“for the sake of your prayers”
One thing we didn’t talk about much last week
But YOU are a ROYAL PRIESTHOOD
So, pray like it
Your job is to pray for yourself and the world
“the end of all things is at hand”
Jesus is coming
to make all things new
1 Peter 4:8–9 ESV
8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
show hospitality…without grumbling
love, kindness, and generosity
towards strangers
This is where both the idea for, and the word, “hospital” come from
hospitals naturally grew out of Christian hospitality
do we need to recapture this idea?
1 Peter 4:10–11 ESV
10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 11 whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Several words
Steward = Manager
Varied = Diverse / Multi-faceted / Not all the same
Grace = Gifts
We were saved to be stewards of God’s diverse blessings
speaking
serving
cooking
going
treating
“in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.”

Application:

Are we trying to save ourselves from the life Jesus saved us to live?
Are we trying to save ourselves from anything that brings…
danger?
discocomfort?
What sort of life are you saved for?

You are saved to serve.

Wherever that takes you
Using whatever gifts God has given you
Take your next step by faith.

Invitation:

The saved life isn’t always the safe life.
Sometimes it’s dangerous and it’s messy
But we offer up our lives to the Lord to use however he wants to use them
I want to invite you to ask yourself
am I saved?
am I living the life I was saved to live?
am I serving the Lord and others?
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