The Call to Humility and Hope

The Call To Humility And Hope

1 Peter 5:6-14

Today is Palm Sunday.  It is a day when we remember the triumphant entry Jesus made into the city of Jerusalem.  He was welcomed by the thousands visiting Jerusalem for the Passover.  He was celebrated with shouts of Hosanna, taken from Psalm 118:25-26

25Save us, we pray, O Lord! O Lord, we pray, give us success!

26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! We bless you from the house of the Lord.

By the time the week ended, Jesus had been mocked, arrested, beaten, crucified, and laid in a tomb.  The tone of the crowd changed from “Save Us” (Hosanna) to “Crucify him”.  Then they gathered to watch as the Son of God was lifted up on a cross and died.  Odd that we should think Palm Sunday was a triumphant entrance. The reason Palm Sunday is a day of triumph is not because of the shouts from the crowd, but because this was the final week of God’s plan to bring salvation to mankind.  Through the sufferings of Christ that week, salvation was accomplished. 1 Peter 3:18 says,

“18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.”

Those who follow Jesus are to expect suffering as well.  1 Peter 4:12–14 says,

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

The believers Peter writes to were suffering by being insulted for the name of Christ.  They were mocked, slandered and some were most likely suffering financial loss because they chose to follow Jesus and to abstain from the practices of the world around them.

Let’s read together our passage for today.  This is the end of 1 Peter.

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may lift you up in due time, 7 casting all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you. 

8 Be self-controlled, stay alert.  Your adversary the devil is like a roaring lion walking around seeking someone to devour. 9Resist him standing firm in the faith knowing the same kinds of suffering are being experienced throughout the world by your family of believers.  10 And the God of all grace, the one who calls you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered for a short time will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and make you firm.  11 To him be the sovereignty forever and ever, Amen.

12 Through Silvanus, the faithful brother (as I consider him) I have written to you briefly to encourage you and attest that this is the true grace of God.  Stand firm in it.  13 She who is in Babylon chosen together with you sends you greeting as does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

Peace to you all in Christ.

Humility before God – how to get it

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may lift you up in due time, 7 casting all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you. 

In Peter’s earlier days, humility was not one of his strong points.  As Jesus headed toward Jerusalem for that final week, he told the disciples what would happen when they arrived.  He would be mocked, crucified and would rise on the third day.  Peter did not agree with this plan and tried to correct Jesus.  Then, on the night Jesus was betrayed, Peter boasted that he would never abandon the Lord.  Jesus let Peter know that before the rooster crowed on the morning to come, Peter would deny ever knowing Jesus.  They journeyed to Gethsemene where the Lord asked Peter to watch and to pray with him as they waited for Judas the betrayer to come.  Peter slept instead.  When the mob arrived to arrest Jesus, Peter took matters into his own hands, pulled out a sword and attacked one of those who approached.  Jesus stopped him.  The disciples all fled away and Jesus was taken away to the house of the High Priest.  Peter followed.  This is where he was accused of being one of Jesus’s disciples.  As had been foretold, Peter cursed and denied three times that he even knew the man. 

Peter was humbled and ashamed that night.  He thought he knew what was best for Jesus, but Peter learned a painful lesson – we must trust in the Lord with all our heart, and not lean on our own understanding.  So, Peter knows what it is to humble yourself under the mighty hand of God that He may lift you up at the proper time.

A humble person is one who has lost any pride they might have held onto.  The proud believe they know what is best and that if you want something done right, you need to do it yourself.

How then are we to humble ourselves?  Peter explains in this passage.  It is in doing something Peter failed to do that final week in Jerusalem and that fateful night when Jesus was arrested.  Humility comes when we cast all our anxiety upon the Lord. 

Remember, the people to whom Peter is speaking are suffering for doing what is right and for following Jesus.  They must have felt great anxiety.  Anxiety will cause us to question God and will push us to take matters into our own hands.  The humble, however, understand that anxious thoughts are the result of pride.  When we worry and are anxious about events or the future, we are not trusting God.  Humility recognizes this and the humble person will give all their anxious thoughts to the Lord.  Cast all your cares upon Him because He cares for you.  Give your worries to Him.  Trust that God will lift you up at the proper time.  He will never abandon you or forsake you but will cause all things to work together for your good because you love him and are called according to his purposes for your life.

Heed the Call for Vigilance

8 Be self-controlled, stay alert.  Your adversary the devil is like a roaring lion walking around seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him standing firm in the faith knowing the same kinds of suffering are being experienced throughout the world by your family of believers.

In verse 8, Peter says “Be sober-minded”.  Think clearly and honestly about yourself and your situation.  Show discipline and exercise self-control over your mind.  In other words, don’t let anxiety get the best of you.  A sober-minded person is thoughtful and serious in judgment, emotionally stable and balanced, spiritually alert and will not allow himself to be easily swayed.

The opposite of having a sober mind is to be impulsive (acting without thinking), emotionally unstable (to be driven by feelings rather than by truth), frivolous (not taking things seriously), destracted (lacking focus and consumed with worldly things), and delusional (failing to see or accept the truth of the situation).

The sober-minded are aware that we have an adversary, an enemy who wants to see us fail.  He is the devil.  Diabolos (devil) is a Greek word meaning “to engage in slander”, a slanderer.  Our adversary wants to make us look bad, to stumble, and to fail in our walk with Christ.  He is the accuser of the brethren (Rev 12:10).  He accuses and roams about like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.  This is why we are to be vigilant – watchful.

The devil is on the prowl for those who are vulnerable.  He looks for those who are less firm in their faith, who struggle to trust God.  He uses every possible hindrance at his disposal in order to find an entrance to your heart and mind and devour you.  He offers the eyes seductive pleasures in order to destroy purity of thought.  He tempts the ears with harmonious music that excites the senses and builds fleshly desires.  He arouses the tongue to put others down with critical words that incite conflict.  He strengthens the hands to do violence and to get revenge on those who wrong us.  The devil provides unjust gains in hopes of turning the soul to trust in money.  He tempts us to cheat in order to get ahead.  He promises earthly honors so that he can take away heavenly ones.  When he is unable to deceive secretly in these ways, he threatens openly bringing fear of violence from others in order to overcome us.  The devil is restless, hostile, cunning, and violent. 55[1]

We are to resist him by being firm in our faith, by trusting in the one who cares for us and saves us through Jesus, His Son. 

Peter says we will experience suffering.  It is suffering that those sitting next to you also experience.  Take heart knowing that your brothers and sisters in Christ are enduring similar situations as you face.  We need to encourage one another to walk humbly and to cast our cares upon the Lord.

Hope Beyond Suffering

10 And the God of all grace, the one who calls you into His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered for a short time will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and make you firm.  11 To him be the sovereignty forever and ever, Amen.

We have been called to an eternal glory.  The struggles and pains of this life are temporal.  The glory we will have with Christ through eternity far exceeds whatever trials we now face.  The Father uses suffering to test and purify those who are His.  He replaces the ashes on our head with beauty, the weeping in our soul with oil of gladness, and gives us a garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3).  Joy comes in the morning, the weeping only lasts for a night (Psalm 30:5).

God will restore, establish, strengthen, and make you stand firm as you cast all your cares upon him.  Humble yourselves then and trust Him with all your heart.  To Him be the sovereignty forever and ever.

Harmony in Christ

12 Through Silvanus, the faithful brother (as I consider him) I have written to you briefly to encourage you and attest that this is the true grace of God.  Stand firm in it.  13 She who is in Babylon chosen together with you sends you greeting as does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a holy kiss.

Peace to you all in Christ.

By the hand of Silvanus, who also was a coworker with Paul, Peter wrote this letter so that we might understand the true grace of God – the true grace of God is that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

The letter was written from Rome, probably within a year or two of Peter being killed by Emperor Nero – possibly 64 A.D.  Rome was the greatest city of the Roman Empire.  Peter refers to it as Babylon.  This brings to memory the exile of the Jews to Babylon in 604 B.C.  Psalm 137:1 begins with “By the waters of Babylon, there we sat down and wept when we remembered Zion”.  I wonder that Peter may have had this verse in mind.  The Psalm is about the exiles who longed for the heavenly home of Zion.  This is Peter’s way of saying to the Saints in exile, scattered around the Roman Empire (1 Peter 1:1), we are with you and on the same journey.

Notice he calls Mark, “My son”.  This is the same Mark who went with Paul and Silas on their first missionary journey then deserted them halfway through because the trip was difficult.  Mark is an example for us that grace is real and that harmony in the fellowship of believers is to be greater than the disappointment we might experience with one another.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.  The kiss was on the cheek and was a sign of great affection for one another.

May peace be yours as we enter the Passion week and celebrate what Jesus has done for us. Salvation was bought for us on the cross and redemption was accomplished when after suffering on our behalf, Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday morning.

Amen.

55Bede, pp. 117–18; citing Cyprian De Zelo et Livore 10.2–3.

[1]Joel B. Green, 1 Peter, The Two Horizons New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007), 173–174.