2020-04-15 1 Peter 2.18-21
Notes
Transcript
18 Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.
19 For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.
20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.
21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
I. The bible speaks to living in a broken world without endorsing the brokenness.
I. The bible speaks to living in a broken world without endorsing the brokenness.
18 Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.
A. Ancient slavery was different than American slavery, both were products of human wickedness.
A. Ancient slavery was different than American slavery, both were products of human wickedness.
18 Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.
Illus: I want to be as clear as possible.... there was nothing godly about slavery in america. God would not and did not endorse slavery/ or the practice of systematic racial oppression that followed.
American slavery at its core was the kidnapping and oppression of a group of people for financial gain.
Ancient slavery, was an economic system which preyed off of debt where the impoverished were taken advantage of and enslaved.
The Bible is clear that opression whether racial or financial is wickedness.
I am ashamed to say that passages like 1 pet 2 have been used throughout history to condone the sin of slavery.
The bible speaks two separate messages to the oppressor and the oppressed.
To the oppressor it calls the demeaning of humans for financial gain what it is, sin. It teaches that social status, race, or financial affluence do not give you value, but instead that every human being should be given the dignity of being created in the image of God.
Deep within us we should know this… isn’t that how the deceleration of independence began, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
Yet, even knowing this, sin has prevented us from living it. Even today we allow the brokenness of our sin nature to devalue others whether by race, nationality, social stutus, or financial affluence.
The Bible does not support the sin of slavery, yet it does speak to those under its power.
The Bible give those under the sin of slavery the standing of equals with the slave holder. It teaches that they are co-heirs of the kingdom of God, loved children of the creator of the universe.
It teaches not to repay evil for evil, but see the oppressor who is enslaved by sin as a person for whom Jesus died.
As off as it sounds, it teaches the oppressed to not lower themselves to the oppressor, but to so be filled with Christ that you embody the suffering servant, jesus, in front of them.
16 Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich—both lead only to poverty.
21 Were you called while a slave? Don’t let it concern you. But if you can become free, by all means take the opportunity.
22 For he who is called by the Lord as a slave is the Lord’s freedman. Likewise he who is called as a free man is Christ’s slave.
23 You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of people.
B. Following Jesus is not conditional of the way people treat you.
B. Following Jesus is not conditional of the way people treat you.
18 Household slaves, submit to your masters with all reverence not only to the good and gentle ones but also to the cruel.
Illuss: There is this sense that following JEsus is ok as long as others don’t abuse us.
When you read the Bible it is actually a very radical book. It teaches that we love others and follow Jesus unconditional of their behavior.
I have shared before how sad the way we interact politically online makes me. Christians regularly and openly mock those who stand on the opposite aisle from them.
One time I had a friend tell me, “Wes what you saying is all well and good, but if we do that we will lose the election.”
This mindset pervades the live. If we actually live for Jesus people will take advantage of us and abuse us.
BUT, if we are following Jesus, living as He would, shouldn’t we expect to be treated like He was.
More than that, what pride must we have to think that we should be above the treatment and abuse that God himself bore on this earth.
As believers we must have a strong and faithful confidence in the identity that God has given us so that we embrace a humility which is not shaken but the treatment of the world around us.
38 “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
39 But I tell you, don’t resist an evildoer. On the contrary, if anyone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.
40 As for the one who wants to sue you and take away your shirt, let him have your coat as well.
41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two.
42 Give to the one who asks you, and don’t turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.
43 “You have heard that it was said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
II. Your identity shapes the way you relate to the broken world.
II. Your identity shapes the way you relate to the broken world.
19 For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.
20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.
A. Your identity is not based on your position in this world.
A. Your identity is not based on your position in this world.
19 For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.
20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.
Illus: No matter where I have serve there is a common scene that plays out.
I’ll be standing by the door and a new family begins to walk towards me. A wealthy or important family.
A church member will whisper in my ear… “Wes, you need to make sure and greet them because they are...”
First off, who do I not greet a church. Secondly why would I go out of my way to greet someone with money or status over someone who does not have those things.
Let me give you another scenerio. A wealthy church person gets their knickers in a knot. And is vocal about it.
I can guarantee that many will come through my office to express how we need to placate their wishes because they are holding their tithe back.
You see, even today we still say some have a louder or more important voice than others because of financial or social status.
The bible teaches that your standing is not how the world seas you, but instead how God looks at you.
Our goal no matter where we have been placed in this world, is to please God. That is the point of this passage. The goal in life is not human power, but instead the pleasure of God.
Take a moment and think through how God sees every single person.
15 For perhaps this is why he was separated from you for a brief time, so that you might get him back permanently,
16 no longer as a slave, but more than a slave—as a dearly loved brother. He is especially so to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.
27 For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ.
28 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, heirs according to the promise.
B. The aim of your life is to please God in all that you do.
B. The aim of your life is to please God in all that you do.
19 For it brings favor if, because of a consciousness of God, someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.
20 For what credit is there if when you do wrong and are beaten, you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, if you endure it, this brings favor with God.
Illus: If people treat you wrong, serve God. If people treat you well, serve God.
When people act unjustly, God is just and good, serve him. Love them out of service to Him.
The bible is written to people living in a broken and messed up world.
Over and over the theme comes clear, your love of God, your fellow man, and way of living is not determined by how people treat you. The way you live is determined by your aligence to God and service for him.
There have been many many times where church people who done vile things to both me and my family. In those moments I am tempted to repay the favor. Instead, I know that my faith in God’s goodness, sovereignty, and love will win the day and that my response should be out of the overflow of that faith.
We are called to humble ourselves, serve, and love unlovable and unjust people because of an unwavering faith and reverence for God.
23 Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,
24 knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.
25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for whatever wrong he has done, and there is no favoritism.
III. Be like Jesus.
III. Be like Jesus.
21 For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.
A. Before you think… how dare the Bible call me to such… think about Jesus.
A. Before you think… how dare the Bible call me to such… think about Jesus.
Illus: We have an over elevated sense of what we deserve. The bible teaches that we should embrace both the life and the treatment Jesus endured.
But somehow we think that we deserve all the benefits of following Jesus without the sacrifice of Jesus.
It shows deep down that we don’t really want Jesus, we just want His perks.
If we genuinely believe that Eternity with Christ is our home, we become humble enduring people willing to embrace people who would harm us… just as Jesus did.
You your life doesn’t belong to you anyways. It belongs to God. Glorify God with your body.
5 Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus,
6 who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited.
7 Instead he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man,
8 he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death— even to death on a cross.
12 Therefore, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, so now, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
13 For it is God who is working in you both to will and to work according to his good purpose.
14 Do everything without grumbling and arguing,
15 so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world,