Can I Do This?

Free & Brave

4th of July and we celebrate what God has done to bless this nation.

Our country is in a place right now where the celebrations are subdued.

Last line of the Star Spangled Banner?

Home of the Free,

Land of the Brave.

Hallmarks of our history.

Here we go again.

So, how free do you feel right now?

Now that some things are being taken away again.

Gov’t’s job is to protect the citizens.

So maybe, it’s justifiable.

How much longer can we do this?

How much longer can YOU do this?

What if they shut us down again, not just limited to 50?

This is getting harder. Losing these freedoms again is not as easy as it was the first time. And the longer it goes the harder it will be.

Can’t go to the gym. Hard? yes. But, less pain in my life.

Have to wear a mask. Wear it right!

Can’t go to a bar. For some, no big deal.

No gatherings more than 50. An introvert’s dream.

Public schools have been delayed till Aug. 17.

We’ve had to close church before, we may again.

I’m watching the fall sports schedule.

Baseball?

College or pro football? W/ or w/out fans?

We have NAU tickets.

Big part of my weekends, how I relax and unwind.

I may have to learn a new way to do that and I’m not sure I want to, I not sure I can.

I’ve been doing this since I was 8 or 9.

My family would leave me home alone earlier than they should have.

But, w/ a ballgame on TV, a coke and a bag of chips they knew they could be gone for 2 hours and I would still be in the same place when they returned.

What are you most worried about having to give up or change?

You think you can do it?

Secondarily, the consequences of the loss of freedom

Lack of social interaction and isolation

Can we continue this? Are we capable of coming thru this?

How brave do you feel?

It’s a little scary out there right now.

Dare to go out?

This little germ is highly contagious.

As careful as you are, the ppl you come in contact w/ may not be careful at all.

A very small % are dying, a few more get seriously ill, for most it’s fairly mild.

Which % are you in? The ppl you love?

Bravery is not the absence of fear. Bravery is performing in spite of the fear.

What takes more courage?

Wear a mask? And deal w/ the breathing restrictions?

Don’t wear a mask? Rebel. But, face your friends who think you should.

Okay, how hard is it really to wear a mask?

Some of you have some health issues, legit.

But, most of us it’s just an inconvenience.

And, maybe, the harder things is dealing w/ the peer pressure to rebel.

I don’t want to be a lemming, or a sheep.

Unless, Jesus is my Shepherd.

Some of these things we are being asked to do or give up are legitimately hard.

Can we? Not “Should we?” Assuming we should, can we?

This question, “Can I?”, is either directly, or indirectly asked throughout the bible.

Last week, Peter challenged us w/ a 4-pt. summary of Christian citizenship (2:17).

The question begs, Can I?

Respect all ppl.

Regardless of their belief system.

Regardless of their skin color or nation of origin.

No room for racism of any kind.

Love all believers.

No room for racism or denominational and doctrinal division.

Fear God.

Worship God above all others.

Don’t cower in fear, kneel in humble submission.

Honor the Emperor.

Nero! The one responsible for turning the lions loose in the colosseum on Christian families, including kids.

Tying Christians to poles and setting them on fire to light his garden.

This is a command. Honor the man who is brutalizing your fellow believers.

The direct parallel to us is the President of the US.

Whatever you think of this president, the last one, or the next one, Nero was about 100x worse.

Honor him.

Can you? Can I?

There are some hard things in life that God has commanded us to do.

This is the Christian life. It’s life of surrender, sacrifice, and submission.

If He says to do it. Well,...

And He would never command the impossible.

What are you capable of when you don’t let the improbable become the impossible?

Jesus tells us to do things that are near impossible.

But He only does it after He did what seemed impossible.

But, when He did it what He did for us, He proved we can do what we need to do for Him.

That’s because, we have access to the same strength that makes the improbable possible.

Remember who Peter was writing to and their situation.

They had given up so much of the freedom they had enjoyed.

They courageously ran for their lives and started over in every way.

So much of what Peter wrote, and John in his epistles, and whoever wrote Hebrews, in representing God and His word, they were not asking these people to do these things. They were commanding it.

Here they went again. Here we go again.

I thought I was at the end of my capabilities when the last order came to an end and now we’re being told to do it again.

You are being told to do some things that will challenge your belief or your capabilities.

They are commands. Let’s not let the improbabilities become impossibilities.

This is the life of a servant.

The Life of a Servant

1 Peter 2:18–20 NIV

Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

Here’s another hot issue today: Slavery.

But, there was a difference between slavery in c.1 in Rome and in the 17 and 1800s here in the US.

We treated our slaves much worse. There are similarities. The servants did not have the freedom to leave to find a new job. They were required to stay. But it was quite a bit different.

The Romans had an extensive volume of laws about how to treat slaves. They were much more respectable than slave owners in the pre-civil war south.

One example, slaves were to be paid a decent salary. And, if they saved it up, they could buy their own freedom. It was expensive, but possible.

Some slave chose to stay with their masters because they were treated so well by them. Benefits, vacation time, respect from the master. They could choose to remain a life-long servant of their master:

Bond-slave.

They were treated so well they knew they could not do better on their own.

Remaining an employee at a large, successful company versus going out on your own.

And, speaking of, the term employee is almost an applicable definition of “slave” here. Much closer to employee than worthless piece of property.

There is a list in 1 Tim. 1:10 of behaviors that are inconsistent w/ Christian behavior. And, in that list is slave-trader.

So, taking ppl into slavery was wrong, so it’s also wrong to say the bible never speaks against slavery. Yes, it does.

But, in light of the fact that it was also a reality of the culture, how should Christians respond?

Peter says have a good attitude toward those in legal and financial authority over you. Willingly obey their directives.

Why? What’s the motivation? Out of reverence for God.

Just like what Paul says to husbands and wives and what Peter said previously, for Jesus’ sake.

Not for the sake of the master, or to stay out of trouble and avoid punishment. Though good reasons.

The desire is to please God by pleasing the authorities in your life regardless of the treatment by the authority.

We’re not talking about abusive masters, okay harsh, difficult, but they don’t cross the line into abuse.

Remember, there were laws.

And the harshness referred to here is dishonesty regarding their pay, working conditions, expectation, not physically abusive.

Having a trusting awareness of God’s presence when we are in enduring hard times pleases God.

The pain Peter referred to here is mental anguish, not physical pain.

He’s not talking about a physical beating, but mental strain of trying to fulfill and obey unfair requirements.

Trust that God will ultimately right wrong which enables Christians to submit to an unjust master w/out resentment, rebellion, self-pity, or despair.

Could they possibly do this? W/out resentment, rebellion or retaliation? Peter seems to think so.

It’s natural to resent, rebel, and retaliate.

It’s supernatural not to.

Patient endurance. Continually trusting God to care for those whose rights are being trampled by others.

Faith that God will not fail you in such circumstances.

What makes Peter think they could do this? What possible example does he have of someone successfully enduring unjust treatment w/out lashing out?

I’m glad you asked that question. B/C, we have an example to follow that proves we can do the improbable.

Our Example

1 Peter 2:21–25 NIV

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Jesus is our example. We can do this.

But, you might say, He’s Jesus. He’s God.

Yes, and he is fully human. One of the very helpful points of understanding Jesus’ humanity is we can relate to Him.

What He went thru, He did it successfully. So, can we.

Jesus had to trust His Father that this was going to work out for Him.

Jesus had been called to this. We have been called to live a Christian lifestyle based on the lifestyle of Jesus.

Mental anguish. Jesus suffered in spades. Yes, physically. But the most difficult moment of his time on the cross was the mental anguish that His Father turned His back on Him b/c He could not even look at anything associated w/ sin.

Accepting the mental anguish of a domineering authority w/ a good attitude is counter-cultural.

Dominance like this is born of insecurity, arrogance, fear. We are going to be in positions under such people and their attitude is no justification for our equal retaliation.

Jesus set the example for all of us to follow.

He never uttered a resentful word, never retaliated, nor threatened them.

He never lost his trust in God to make everything right.

We feel like we need to make things right only when we don’t trust God to do it.

From here, Peter quotes from Is. 53:6-12, though in a different order.

Jesus knew how this was going end. He could have made it right then. He was justified. But, in the heat of that moment He exhibited the self-control to patiently endure and wait till the ultimate judgement seat to bring justice to those who crucified Him.

He didn’t need to threaten them. It is going to happen. He taught them. They didn’t believe it. Do we?

Threats and retaliation are natural responses of selfish and insecure ppl who depend on themselves and don’t believe God is in control of that situation.

There were times as a parent I knew how things were going to turn out and did not need to punish my kids.

4 year olds would scream at the top of their lungs that they did not want to take a nap. Then, mid-shreak they would start snoring then wake up in a good mood.

Jesus didn’t need to deal w/ the ppl who were brutalizing him that day. The day will come.

Our sins wound us. The consequences tear people down and break relationships up.

By contrast, Jesus’ wounds heal us. He took the worst consequences for us. That way, we can make these lesser consequences never have to happen.

He bore our sins. That is, He carried them up on the cross w/ Him. He did not leave them on the ground under him.

My least favorite part of Christmas is carrying the decorations up the stairs, box after heavy and breakable box.

I love the house decorated.

But, if I don’t carry the decorations up the stairs the house never gets decorated.

If Jesus didn’t carry our sins up on the cross they never would have been paid for.

Our old life died w/ Jesus. It had to so we could get a new one. The power of sin is dead. The power that prevents us from doing the improbable making it impossible is dead.

Now, the improbable is possible.

We have a new Shepherd and He is leading us into healthy places and situations.

The Christian life is one of sacrifice, surrender, submission, and service. It’s possible to perform in every circumstance in our life w/ an attitude of joy and w/out resentment.

This is in general terms.

Let me bring some specifics to you.

The hardest, most improbable thing I have ever had to do is forgive someone.

Hurt me, okay. Hurt someone I love, look out. I am capable of fantasizing about the worst demise possible.

Can I let that go? Can you?

This is how we can. We have that innate sense of fairness. So, if someone does something wrong they need to pay and appropriate amount. I need to make sure that happens.

That’s revenge.

Forgiveness is letting God handle it. Trusting that He will make it right in the end. I don’t have to b/c He’s got it.

A specific example to bring this home:

Corrie Ten Boom.

So, now, in light of that, make your case as to why you don’t have to do what is so hard for you to do.

It’s just too hard to wear a mask.

Too hard to not be able to go to a restaurant.

Too hard to maintain a good attitude when under and over-bearing boss, or parent.

Here’s the deal, “I can’t” doesn’t work. Yes, you can.

God would never command you to do the impossible. But, He frequently commands the improbable.

If more of us stopped saying, “I can’t”, and figured out how by the strength of God, there would be so much more joy and so much less retaliation.

What situation are you in right now that you don’t think you can do?

Applications

Lists

2 lists.

Make a list of the things you cannot surrender to God.

House, car, retirement, spouse, kids, grandkids, etc.

Next, make a list of the things that Jesus refused to surrender for you.

I’ll wait.

Aren’t you glad there is nothing on his list that He would not, could not, did not do for you.

Phil. 2.

Maybe you need some time to decide what freedom or right you won’t give up for Him.

Forgive

One of the things you may need to give up specifically is the desire for revenge against someone.

Is there someone you need to forgive.

You can make the decision today.

It will take some work and probably reminders.

But you can do this.

Who is it?

Situation

What situation are you in right now that you don’t think you can do?

Can’t care for someone who’s hurting?

Can’t deal w/ a domineering person in authority?

Can’t be happy?

Can’t find joy?

What?

Yes you can. Jesus proved you can. He did the heavy lifting. What we have to carry is much lighter, but we can.

Something right now that you have told ppl you don’t think you can do.

What is it? Now, change your perspective.

It will be hard, improbable, but not impossible.

Telling a slave to have a good attitude? Joy? Really? Yes.

What are you capable of when you don’t let the improbable become the impossible?

Jesus tells us to do things that are near impossible.

But He only does it after He did what seemed impossible.

But, when He did it what He did for us, He proved we can do what we need to do for Him.

That’s because, we have access to the same strength that makes the improbable possible.