Untitled Sermon (2)

Do you ever wonder what it would have been like for Abraham before Genesis 12? “Now the LORD said to Abram...” When you read those words nothing can ever be the same after them? Do you realize that? Hopefully, you’re here this morning and you’re saying God speak to me. Or you open your Bible…God speak to me. Or you pray…God speak to me. But do you realize how dangerous such a thing is?

You’re never the same after, “Now the LORD said to Abram...” Because to not obey is going to do something to him. For him to say, “Nah, I’m not leaving my father’s house. I’m not going to follow you.” That would have had a massive impact on him. Just ask Jonah how that turns out! But at the same time answering that call has an impact on your life as well.

Do you ever wonder what Job’s diary looked like before Job 1? Would it have been something like, ‘Everything is chill today. Things couldn’t be better! My kids are amazing, my business is thriving, my friends are super rad dudes, my wife—man she has such great opinions.’ Or would it have been, “too stinking hot today, worried about this business deal, kids are tyrants, wife’s seeming a little on me…lately.” I almost bet it was the second one.

But once everything in Job 1 happened he couldn’t go back to those old diary entries. No matter how much he would have liked the days when he was complaining about his soup being a little too hot…he’s now living in the days when he lost everything and his children have died. You can’t go back from that. You can’t ever go back to life before that.

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Let me set it up this way. The year is AD 59. Those that Peter is writing to have come to faith in Jesus. That means that things are different, things have changed, and it also means they have an ever growing understanding of who God is. Coming to know Jesus comes with certain facts, doesn’t it?

God is all-loving. God is all-powerful. God is FOR you—both His power and His love merge together and he is FOR YOU.

We also know from human experience that suffering is painful, it hurts, it’s dishonoring, it’s shameful. And so we often tie these two truths together and come to the conclusion that a good and loving God that is FOR me will not allow suffering into my life. Bad stuff isn’t going to happen to me.

Then you suffer.

What happens in that moment? That belief system is immediately challenged. You’re shocked. You’re rocked. You start asking a million questions. This is what Henry Blackaby would call a crisis of belief. And you see this all throughout the Bible.

Moses is going along…he has a certain view of God…a certain view of the world…then BAM! Burning bush. Deliver them Moses.

David…shepherd boy....you’re going to be king.

Jonah…go to Nineveh...

Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel…deliver my message. When God speaks we are immediately put at a crossroads.

That happened ALL the time with Jesus. That’s what that whole bit about new wine into old wineskins is all about. They were trying to get Jesus to fit into the boxes they had made for him. We still do that with God. God I want you to speak to me…but don’t blow up my world. Please. I like it. I like being comfortable.

But then God speaks and our old life CANNOT be the same. You don’t have that option. Because if you pretend like God didn’t speak you’re now living in disobedience. And if you listen then that’s going to change you. God’s speaking is always with purpose. He’s not into giving holy suggestions.

Those in Peter’s day had a certain view of God. We don’t know exactly what that view of God is…but we know that something happened when they were met with suffering. It didn’t quite fit. It led to a crisis of belief. Specifically, I believe we have some clues here that their struggle is similar to our struggle in the midst of suffering. It causes us to questions God’s presence and God’s provision.

Have I done something wrong, that I’m suffering? Has God removed his presence from me because I’ve blown it in some way? Is this a punishment? Did we do something wrong? Is he NOT for me?

Or we question his provision: Can he not help? Does not want to? Is he mean? Is he really good? Is he really there?

And so Peter had to give some pastoral counsel.

Listen:

READ 1 Peter 4:12-19

Notice here that Peter’s answer to them…don’t be surprised at your suffering but rejoice in it! Your suffering is evidence both of God’s presence and of His provision…so rejoice, Christian.

Why does Peter say, “Don’t be surprised...” Don’t! Don’t do that. Don’t go there. Don’t let surprise happen. Why say it that way?

Is he saying be so prepared and have all your ducks in a row so that nothing will ever catch you off guard? No, that’s not reality. So what does he mean. Well, think about it this way. Sometimes my kids like to hide behind a door and when I walk by they like to jump out and startle me. Now why does that shock happen? It’s because I’m not prepared. I don’t have a worldview which says “your kids are going to jump out from behind this door...” But what if I did? What if I had a worldview that said, “20% of the time your kids are going to try to scare you?” It wouldn’t be as effective would it?

But let’s think about this with more serious stuff. If God has given us texts in Scripture just like 1 Peter…if he has given us a theology all throughout the Bible that shows that God often doesn’t save us FROM hardship but he saves us THROUGH hardship....and I choose to ignore that, and I choose to NOT develop a theology of suffering that is in accordance with the Bible....and then I suffer…and then I’m shocked and appalled and floored and angry and depressed and panicked and all of those things because I AM suffering…then that’s kind of on me.

Now don’t hear me wrong. There are many times in our life when we get gut-punched. Repeatedly. We do have a crisis of belief. And that’s what happened to Peter’s audience. They were shocked…and so he encourages them and say, “let’s move on from there. Let’s move on a little from the shock of this thing…and let’s see what God is doing.”

Don’t be shocked but rejoice. That’s to be your theology of suffering. When bad things happen I’m not going to respond with shock…because it’s kind of going to fit my worldview now…bad stuff happens, this world is fallen, God is working but we aren’t redeemed yet. That sounds like some depressing stuff, right. You are going to suffer. And I’m talking can’t pick yourself up off the floor suffer. Not just single tear but sobbing. Or maybe even that pain that is so deep that you can’t even cry—you just ache and are flooded with a ton of emotions. That’s going to happen.

Well, that’s great news—preacher. But notice where he goes with this…don’t be surprised but rejoice.

Now before we proceed we have to talk about the type of suffering that he is talking about here. What is this fiery trial? Some have thought he’s talking about real actual fire—but I don’t think so. That’s not how Peter has been using that word. This is suffering that is unique to a follower of Jesus—it is suffering that comes because you ARE a follower of Jesus.

But it’s not just, “Are you a Christian? Okay, let’s burn you at the stake”. That’s not the type of suffering that Peter’s hearers are experiencing. It’s social ostracization, it’s being misrepresented, it’s being slandered, it’s being verbally abused, it’s being threatened with death, it’s losing jobs, it’s having to be dishonored, it’s being shamed. All those things. And it’s that suffering that cuts you at the deepest part of your being. It hurts worse than being lit on fire.

But we cannot just say, “I am a Christian. I am suffering. I am being persecuted therefore I must rejoice in my suffering.” It’s not quite that simple. Because there is a point he is making in verse 15 that I think we need to make BEFORE we can apply the rest of this.

“Let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler.” What is he saying there? He is saying, “You don’t get to apply what I’m saying here if your suffering is because you’ve done something wrong and evil.

But do you notice anything about that list? Murder. That’s a pretty big deal, right? Theft, okay that’s making you a pretty bad dude. Evildoer…that’s just a bad guy. That’s greek for… “he’s a bad dude”. Then he says, meddler. Now wait a second. Meddling?

What even does that mean? It’s not a word that you find elsewhere in your NT or even really much in classic Greek literature. But if you combine them it means “an overseer of another’s affairs”. So what is it? I like how one commentator defined it:

Meddlers interfere, usurping roles not properly theirs. They might even scheme to gain influence outside their sphere. They nose into matters that are not their proper concern and offer unwanted opinions. They speak when protocol calls for silence. No one gladly listens to a meddler; most are irritated. If a child is misbehaving at the grocery store, how many parents will welcome child-rearing tips from the nearest cashier?

Now I would argue that THIS is actually Peter’s chief concern. And I need to be a little nerdy to show you that. Notice the word “as a” in verse 15. See what it’s doing. You have list one. As a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer. Notice the word “as” is missing with thief and evildoer. Then notice he says “or AS a meddler”. What that’s doing is putting an emphasis on meddler. It’s the last one in the list. And so that I think is his chief concern.

Just think about this. You murder people. Somebody calls you on that…puts you in jail, you endure shame. That’s kind of obvious, right. Same thing with theft and evildoing. I don’t think you’d need to tell early Christians, “hey, y’all really need to not kill people”. But what about meddling?

Listen, if I’m being tactless and graceless in my interaction with others. If I’m getting into affairs that aren’t my own. If I grab a passing dog by the ears and meddle in stuff that I don’t need to be meddling in and I end up getting in trouble for that…it isn’t persecution. As one person has said, “God does not bless tactless behavior, and it is not persecution when obnoxious acts earn wrath.”

I also appreciate this word from Tim Challies on meddling:

Neil Postman once asked this question: “How often does it occur that information provided you on morning radio or television, or in the morning newspaper, causes you to alter your plans for the day, or to take some action you would not otherwise have taken, or provides insight into some problem you are required to solve?” In most cases the answer is “not very often.” The same might be asked of information we glean from social media or other sources of Christian news and information. How often do we actually do anything about it? And perhaps even better, how often is it really our responsibility to do something about it? Postman lamented the impotent cycle in which “the news elicits from you a variety of opinions about which you can do nothing except to offer them as more news, about which you can do nothing.” I’m convinced we experience something similar today where we receive news about which we can do nothing, so what we do is pass it on, broadcasting our opinion, our joy, our outrage. But passing it on is not a neutral act. It can, in fact, be an act of meddling, the action of a busybody. Broadcasting opinions about situations that have happened at a great distant from us, that do not concern us, about which we can do nothing, and about which we know very little, seems to match the very definition of meddling.

And so if we are persecuted for this manner of evildoing—for things even such as meddling—then what Peter is saying here doesn’t necessarily apply to us. These aren’t promises that we can claim.

Does God defend a murderer in his murder? Does God defend a thief in his theft? Does God defend an evildoer in his evil doing? Is he pleased? Is his happy presence poured out upon such? No. God’s judgment comes upon these things. The same is true with meddling.

But there IS suffering as a Christian and this is Peter’s major point. How can you rejoice instead of be surprised? Two things.

You can rejoice because of God’s provision

You’ll notice in verse 12 that he says, “when it comes upon you to test you.” That’s some great news....PASS THE TEST.

Consider what he is doing in verse 13. Sharing in Christ’s sufferings. What does that mean? Connected with his provision of Christ. Why do we rejoice when his glory is revealed…because we are in Christ. His vindication is ours. His glory is ours.

If you are insulted b/c you bear that name then you are blessed…but why…that moves to our next point.

You can rejoice because of God’s presence

Isaiah 11

To understand what Peter is doing in verses 17-18 we have to do a bit of OT background.

Rutherford

This union with Christ is the most beautiful subject in the Christian life. It means that I am not a lone fighter here: I am an extension of Jesus Christ. When I was beaten in Romania, He suffered in my body. It is not my suffering: I only had the honor to share His sufferings. -a Romanian pastor