Painful Footsteps

Painful Footsteps

Pray.

From 1 Peter chapter 2 all the way to chapter 4, the apostle repeatedly gives Christians instructions on how to live faithful lives and what our social obligations are.

Peter tells the reader to submit to some kind of authority five times in a span of just thirty-five verses.

He insists on giving this sustained attention because outside of the church,

living the beautiful life that we discussed last week will bring glory to God among those who witness that beauty.

It will even silence the ignorance of the world that is constantly trying to find a reason to ridicule Christians.

Peter’s instructions enhance the church’s public reputation, but it also promotes peace within the church. But that… that is a lesson for another day…

And Church, I know that last week’s passage was a tough one to listen to.

Peter discussed our obligation to the authorities appointed over us, whether it be our president, our governor, or our boss at work.

And the reason we obey is because first and foremost, it was God who brought each individual into their position of authority,

and to refuse to honor them would be to refuse to honor God Himself.

Yes, we honor God first, and we must never obey an order that is asking us to sin against God,

but in all other matters, we are called to submit to the authorities appointed over us.

I’m pretty sure I can hear some grumbling out there even with just this quick recap.

Well I’m sorry, church, but if anyone took the liberty of reading ahead from our verses last week,

you’d find that today’s passage doesn’t get a whole lot better!

So buckle your seatbelts, strap on your helmets, and let’s dig in!

Please open you Bibles to 1 Peter 2:18-25.

Verses 18:

18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

Peter starts off by addressing servants, but a better translation for the Greek is actually “slaves” instead of “servants.”

So at first glance, we may be tempted to draw the conclusion that this doesn’t really apply to us because, thankfully, we don’t have slaves in this country anymore.

We are workers, yes, but we are free workers.

However, thinking what Peter has to say to slaves doesn’t apply to us… is incorrect.

In order to apply Peter’s message, we need to know the status of slaves in the Roman empire.

Their life differed both from that of ordinary laborers today and from that of the slaves in America from the past.

Roman slavery was not race-based. Slaves did not look, talk, or dress in any distinct way.

The term translated “slaves” in 1 Peter 2:18 refers household slaves.

The treatment of household slaves varied quite a bit, depending on their master was.

American slavery was worse than Roman slavery in most ways.

Roman slaves could own property and were allowed to follow their own traditions.

What’s more, many Roman slaves gained their freedom eventually.

So it’s pretty different from American slavery.

But despite all that, I have a mind-blowing revelation for you:

Are you ready for it?

Slavery is bad!

It’s still not a good thing for a human being to be someone else’s property.

Peter’s first word to slaves is: “be subject to your masters with all respect.”

Now first I have to make it clear that Peter is not endorsing, nor is he blessing slavery.

Rather, he is telling these Christian Roman slaves how to live within a pervasive, entrenched institution.

Peter commands slaves to submit “with all respect”—literally, “with fear” or awe.

Ultimately, the believer fears God, not man.

But as we’ve said, God appoints all human authorities, so we obey them for God’s sake.

Now, even if there is no precise comparison between slaves and free workers today, Peter’s instructions do apply to all who serve harsh or perverse leaders.

I’m sure many of us here today know what it’s like or may even currently have an authority at work or,

for you students, an authority at school,

who is harsh and unfair.

And Shelley, I better not see your hand go up!

These harsh authorities are not our slave masters,

but they can certainly give harmful orders and dole out punishment to those who disobey.

Consider this, Church:

If God can command a harder thing, that slaves respectfully submit to harsh masters,

surely we can submit to harsh superiors, since their power over us is much more modest.

Nonetheless, we find the command like this difficult.

If we have angry or unjust supervisors and feel trapped by them, we are tempted to return anger for anger, disrespect for disrespect.

I myself am no stranger to very strict supervisors.

I once worked for a physician for three years,

and it would honestly take me a while to count how many co-workers I saw come and go in just those 3 years.

This office had a VERY high turnover.

The physician had very rigid rules for how things were to get done in the office,

and it would NOT go well for you if you didn’t follow his instructions to the letter.

A lot of people lost their jobs over offenses that I personally didn’t feel were fireable offenses.

And I don’t think a single day went by where I didn’t hear my co-workers complain and say some pretty ungracious things about him behind his back.

I’ll be honest church, I was tempted to join in.

I really was.

But, I resisted that temptation.

I thought, “It IS his own business after all, and he has the right to dictate how he wants business to be conducted around here.”

So rather than join in with my peers, I just did what I was told, and every time he had a problem with how I did something,

I simply apologized and promised to do better.

And you know what?

The way he treated me was the complete opposite of how he treated the rest of his employees!

He actually treated me with respect, laughed and joked around with me, and treated me like a friend.

Truth be told, I thought of him as a friend as well.

And here’s the most amazing thing:

He knew I was a Christian, and he was a Muslim.

Now if you know your history, you’d know that Christians and Muslims almost NEVER get along!

But he noticed there was something different about the way I behaved and respected him compared to his non-Christian employees.

And his opinion of Christianity was changed simply because I chose to submit to his sometimes harsh restrictions at work.

Now my intent here is not to blow my own horn and brag about myself, please don’t think that.

My intention is to give you a practical example of where I have personally seen how profound of a testimony humility before a harsh authority can be.

Trust me, it will NOT go unnoticed by those who are on the outside of Christianity looking in.

We, by nature, can repay evil with more evil without ANY difficulty!

That comes very naturally to us!

But Peter is telling us to respond in a way that is NOT typical for humans.

Respond in a way that will reveal there is something different about you!

Respond in a way that will raise eyebrows.

They MAY think, “Why is this person being so nice to me when I treat them so horribly???”

Church, let the fact that you are a new creation in Christ with a new identity be obvious to this fallen world.

We can extend this principle to governments, jobs, and schools.

We obey if we can.

If we must disobey because we are being commanded to sin against God, which we should NEVER do,

we disobey with an attitude of humility and respect, and we bear the consequences.

And let’s be realistic— many times we ARE treated unjustly by our superiors.

What do we do when that happens?

Does that negate our obligation to honor them?

No, Church, it doesn’t.

But, stay with me for a second.

As hard as that is to hear, trust me, I know. I’ve been there.

As hard as that is to hear, Peter does offer some guidance and encouragement.

Let’s move on to verses 19-20:

19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 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.

Unjust suffering, being accused and mistreated for wrongdoings you didn’t commit just because you’re a Christian, obviously isn’t pleasant.

When Peter says this is a “gracious thing” in verse 19,

he’s not saying that this is something that we should look forward to and enjoy.

Normally when we talk of grace, we are referring to undeserved favor.

For instance, we are saved by the grace, or the undeserved favor, of God when, through the Holy Spirit, He saves us by bringing us to Christ.

But that kind of grace is not what Peter is talking about here.

Instead, he is referring to something with which God is well-pleased.

When used in this context, the Greek word grace is usually translated as “credit” instead.

Another way to translate this phrase would be, “it is commendable if you suffer unjustly.”

There’s of course no praise or commendation if someone endures the due punishment for doing evil.

Peter says in verse 20, “For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?”

Now I want to be clear, Peter is not saying that anyone deserves a beating.

He is simply stating the obvious:

We have no right to complain if we are punished for our misdeeds.

It is NOT commendable when we endure well-deserved punishment.

But the Lord IS pleased when we endure unjust suffering, but why?

“WHY is God pleased when we endure unjust suffering?”

Well, look at verse 21:

21 For to this (unjust suffering) you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

Here’s an interesting thought:

How often does a Christian who is sharing the gospel with an unbeliever tell the person that if they became a Christian,

they are being called into a lifetime of unjust suffering?

But here’s the point:

It IS praiseworthy if we, like Jesus, quietly endure injustice.

God is pleased with that because, in doing so, we are imitating Christ.

Peter drops a bomb on the reader.

Just when we would be tempted to say, “No, Peter! I think you’re mixed up. This can’t possibly be right!”,

Peter cuts straight to the heart of the matter by pointing to the unjust suffering of Jesus Christ and says,

if you call Him your Lord and Savior, then God is calling you to walk in His same footsteps.

And these footsteps we are to follow, are painful footsteps indeed, hence the title of today’s sermon.

So if Jesus’ life is our supreme example of how to submit to our authorities, even the harsh ones,

let’s spend the rest of our time today by examining these footsteps He took.

Look at verse 22:

22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

Peter lived with Jesus all day for three years.

If Jesus had ever exploded in frustration at his wayward disciples, had ever stolen, lied, cheated, Peter would have known.

But Peter never saw Jesus stray in deed or in word.

He never got upset unjustly, never made a bad decision, never got a laugh at another person’s expense.

And even though He preached about Himself A LOT, He was never tainted by selfishness.

He simply preached the truth.

Verse 23 says,

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Peter focuses on the suffering of Jesus.

The Pharisees accused Jesus of actually being in league with Satan.

While He was suffering on the cross, they mocked Him, saying in Matthew 27:42,

“He saved others, … but he can’t save himself!… Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him.”

Yet He endured in silence.

Blind, vindictive authorities killed Him.

Passersby joined in as they mocked and reviled Him even as he suffered the most wretched death.

Yet when they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats.

And boy, He COULD have!

If He wanted He could have called an army of angels to His side in an instant.

But He didn’t.

He did all this willingly.

Jesus’ patience and calm in suffering is our model.

There is no glory in calmly receiving deserved punishment,

but there is glory in bearing insults silently and entrusting ourselves into the hands of the sovereign Father God who will never turn His back on His own.

That is precisely what Jesus did— in the midst of His suffering, He entrusted Himself to the Father.

And when you look at verse 23, you see that word, “entrusted.”

The Greek word this was translated from is “paradidōmi.”

The more literal translation of this word is to “hand something over.”

Judas handed Jesus over to the priests out of greed (Matt. 26:14–49).

The priests handed Jesus over to Pilate out of envy and self-righteousness (Mark 15:10).

Pilate handed him over to the Roman soldiers out of cowardice (Matt. 27:26).

On the cross, Jesus handed Himself over to the Father as He endured the ridicule and anticipated his final vindication in the resurrection.

And Church, if we are going to follow in His footsteps during times of suffering, that doesn’t mean that we fire the insults back.

That doesn’t mean that start a fight in an attempt to defend our honor.

That doesn’t mean that we seek revenge for wrongdoings against us.

It means we hand our life over to God and humbly say, “Your will be done, Lord.

Give me the strength to endure until the end, and may you be glorified through my life.”

Do you know where I got that from?

Believe it or not, I took that from the lips of Jesus Himself during His prayer to the Father in Gethsemane.

The moment for His betrayal and crucifixion had almost come, and that is what He prayed to the Father in response.

Jesus is the supreme example of the man who suffered patiently because of confidence in God.

And yet, Jesus is more than just an example.

Look at verses 24 and 25:

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Jesus is more than just an example because we are sinful people who stand guilty before God.

There is nothing that we ourselves could possibly do to remove our guilt,

in the same way that there is nothing a convicted murderer can do before the judge to remove his guilt.

The crime has been committed and, therefore, the punishment must rightly come.

But, Peter says, Jesus bore our sins in His own body on the cross.

The life of Jesus is very different from what our lives look like.

Verse 22 says that He was without sin, which means He perfectly kept God’s law as only God Himself can do.

The Lord stepped off His heavenly throne and put on human flesh.

He stepped into His own creation and lived among us.

And because He was without sin, He is the ONLY one who is even capable to suffer the punishment for someone else’s sin.

You see, if He HAD sinned, then He would have His OWN sin to pay for, but He did not.

He became our substitute on the cross, and the Father crushed Him instead of crushing us.

The Father’s wrath toward our sin was COMPLETELY satisfied in what Jesus did.

Not partially satisfied, COMPLETELY satisfied!

He COMPLETELY accomplished our salvation for us!

Christians often get asked: “What makes you think your Jesus is the only way to God?!?”

Well, it’s because there’s no one else who was without sin who was capable of paying my debt!

THAT’S why!

By the wounds He sustained at the hands of the Romans, our spiritual wounds of sin are healed.

Consider this, Church:

The cross was the ultimate display of two things that seem to be opposites of one another.

Wrath and mercy.

God’s wrath and His mercy met and merged at the cross.

We see God’s wrath toward our sin gruesomely on display.

We see God’s mercy toward us beautifully on display.

We were straying away from God like wandering sheep,

walking our OWN way, but through God’s grace displayed in Christ,

He has brought us to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, the Lord Jesus.

We were once His enemy, but if you have turned from your life of sin and instead put your faith completely in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ,

you aren’t His enemy any longer.

You are part of His loved and precious bride, the Church.

And if that is you, you now walk through life with a new identity and a new citizen.

And we are to strive to follow in His footsteps, forsaking sin, and giving praise and glory to Him.

As verse 24 says, He redeemed us through His own death so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness.

But if that is not you, if you can’t call yourself a Christian, then call on Christ!

Confess to God that you have sinned against Him and stand guilty before Him,

and submit to Jesus as Lord, have faith in His life, death, and resurrection as the full payment for your sin,

and you will surely be saved!

Pray.