Revolution by Submission

 1 Peter 2:13-3:7 Good morning, everyone! It is good to be here, and I'm glad you've joined us in our worship of Christ and to celebrate all the precious things that are true in him. Last week, Bob laid out for us our calling as the people of God. Specifically, in 1 Peter 2:9, it says that we are "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession". Our identity though is rooted in the purposes God has given us, which is spoken in vs. 12: that when others see us, they glorify God on the Day of Visitation. So, Peter is saying that we need to realize who we are in Christ (which is called, and called to all the things we listed). When we realize who we are in Christ, we should live that out! It should change how we approach things in life. Peter argues that by doing so, people will come to faith, that they will actually be praising Jesus as he returns! That's a pretty wild picture Peter paints for us, and it should mark the seriousness of what he is saying about who we are and what we do. Today, we are going to talk about how Peter understands the impact our calling as Christians has on our relationships in society and in our households. Through this passage, Peter wants us to understand that how we relate to the governing authorities, to our superiors, and to our family members, others see Christ and may even realize the Gospel message for themselves. I think we would do well to listen carefully to what Peter is trying to say here, so let's dig in! Civil Sanctification ​ 1 Peter 2:13-17 CSB Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. For it is God's will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God's slaves. Honor everyone. Love the brothers and sisters. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Right off the bat, we have some challenging words by Peter. Remember though what the reason is: that our conduct, when reflecting the Gospel, shines a light for others to see it for themselves. Part of that Gospel message is that our sins have been forgiven, that we have been reconciled to God the Father, that because Christ rose from the grave, death has been defeated and we are no longer bound to it, but life everlasting instead. Now, I say that all of that is just a part of the Gospel, because the Gospel is not insular. It has to be acted upon! How can we possibly say that God's love is so transforming and dynamic, that we continue to live like those who haven't experienced this love of God? Now, we do not bring anything to this process. We were dead in our sins and it is through Christ alone that we are made alive again (Eph.2:4-5). But the power of the Gospel has always been in how it activates and motivates the person experiencing rebirth. Which leaves us with a simple question to approach this challenging text with: how does the Gospel in me, influence or inform how I interact in this context? How should I think about, and then act, in relation to my governing authorities? Where does the Gospel leave me in all of this? Alright, first, like Peter wants us to, let's understand who we are. Christians are foreigners, exiles. We are not in our homeland, Peter says in vs. 11. Our Kingdom, Jesus says, is not of this world (Jn.18:36). But just because we belong to a different, greater Kingdom than the one we reside, does not excuse us from following its laws. When we lived in California, their terrible drought was going on, and so they had lots of water conservation laws. I couldn't just water my lawn because I'm not really from there. We know that isn't how living in society works. In fact, the reverse is opposite as well. I grew up just 30 minutes from the Blue Water Bridge, which will get you from Michigan to Canada. I don't know how many of you are studied up on Canadian Law, but there is one law that many Michigan teens know of, and often, take advantage of: Canada's drinking age, which is only 19. I know many people that, upon turning 19, mysteriously wanted to celebrate their birthday in Sarnia, Ontario. These examples should point out 2 things to us: 1) we respect the spaces we live in and 2) that what is legal in the place we reside is not necessarily "legal" back home, and in our context, we still have obligations to home. I'm taking forever to get into the actual text of today's passage, but that's really what Peter is getting at in vs. 13: "Be subject for the Lord's sake..." We obey their rules, and we do it because of our commitments to Christ. Who do we obey, exactly? Well, we'll get to that in a minute. But this section says we should be subject to every human institution installed by the emperor. Now, before you get excited claiming we don't have an emperor, it's clear that what is meant here is the main governing official. In America, then, it would mean the POTUS. But then Peter also says, that we should be subject to the governors sent by him. But because Peter says every human institution, and in recognition of the fact that our government is structured differently than the 1st Century Roman provinces, we should acknowledge that he means all the offices established to help govern our nation. In practice, it means that I am subject to the POTUS, currently to the governor of Illinois, but also to the lady behind the DMV counter, or the DNR head. Taking a moment, to recap: we've discussed why we obey, now who we obey, but what do we obey? That's what the American Church today seems to want to know, especially in light of our current circumstances. Typically, those who struggle with a passage like this hesitate for one or two reasons: 1) they hesitate because Scripture teaches to obey Him and not man and 2) there is a growing fear that submission to the government will accelerate a loss of religious freedom here in America. Now, to that first point, yes. Scripture does teach us that we need to obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). But do you notice who says that in Acts? That's right! It's our boy Peter! The same one writing this letter we're reading today! So yes, there is a balance, clearly. But note that Peter still wrote these words likely under Nero who ultimately had him crucified. Remember, too, Paul wrote essentially the same commands shortly before his execution by Nero. The other hesitation or objection happens because of a growing fear by some that our religious freedoms are in danger and will be accelerated by submitting to orders that limit our freedoms. And listen, as Christians, I think it is worthwhile and probably even a necessary thing to sort of gauge a trajectory for where things are going in the world. But we don't do that out of fear. We do it so that we can properly equip ourselves to bring the Gospel most effectively to a constantly-shifting culture. There's this sense out there I think that we need to be wise to "what's really going on". And the calls for rebellion or at least the dismissal of various ordinances, often accompany (at least on Facebook) some insult like calling people who are obeying "sheeple". But might I suggest that what Peter seems to imply in this passage is that by freely submitting, we actually still retain our freedom. And I'll add that the particular insult levied against others is especially odd to me when coming from Christians. There's an irony there in calling people to disobey, for God's sake, and disparaging them by inadvertently likening them to a sheep. We worship a god described as a sheep! A sheep that Scripture tells us in Isaiah 53, was silent before the slaughter. Obedient, even unto death as Philippians tells us. I know that this is not what is meant when Christians call people "sheeple", but surely you can understand how it sounds awfully like that "we should not be like Christ, and we should disobey Scripture, but for the sake of God and His Gospel". What I say to this group of people then, is that Peter, Paul, and even Jesus all lived through what our worst fears realized look like, and still peacefully submitted. To wrap up this section: context matters, and what we can take from Scripture is that we are to submit to the authorities, unless they command us to act contrary to God and His commands. Now, that doesn't answer all our questions as to what we should do. But two guiding principles in this are that we want to obey these authorities as much as we can while still being faithful to Scripture, and whatever we end up doing, we must honor God, the authorities, and Peter goes so far as to say, everyone. By doing so, we exhibit the proper attitude before God: fearing Him and acting accordingly (vs.17). This radical submission preaches Christ to people, and it points them to a kingdom beyond our world's. Social Submission Alright. That was a super easy section and no one has any troubles with that, right? Maybe you think I or Peter are going too far. Well, buckle up, because Peter is about to get even more radical. ​ Christian Standard Bible Chapter 2 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. 22 He did not commit sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth;, 23 when he was insulted, he did not insult in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree; so that, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. By his wounds, you have been healed. 25 For you were like sheep going astray,, but you have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. I will start by saying that I am sorry for bludgeoning you with the Word of God today, as this is a lot to take in all at once. But the challenges here are for our good, and I pray now that the Spirit sustains us as we continue on. Peter now addresses slaves, and what their conduct should look like if they hope to model Christ. Remember, too, Peter also said we are to be slaves for Christ in vs. 16 ("living as servants of God"). Logically then, Peter expects all of us to listen closely to what he has to say, since we're all to be slaves in one sense. Another thing to know is that there are two sorts of slaves, generally, in the Graeco-Roman world. Those owned by the state, and then household slaves. Slavery back then was not quite the same as what we think of in American history, but it was just as susceptible to all the same kinds of abuse and horrors we have learned about in our own history. The biggest difference is that there was a lot more power and autonomy that a household slave had. Often, they were in slavery somewhat by choice, at least in as much as you have a choice when you have debts that need to be paid. But generally, unless you were a prisoner of war, you probably entered into the arrangement yourself. Anyways, just know that there are similarities between our less-ancient slavery system and the one Peter is addressing here. Moving on, Peter looks at these slaves and their situations, and wants them (and us) to model Christ in it. Just like we should be submissive to the government, Peter wants slaves to be submissive to their masters. Yikes! That doesn't sound good today. Well, let's see what Peter follows that up with: show them respect whether they're good and gentle or unjust. Well...that didn't smooth things very well, did it? Is Peter off his rocker? How on earth could he say such things? Does he not understand what it means to be a slave? Surely Peter can relate to injustice! So why would he say that? This passage doesn't sound great to us today, and it has been abused in the past. American slaves were given Bibles that would remove passages speaking of freedom and would highlight passages like the one we're reading today. One of the passages missing though from these Bibles would be 1 Corinthians 7:21, where Paul tells slaves that they should seek freedom if they can. Well, that's some important context! It seems then that we can at least say that Peter is not opposed to them legally getting their freedom. However, given that he tells them to submit, he does seem to prohibit running away, which Paul also says in Philemon, and that they shouldn't try to overthrow their masters. What is Peter getting at then? You know, the first section of our passage today challenged the Zealots' attitudes, essentially saying that political revolution is not the way of the Kingdom. We can probably understand that for a slave listening to the words of Jesus, about how social order is flipped in the Kingdom of Heaven, that perhaps many would be dreaming of being freed from their physical bondage. This is not what Peter calls for, nor Paul in other passages. What goal does Peter have in mind, then? The goal of our entire passage today, as well as the whole book, is that our conduct reflect the realities of the Kingdom of Heaven, even when they are not physically present with us. We put our faith in Christ, we anticipate his return, and we live as though he is coming soon. We are hearing this passage in a time where everyone is suffering. There is Covid-19, there is the loss of our dear Elizabeth, and many of us have private sufferings and sorrows on top of those. Peter speaks to suffering unjustly, but I'll expand it to suffering in any capacity because I think the point still stands: "For this is a gracious thing..." When we endure these things for God. There is a difference between enduring suffering, and seizing hold of it. The difference is between helpless subjection and striving, between fatalism and worship. We may not be slaves today, but we understand suffering, and we understand and experience injustices in our lives. Peter uses slaves, because this was probably a common experience to them. But his principles apply to any relationship! So let's think about this for today. Peter says, we haven't done anything remarkable when we suffer the consequences of our sins. I shared on Facebook a report we got from Josiah's teachers, that while refusing to wash his hands, he was rolling on the floor. While doing so, he knocked over two other kids who landed on his face and roughed Josiah's face up a bit. He is no saint for being patient with those who fell on him! He received the due penalty of his error. However, there are times when we are living like Christ, and still we experience negative consequences. Trying to do the right thing at work, but a coworker misinterprets you in an awful way, causing stress and tension between yourself and other staff members. People who are skeptical of your motives. People talking about you behind your back. Or perhaps you find yourself in a situation like a friend of mine. She was in an abusive marriage, literally fearing for her life at times. She took her kids and fled. Because of the kids, there still had to be contact, and he tried manipulating everything he could. This man was pretty well-off, and my friend fled from a gorgeous house to living in an old rental home. I remember her telling me that she was not going to fight him for material stuff. I think he sensed he was losing control over her, so then he demanded that she give up her van, her only vehicle suitable for driving everyone, and one he had no use for (he immediately sold it for well under market price, if I remember correctly). She was a school teacher and he wasn't paying for support. It was an awful situation. But beyond the initial frustration of very suddenly having to hunt for and pay for a new vehicle, my friend simply said, "fine". Now she was not fine, she didn't know how she was going to pay for even a used vehicle, but she trusted God with the process. She began thinking through how God was using this situation for her. It was the last hold he had over her, and while there were a few minor incidents after the fact, the battle that lasted for over 10 years had quietly calmed. Now, I have no idea how this man understood these actions by my friend. I imagine that there had to be a sort of bewilderment, as well as some frustration that she wasn't going to play the games he wanted her to play. But I know how her actions affected me. She would tell me these stories, often in tears, and there was probably some big thing every other month. It infuriated me! I wanted justice for her! I still do. She experienced a level of wickedness that I've rarely, if ever, seen. But she endured it, trusting in Christ for vindication, and refused to sin against him in her battles. As a young man, this was a powerful testimony to the greatness of God. I saw Christ in her, and it strengthened my own resolve and faith. This is exactly what the desired outcome is for Peter. Vs. 21, "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps." When we suffer, and choose to do so for God, which is something no one can take away from us, we become like Christ and serve as a witness to our Lord. And shouldn't we suffer for Christ? Peter explains that Christ suffered for us! So why shouldn't we suffer for him? "Okay, I want to suffer for him". But how did Christ do it? He remained perfect, refusing to sin. "...there was no deceit in his mouth", it says. He didn't lie to get himself out of the situation, nor did he spread lies about his enemies. When he was reviled, he didn't insult them in return. He didn't threaten them when they attacked him, but instead handed himself over to the earthly judges, while trusting the True Judge for vindication. Notice what it says there in the second half of vs. 23, "he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly (referring to the Father)." He suffered, trusting the Father. We ought to suffer trusting the same. I want to briefly look back at the first section to a critical verse that we didn't discuss. Look at vs. 16: "Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil." Of course in that immediate context, Peter is talking about doing good works in society rather than wrongly disobeying the government and then trying to pass it off as a good or righteous thing. But it applies just as much to this situation here. When injustice enters, it can feel righteous to rebel against it and to "fight fire with fire". After all, it's evil! Why shouldn't I do what I can to make sure wickedness is extinguished and no longer has the ability to harm again? Perhaps a friend shared something private with someone that you asked to not be shared. We can easily justify to ourselves a response where we share sensitive information about them. Maybe we justify spreading a rumor about them. Perhaps a family member favors your sibling's children over yours, so you then withhold love from their children. Friends, we are called to live as Christ did. And we have been given all we need to do so: vs. 24 says, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." In our broken situations, where we crave righteousness and justice, the answer is not unrighteousness and injustice. These responses reject the Gospel, because it betrays the transformation that comes from recognizing that Christ overcame all things so that we too, might live righteously. We were broken, but as vs. 24 continues says, "By HIS wounds, you have been healed." We aren't broken anymore. We are no longer lost, because our Faithful Shepherd has brought us back to himself. If we were to modernize this a bit, it seems fair to me to say that Peter says we were "sheeple", blindly falling into the rhythms of the kingdom of this world, multiplying one sin into many. We were lost sheep, fueling the flames that now scorch the earth. Christ is our Suffering Servant, as seen in Isaiah 53, and because he suffered and died for us, we should be willing to suffer for him when suffering comes. We see the brokenness and corruption in the world, and we desire for a reversal of these things. The revolution we long for does not come by acting as the world does, but through active, intentional submission as Christ modeled. We should know this: the reversal of sin in our own hearts came through the active, intentional submission to death on a cross from Jesus Christ, our Lord. Domestic Righteousness ​ 1 Peter 3:1-7 CSB In the same way, wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the word, they may be won over without a word by the way their wives live when they observe your pure, reverent lives. Don't let your beauty consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and wearing gold jewelry or fine clothes, but rather what is inside the heart-the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. For in the past, the holy women who put their hope in God also adorned themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands, just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and do not fear any intimidation. Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives in an understanding way, as with a weaker partner, showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. Whew. Okay...two tough sections down, one more to go. Just like the others, there's a lot here and we can't possibly cover it all. However, there are a few things to know to understand the context better. First of all, there was a certain expectation in society of what a household should look like. The woman, generally, was viewed as sort of "queen of her castle", and had a lot of authority in how it would be run. The husband really was to oversee things and make sure the wife was running it well. The wife was usually the one deciding what needed to be done around the house, raised the kids, oversaw the servants, etc. In that society though, the wife was to essentially be an extension of her husband. Plutarch, an ancient writer, said that women shouldn't be friends with anyone her husband wasn't friends with. Whatever gods he worships, she was expected to also worship. Looking at this passage then, Peter really isn't saying anything new, but the situation is unique. In the last couple of sections, Peter seems to address the question of how one should act civilly, and how one should respond to inflicted injustices. In this section, Peter wants to address how to think about responding at home when your spouse doesn't believe in Christ. Peter argues that everything he has said about the other arenas of life apply here, that you can win someone to Christ through your conduct. There are all sorts of cultural nuances here, but generally, Peter is saying that by submission to their unbelieving husbands, they're honoring God and they may even lead their spouse to the Gospel truth. Okay, but what does submission mean according to Peter? We don't fully know, but we have operative principles to look at: he says in 3:1 that the wives should be "respectful" and have "pure conduct". Vs. 4 elaborates a little more, saying that a "gentle and quiet spirit" is what God values. Vs. 6 says that wives when faithfully submitting, become just like the honorable Sarah when they "do good and do not fear anything that is frightening." I think this last reference helps us a lot, as it likely refers to Gen. 12, where Abraham lies to the Egyptians, saying that Sarah isn't his wife, because he feared that they would kill him because she was so beautiful! What did Sarah do in that situation? She submitted, even though Abraham was in the wrong! The Lord intervened with plagues here, bailing Abraham out of his foolishness. Peter brings this up though, because he is addressing what a spouse does with an unbelieving spouse. Sarah wasn't in control of her situation in Genesis, much like many of the wives in Peter's time found themselves. Sarah is honored, not because of her beauty, but because of her desire to honor her husband and the Lord. The wives in Peter's day are offered the same challenge: to be gentle, tranquil, respectful. Again, keep all this cushioned in Peter's goal of seeing society transform for the Gospel. We might not know exactly how a woman back then ought to have acted, which makes it really difficult for us to envision our own challenge today. In all things however, when we seek to honor God and respect everyone else, and use Christ as our model, we are going the right direction. Peter wraps up this section in vs. 7, this time referring to husbands. Most commentators interpret this to mean that these are unbelieving husbands. But I don't think that makes a ton of sense, given that Peter's letter is for believers. I think he is now addressing Christian husbands with unbelieving wives. They are challenged to live with their wives in an "understanding way". They're to be patient, gracious, assuming the best of them. There's that phrase Peter uses that likely turns heads, so let's quickly address it: what does he mean by "weaker" when speaking of wives being the weaker vessel or partner? Obviously, it could mean physically weaker. There might be a sense of being weaker in societal power. Some of the ancient writers would have written that they were emotionally weaker, which I am not convinced of. The truth is, I'm not entirely sure and there is no clear consensus on it. However, we can rule out from Scripture any sense of ontological inferiority. Scripture teaches that men and women are both created by God and in His image and are thus equally valuable to God. So we reject any sense of that, but we can't say with certainty what Peter means by it. However, his point is made with the following command, that husbands need to treat their wives as "co-heirs of the grace of life". Whatever their "advantage" is, they need to treat their wives well! To treat them as well as they would treat another believer. Husbands, you need to treat your wife well today! Give them honor, Peter says. And in saying this, there is an implication that any sort of spousal abuse is in opposition to the Kingdom of Heaven and fails to reflect the realities Christ brings. Even when your wife does not follow Christ! Peter imagines this situation it seems to me, of a Christian husband praying for his wife, that she might come to know Christ! Praying that your wife would come to faith while mistreating her is certainly going to hinder your petitions to God. Peter sees the solution to this as loving her as Christ does, just as the solution is to the other spheres of life. Final Thoughts Friends, we've talked about a lot today. We are called to a difficult task, to submit to others for the sake of Christ. Peter lived in a world where Christians were constantly accused of being rabble-rousers, of being trouble for society. In some ways, they were right! Christ has loosened his army to go to war with the powers and principalities of this world, to establish his kingdom on earth. But there were many ways in which they were wrong, and Peter wanted Christians to be sure to only be raising trouble when it was necessary to do so for Christ. Otherwise, as he says in vs. 15, he wants our good conduct to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Listen, the world will always hate Christians. We do not serve their gods, nor do we belong to the kingdom of this world. We value different things than the world as a whole. Because that's true, we need to do the opposite of what I think naturally comes to us, which is to stop caring for what they think about us. We need to care what they think about us, because we bear the name of Christ. And I'll say just a couple of things as we close today. First of all, there's this idea out there that manifests itself differently in different situations, but it's that we need "soften" the Gospel or God's Word. This passage would seem to support that, perhaps. But if Christ is our model, then we need to model him. And Christ trusted in the Father and he trusted in His word. In fact, he is the Word of God. So, when we say things like, "well, you know, maybe we shouldn't mention Hell to the unbeliever. I don't think that would go over very well...", we fail to submit to God and the teaching of His word. The Gospel loses its luster, because what good news is there if there's not bad news? How can I appreciate Jesus' sacrifice for my sins if I don't truly recognize how wicked I am apart from him? Our lifestyles matter, our conduct matters. But it only works when it reflects the truth, and not partial truths. Which leads to my second point, which is that Christians will be hated for things that we believe, but when our conduct is so far above reproach, what can skeptics even say? "Yeah sure, Jimmy is gracious and loving and generous and compassionate towards everyone, but I don't like his views on x or y." Our lives need to serve as sockdolagers. That's a word most likely unfamiliar to us, but it is my favorite word in the whole wide English language. A sockdolager is basically a response that is unobjectionable. It is a response that shuts down any further need to talk things out, it completely settles a matter. Christ was a living sockdolager. The Pharisees and others kept trying to trap him, but everything he said and did proved them wrong. Peter calls us to live lives as Christ, and so how we act in our relationships matters! We must, for the sake of Christ, be willing to pursue peace and love, and to submit to others out of that love. Let the world hate us, but don't give them any reasons that are not in keeping with how Christ lived. When we live in this way, when we treat the DMV lady just as well as we treat our best friend, when we refuse to sin after being wronged, when we love and care for our families, what can anyone say about Jesus, other than, "Please tell me more about your Christ?" Let's pray.