Reconciliation to Life

Introduction

It is good to be with each of you this morning. I pray you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and come with renewed hearts, tender for the Lord. Let’s pray.

Last week, we talked about imitating Christ and his response to suffering. Specifically, we talked about what that looks like in our relationships with the governing authorities, superiors, friends, and family. The combination of Bob, Brian, and Gary illustrated for us what our hope is, and what the basis is for our calling to be a “royal priesthood”. Peter in the last section demonstrated that by living as Christ lived, even in suffering, people would be brought to faith. Our radical submission points to a greater kingdom, where the “love supreme” resides, as Jazz legend John Coltrane put it. In today’s passage, Peter elaborates on Christ and his actions, and from that, what our actions should be.

Vs.8-9 say:

Finally, all of you be like-minded and sympathetic, love one another, and be compassionate and humble, not paying back evil for evil or insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing, since you were called for this, so that you may inherit a blessing.

That first word, “finally”: Peter had addressed different groups of people, but now he is addressing all believers! The following commands are expected of everyone, regardless of their position in society or the house. He starts by saying that the Church should “have unity of mind”. I think Peter calls for this for a number of reasons. First, we know the Body of Christ is most effective when working together. Paul talks about this in Romans, when talking about giftings of the various members of the Church. It’s interesting when you look at Romans 12, actually, because there Paul essentially says that though the various members of the body serve different functions, they are unified by serving the same will of God. Romans 12:1-2 says this:

Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your true worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Note, too, the common link of sacrificing oneself for God, the same thing Peter is calling believers to do in our passage. From there, Paul talks about how each person is gifted differently and that they should work together. Like Peter, Paul then lists a series of commands about how to respond to various trials, and can be summed up in the final verse of Romans 12: “Do not be conquered by evil, but conquer evil by doing good.” This is exactly what Peter is getting at. And it is what we are called to have unity of mind for: to seek to do the will of God, which is to conquer evil by doing good, even in suffering.

Another reason though that Peter calls for this, is to build structure and offer support. Think for a moment, of the picture painted of Christians in society: persecution, suffering, abuse…all by the hands of outsiders. Can you imagine battling the forces of evil in this world, fixing your eyes on Jesus, simply trying to persevere through the harshness of the world, and then gathering with your brothers and sisters-in Christ, only to experience the same thing? Perhaps, you don’t need to imagine it. Perhaps it is something you have experienced. Worse yet, maybe you’ve contributed to that. In the Book of Acts, there is a common theme throughout, showing that the Church was persecuted from outside and from within. Peter instructs the believers then to be like-minded, to focus on the object of their mutual affection: Jesus Christ. In fact, the first list of commands all seem to point to this: have sympathy, express brotherly love, have a tender heart and a humble mind. Awful hard to fight and tear down one another when we practice these things, right?

We ought to focus on Christ and his sacrifice. We sympathize and encourage each other. The Church should not be a place where we try to outdo one another, especially in our sorrows. We don’t say, “Well, sorry about your car breaking down, but my business went under this week.” More specific to the sorts of suffering caused by persecution, we might imagine someone lamenting a harsh encounter with someone hostile to their faith, only to be outdone by someone who lost their job for their faith. This is very easy to do in the Midwest, where everyone thinks they’re tougher than their neighbor. Their neighbor should “buck up” because they haven’t faced how harsh the world can “truly” be. We in the Church, when we hear someone sharing a difficulty, should be listening and attempt to feel what they are feeling, at least as much as possible. We can only really help carry one another’s burdens if we actually grasp the burden for what it is. Galatians talks about bearing one another’s burdens, although it is used in a different way, speaking to dealing with those who have fallen into sin. But Paul’s point there is that the Church ought to restore a fallen brother, and it is followed with a warning to watch their own pride. The same principle, I think is being broadly applied here by Peter: to support one another out of love, and to remain humble.

Peter so far says that we should focus on Christ, which will keep us from going at each other’s throats and will also provide a basis from which to sympathize and encourage one another. We do it out of brotherly love, we should understand that the people in our church are like family, and we should extend a tender heart towards them. We shouldn’t withhold anything from our families! And we should remain humble throughout.

But that’s an odd command isn’t it? It’s like that Sesame Street, “One of these things is not like the other”, or it so it seems. He’s wanting his hearers to properly reflect Christ in all their interactions, but especially in their sufferings. But what does humility have to do with suffering and our responses to it? I think there is an interesting connection between the fear of the Lord, alluded to in 1 Peter 2:17, and humility. We won’t get into it today, but it is also an idea present in Psalm 34, which Peter is about to quote. Basically though, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, or of right living (Prov.1:7). Fearing the Lord means that we recognize His power and capabilities, but it also acknowledges our lowly position before Him. Even beyond that though, Christ displayed humility in his sacrifice for us. He lowered himself for the benefit of others, and I think that concept is absolutely in play here. Last week, we talked about submission to various people, and that we submit not because we’re weak, but because we’re seeking to serve Christ and to model ourselves after him.

Simply stated then, I see two reasons for the call to humility by Peter. That first one is that we need to understand our calling as the royal priesthood. A priest in the OT, in the Hebrew Bible, would communicate on God’s behalf to the people, and on the people’s behalf to God. They were mediators. So, when Peter calls for us to act as priests, we are now in that role with God and the rest of the world. We communicate who God is and what He desires to the world, and we should be in prayer for the world, and to seek their good. In order to do that though, we must humble ourselves and put God first, and lift others above ourselves, even in suffering. Their well-being becomes more important than even our own!

The other aspect to this though is that these are radical commands by Peter. When someone slanders us, it is not our first instinct to speak well of them in return. When someone goes out of their way to cause you harm, we aren’t typically looking for ways to display kindness. Humility becomes essential, because we must recognize that God is greater than us and that His ways are best. Whatever our goals may be, God’s is to glorify Himself, primarily in reconciling the world to Himself. You and I need to be prepared to put up with a lot of junk if we’re going to accomplish that goal for Christ.

In vs. 9, Peter moves from shaping our identities to practical commands. Keeping in mind the call to be loving, compassionate, and humble then, Peter says to not repay evil for evil. We also shouldn’t insult others when they insult us. “Well, don’t do this, don’t do that…”, so what am I supposed to do? Bless. Bless? Really? If you’re like me, it seems to take every ounce of my being to remain silent instead of snapping back at someone! This seems like an entirely different level of sanctification than the one I possess! We as Christians though are not called to passivity. We are called to be actively engaged in all that we do. So, it isn’t enough, according to Peter, to simply take your lumps. The reality is, endurance is impressive, but it isn’t instructive. People will marvel at you, but not the work of God in you, if you all you do is take one on the chin but say attribute nothing to God. Our lives are to serve Christ’s purposes, and his purpose for us is to tell the world of his greatness. “Do not repay evil for evil”. It is natural for us to want to fight fire with fire. But think on that for a moment. The fire department doesn’t think like that. “Hey boys, we got a house fire on Main, you guys got enough fire to put this thing out?” No! They hook up to a water supply and blast it to put it out! Make no mistake, the world is in flames. We use something that conquers the flames. Likewise, our blessing of our enemies conquers their evil against us. We can endure their evil, sure. But that’s just us watching the fire. Peter’s call is to put out the fire and in doing so, proclaim Christ!

Peter says that we should do this to “inherit a blessing”. What does this mean? Well, if we look back at chapter 1, vv. 4-5 says that we have an “inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in Heaven for [us], who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for salvation.” This inheritance is the kingdom of Heaven, salvation, eternal life with God. In a more general manner of speaking, we have been made a part of God’s family. As such, God’s children receive an inheritance. We were adopted so that we might be eligible for such a thing. John 1:12-13 speaks to this, saying:

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”

The second part of vs.9 then seems to say that we were called to this, to being a part of the family, so that we could receive this inheritance. But as some of us are used to hearing, “if you’re gonna be a part of this family, you’re gonna act like family!” This is what Paul is getting at in Romans 8:14-17:

“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

Paul here says that we are adopted, and that we are heirs of God, and co-heirs with Christ. By sharing in his sufferings, we are united to him. That union brings about a shared glory: everlasting, victorious life. How do we share in Christ’s sufferings? In God’s family, we show mercy to those who don’t deserve it. We sacrifice for even the unrighteous, we bless those who curse us. After all, it is upon that foundation that we were adopted into God’s family in the first place. We’re only here because Christ was all of that, and more, to us first. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. We suffer by being righteous in the face of unrighteousness. It is what our family is known for.

A Salve Unto the World

Peter explains this further, quoting a section of Psalm 34:

“For the one who wants to love life, and to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit, and let him turn away from evil, and do what is good. Let him seek peace and pursue it, because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do what is evil.”

There are a few things from this Psalm that stand out to me. The first being, that Peter makes it clear (as well as the Psalmist David), that at least part of the equation to a happy life lies within us to choose happiness. “To love life, and see good days”: we have a choice to make. Now, this is a passage about suffering, and even willingly suffering, so we’ll come back to that a bit later, because Peter isn’t saying that we can somehow think happy thoughts and everything goes away. But we as God’s children, anticipating the full installation of the Kingdom of Heaven, have some power (and responsibility) in bringing that about in our everyday life. We can see this with the imperatives, or the commands that follow. Brian Brooks is getting excited because we’re talking about imperatives again, if you remember his sermon a few weeks back. But Peter and David tell us that if we desire to see good days, then we ought to keep our tongues from evil, we avoid deceit, turn from evil and do good, and we pursue peace.

One day, Jesus will return. We will be judged, and all those who put their faith in Christ and his righteousness, will spend eternity with God in the New Heavens and New Earth, a fully realized Kingdom of Heaven. This Kingdom knows no sin, no sadness, because all that was broken will have been made new, all sins and corruption will have been judged and dealt with. Jesus has not come back yet. The world has not been fixed yet, something that is painfully obvious right now. I think of our shut-ins, those unable to physically gather with the Body today, who perhaps understand this anticipation better than any of us here. The Kingdom of Heaven is not just a place, though. It is a status and an ethic, a way of life. Every choice we make in life, breeds either life and renewal OR death and destruction. We play our parts, in helping contribute to the bitterness in this world. However, what Peter and David want us to understand, is that we can bring a piece of the coming Kingdom into our lives each day. It’s a way of life, so choosing to live in that way gives us a taste of what is to come at the end of all things.

A person who lives in this manner will have “the eyes of the Lord on him”, and their prayers will be answered. That last verse in the quoted Psalm, our verse 12, might seem like a warning. And it may very well be, at least in its original context. In either case, it certainly works as a warning against doing evil. However, Peter seems to be using it to comfort us. “You do good and gain God’s favor, and the Lord will be against those who persecute you.” And that gets us back to choosing life and renewal, in the face of death and destruction. Peter is not saying that by living well you will avoid trouble. There is still evil in this world, some of it actively wanting to destroy you. Satan has all sorts of methods for trying to tear us down. But Peter is saying that you’re not alone and that judgement is coming.

“Who then will harm you if you are devoted to what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness, you are blessed. Do not fear them or be intimidated, but in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy, ready at any time to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you. Yet do this with gentleness and reverence, keeping a clear conscience, so that when you are accused, those who disparage your good conduct in Christ will be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

Generally, it is true that by living well you will avoid some trouble. When you pay your landlord what they’re owed and avoid trying to cheat them, you’re very unlikely to have issues with them hounding you trying to get money. If you don’t start fights, you’re far less likely to get your nose broken by someone’s fist. These are basic truths to living wisely. That is what Peter is saying in vs. 13, that if you’re seeking good and pursuing peace like you ought to be, then who could possibly be upset with you? We talked a bit about that last week. They might not like your views on certain things, but man, if they really can’t pin you as some jerk, then your views almost don’t matter. They’ll leave you alone because they see the good you’re bringing. BUT, Peter is not naïve. He knows that this isn’t foolproof, and that is why he continues writing:

“If you suffer for righteousness, you are blessed”! Again, this is referring back to the inheritance that comes from suffering like our savior did. We do not need to fear them or be intimidated, because the Lord’s face is against evil. We need to persevere, making sure that we continue to glorify God, by treating Him as holy. Peter means doing this with our lives, our responses to the evil provoking us. “Always be prepared to give a defense for the hope that is within you”…They will want to know why you’re so stinkin’ weird. And they don’t mean your ordinary weirdness, like why you have so many cats or why you call soda “pop”. No, it’s the weirdness of seeing a glimpse of Christ in you. We spoke about being intentional with our suffering, that we need to choose to use it for God’s glory and for their salvation. We need to have a reason ready for when people ask why we’re not upset with the guy who flipped us off or how you can be so peaceful when something earth shattering falls upon you? They really wanna know, those that only know a life of death and destruction, how you can continue to hold out hope? They’re curious when you don’t curse back, but you become a spectacle to behold when you somehow praise God when they think all your hope should be snuffed out by now.

As you face this, some may sneer, they may try breaking you. Peter says to answer with gentleness and respect, about how Christ is your everything and how he sustains you. When you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ, may be put to shame. It may be that you’re provoked, insulted, slandered for your faith. But friends, when we can calmly and respectfully explain what Christ means to us, they are put to shame for their antagonism. They were expecting perhaps, for you to respond as sharply as they asked! So, we need to remember in these hostile moments, that we are choosing to suffer for Christ. We are committing ourselves to his plan and purposes, which means we are obligated to do it his way!

Why are we obligated? Good question, Kish. Peter says,

“For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, in which he also went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noah while the ark was being prepared. In it a few—that is, eight people—were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not as the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him.”

We do it Christ’s way, because we want to please him. Because his plan is to save the lost, and that this is the best way to do it. We do it, because he did it for us. Christ died for our sins. He died as someone who had never sinned, had never given into temptation. He died righteous. And he died righteous for the sake of the unrighteous! Why on earth would he do that? To reconcile us to God. God is righteous and cannot tolerate unrighteousness, He is good and cannot accept anything bad. That’s bad news for us. That’s real bad news for me. But through Christ, and Christ alone, because he died righteous and for the unrighteous, I am adopted into God’s family. They killed Jesus. They hung him on a cross, speared him, and then buried him. Death can only pronounce victory over its own though, and Jesus is the fullness of life embodied. Death could not hold him, he was made alive in the Spirit!

What does it mean that Christ went to those who formerly did not obey and proclaimed to them in prison? This is considered one of the most difficult passages to interpret in the entire NT, however, I think there is enough here to understand it. There is significant debate as to who the spirits in prison even are. Some say it was people from long ago, others think it might be the disobedient angels from Satan’s fall. Without getting into it too far, I think it is likely the people from Noah’s day, as that is where the example heads towards. So, the question remains as to what is actually happening here.

This is my humble take: Peter is telling his readers to respond to nonbelievers with confidence, but also grace. He says that we should do so because Christ did the same with us. Even more, Christ died for the unrighteous so that they could be reconciled to God. Peter then jumps into an analogy from Noah and the ark. Noah was told of the coming judgement via flood and was instructed on building an ark that would save all who rode in it. The ark becomes a type of Christ, as it was the means of salvation for the covenant people (God of course, had made a covenant with Noah throughout this). Jesus, in a sense, is preaching salvation to those in that day. The judgment informs us that all is not right between God and man, and the ark indicates a form of reconciliation. I think one of the key phrases here is that God was patient while the ark was being built, during the period of time between the present and the coming judgement and salvation of the covenant people. We are in a similar period of time now, and that is why we need to treat our enemies well. We ought to display that same patience towards our enemies that God displayed towards us while we were enemies.

Alright, well, in case you hadn’t had your fill of confusing material yet, don’t worry! Peter goes on, saying that they were saved by water, and likewise, we are saved by baptism. Okay…well, for starters, let’s just eliminate one possible interpretation: that being baptized saves us. We are saved through faith alone, in Christ alone. Scripture makes this abundantly clear, and we should be careful not to take one verse and try to refute the rest of Scripture with it. That would be considered a bad hermeneutical approach. So, what does it mean then? The word for baptism in Greek would also be used for dyeing something, and the NT usage of it has a sort of “identifying” sense to it. You would have a white shirt, dip it in the blue dye, and now you have a blue shirt. It is the same for our relationship with Christ. We need to look at some verses: Col. 2:12 says, “having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.” Rom. 6:3: “Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?” John 3:5, Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” And one final one that captures this idea best of being united to Christ, Gal. 3:27: “For all of you were baptized into Christ have clothed yourself with Christ.”

So, theologically, here’s what’s happening: believers have put their faith in Christ, in his righteousness, to cover our sins. One day we will be judged, but fortunately, and mercifully because of Christ, his righteousness becomes our own, we have put on Christ as our clothing, so to speak. Baptism symbolizes this union with Christ. With baptism, it symbolizes us being dead, but then being born again, new life, resurrection. So, I die with Christ, but I am also raised with him. I suffer with him, but I am also made an heir with him. Now I couldn’t do that on my own. I don’t have the ability, the power, or the authority for such things, which is how Peter closes this section: Christ does. Because I am raised with him and am now in union with Christ, I am now in the family, co-heir even! We looked earlier at that connection, actually, in Rom. 8. It is not the act of baptism that saves us. It is only when what baptism symbolizes becomes our reality (our union with Christ), that we are saved. Baptism saves in the sense that our identifying with Christ save us, when his righteousness becomes our own.

Which brings us back to Peter’s point. We endure these things with Christ not just as our model so distant from us, but as one we are united to. Jesus is not asking us to treat our enemies well while he goes around and smacks them upside their head. Christ has been here, done that. We are to be united together, as the body of Christ, and in union with Christ, as we take on the world. We are called to be priests in this world, communicating Christ to our culture. Peter’s warning for us is to not blow it! Don’t act like the world, do not respond to severity in the ways they would expect. Instead, we humble ourselves, preparing to do the Lord’s will. Even when that way causes us to suffer.

Let’s pray.