The Letters of Peter

Peter from the Gospels: brash fisherman; talk first, think second; oldest of the 12 apostles; closeness to Jesus (inner circle); passionate, but lacked follow-through (Garden of Gethsemane, Denial of Jesus); restored to ministry at end of John

Peter in the book of Acts: leader of the apostles and of the early church; performed miracles; preached the Gospel boldly; accepted Gentiles

Peter in the early church: pillar of the church (Gal. 2:9); caved to pressure from Judaizers (Gal. 2:11, 14)

3 decades later: wise; seasoned; depth of understanding; experienced persecution and opposition; sent out at least 2 letters to the churches in the region of Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) — part of the Roman Empire, north of Judea/Israel

To understand the cultural climate that Peter was addressing, I want us to begin by considering a parable of Jesus...

The Parable of the Soil (Mark 4:2-8, 13-20)

The Seed: the Word (the Good News of the Kingdom of God)

Hard path - Birds eat it: no understanding, the devil

Rocky soil - Sun dries it up: persecution, the world

Thorns - Thorns choke it out: temptations, the flesh

Good soil - produce fruit: receive the Word and produce spiritual fruit (Christ-likeness, fruit of the Spirit, sharing with others)

Peter was the rocky soil (sprang up quickly, but withered under pressure), but by the grace of God he was restored (John 21) and transformed (Acts 2).

Contrast Peter’s response to the little girl (Mark 14:66-71) to his response to the Jewish council (Acts 4:19-20; 5:29, 41-42)

Now he writes a letter to followers of Jesus scattered throughout the Roman Empire who are experiencing hostility, opposition, slander, and persecution from their culture because of their love for Jesus and he has some words of wisdom for them.

How to Thrive in a Hostile Culture

Survival Guide

Remember Who You Are (1 Peter 1:1-2:10)

This is common in the epistles to begin with a section that focuses primarily on who we are in Christ. Each letter has a slightly difference emphasis or metaphor depending on the purpose of the letter. Consider Peter’s characterization of the Christian life:

Exiles/Foreigners/Pilgrims

Spiritual Temple (*remember the chief corner stone was rejected too)

Chosen People of God

Peter (and Paul) are immersed in the Story of God (Genesis-Revelation). So when they write letters to community who follow the Messiah, they naturally use the language of the Story of God, the language of the prophets and poets and sages of Israel and they are applying these things to the moment of history that they now live in. They are doing biblical theology and carrying the Story of God forward and to this multi-ethnic people of God.

{Paraphrase} (By implication, we are encouraged now to go back and read the OT and begin to see how Jesus brought these stories and institutions to fulfillment and then see how we fit into that story since we are now in Jesus, the Messiah.)

It’s easy to forget who we are when we’re surrounded by a culture that continually wants to label us: democrat/republican, liberal/conservative, black/white, American/immigrant, oppressed/privileged, defined by your sexuality, your gender, or a million other superficial things. We can easily begin to buy into this thinking and make one of these categories our defining identity. Col. 3:11

Watch How You Live (1 Peter 2:11-4:11)

Who you are determines how you will live.

By and large our culture is skeptical of Christians or else outright hostile. There are many misconceptions about Christians in our culture today just as there were in Peter’s day, so Peter wants to make sure Christians live their lives in such a way that every insult will fall to the ground empty and baseless. May we live in such a way that the true character of Jesus outshines any misconceptions.

1 Pet. 2:11-12

Example of substitute teaching - doing a science experiment. Each group was expected to follow the instructions, but one group had the video camera on them for the online students to observe and follow along. This group had even more obligation to stay on task — because others were watching and how they acted affected the learning of others.

Winning over Wilfred - patience and love.

How do we win over people who are hostile to anything to do with Jesus? By showing them what a life transformed by Jesus looks like. How do we win over a hostile neighbor? By being a really good neighbor.

Then be ready to share your hope with others (3:15)

Let’s see how Peter applied this principle in three different scenarios of his day where a believer is in a position of lower status, without power:

A Hostile Government (2:13-17)

Peter has an expectation that Christians will submit to human authorities/government, but he also has an expectation on government that they will “punish those who do wrong and commend those who do right.” In a minute we’ll look at what Peter wants us to do when a human authority ‘punishes those who do good and commends those who do wrong.’ Because Peter has a category for that.

(Remember how Peter also said, “we must obey God rather than men” Acts 5:29)

But as much as it is possible and right to do so, we should “honor the emperor” and not stir up civil unrest. We must not “use [our] freedom [in Christ] as a cover-up for evil.”

What does this mean for today? We should be good citizens; don’t litter, don’t cheat on your taxes, don’t steal, don’t drive recklessly, etc.

But if or when a government or other human authority should tell us not to worship together, or sing songs to God, or pray in Jesus’ name, or believe and affirm a biblical worldview on sex, gender, marriage, life, or any other issue, then we must respectfully disobey. But before we look further at that, let’s consider the next scenario...

Slaves/Servants with unbelieving masters (1 Peter 2:18-20)

Employee to Unbelieving Boss (not a perfect comparison)

Wives with unbelieving husbands (3:1-6)

Power dynamic is different today, but still applicable and the principle can be applied in a variety of other settings… parent/child, student/teacher, co-workers, athlete/coach

What if it doesn’t work? What if I did what was right and I still got slandered/punished/attacked/ridiculed? Doing good is always worth it, even when you suffer for it (1 Pet. 3:13-15a; 4:14-16)

*See example of Christ (3:15b-22)

*God will judge and set all things right one day (1:17; 2:23; 4:5, 12-14)

When we face opposition, when we are mocked for putting our faith in Jesus and following his word, we are in good company with all of the men and women of faith who walked before us, we are in the company of Jesus himself. But the question remains, how do we respond when faced with opposition, hostility, and persecution (whether large or small)?

Two common and rather natural responses to this are:

1. Give in – lower our standards/let the culture set the standards, cave to the pressure and go along with the crowd; we’re “free in Christ” right? We could even go along with the world in their sin because God will forgive us… it’s what we desire to do anyway. (1 Pet. 3:14-15, 6)

2. Fight back – fight fire with fire, get angry, insult and shame them; make them feel the way we feel, as a result filling our hearts with hate, bitterness, and rage.

Peter rejects both options. Instead, he holds up Jesus as the example of the third way: graciously endure unjust suffering while doing good. Why? Because of the destination, because judgement is in God’s hands; Jesus will judge the living and the dead on the day he returns, and unjust suffering doesn’t go unnoticed by God.

Instead, the third way… 3. Stand firm — endure graciously, accept the punishment/persecution that is given unjustly, do not seek their harm, but do not go along with them

We are called to fight, but not in the way that the ungodly fight… 1 Pet. 4:1 This weapon is the mindset it takes to endure unjust persecution

Stick Together (1 Peter 1:22; 2:9-10, 17; 3:8; 4:8-11; 5:9)

Four times in the short letter of 1 Peter, he encourages them to love one another.

They have a joint identity as God’s spiritual house, his priesthood, and his people.

He encourages them to serve one another with their gifts.

He tells them that one source of strength in enduring is to think about “the family of believers throughout the world that is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

It is a simple matter of fact that when a group is under attack, they set aside their differences and petty squabbles and unite. It’s a matter of survival. They hold on to the core unifying principles. When was America most unified? WWII and after 9/11. How much more so should the church be unified? In this way, a dose of persecution can do the church some good, though I wouldn’t wish it on us.

Be on Guard (1 Peter 1:13; 4:7; 5:8)

[Prepare for the end] Don’t get complacent; there are dangers everything — temptation within, persecution without, spiritual attack. All these things are trying to get you off track, to focus on other things — your comfort, your safety and security. They are trying to make you think that this life is all there is and therefore, you have to look out for #1 so that you can get the most for yourself out of this life. That’s not how Jesus taught us to live.

Know where your hope lies (1:4, 13)

Jesus’ return/future kingdom:

Mark 13:32-35

1 Pet. 1:5, 7, 13; 2:12; 4:13; 5:1, 4; 2 Peter 1:11; 3:10-14

Pray diligently (4:7)

Mark 14:33-34

Know your true enemy (5:8-10)

Know when and what to resist - resist despair, resist hopelessness, resist compromise, resist temptation

Look out for false teachers (2 Pet. 2:1-22; 3:3-4, 17)

We are in the end times so be prepared, but the end may still be a ways off (2 Pet. 3:3-10)

Never Stop Growing (2 Peter 1:5-11; 3:18)

Add to your faith… (2 Pet. 1:5-7; 3:18)

Bear fruit!! (2 Pet. 1:8)

Connect back to parable of the soils...

Never forget (2 Pet. 1:9, 12-13; 3:1-2)

We need constant reminders. Memories fade when they aren’t recalled. For example, learning Spanish as a teenager

The forgetting curve: “Our brains operate on a strict ‘use it or lose it’ policy when it comes to information they store.” We need regular reinforcement. In an hour you will forget more than half of what you have learned. In one day you will forget two thirds. After one month, you will only remember 10-20%. But this can be combated through reinforcement—through reminders. When we are regularly reminded of what we have learned then those memories are strengthened and able to last longer and longer.

How do I respond when I feel attacked for my faith or when I think Christians are being attacked in general—do I give in, get angry and attack back, or graciously endure?