Submitting to Suffering

Introduction: Polycarp of Smyrna

One of my favorite stories about persecuted Christians is the martyrdom of Polycarp. Polycarp became a Christian through the teachings of the Apostle John. As an old man in his 80s, Polycarp had decided to stay in Rome even through Christians were being executed in the coliseum because of their faith. One morning, Roman soldiers entered his home to arrest him but instead of running away, Polycarp not only willingly went with the soldiers to the arena to face his death, but he prayed for the soldiers along the way.

When in the arena, Polycarp refused time and time again to deny Jesus. The Roman proconsul didn’t know quite what to do with this man who so boldly and calmly held firm to his faith in the face of a terrible death. Eventually Polycarp was sentenced to be burned alive and he insisted the soldiers leave him unsecured because “He who gives me to endure the fire will also give me to remain on the pyre without your security from the nails.” When the fire was lit, Polycarp remained steadfast, but the flames refused to touch him. Not knowing what else to do, a soldier stabbed him in the heart. When he bled to death, his blood put out the flames of the fire.

Who is a servant?

Our text today continues Peter’s discussion on submission. So far we’ve seen that submission, while not an easy or natural thing for us to do, is actually the will of God. We are freed from slavery to sin so that we might be free to submit to God and obey his will. It should be our great pleasure to submit to the governing authorities because doing so is our Christian testimony to the world about Jesus.

Today, Peter talks about submission of servants.

Whenever we read the term “servant” or “bondservant” or “slave” in the New Testament, we must be careful not to think in terms of what was the Atlantic slave trade, when people from Africa were taken from their homes and transported to America, and sold as slaves. This was a terrible dark time in our nation’s history. The African slaves were treated as less than human, even less than animals. They were viewed as property to be used and abused at will and these slaves did not have any rights guaranteed to them by the government. It was truly the vilest treatment of human beings our nation has ever done.

Slavery during the time of Rome was not like this at all. Slaves or servants were often treated well by their masters. Rome guaranteed certain rights to slaves and even Mosaic law guaranteed certain rights to slaves. While a man might own slaves, it was to his benefit to care for them and many even made their slaves a part of their family. It was not unusual for a slave to be given freedom and made part of his master’s family with rights to inheritance. The best way we can understand this kind of relationship is to think of it as the employee/employer relationship. We work under a boss who tells us what to do and we do it and we are compensated for our work. The biggest difference is that we have the freedom to quit our jobs while the servants at the time of Rome didn’t.

The truth found in this passage is not restricted for actual servants or slaves. Rather, it applies to all of us who find ourselves employed or under the authority of someone who has been given the authority to demand obedience. Simply put, Peter’s instruction to servants applies to every single one of us.

Submit, even to the unjust

Peter’s instruction then to all of us is this: submit with all fear/respect, even to those over us who are unjust.

It’s an easy thing to submit to a boss, employer, or a government who is good and gentle and treats us fairly and with dignity, but it’s much more difficult to submit to those who are cruel and unjust. Even under Roman rule, there were wicked men who were cruel to their servants and treated them without regard to what is just and good. Perhaps you’ve experienced a boss like this or even a pastor like this. People across the world live under governments like this, ones that are corrupt and cruel. God’s instruction to us through Peter is this: willingly submit anyway if you are not being made to sin.

God’s pleasure in our submission

When Christians trust God and endure unjust suffering, God is pleased. Did you hear (read) that correctly? When Christians trust God and endure suffering, God is pleased! This is what Peter says in verse 19: “For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.” And just to make clear, God is not pleased by our suffering, rather he is pleased by our endurance through suffering.

In America, we are completely averse to suffering. We hate it and we avoid it at all costs. If we are going to suffer, we at least want it to be on our own terms, perhaps doing something we believe is worth suffering for. The thought that God is pleased when we endure suffering from injustice done against us is all but foreign. I think most of us would prefer if God was pleased by our finding a way out of suffering but he isn’t…he’s pleased by our endurance through suffering.

Last Sunday evening was a prayer meeting for the persecuted Christians around the world. Something that we learned was that when persecuted Christians ask for prayer, they rarely if ever ask for prayer to be removed from suffering. Rather, they ask for the grace to endure suffering and for opportunities to share the gospel with their persecutors. God knows that Christians will suffer, but his desire is not that we would avoid it or find a way out, but that we would endure.

But Peter clarifies something for us. In verse 20, Peter says it is no credit if we endure suffering caused by our sin. This is important because it reminds us that God is not a sadistic God who enjoys watching people painfully endure hardship and suffering. Instead, as Peter concludes in this verse, God is pleased only when his children suffer for doing good. In the immediate context, doing good means submitting to your master and other authorities. We saw this before in 1 Peter 2:15. Twice now Peter has connected submitting with doing good. Do you think it is good for Christians to submit?

God is pleased when we endure suffering caused by our obedience to his word.

But God is not pleased without cause.

Submitting and suffering like Jesus

If we are to understand why God is pleased when we endure suffering for doing good, we must look to the author and perfector of our faith and the one in whose image we are being transformed: Jesus.

According to the text in verses 21-23, Jesus suffered for us as an example that we might follow and do the same for him and for others.

Jesus committed no sin. Jesus never lied or deceived. When he was insulted and abused and cruelly treated, he did not fight back and when he suffered, he did not threaten. Rather, instead of retaliating or demanding justice for himself when he was unjustly accused, beaten, and crucified, Jesus trusted God the Father. Jesus knew that God was the ultimate Judge and God is just and perfect in all of his ways and so Jesus only cared about doing what was pleasing to his Father. And what was pleasing to God? That Jesus obey by suffering and dying for the forgiveness of sins.

This is the image of who Jesus is…Jesus was completely submissive to the will of the Father. He only did what God told him to do and to say (John 12:49-50). When doing what he knew was right got him into trouble, Jesus did not stop doing good. This attitude of submission led Jesus to crucifixion.

But what happened because of Jesus’ submission and endurance of suffering for doing good? Peter says in verse 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.” Jesus’ suffering led to our salvation.

If Jesus’ suffering led to our salvation and entrance into the sheepfold of the Divine shepherd (verse. 25), does it not follow that our endurance of suffering through submission to bosses and employers and all those in authority over us will also lead others to salvation? This is the exact point of the text! “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his footsteps (vs. 21).”

This is why God is pleased when we endure unjust suffering for doing good.

Permission to advocate

As a final thought, I’d like to share with you something I came across while studying this week. We have seen from the text that God is pleased when we endure unjust suffering because of good. However, he is not pleased when we stand by and do nothing when those around us are enduring unjust suffering.

In Proverbs 31:8-9 it says, “Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute. Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.”

The Bible is clear that we are to advocate for and take care of the widow, the orphan, the poor, and really all those who are less fortunate than ourselves. This is our responsibility as Christians. James the brother of Jesus said, “Pure religion is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world (James 1:27).”

To advocate on behalf of another who is experiencing injustice is good and right. We must, however, be careful to do so in a way that is still submissive to authority and honoring to those in authority.

Consider this: if you or I are experiencing injustice, against our own selves, we must endure it and continue submitting because that is the example of Christ, but if we see another suffering because of injustice, we can speak up for them because that also is the will of God for us. This is why God has given us Christian community, so that we may help and be an advocate for one another as we each endure suffering in our own way.

Conclusion

From the text today, we have seen and heard what God’s will for his children is: Willingly submit to authority and endure any unjust suffering cause by doing good. Doing this just like Polycarp did is to imitate the example of Jesus who suffered and died so that we might be saved.

Also, remember the example of Jesus to care for the poor and brokenhearted. It is pleasing to God to help others experiencing injustice and to be an advocate on their behalf, even if we are experiencing injustice of our own.

If God would use our suffering to bring sinners to repentance and glory to his name, may the cry of our hearts be, “Let it be so. Not my will but yours be done.”