1 Peter 3

Intro

- Connect at your table but make sure you work your way through the first two questions. First one is to read 1 Peter 3:1-7 and share some emotions and/or thoughts that come to your mind. The second is then to share how these verse may relate to the churches Peter is writing to about being hope filled exiles. Take your time reading through it and I will call us back in about 15 minutes.

6:10-6:25

1. Read 1 Peter 3:1-7 and share the emotions that you feel and/or thoughts that come to your mind.

2. How might these verses relate to the church living out being “hope filled exiles”?

Get thoughts? Probably not.

As we look at chapter 3 of 1 Peter on of the main things we need to remember is that this is chapter 3, there have been two chapters before this that Peter is writing. We cannot take these verses without seeing how they relate to the rest of the book.

- That’s why I wanted you all to talk through how you think, as Brent said, these are connected to encouraging the church to live as hope filled exiles because that is the point of the letter. Everything in the letter needs to be interpreted through that lens.

- So Peter is encouraging persecuted Christians and he begins by saying you do not serve those in power here, you serve the King, that’s who you are. He tells them their identity.

o Then as we move to chapter 2, as Bryan talked about last week, Peter then begins to tease out what that means. Because you belong to the King, live differently than the culture around you. Your foundation is the Rock, therefore live distinctly. Then finally we move into chapter three where he gets even more focused.

Chapter 3 actually begins with Peter continuing his examples of practical living, specifically in relationship to others. He begins with submitting yourselves to every human authority, and you do so by doing good, so that you may silence the foolish talk of ignorant people.

- He then says slaves, submit yourselves to masters. Now we don’t have time to get into this but take my word for it, that slave system of that day is not the same as the slavery of the 1800’s.

o He then moves into chapter 3

§ Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.[1]

§ 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear. [2]

· What is Peter doing here? As one scholar puts it “Peter is placing their suffering within a brand new story (the one of Jesus). Peter is highlighting the very difficult situation that Christian slaves and wives face. When they live in households where the patriarchy does not follow Jesus.”

o Households were expected to follow the deity of the patriarchy.

§ Within this book Peter is addressing that issue, when the patriarchy doesn't believe. Look back at verse 1, the wives submit, so that the husband may be won over.

· One commentary says the Christians at the time were wrestling through whether or not they should leave their spouse if they do not share their faith.

o The commentary goes on to say: “Some Christians answered yes, but Peter insists that they should not. He devotes more space to wives because they could more easily be made to suffer by their husbands than vice versa.”

- Even the example Peter goes on to give of Abraham and Sarah. Quick summary of the story, in Genesis 12 God speaks to Abraham and says “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and him who dishonors you I will curse…”

o God says to Abraham, trust me and I will take care of you! What is the very next story? Abraham goes to Egypt and he ends up lying about his wife saying that she is his sister, why? Because he doesn't trust what God just said, he thinks the only way that he and Sarah can get out of Egypt alive is to lie. How does Sarah respond? She submits to her unbelieving husband, so Sarah in this story shows more faith in God than Abraham.

§ Then Peter goes on to verse 7 to address husbands saying: Just like the wives, if your spouse does not believe there should be no separation, but live with respect and honor.

· Not to address another elephant in the room, Ephesians 5 does speak of husband and wives relationship in general. We can talk about that another time but we are in 1 Peter right now and within the context of Peter’s leter this is what he is addressing.

o Peter is addressing specific situations that were prevalent among Christians being persecuted. Now, you first may be then to think how does this pertain to me if that’s not my situation and this is where the bible because a beautiful piece of literature. Peter gives us the answer in verse 8.

- Peter then goes on in v. 8 and says, what I think could be a fantastic summary statement of everything we just walked through.

o 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.[3]

§ What is the point of slaves submitting to unbelieving masters, wives to unbelieving husbands, husbands not leaving unbelieving wives? To show them the way of Jesus is one of humility and service to others.

§ Head back to your tables for a few minutes, talk through what stood out to you but also begin to look at how everything ties into verse 8 and how that plays out in your relationships.

Part 2

1. What does “unity”, “brotherly love”, “sympathy”, “a tender heart”, and “a humble mind” look like?

2. How do you respond to suffering? Be honest, can go as deep as the loss of a loved one or as simple as someone disagrees with you.

3. How do we “have” the things Peter lists in verse 8? Or How do we properly respond to suffering?

Bring back for a QUICK 5 minute teaching. So to close things out, I spent a lot of time of the first 7 verses but you need to see why Peter is giving those examples. He is giving the most personal examples of what it looks like to live as Holy exiles being persecuted in every relationship. You have a unity of mind, sympathy, love, tender heard, and humility in EVERY relationship. Every single one! Do you see what Peter thinks is most important? A humble heart, serving others, because you belong to a King that has died and is raised.

- V. 9 says that we are a not a people who “repays evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called…”

- One commentary says - “The natural response to hostility is retaliation. But Jesus in his teaching and in his practice responded to hostility with grace… “Bless” in the Greek literally means to “speak well of someone.” The word occurs over 400 times in the Greek translation of the bible and is often in opposition to cursing.”

o Some view this as a “friendly disposition” to our enemies, to simply tolerate and to give them a smile. But as the commentary says “The instruction and practice of Jesus and the apostles goes beyond a “friendly disposition” to active prayer and intercession.”

So I want to close with this, v. 10-15 are very action based. Peter begins with quoting Psalm 34 about seeking peace then he quotes from Isaiah 8 about not fearing what the people fear.

- One commentary says referring to v. 10-12 “Since peace between people is elusive and hard to achieve. Christians must actively seek peace and pursue it.”

o How? You pray for your enemies, you bless them with actions and words. We need to begin stepping into the life style of Jesus who loved His enemies. We follow Jesus because he is our King but just as equally important He is the true human example we were always meant to be. And that is good news, we weren’t just left to hope for heaven one day but we belong to Jesus to live as distinct exiles giving a blessing to those around us but humbly serving and seeking peace.

§ Psalm 34

§ Isaiah 8

[1] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 1 Pe 3:1–2. [2] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), 1 Pe 3:5–6. [3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Pe 3:8.