1 Peter: Living as Examples in Our Labor

In this chapter Peter is writing to a group of churches that have begun go experience persecution from a pagan culture. To help them cope, he reminds them that 1st, this world is not their home. We are strangers and aliens in a culture that is becoming increasingly distant to us as we live in Christ and for Christ. 2nd, while we live in this culture we are to be different than our lost neighbors — we are to be counter-culture radicals. And make no mistake about it ... if you are a Confessing Christian, who believe that the Scriptures are our source for faith and practice in every area of life — you are a counter-culture radical!

One way for the Church to live out its faith in the world is by living exemplary lives among the people of our society. All of us live in four essential spheres of influence — our culture, our work, and our home.

• Live to God in the Culture 2:13-17

• Live to God in the Labor Market 2:18-25

• Live to God in the Home 3:1-7

• Live to God in the Church 3:8-22

I. BEING OWNED BY SOMEONE

1. 157 years after it was ended, first by a Civil Way, and then officially when the 13th Amendment abolished it, slavery remains a sensitive topic with a horrific history

a. that sensitivity is magnified by those who act as if it happened yesterday verses those who act as if it were no big deal

2. when we read this passage, it seems as if the Apostle Peter is contradicting himself

a. in 1 Peter 2:16 he calls upon Christians to live as free people and yet, in 1 Peter 2:18 he tells his readers, servants, be subject to your masters

b. so which is it? should a servant by subject to his or her master or should they live as free people?

1) yes

3. Paul’s point is that all believers are free in Christ — even those who may be slaves, owned by someone else

A. HARSH CHARGE AGAINST CHRISTIANITY - acceptance of slavery

1. slavery in various forms has been a part of the social environment since the beginning of human society

a. that history spans all of Christianity’s history

2. in 2022 slavery is alive and well throughout the world with an estimated 40 million people living in bondage

ILLUS. The products of modern slavery are all around us – from the clothes we wear containing cotton produced with forced labor in the Uyghur Region of China, to the food we eat, containing palm oil made using forced labor in Malaysia. These 40 million people are living as forced laborers, forced prostitutes, child soldiers, and child brides in forced marriages. In India there are an estimated 14 million enslaved people. In America, the Walk Free Foundation estimates there are 60,000.

3. the early Church made subtle influence, but didn't make demands

ILLUS. By one estimate, the population of the first-century Roman Empire included about 60 million slaves. Although most slaves performed menial labor, some were highly educated, highly trained and highly skilled. Regardless, the Romans generally did not consider slaves to be “persons” but “property” with no legal rights. The good news of Christ began to change that. Within the Christian community, every believer was a valued person created in the image of God.

a. in this passage, Peter is addressing Christian slaves who, church historians believe, made up a sizable portion of the early church

b. he does not encourage rebellion, nor even attempted flight, but rather to be subject to you masters

c. in our own history Southern slave owners quoted the Bible freely

1) they argued it was part of God's eternal plan

a) Abraham owned slaves

b) Moses gave laws about them

c) Jesus referred to them in his parables

d) Paul and Peter give instructions about them

2) some even argued that slavery was good because slaves can hear the gospel, and get saved

d. they spiritualized an unjust social system

ILLUS. Frederick Douglass, himself a former slave, was invited to deliver a speech in 1852 (eight years before the Civil War) to a women’s anti-slavery society in Rochester, New York. Here is some of what he said. “But the church of this country is not only indifferent to the wrongs of the slave, it actually takes sides with the oppressors. It has made itself the bulwark of American slavery, and the shield of American slave-hunters. Many of its most eloquent Divines [preachers—DM], who stand as the very lights of the church, have shamelessly given the sanction of religion and the Bible to the whole slave system. They have taught that man may, properly, be a slave; that the relation of master and slave is ordained of God; that to send back an escaped bondman to his master is clearly the duty of all the followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; and this horrible blasphemy is palmed off upon the world for Christianity.”

1) Douglass was insistent and adamant: to propagate the form of slavery in America at that time was to disregard and trample upon the Bible — and he was right

3. at the same time, we need to know that the American slavery system was among worst in history, and colors our understanding of this passage

a. not all of it, but much of the slavery referred to in both Old and New Testaments was more akin to what we call indentured servitude

1) it is servitude ... it is a life with very little freedom ... but it is a servitude that was limited

b. there were other significant differences

1) Race did not play a role

2) Education was encouraged

3) Many slaves had high social functions: doctors, lawyers (i.e. see Joseph)

4) Slaves could own property - including other slaves!

5) The majority were freed after ten years of service, and virtually all were freed by age of 30

c. Christianity slowly began to make a difference

ILLUS. In a succinct personal note to a fellow Christian (Philemon), the apostle Paul presented a fascinating glimpse into the Christian attitude toward slavery. In a masterpiece of pathos, Paul blended together tender affection, encouraging commendation, unanswerable logic, heartfelt sympathy, and respectful persuasion to convince Philemon to exude Christian compassion. The climax of the letter is seen in Paul’s request to Philemon to receive Onesimus back “no longer as a slave.”

B. A HARSH PIECE OF ADVISE

“Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.” (1 Peter 2:18–19, ESV)

II. BEARING UP UNDER BAD CONDITIONS

A. SUBMIT TO GOOD, AND EVIL, MASTERS ... AND EMPLOYERS

1. their character doesn't matter ... Ours does

2. "with all respect" (vs. 18) is literally, "in all fear"

a. our respect for God, not master (as in NIV)

“Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. 25 For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality. 1 Masters, treat your bondservants justly and fairly, knowing that you also have a Master in heaven. 2 Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.” (Colossians 3:21–4:2, ESV)

b. the Christian slave’s motive for obedience - you are serving God

c. masters are reminded that they also have a Master

3. certainly this has implications for employers and employees

a. our willingness to endure harsh working conditions and less than appreciative employers is an expression of gratitude for all God has done for us

b. Peter reminds us that suffering for sin is just suffering, but suffering when you’ve done good is full of grace

“For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.” (1 Peter 2:20, ESV)

c. when we suffer consequences of sin or lawlessness, we shouldn't think God is thrilled with us

B. WE ARE CALLED TO LIVE EXTRAORDINARY LIVES IN OUR LABOR

1. in our labor, we are to be people of integrity, honesty, and hard work

2. our example has been set by Jesus

“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.” (1 Peter 2:21, ESV)

a. when we believe that we’ve been unjustly treated in the work place we need to ask the question “what Jesus would do?”

b. Peter draws five allusions to Isaiah 53

1) Jesus was innocent

2) No deceit in his mouth

3) He did not retaliate or threaten

4) Jesus entrusted himself to the ultimate judge

5) He was confident God would vindicate him

What does this passage have to teach us about being examples in the sphere of our labor?

If you are a Christian who is an airline pilot, what does it mean to do your job well? Land the plane. If you are a Christian who digs ditches, dig them well. If you are a Christian who is an auto mechanic, what does it mean to do your job well? You fix people's cars when they are broken — and at a fair price.

ILLUS. Dorothy Sayers, an English author of the early 20th century, wrote about the failure of the church in teaching a proper theology of work. She said, "in nothing has the church so lost her hold on reality as in her failure to understand and respect the secular vocation. … The church's approach to a carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly on Sundays. What the church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables." Christians need to practice, "the ministry of competence" in their jobs even when they don’t like their job or their boss is a jerk.

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