1 Peter series – “Holding onto Hope in a Hostile World”

1 Peter 2:18-25

18 You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect.[a] Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. 19 For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. 21 For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered[b] for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. 22 He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. 23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. 24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. 25 Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

2.     Purpose of submission – Vs 20-21

a.     Please God

Are you making the purpose of your work worship or wealth? Unfortunately many of us are living to please self and not the Savior. We make our decisions based on how things will impact and reflect on us more than on the Master. Now the Bible makes it clear that God intends for His children to find purpose and pleasure in their work. But that will only happen if we take Jesus to our jobs. One of the biggest mistakes we make as Christians is to compartmentalize our lives. We split them into the spiritual and the secular, where our “spiritual” lives consist of reading the Bible, praying, and church, and everything else we lump into the “secular” category – our families, our hobbies, our entertainment and leisure, and our jobs. How many times have you either said or heard someone else say: “I’d really like to serve God, but I have to spend so much time on my secular job.” But Peter weaves Jesus throughout his instructions concerning work, he makes it very clear that we can’t separate our jobs from Jesus. If fact there should be no area of our lives that is not impacted by our relationship with Jesus. For the saved there should be no area of our lives that is really “secular” In 1993, the Ms Foundation for Women established “Take Your Daughter to Work Day” as a way to introduce girls to various career opportunities. It consisted of one day a year where young girls could experience the work place first hand. The hope was that as they took their daughters to work, that the workplace would impact and shape how they grew up as women. Now what would happen is we would take Jesus to work not one day a year but every day. How would that change the culture at your work? Peter is telling us that Jesus can radically transform our work and the way we view it. Taking Jesus to work will change our mind-set, but it won’t just change our head it will change our heart. Although much of what Peter writes is directed toward the proper behavior, he is much more concerned with the heart behind the action. When we take Jesus to our jobs we will start making people more important than profit. Not only will people become more of a priority but we will also be willing to persevere patiently because our goal will be to please God. When we take Jesus to work we will be able not only to persevere in the problems but to prosper. Not only is submission pleasing to God but it also:

b.     Provides a platform for us to live out our purpose

EXAMPLE When I was a kid my father was over looked for a promotion which everyone expected him to get. You see at the mine where he worked he was the most qualified, and the most experience. But I will never forget that day, how it began with expectation and excitement as he left for work and how it ended as my father came home told my mother that they had promoted someone else. My mom’s response was “but that’s not fair”, to which my dad said, “Brenda It’s not about fairness it’s about faithfulness.” My dad was disappointed but he wasn’t dissolutioned. Several months later the man who had been promoted made a poor decision that caused a melt down at the mine. My dad was called in to save the smelter and I didn’t see my father for 4 days as he worked tirelessly to try and turn things around. Before he left he said pray because if we lose the smelter everyone loses. God gave favor and the smelter was saved my dad went from the one who was passed over to the one who was praised. But he never took the glory he used it as an opportunity to point people to God. In the months after he was looked over he could have spent his time protesting but instead his attitude provided a platform to proclaim the power of Jesus. You can throw a temper tantrum or you can trust, this really comes back to are we resting in the Redeemer? When you trust that God has you in His hand you don’t have to waste your energy getting worked up. Are you going to be faithful even when it’s not fair? The world is watching, and our work is really a platform to witness. The problem is that we have made it about the money instead of ministry. Peter tells us that the goal is not the gold it is doing good. All the gold we get we leave here, but the good goes with us. Are you living for temporary treasures or eternal rewards?  Are you making the purpose of your work witnessing or wealth? What is more important to you the wage or your witness?