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.

As we continue with our responsibilities we need to remember that these flow out of resting in the Redeemer, and remembering our riches. When it comes to submission we will never be successful if we are not resting in Him and returning regularly to our riches. After calling us to submit to governing authorities Peter now talks about submission and our superiors, and what it looks like to walking out His Will at work. Again this passage may not be a very popular one, but it is a very pertinent one, considering most of our awake adult life is lived out at work

1. Position of a Servant – Vs 18-20

The vast majority of businesses in NT times were family operated and if you didn’t have your own small business or farm you worked for someone else as a servant, often as part of their extended household. The word slave meant holding a position of service. So with respect to your boss, we’re called to serve with a submissive heart. This is more than just conforming on the outside as we grumble on the inside. Obedience involves more than just a head nod it’s a heart kneeling. We’re called to obey on the inside and the outside. Christians should not only be the best citizens but also the best employees. But we will only be able to serve if we see God as our ultimate boss. The problem is that we have made work about our worth instead of God’s Will. Many of us are trying to gain self-worth from our jobs instead of from Jesus. Many of us are use money to measure up, but it’s not our cash that makes us kings it’s the cross. Are you resting in your riches or His? When we try to use work to gain our worth we stop serving because service would short circuit our success. But when we see work as a way to live out His Will we not only find God’s favor but we find freedom. The freedom to not have to measure up to man, freedom to live for the Father. Freedom to live for something more than temporary treasure and trinkets that will tarnish. Are you tired of participating in this performance drive culture, tired of trying to keep up and measure up? You don’t have to be trapped, you can make God your boss, and instead of chasing a buck you can be a blessing. When we submit to serve in order to honor God, we receive His reward. We gain God’s favor, unfortunately today prosperity preachers have equated God’s favor with wealth, health, and happiness. But God’s favor is extended even when we are sick, suffering and sad. Are you seeking man’s approval or the masters? One of the best ways to not lose focus in the workplace is to remember that we are working for the Father. You can’t have joy in your job apart from Jesus. Most of us today have made the almighty buck our boss instead of the Almighty. Are you working for the money or the Master? First we need to recognize who we work for and second we need to see that we can serve God wherever we are. Probably a large majority of those who read Peters letter were slaves and were probably looking at Christianity as a way to escape from slavery. But it is really interesting that Peter doesn’t call them to try and escape their circumstances, he calls them to cling to Christ. Peter points out a powerful truth, that we don’t have to put our energy into escaping, we can serve Jesus right where they are. Today there are many Christians who are spend their energy trying to change their circumstances, but what if God is using those circumstances to change us? As Americans we may see ourselves as tough but you know what the majority of us do when we are confronted with challenges at work, we change jobs. Peter is telling us that it’s not our circumstances that need changed its us. One of the best Biblical examples of living our God’s Will at work in the midst of challenging circumstances is found in the life of Daniel. He served under a number of ungodly kings, but he never tried to escape those circumstances. Instead, he committed to serving God right where he was. So it’s really not surprising to see how Darius addresses Daniel the morning after he was thrown into the lion’s den: When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” Daniel 6:20 (NIV). Isn’t it amazing that even the pagan king Darius recognized that Daniel had been serving God all along. Because Daniel understood who his boss was he stayed true and his life was a testimony to God. You think your job has challenges, Daniels came with dinner at the lion’s den. We may not get to pick the battles but we do get to pick our boss. And when the battle begins you better hope that your boss is the Lord of the lions and not the looser. Christianity doesn’t offer us an escape from our circumstances; it offers us conquest over our circumstances. A recent study by the U.S. Department of Labor shows that between the ages of 18 and 38 people change jobs and average of 10 times. Now there are certainly some good reasons for us to change jobs, but in general there is little evidence that changing jobs actually improves one’s job satisfaction. As followers of Jesus, I’m convinced that we need to really seriously consider whether we really ought to change our jobs or whether we just need to learn to serve God right where we are right now.

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

1 Peter 2:13-17

¹³ For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, ¹⁴ or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. ¹⁵ It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. ¹⁶ For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. ¹⁷ Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.

• Show Respect

Vs 17 tells us to respect others, and it comes on the heels of Peter’s Instruction to live sanctified lives and not sinful ones, to live in freedom and not fornication. There is a direct correlation to respect and living right. You will never respect others if you don’t first respect yourself. If we are living in sin with no regard or respect for self how do we expect to respect others? The word respect here means to give honor, to hold others in high regard. In the Old Testament it literally means a “heavy weight” meaning that we assign the greatest possible weight to a person in terms of respect. To respect someone means to consider them to be weighty, where to dishonor means to treat them as if they were light or insignificant. Do you prize people. So many of us prize possessions over people, but there are only 2 things that are eternal, God’s Word and people. To honor is to treat with distinction; to dishonor is to treat someone like dirt. How are you treating the people God has put in your life? So many of us only hold heavy those who we think can help us. We esteem those with power, possessions and position but do we value the homeless and the helpless, do we show worth to widows and orphans? Peoples worth is based on the Word of God not on the worlds values. We’re called to be courteous and kind to all people and to considering them weighty because they have been made in the image of God. Everyone matters to God and therefore they should matter to us. If we are going to have the same values as God then we have to start valuing what He values. God calls people precious, He sent His Son to die for them and when we see start seeing people as precious we too will honor and serve them with our lives. When it comes to the family of God we are not just to respect but to respond with love. The word for love here is agapao, which is unconditional. Our love for God’s children is not based on our feelings it’s based on obedience to the Father. Our love is not based on whether it is received or returned. What conditions are you putting on other Christians? Not only should we love our fellow family members in the faith but we should fear God, which means to revere. Some of us have become so familiar with God that we no longer have a healthy fear of Him. Instead of reverence and an awe of the Almighty we take God for granted. Are you responding with reverence? Again Peter calls us to honor the king, which is incredible when you think about the kind of man Nero was. It’s as if Peter had to preach this twice because he knew there would be some pushback. In a similar way, we are called to esteem the office of the president, even if we don’t like the particular person in the office. Ultimately it all comes down to whether we have submitted and surrendered to God as our highest authority. God’s name is used four times in five verses because it’s not about you or your boss or your teacher or your mayor or your governor or the Supreme Court or the President it’s all about the Almighty. At its core, submission is a spiritual issue and until we have surrendered to the Savior we will struggle.