Moments in the life of a Pastor

Walking with God


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33. Marriage – God’s Masterpiece or manmade misery – Part 1

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

1 Peter 3:1-7

In the same way, you wives must accept the authority of your husbands. Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over 2 by observing your pure and reverent lives. 3 Don’t be concerned about the outward beauty of fancy hairstyles, expensive jewelry, or beautiful clothes. 4 You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God. 5 This is how the holy women of old made themselves beautiful. They put their trust in God and accepted the authority of their husbands. 6 For instance, Sarah obeyed her husband, Abraham, and called him her master. You are her daughters when you do what is right without fear of what your husbands might do. 7 In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God’s gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

As we return to our study in 1 Peter we find ourselves not only at the middle of our study but also in the middle of a 4 part series on submission. Peter started out by calling us to submit rightly not wrongly to governing authorities, second he talked to us about submission and our superiors, and what it looks like to walking out God’s Will in the workplace. As we continue we will see that God’s goal for us is to walk out submission in our most sacred relationship, marriage. Before we can talk about submission in marriage we have to talk about submission to the Master. Am I going to walk out God’s Will or walk away? Most of us read this passage and pucker up, don’t tell me how to manage my marriage, essential here is what we do – tear out scripture. Why is God’s goal for spouses to submit, because submission kills selfishness and cultivates serving It puts pride to death and Peters main point is that spouses are called to serve one another. He starts with the words in the same way which take us back to our previous passage one that pointed to the Savior. As Christ-followers we’re called to follow in His steps. Jesus modeled servanthood, he submitted to the Will of the Father. Now as we get ready to look at God’s model for marriage I want to read you the following email that a woman sent to tech support:

Dear Tech Support, last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and I noticed a distinct slowdown in the overall system performance, particularly in the flower and jewelry applications. In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as Sports 5.0, TV 3.0 and Basketball Game 4.1. Conversation 8.0 no longer runs. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do? Signed, Desperate Woman.”

Dear Desperate Woman, first, keep in mind, Boyfriend 5.0 is an Entertainment Package while Husband 1.0 is an older more reliable operating system. Try to download Tears 6.2. If this application works as designed, Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5. However, remember, overuse of the above applications can cause a default to Silence 2.5. Whatever you do, DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (it runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources). In summary, you might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance.”

Now we may laugh at that but sometimes we wonder if marriage is God’s Masterpiece or manmade misery? Hebrews 13:4 tells us that: “Marriage must be honored by everyone.” But have you noticed that marriage is no longer honored in our society? It’s dismissed, demeaned, and even discouraged by many. Marriage is being ridiculed and even redefined, but God declares that marriage is between one man and one woman for life. As we study this passage together my pray is that you will discover God’s game plan for your marriage. A good marriage is more than being with the right person; it’s being the right person. Now while there are 6 verses directed to wives and only 1 toward husbands don’t let that fool you into feeling like wives have more to do in marriage. In fact we are actually going to flip this passage around and start first with husbands.  As Peter talks to husbands he says “in the same way you husbands must give” This means likewise or of equal degree. Just as wives are called to submit so are husbands, now his role is different and so his serving will look different but Ephesians 5:21 puts it simply and strongly: “Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” The focus for our submission should be the Savior, the problem is we try to make the focus self and when we do we fight submission.


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32 Jesus in your Job – Part 3

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.

3.     Pattern for Submission – Vs 21

Our pattern for submission is not society it’s the Savior. While society calls us to a life of fun, the Savior calls us to a life of faithfulness. But Christ’s pattern is not just something we observe but something we are to practice. Peter calls this following in the Saviors steps. It’s the idea of stepping where he stepped. If you were following someone through a mine field who knew the way out, how careful would you be following them? Would you step exactly where they stepped or just close to where they stepped? The idea here is that we mirror the Masters moves. So how carefully are you following Christ? This comes back to resting in Him, are you relying on the Redeemer or living recklessly? Are you going to tread on truth or on a trap? Why don’t we faithfully follow in the Saviors steps, because we don’t like where He went. Peter tells us that our first step involves saying yes to:

Suffering – If you’re serious about serving the Savior, then you need to be prepared to suffer for the Savior. When I get all up in wanting to be right and demanding my rights when I’ve been wronged, I remind myself that when I signed up to follow the Savior, I signing up to suffer. One of the biggest problems in the church today is that we have bought into the lie that if we follow the Lord life will be easy. We don’t want to walk down the path of pain, because our focus is on our flesh instead of on being faithful. Instead of chasing after Christ we are chasing comfort. Look following Him will hurt. In John 6 when following Jesus teaching got hard it says that many disciples deserted. It’s easy to follow when things are favorable but what about when the going gets tough, are you going to turn on Him or turn to Him? How do you faithfully follow the Savior in the midst of suffering, focus on Him and not the hurt. Don’t give in to the temptation to live like a victim, remember that in Christ you are a victor. Work is often a struggle but it is worth it when we remember who we are working for. If you sense yourself wanting to pull back or wondering if your ministry matters, or questioning whether your work is worthwhile, allow the words of 1 Corinthians 15:58 to encourage you: “Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”

The second step we take with the Savior involves saying no to sin. Why is this step so hard because it means saying no to worldly pleasure. What’s ironic is how we refuse to step into suffering with the Savior, yet we readily purse worldly pleasure that leads to pain. Saying no to sin includes not just living in sin but speaking sinfully. Following the Lord means that our lips should match our life. Are you watching what comes out of your mouth, are you guarding against workplace gossip and being careful not to get caught up in complaining about the boss?

The third step involves not striking back. When Jesus was betrayed he didn’t retaliate unlike Peter who as he penned these words probably recalled his response of retaliation. He sliced off the soldier’s ear with his sword. In the midst of the conflict Jesus demonstrated care and compassion, He used His power to heal and not to hurt. After telling them to put their swords away He said in Matthew 26:53: “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” A Roman legion could contain as many as 6,000 men, so Jesus was talking about and angelic army of 72,000. All He had to do was say the word and the soldiers would be smoked, in fact if He had retaliated all of Rome would have been left in ruin. He had the power to wipe out the world but instead he died for it. What about you are you serving like the Savior or sword swinging Peter? Are you healing or hurting? Are you living out God’s Will or leaving a trail of wounded in your wake? Do you need to put your sword away? Why do we struggle to serve and scar those around us, because we try to serve in our strength and not the Saviors. Peter reminds us that Jesus did the work on the cross and we have to serve in His strength. Are you serving in the Saviors power or self’s? Walking in His steps means staying not straying. Are you a wayward sheep serving self or a sacrificial one serving the Savior?