Living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a life that represents Jesus well in the face of suffering...

This week we are looking at a next section of a letter that the Apostle Peter wrote to early followers of Jesus that is recorded for us in the Bible called the book of 1 Peter. Yesterday we looked on as Peter commanded slaves, regardless of how their master treated them, to willingly place themselves under their masters by placing their master first in a way that results in obedience to their masters.

We also addressed our natural reaction is to view slavery through the prism of how slavery was conducted in the early days of the United States by looking at how slavery in the first century differed from how slavery was conducted in the early days of the United States. We discovered that, unlike the caricature that our culture paints of Christianity as being a male chauvinistic religious system, Peter here in his command to slaves, reveals the reality that Christianity is based on the assumption that both wives and slaves have a moral responsibility for their behavior that exceeded the social expectations of the day.

Peter and the writers of the letters that make up the New Testament actually subverted cultural expectations of the day by elevating the slave and the wife to a position of unparalleled dignity in the culture of the day. The issue that Peter is addressing here is how followers of Jesus, as a result of their new identity as part of God’s Kingdom community, were to operate within the culture’s most basic social unit, the home.

Peter’s concern was that the behavior of a slave who was a follower of Jesus would be an apologetic for the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel. And just like we talked about a few weeks ago, part of that apologetic for the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel would be living their day to day lives in that social order of the home in a way that affirmed part of that social order that lined up with the message and teachings of Jesus while rejecting those parts of the social order that were not compatible with the message and teachings of Jesus.

We ended by addressing the question whether or not the words that Peter pens for us in this section of this letter have everything to do with us today? If that question is running through your mind, I want to let you know that is a fair question to be asking. And we see Peter provide the answer to that question in what he says next. So let’s look at what Peter says next in 1 Peter 2:19-20:

 ¹⁹ For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. ²⁰ For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

Here we see Peter provide a reason behind his command for slaves to willingly place themselves under their masters by placing their master first in a way that results in obedience to masters regardless of how their master treated them. In verse 19, Peter states that this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. Now what is so interesting here is that the word favor here, in the language that this letter is originally written in, is that same word that is translated grace. This word refers to someone or something that wins a favorable response from God.

In addition, the phrase, conscience towards God conveys the sense of having an awareness of God. Peter’s point here is that what wins a favorable response from God is when a person, in light of their awareness of God, bears up under the trouble, difficulty, and emotional and physical pain and suffering that comes as a result of being treated unjustly. Then in verse 20, Peter reinforces his point by asking a timeless question: “For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?”

Peter’s question, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “What credit do you think you should get from God when you do things out of your selfishness and rebellion that hurt others and then get beaten as a result of your rebellion? Do you think that enduring a beating that you deserved to get as a result of your selfishness and rebellion that hurt others should result in you getting credit from God?”

I mean, the answer to that question is obvious right? I mean, it is obvious that a person does not deserve credit from God for suffering as a result of their rebellion because they are only getting what they deserve from their rebellion. I mean that only makes sense. However, Peter explains that if a person does the right thing and then suffers for doing the right thing as a result of being treated harshly for doing the right thing; if a person does the right thing and maintains doing the right thing in the face of opposition and suffering for doing the right thing; this is what wins a favorable response from God.

But did you notice what Peter did in these verses? Did you notice the subtle shift that Peter makes? Did you notice that when Peter gives the reason why slaves were to willingly place themselves under their masters by placing their master first in a way that results in obedience to masters regardless of how their master treated them, Peter does not refer to slaves? Instead Peter uses the phrase “a person”.

Peter here is no longer talking just to slaves. Instead Peter is now talking to everyone who is reading this letter. Peter uses his command to slaves as a launching point to address a much larger issue that impacted every person who read this letter. And it is here, in this shift that Peter makes in these verses, that we discover a timeless truth about how we are to live out our identity as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community in the midst of a rapidly changing culture in that living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a life that represents Jesus well in the face of suffering.

And in 1 Peter 2:18-25, we see Peter reveal for us three reasons why living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a life that represents Jesus well in the face of suffering. First, in verses 18, we see that we represent Jesus well in the face of suffering when we respect authority regardless of their character. As followers of Jesus, we are to respect those in authority who meet a high standard of merit. As followers of Jesus, we are to respect those in authority who are tolerant and right-minded. And as followers of Jesus, we are to respect those in authority who are morally bent. As followers of Jesus, we are to respect those in authority who are unjust.

Second, in verses 19-20, we see that we represent Jesus well in the face of suffering when we respond in a way that receives God's favor. As followers of Jesus, we receive God's favor when we bear up under unjust suffering in a way that is informed by our awareness of God and His character. And as followers of Jesus, we receive God's favor when we suffer for the right reasons.

We should not expect to receive any credit from God when we suffer as a result of our selfish and rebellious actions. Instead, we are to recognize that we receive credit when we maintain a exemplary level of conduct in spite of suffering for doing what is good and right. We receive favor from God because our right response to suffering and wrongdoing serves as an apologetic for the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel that affirms what lines up with the message and teachings of Jesus while rejecting what is not compatible with the message and teachings of Jesus.

Now right about now you are pushing back on everything I just said. You might be disagreeing with everything I just said. Maybe you still do not see what this passage has to do with us today. You still feel like Peter is talking just to slaves and not to anyone else.

If I just described your response to what I just said, let’s look at what Peter says next. Because it is in what Peter says next that removes any question as to the shift that Peter has made and reveals a third reason what living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a life that represents Jesus well in the face of suffering.

Friday we will look at what Peter says next...