This week we
are looking at a section of a letter that has been preserved and recorded for
us in the Bible called the book of 1 Peter. Yesterday, we began to look at 1
Peter 4:7-11, where we discovered the timeless truth that living as part of
God’s kingdom community should lead to a lifestyle that has an eternal
perspective. In 1 Peter 4:7-11, we are going to see Peter provide four commands
to followers of Jesus throughout history that, when followed, will lead to a
lifestyle that reflects an eternal perspective.
First, in
verse 7, we see Peter reveal for us the reality that a lifestyle that has an
eternal perspective will reflect that perspective by rightly thinking about the
future. Rightly think about the future will result in us developing and
demonstrating sensible wisdom for the present that will help us keep our heads
together regardless of what circumstances we find ourselves in. And rightly
thinking about the future will result in us having a self restraint that helps
us when we pray.
Today, we jump
back into this section of this letter and see Peter provide a second command to
followers of Jesus throughout history that, when followed, will lead to a
lifestyle that reflects an eternal perspective, in 1 Peter 4:8:
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one
another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
Here we see
Peter command followers of Jesus throughout history to above all, keep fervent
in your love for one another. Now if Peter was communicating this command in
the language that we use in our culture today, this command would have sounded
something like this: Above everything else, what is most important is that you
constantly and consistently demonstrate a warm regard for and interest in
another that is selfless and persevering in nature.
Peter then
explains the reason behind his command for followers of Jesus to constantly and
consistently demonstrate a warm regard for and interest in another that is
selfless and persevering in nature is because love covers a multitude of sins.
But what does that mean? I mean is Peter saying that love covers all of my
sins? Is Peter saying that I can earn my salvation and rescue from my
selfishness and rebellion by loving others? I mean that seems like what Peter
is saying here? It seems like Peter is saying that love covers, or takes care
of my sins against others. So, is that what Peter is saying here?
To fully
understand what Peter is communicating here, we first need to remember the
context in which this letter was written and define a term. Remember, Peter is
writing this letter to early followers of Jesus who were being squeezed as a
result of living in a rapidly changing culture that viewed their faith as being
strange and outrageous as compared to the other religious systems of the day.
Peter is writing to early followers of Jesus who were experiencing sadness and
suffering as a result of their faith being mocked, ridiculed, criticized, and
slandered.
Peter was
writing this letter to encourage the readers of his letter to live out their
day to day lives in a way that was an apologetic for the claims of Christ and
the message of the gospel. And just like we talked about throughout this
series, part of that apologetic for the claims of Christ and the message of the
gospel would be living their day to day lives 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.
Now that leads
us to the term we need to define, which is the term cover. You see, the word
cover here, in the language that this letter was originally written in,
literally means to cause something to not be made known. This word conveys the
sense of removing something from sight. Peter here is not focusing on the
concept of love covering acts of selfishness and rebellion that hurt God and
others that we commit against God and others.
Instead, Peter
is focusing on the concept of love covering the acts of selfishness and
rebellion that are committed against us. The reality is that there is no
perfect church. If you are looking for a perfect church and you find a perfect
church then you better leave before you ruin it. As followers of Jesus, we are
imperfect people striving to follow the message and teachings of our perfect
savior by the power of the Holy Spirit. However, the reality is that there are
times when we selfishly do or say things that hurt others or are hurt by the
selfish and rebellious things that are done to us by others.
And it is at
that point that, as followers of Jesus, we are faced with a decision. And that
decision involves how we are going to respond when we are the victim of
selfishness and rebellion. Are we going to respond by proclaiming how we have
been wronged by another follower of Jesus to others and through social media
for everyone around us to see? Or are we going to follow the message and
teachings of Jesus as described in Matthew 18 in a way that demonstrates love and
that seeks a recognition of their wrong against us and restoration of
relationship in a private and progressive manner?
Peter’s point
here is that when followers of Jesus respond to being wronged by other
followers of Jesus by following the message and teachings of Jesus in a way
that is driven by love, the wrongdoing done to us is covered up from being
exposed to the unbelieving world around us. Instead, what the unbelieving world
around us sees is a reflection of Jesus love in how we respond to being wronged.
And that love serves as an apologetic for the claims of Christ and the message
of the gospel.
When we
respond to being wronged by another follower of Jesus by proclaiming how we
have been wronged through our conversations with others and through social
media for everyone around us to see, we fail to reveal and reflect Jesus and we
fail to be an apologetic for Jesus. And it is here that we see Peter reveal for
us the reality that a lifestyle that has an eternal perspective will reflect
that perspective by loving others in a way that removes selfishness from sight.
As followers
of Jesus we have an eternal perspective when we constantly love one another in
a way the removes selfishness from sight. And as followers of Jesus, we have an
eternal perspective when we love one another in a way that removes the
selfishness of others from the eyes of others. Peter then provides a third
command to followers of Jesus throughout history that, when followed, will lead
to a lifestyle that reflects an eternal perspective, in verse 9:
Be hospitable to one
another without complaint.
Now when Peter
uses the word hospitable here, this word refers to inviting others with an open-handed
generosity into community. This word conveys the sense of inviting others in
and warmly doing life together. In the Greco-Roman culture in which this letter
was written, the church would gather and scatter. The church would gather in
spaces that they could find that could accommodate a large gathering to worship
together on Sunday and the church would scatter into smaller groups that would
meet in homes throughout the week.
In a context
in which followers of Jesus were being squeezed and were experiencing sadness
and suffering, hospitality would be both important and dangerous. After all, opening one’s home for followers
of Jesus to gather in could expose the owner of the home as being a Christian
and to subsequent ridicule, criticism, slander, and even persecution.
As a result,
there were followers of Jesus who were reluctant to take such risk. And there
were followers of Jesus who would take such a risk while grumbling and complaining
to others behind the scenes about taking such risk. So, Peter here is
commanding the readers of this letter, and followers of Jesus throughout
history, to be open-handed in their generous opening of their home to community
without complaining about it.
And it is here that we see Peter reveal for us the
reality that a lifestyle that has an eternal perspective will reflect that
perspective by inviting others into open-handed community. As followers of
Jesus, we are to make sure that we are inviting others into open-handed
community with the right actions and the right attitude in mind. As followers
of Jesus, we are to invite others with an open-handed generosity to experience
genuine and authentic community, whether that is during our times of corporate
worship on Sunday, during community groups during the week, or on an individual
basis during the week.
As followers of Jesus, we have an eternal perspective
when we invite people who we will be in community for all eternity into
open-handed community with us while we live out our day to day lives here on
earth. And as followers of Jesus, we have an eternal perspective when we invite
people who are searching and seeking answers when it comes to Jesus and the
Bible into open-handed community with us so that they could come to the place
where they experience an eternity in community with us.
Friday, we will see Peter provide a fourth command to
followers of Jesus throughout history that, when followed, will lead to a
lifestyle that reflects an eternal perspective…
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