Living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a life that represents Jesus well in our relationships with others...

At the church where I serve, we have been looking at a letter that is preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the book of 1 Peter as part of a sermon series entitled living as part of God’s kingdom community. During this series, we are asking the question “How should followers of Jesus live out our identity as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community in the midst of a rapidly changing culture? How should followers of Jesus live out our identity as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community when our faith is minimized and marginalized? How should followers of Jesus live out our identity as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community when our faith is ridiculed, criticized, and slandered?”

This week, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the next section of this letter, we will discover another 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. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in 1 Peter 3:8:

To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.

Peter begins this section of his letter with the phrase “to sum up”.  With this phrase, Peter is basically saying “In conclusion to what I have been saying in this part of my letter to you: In light of the fact that living as part of God’s kingdom community should impact how we live out our day to day lives in relationship with others. In light of my concern was that our relationships would be an apologetic for the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel 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.

In light of the fact that living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a life that represents Jesus well in the face of suffering at the hands of others. In light of the fact that living as part of God’s kingdom community should result in wives representing Jesus well in marriage. In light of the fact that living as part of God’s kingdom community should result in husbands representing Jesus well in marriage: In light of the key question “Are followers of Jesus representing Jesus well? What is the reputation of followers of Jesus in the eyes of unbelievers?”In light of that, to conclude my thoughts on how you are to live out your day to day lives as part of God’s kingdom community in relationships with others, I am going to give you an overarching command concerning your relationships with others.

Peter then commanded the readers of his letter, and followers of Jesus throughout history, “be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit.” Now when Peter uses the word harmonious, this word literally means to be like minded in spirit. In addition, the word sympathetic means to be understanding to another. The word brotherly conveys the sense of having a mutual brotherly or sisterly affection for another. The word kindhearted literally means to be tenderhearted or compassionate toward another. And the phrase humble of spirit conveys the sense of declaring oneself powerless to defend one’s status or position.

And it is with these string of commands that Peter reveals a timeless truth when it comes to 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 as followers of Jesus. And that timeless truth is this: Living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a life that represents Jesus well in our relationships with others. Just as it was for these early followers of Jesus who were experiencing sadness and suffering as a result of their current circumstances; just as it has been for followers of Jesus throughout history, living as part of God’s kingdom community should lead to a life that represents Jesus well in our relationships with others.

And in 1 Peter 3:8-12, we are going to see Peter reveal for us two different ways that we represent Jesus well in our relationships with others. First, in verse 8, we see Peter reveal for us the reality that we represent Jesus well in our relationships with others when we live in genuine and authentic community with one another as a church.

As followers of Jesus, we represent Jesus well as a church when we are living in genuine and authentic community with one another that is marked by unity. As followers of Jesus, we represent Jesus well as a church when we are living in genuine and authentic community with one another that is marked by an understanding of one another. As followers of Jesus, we represent Jesus well as a church when we are living in genuine and authentic community with one another that is marked by a mutual, brotherly and sisterly love for one another. As followers of Jesus, we represent Jesus well as a church when we are living in genuine and authentic community with one another that is marked by compassion for one another. And as followers of Jesus, we represent Jesus well as a church when we are living in genuine and authentic community with one another that is marked by humility toward one another.

So here is a question to consider: Do these characteristics mark the church you attend?  Would people who explore faith the church you attend say that these are the traits that mark your church? Would people in the community say these things about the church you attend if they were asked about your church?

Is the church you attend marked by unity? An understanding of one another? A mutual, brotherly or sisterly love for one another? A compassion for others? A humility towards others? Because, as Peter points out in this verse, as followers of Jesus we represent Jesus well in our relationships with others when we live in genuine and authentic community with one another as a church.

Peter than makes a subtle transition, from addressing how followers of Jesus should live in relationship with one another as part of the church, to addressing how followers of Jesus should respond when we are wronged by others who are outside the church.

We will see this subtle shift in verse 9 tomorrow…