At the church
where I serve, we have been spending our time together looking at a letter that
is preserved and recorded for us in the New Testament of the Bible called the
book of 1 Peter. 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
3:13:
Who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?
Peter begins this section of his letter by asking the
readers of his letter throughout history a rhetorical question: “Who is there
to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?” As we talked about earlier
in 1 Peter 2:12, when Peter uses the word good, he is referring to followers of
Jesus living out their day to day
life in a way that is in line with the high moral standards that Jesus called
them to as His followers.
So if Peter was asking this question in the language that we use in our
culture today, this question would have sounded something like this: Who is
really going to harm or mistreat you if you represent Jesus well by living a
life that is in line with the high moral standards of Jesus and that promotes
what is good in your relationships with others?
Now the reason this question is rhetorical is because of what Peter had
stated just one verse earlier in verse 12.
Last week, we saw Peter quote from a section of a letter
that is preserved and recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called
the book of Psalms. Peter quoted Psalm 34:12-16 to reveal the reality that the
Lord is against anyone who wrongs another. Peter’s point in quoting Psalm
34:12-16 is that the Lord will position Himself in opposition to anyone, even
Christians, who speak and act in a way that is morally or socially
reprehensible toward another, regardless of the circumstances that preceded
such behavior.
So Peter is basically saying, in light of what I just
pointed you to in Psalm 34:12-16, what harm could possibly come to you? I mean
the answer seems obvious, doesn’t it? However, as we have already discovered in
this series, these early followers of Jesus were being squeezed as a result of
the circumstances of sadness and suffering they were experiencing.
These early
followers of Jesus were being squeezed as a result of being strangers in a
strange land as a result of their ancestors being scattered during the
Babylonian invasion of the Jewish nation. These early followers of Jesus were
being squeezed as a result of a persecution against followers of Jesus that is
recorded for us in Acts 8. These early
followers of Jesus were being squeezed as a result of the new movement of
Christianity beginning to experience persecution at the hands of the Roman
Empire.
These early
followers of Jesus were being squeezed as they found
themselves feeling marginalized and isolated by those around them. These early followers of Jesus were being squeezed as
they found themselves the object of ridicule and slander for clinging to a
religious belief system that was viewed as being both strange and outrageous as
compared with the religious systems that were prevalent in the culture around
them. And what is more, Peter already knew that they were being squeezed as a
result of the circumstances of sadness and suffering that they were
experiencing.
So, if that was the case, why
would Peter even ask this rhetorical question? We discover the answer to this
question in what Peter says next in verse 14:
But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are
blessed.
Not to fully understand Peter’s statement here in the
first part of verse 14, we first need to define a few terms. First, when Peter
uses the word righteousness, this is a big fancy church mumbo jumbo talk word
that refers to the quality or state of upright behavior. In addition, when
Peter uses the word blessed, this word conveys the sense of being especially
favored by someone.
So Peter’s statement here if communicated in the language
we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: “But even
if you should suffer at the hands of others because you are representing Jesus
well by living a life that is right in line with the high moral standards of
Jesus and that promotes what is good in your relationships with others, you are
especially favored by God as a result of being in right relationship with God”.
To which we go “What? Really?” Maybe that is your response
to Peter’s words here? Maybe you are
wondering “How can Peter possibly believe that someone who suffers is
especially favored by God? I mean, bad things usually happen to bad people and
good things usually happen to good people. It is a tragedy when bad things
happen to good people and when good things happen to bad people. So how can
Peter say that a person is especially favored by God when bad things happen to
them as a result of doing the right thing?”
If I have just described the thoughts that are going
through your mind, I just want to know that I am so glad that you are reading
this. I am so glad that you are reading this because it is in this passage that
we are going to look at that we will see Peter provide the timeless answers to
those thoughts and questions. Because it is here, in this passage that that we
see Peter reveal a timeless truth when it comes to about how we are to live in 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 responds to suffering the right
way.
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 that responds to suffering the
right way. In 1 Peter 3:13-22, we are going to see Peter reveal for us two
different ways that followers of Jesus respond to suffering the right way.
First, we
see Peter reveal for us the reality that we respond to suffering the right way
when suffer for the right reasons. Peter’s point here is that as followers of
Jesus, we experience God's favor when we suffer for living faithfully for
Jesus. As followers of Jesus, when we experience suffering
because we represent Jesus well by living a life that is right in line with the
high moral standards of Jesus and that promotes what is good in our
relationships with others, we are especially favored by God as a result of
being in right relationship with God.
You see, one of the evidences that demonstrate that we
possess a genuine and authentic relationship with Jesus is when we place our
confident trust in Jesus and do the right thing, even when it is not the easy
thing, or the popular thing, to do. And because doing the right thing is not
necessarily the easy or the popular thing to do: Because suffering as a result
of representing Jesus well by living a life that is right in line with the high
moral standards of Jesus and that promotes what is good in our relationships
with others is difficult, notice what Peter states next.
Tomorrow we will discover what Peter said next…
No comments:
Post a Comment