We have previously we have dealt with
(i) The foundation of our holiness [1 Peter 1:1-12]
(ii) The call to holiness [1Peter 1: 13-25]
(iii) Living as a holy Christian community [1 Peter 2:1-12]
(iv) Living as holy citizens in our country[1 Peter 2:13-25]
(v) and today we want think about living holy lives in an often unfair world. We will do this with the help of Peter’s entire first letter.
Trials, suffering and unfair treatment can sap our
physical, emotional and spiritual resources. It can drain us to the very core, leaving us depleted and
defeated and discouraged. I say “can”,
because it doesn’t have to. 1 Peter contains helpful counsel for those times
when you are tempted to get lost in your situation. Our calling from God, “be holy as I am holy” (1:15,16) remains true under all circumstances- and
especially so when we are being treated
unfairly. If you think that this is
unattainable, listen to what Peter says,
3 His divine power has granted to us
all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge
of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted
to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in
the world because of sinful desire. [2
Pet. 1:3,4]. Remember that the call
to Christian living is not a call to trust in yourself. It is a call to
radically trust in your Creator.
This pastoral letter was written to Christian people in the
diaspora (1:1). They were suffering,
struggling, they were treated unfairly.
Many Christian converts were slaves. They needed perspective. Suffering/
unfairness does need perspective. Managing perspective on suffering and
unfairness is hard when there is no thought of God. Even godless people, in
desperation at such times need someone to turn to, and that is where drugs,
alcohol, bad relationships, and sometimes bad human counsel come in. When this
doesn’t work psychology’s miracle cure – anti depressants are offered, and
still the soul hurts. I am not suggesting for a moment that such medication
cannot be useful in the short term, but it is always better to deal with the real cause. I remind you that these Christians in
Peter’s day did not have access to modern psychotropic medicines. How did they cope? Nothing beats the systematic feeding upon God’s Word and the
gradual, sanctifying power of God
!
The shallow response to suffering is to say, ’this is not fair‘. From there people move rapidly to the next statement, “How can a good God allow this?” In this letter Peter speaks about a number of situations in which persons might say, “this is not fair”.
- Think of the various trials by which his readers had been grieved in 1:6-7.
- Think of the suffering of the servant/ employee who finds himself at the mercy of an unjust master (2:18), where one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly (2:19), or where another suffers simply for doing good (2:20).
- Think of the suffering of the Christian wife married to an unconverted husband who does not obey the word of God (3:1ff).
- Think of the suffering caused by evil and reviling (3:9) and slander (3:16) and many other abuses which a Christian might encounter, just because they are Christian.
- Think of the abuse that Peter himself suffered at the hands of the religious and civil authorities simply because he was a Christian (Acts 4).
- Think of the constant work of Satan as he prowls around as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour (5:8,9)
- Suffering, trials and difficulties for believers come in many forms. The first letter of Peter draws our attention to four forms of trials and suffering, and each need to be understood to gain perspective.
1.
Suffering for righteousness sake
·
We
see this in 1:6,7 (a general reference –
‘ various trials’) for the purpose of testing the genuineness of our
faith. The various trials used here were
probably political, religious and social class persecution. Christianity was new. Socially, many of the
people to whom Peter wrote were slaves.
·
We
see it in another way in 2:19 where
Peter comments in the context of serving unjust masters: “For this is a gracious thing, when mindful of God one endures sorrows
while suffering unjustly.”
·
We
see it in 4:12-14 (suffering as
testing) and 16-17 (suffering as a
Christian- a cleansing of the household of God)
PERSPECTIVE: This suffering is used
by God for the sanctification of our soul.
2.
Suffering
because of the presence of Satan (5:8-10)
Satan is here described as a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Peter says that he is the agent of suffering… throughout the world.
PERSPECTIVE: “resist Him, firm in your faith, knowing
that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood
throughout the world.” (5:8,9)
3.
Suffering which relates to
unsanctified behaviour in the church. This point is implicit in our text. When church
members behave according
to the passions of their former ignorance (1:14) and the
futile ways inherited from their forefathers, (1:18) and when
they indulge in deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, slander (2:1) and repaying evil for evil and also reviling for reviling (3:9), and then also adding the
sins listed in in 4:3 (living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties,
and lawless idolatry) - when these things are found in the church,
they will kill the holiness of the
church. If this happens, there will be collateral damage and members suffer at
the hands of such people. In this regard we also make mention of
pastor/ elders who act contrary to the behaviour described in 5: 2,3. When they do this they hurt the church.
PERSPECTIVE: “Purify your souls by your obedience to the
truth” (1:22); “…put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander…”
(2:1); “Abstain from the passions of the
flesh which war against your soul“(2:11); “…have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart and a
humble mind.” (3:1)
4. Some suffering occurs as a result of personal sin - fuelled by the passions of the flesh which wage war against the soul. In 4:12-17 Peter makes the observation that fiery trials are inevitable. There is no shame in suffering as a Christian. BUT, he warns that “no one ought to suffer as a result of being a murderer, a thief, an evildoer or a meddler”. That kind of suffering is self- induced, and has nothing to do with God’s sanctifying work in the believer.
PERSPECTIVE: The only course of action recommended here is to repent and return to the Great Overseer of our souls, and to make amends by confessing sin to those that have been hurt, and to ask their forgiveness.
Having considered the various kinds of sufferings, making a careful distinction between the sufferings that sanctify and the sufferings caused by our own sin, let us look at how Peter would counsel suffering Christians, taking into account the broad landscape of Peter’s epistle.
COUNSEL FOR SUFFERING CHRISTIANS
1.
First counsel for suffering
Christians: Know your position in
Christ. Who are you,
dear suffering Christian, and what is your purpose? The answer is found in 1:1-2: you are God‘s elected
child according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification
of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with His
blood. That is your position and calling. Your suffering, your experience
of unfair treatment does not change that.
A people who know where they have come from and who know for what reason they exist, and who
know where they are going are not easily unsettled.
2.
Second counsel for suffering
Christians: Study your holy God!
Study holiness. This counsel embraces the command to be holy, as God is holy (1:15). Practically speaking this means
that we need to be healthy feeders on the holy Word of God, and not only
healthy feeders but healthy “obeyers”. Knowing God and knowing His requirements will
save you from falling into sinful life patterns which would cause you much
grief. It will also help you to distinguish what God is doing in your life –
whether it be a trial generated by our sin, or whether it be a sanctifying
trial from God, like Job’s. Trials can be overwhelming, but those that
know their God, know what to do.
Ed Welsh
has written a helpful book, “When People
Are Big And God Is Small[1].
The Goliath’s in our lives are
intimidating. But those who know their
God are not afraid of Goliath, because they know that he is a mere man. With David, who knew God they are able to say: “I come against you in the Name
of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.”
(1 Sam. 17:45). Likewise, the people of Israel were
fainthearted at the thought of conquering Canaan. “Giants live there”, they were told. (Numbers 13,14). But Joshua and Caleb did not flinch. “This book of the law shall not depart from
your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be
careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good
success.” (Joshua 1: 8). Joshua
knew God and He knew His Word. He was
not afraid of the future, and he brought Israel into the promised land.
3.
Third counsel for suffering
Christians : Be a part of a spiritual house and offer up your life in service to Christ by
living like a Christian. The church is designed by God to
be the rich blessing and provision of God for our
healing, encouragement and comfort. Through the church you are called to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable
to God through Jesus Christ” (2:5).
In that house we (i.e. “all
of you”) are called to have “unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a
tender heart and a humble mind” (3:8).
In that house we do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling (cf. 3:9-12). Help your church to be a true
house of worship and to be
a safe place for the sheep of God.
4.
Fourth counsel for suffering
Christians: For the Lord’s sake, help to
create an enabling environment in the country which you live. (2:13-25)
5.
Fifth counsel for suffering Christians: Remember the
sufferings of your sympathetic High priest: Remember His death for you (1:19). He suffered for you… this is an example so that you might follow
in his steps (2:21). Remember
that Christ suffered once for sin… that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in
the Spirit (3:18). Remember that Jesus
died, to be raised again for you. He is
your living hope (1:3) and therefore
even if you die, you will live with Him in a holy heaven. Remember that He was rejected by men (2:4). He knows about rejection. Remember
that Christ suffered in the flesh (4:1).
He knows about physical pain. And remember that you are called to share in His sufferings (4:13). No servant is greater than his Master, not
meaning at all that you can die the death that Christ died, but you share in
the sufferings ... being insulted for the name of Christ (4:14).
Etc. This does not only mean that
you will suffer if you want to live a holy life, but it also means that your
Saviour is right there with you in the fire.
And so we close with these words in 3:14,15 and take them as a closing comfort and exhortation: “Even
if you suffer for righteousness sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honour Christ as holy, always being prepared to make a defence to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.
Do this with gentleness and respect.
A people called by God to be holy as He is holy, living in the context of a holy community which He has established for them, being holy citizens and servants and gentle and respectful witnesses in this unholy world is what we need in this hour in Namibia.
May God help us to be His holy
people, for His Name’s sake. He shall receive all the glory and we all the
benefits! Amen.
[1] When
People Are Big and God is Small: Overcoming Peer Pressure, Codependency, and
the Fear of Man… by Edward T. Welch
No comments:
Post a Comment