Following in His Footsteps (1 Peter 2:18-25)
Pastor Ross preaches from 1 Pet. 2:18-25.
Following in His Steps
1 Peter 2:18 – 25
Connection
Sometimes, I feel like I am a hair trigger from rage. When I feel disrespected, whether it’s in my home or on the road, I feel like I need to respond with words or a kind of driving that defends my rights and brings justice right then and there. No mercy.
Anger is an emotion connected to justice. Rage is a toxic form of anger when we take justice into our own hands as if we are the most significant person in any place and we have the wisdom and power to correct wrong in that moment. Rage is connected to retaliation since retaliation is our method of immediately addressing and correcting wrongs against us.
Question for you, is this how Jesus lived? And what I just explained is something that comes naturally to us. So, if it’s not natural but supernatural how Jesus lived and responded to evil, how can we do the same?
I bring this up because while this sermon addresses our submission to authority, Peter’s main focus is on how we respond to mistreatment.
Context
As a I mentioned a few weeks ago, we are in a larger part of the letter of Peter about responding to mistreatment with good deeds as a testimony that Jesus is real and worthy of worship.
In that larger section of responding to mistreatment, Peter is in a shorter section about submitting to authority. In other words, submitting to authority, even unrighteous authority, is one way a Christian does good and commends our faith to others.
When we get to the topic of submission to authority in our time and culture, there is no shortage of controversy.
A few weeks ago I spoke on submission to government. Next week will be submission in marriage, and here is the submission of servants to masters. Yet, if God’s word commands something, it’s still good for humans, so it’s still good for us to talk about it. So, let’s see what we can learn here:
Revelation
Household Servants (vv. 18 – 21)
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.
Like our last text in Peter, we hop right into difficulty in this first verse. Okay, what does this word “servants” mean? Roughly something along the line of a house servant or a slave.[1] It is not the same word as “slave”- there is another Greek word for that, but this word overlaps in definition in some way.
It should not be a lost on us that a major objection to Christianity is, “doesn’t the Bible condone slavery? How could that be?” So, before applying this verse to us, I want to give a few short responses to that point, so that there is no confusion of what I am talking about here. I want us to all be on the same page.
1. Christianity is the most anti-slavery religion of the major alternatives in the ancient world. This is why you see empires like Egypt and Babylon accumulate slaves while the founding story of Israel is a release from slavery by its God and its laws prescribe years of Jubilee that continue to release slaves perpetually.
2. Regulating slavery is not the same as condoning or promoting. There are rules for divorce in the Bible as well- this does not make the Bible pro-divorce. Rather, in the creation story, you see man and woman jointly ruling all of creation with all things (except other people!) under their feet. So, for slavery to even exist implies that something is wrong with the world and needs transformation.
3. The slavery mentioned in the Bible (and especially the NT) is not the same as was practiced in southern states in the United States. Slavery that depends on kidnapping is defined by Scripture as “manstealing” and is forbidden in both the OT and NT (Exo 21:13; 1 Tim 1:10). It doesn’t mean ancient world slavery was not brutal (because in many cases it was!), yet you can’t apply these verses to the version of slavery we saw in America since the Bible forbids that.
4. All these reasons make it good and proper that countries deeply influenced by Christianity (like our own) were the first to eradicate slavery, and to do what was before unheard of- fight a war not to acquire slaves, bur free them. The big story of the Bible and its value of human beings led to the cultural and political movements that put an end to slavery in the West. So, we don’t need to be embarrassed about our Bibles and what they say about slavery, since the Bible was the primary force that destroyed it.
With all of that said, let’s get back into our verse and see what God has to say to us. “Servants” (likely people who lived as members of the household and could buy their freedom), “be subject to your master.” Why does Peter mention this? Why is this important for a Christian?
His next phrase helps us understand. He says “with all respect.” The word “respect” is the same Greek word as “fear.” If you look at verse 17, Peter has just got done telling believers to “fear God.” So, when he says for servants to submit with all fear – this is again a call not to submit because a human is worthy of your submission but because God is.
This is the same argument Peter used in verse 13 when he said people should submit to their government “for the Lord’s sake” (v. 13), just now, Peter uses the language of “fear” which belongs to God (v. 17). Submission to authority is a way of honoring God’s authority since authority comes from God- he is its source. Even if an authority figure or structure is twisted, a general posture of submission honors God by acknowledging he is the ultimate one in authority. On the other hand, a general posture of rebellion comes from a heart that is set upon rebellion against God. Even when we have an unjust supervisor or boss over us, our submission to them shows honor to God since he ultimately places authority over us.
Now, Peter does not shy away from the obvious- although it’s good to submit to authority, sinful people often abuse authority, which is why he acknowledges masters who are “harsh.” When someone in authority over you is harsh, you are in a position of vulnerability, which means you will try to figure out how to respond to survive that situation.
This is essentially the focus of the rest of the passage, How do Christians respond when their masters, employers, or someone else mistreats them when they are living good, noble lives?
Peter calls for these Christians to “be subject” that is to submit. This means to adopt a demeanor that always shows honor and generally tries to obey (except when an authority commands something that God forbids or forbids something that God commands).
Okay, why show honor like this? Why try to do good?
19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.
The word “for” means “because” – this is the reason why servants submit to bad masters. Then, Peter writes that “this is a gracious thing.” Grace is a word that means a favorable attitude toward someone or something.[2] So, this kind of response to evil is something God heartily approves of!
How do you tend to respond when you get treated unjustly?
Why is Peter calling us to something so counterintuitive as this? Who goes through pain and thinks it a privilege? Someone who like Peter believes in the sermon on the mount when Jesus says “blessed are you when you are persecuted for righteousness sake” (Matt 5:10).
Notice that it calls us to endure sorrows “mindful of God.” This is not just pain of any kind that we endure and even embrace as Christians. It’s pain in the service of goodness, it’s suffering for something and someone that matters. When you are being mistreated for being a follower of Jesus, we are not supposed to think, “I like this,” but, “Jesus is worth it. He’s worthy. He will surely take care of me and reward me.”
To be clear, we might suffer from authority in our own culture for making virtuous choices.
If you act with integrity at your job even though you were pressured to do the opposite, and you act with integrity because of God, and you suffer from authority unrighteously, and you don’t retaliate, God is pleased by that. Be ready to lose your job before you would ever do something that would dishonor God. Being fired may feel like shame or dishonor outside of this community, yet here, those who lose their jobs for righteousness sake will be honored.
Now, Peter further explains:
20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.
Now, in this situation, the word “for” means “that,” in other words, verse 20 is explaining verse 19. Peter sets up two situations:
1. You do something evil and receive punishment for that. There is no honor in this.
2. In the path of following Jesus and doing good, you get called “evil,” and you endure. There is great honor in this before God.
For these household servants, maybe they stood up for others (or themselves) against mistreatment or insisted on integrity with money, and incurred their master’s mistreatment. And yet, in the face of that, they “endure,” and show what God is like.
As we keep moving through this passage, we learn that this example of servant/masters is showing us an example of a pattern.
The pattern is not (as we would expect): following Jesus à good deeds à honor/acceptance.
The pattern this shows us is rather, following Jesus à good deeds à dishonor/rejection à endurance à ultimate honor/vindication from God.
Why is there this assumption of hostility from unbelievers in Peter (and why are we experiencing increasingly in our own)? The reason behind it is that we don’t agree with their moral priorities and commitments. These things feel deeply personal and deeply significant (as do ours to us), and so when we come and disagree, we can feel like a threat.
The Roman historian Tacitus called Christians, “haters of the human race.” [3] Does that sound familiar to anyone? Even though Christians are fighting for the lives of others, their perception is that we are fighting against their lives, so they fight against us. Since we are fighting for our neighbors (and not against them) this leaves us only with the weapon of love to fight against their hate and discredit their wrong perception of us by being noble, honorable, merciful people.
To be clear, this does not imply that we cede theological or moral ground, it’s just that we stand where we do with wisdom and grace. The early Christians found themselves opposed to worshipping the Roman gods, and brought great suffering upon themselves as a result.
In our own time, we find ourselves contradicting the new sexual ethic of our time, and our disagreement is not tolerated culturally. Already, our brothers and sisters in Canada face imprisonment for insisting that God made marriage to be between a man and a woman and men as men and women as women. This is getting real.
So, I want to remind you, that if in the course of following Jesus and doing good, you refuse to affirm what God calls evil, you possibly insist on opposing it in a righteous way (that is, without sin), and you end up losing your job or going to jail, and all the world and social media calls you scum, if all of that happens, “it is a gracious thing in the sight of God.” I would rather you have his approval even if all the world rejects you.
The Suffering Servant (vv. 21 – 25)
What I just said is not an easy or simple version of Christianity. That was a strong word. And so you may ask, is this for me? Is this for all Christians? Maybe this is just for those household servants Peter was writing to. I want to direct your attention to the next verse,
21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
So, when it comes to the lifestyle of doing good and suffering, you are not invited to consider this, you are not encouraged to try it, Peter says, “to this you have been called!” As a Christian, you are not called to an easy thing, but you are called to a great thing. Have you thought of your life as having little meaning or purpose? Have you felt overlooked and that others stand forth while you fade into the background? You have been called to significance. You have been called to purpose. You have been called to the lifestyle of doing good and suffering that our Lord modeled for us.
Peter writes “because Christ also suffered for you,” this is the reason we have this call. And the result was that we would have an “example” to follow with the purpose that we each “might follow in his steps.”
The example we have from Jesus is unexpected. He didn’t try to protect himself from pain at all costs. He could endure it. People with low distress tolerance inflict pain on others. People with high distress tolerance absorb pain for others. To be clear- he absorbed pain from you, but did not inflict it back.
So, when we say our mission is to follow Jesus in everyday life and help all kinds of people do the same, one of the things we mean is that we try to grow in our ability to experience and absorb pain without inflicting it on others. This is one reason Christians can submit to unjust authority- because our greatest goal in life is not avoiding pain.
And this pattern of Jesus applies to so much more than submitting to earthly authorities. The journey Jesus has summoned you on with his example is that you obtain great things by moving through painful things. You believe the only way out is through. You don’t avoid suffering, you courageously pass through it.
Does this pattern not play out whenever you try to disciple someone? Are they not worth the effort, especially when there is repentance, change, and growth? Isn’t it unspeakable joy when you see a life change or someone you prayed and sacrificed for receive baptism? Yet, it’s never easy or pain free to arrive there! And the cost is worth it.
Just listen to this description of Jesus:
22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
What pattern are we seeing here in Jesus? He did not become evil to fight against evil. He did not use deceit or malicious speech to try to save his life. What was Jesus’s survival strategy? It was not to hold his life dear at any cost, but to “entrust himself to him who judges justly.”
Jesus was not apathetic towards wrong committed to him, he simply believed that there was a judge who is over it all, who is just. He believed this same judge would bring him through his suffering to the other side, which he did.
Did it look like Jesus’s way was a path to victory and life? Not by a long shot. But was it in the end? He’s alive and all his enemies who did not repent are long dead. In our own conflicts with authority figures or those mistreating us, one reason we don’t need retaliation to ensure our survival is because we have a just judge who will do far better than we ever could.
So great was Jesus’ trust in this just judge that he suffered even this death:
24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
Jesus was not passive against evil or the mistreatment he or other received. The verb here is active, “he bore sins!”, that is, he absorbed them. He brought all their curse upon himself to defeat the curse they brought to his people.
Where did Jesus “bear” our sins? No other place than “on a tree.” What that phrase should cue us into is that Jesus is fighting against the source of all evil at this point. Adam’s first disobedience was under a tree, Jesus great act of obedience to wipe out all sin was on a tree (as one of my professors pointed out).
Though we are evil, and though Jesus is committed to defeating evil, Jesus did not fight directly against us (or none of us would be here). He fought against the darkness that was within us and the darkness that is behind us (the snake) influencing us to do evil. If Jesus wanted just to fight against evil people, then he could have come with violence. Yet, if he wanted to fight against the evil of his people (something you can’t see, touch, or strike), he would have to be the one to die to rescue us from it.
And this is certainly what he set his heart upon! We can see it in the word “that,” introducing the purpose of his death, “…we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” Jesus’s death kills something inside of us, our allegiances to things that bring death. And it brings something to life in it’s place- righteousness- the new set of priorities we live for.
And then Peter writes the same thing with another image, “by his wounds you have been healed.” Jesus has wounds that heal other’s wounds. Because he absorbed pain and evil- he can heal yours.
This is the “example” Jesus left behind for us to follow in his footsteps. In what way do you need to respond to some mistreatment of offense against you like Jesus did? It’s not becoming passive and just letting it happen to you. But neither is it with verbal or physical aggression. It’s a response that targets the evil behind the action,
(1) By prayer against the evil act that was done to you and for the repentance of the person who harmed you.
(2) By persuasion through clearly naming the wrong that was done to you and asking for an apology.
(3) By boldly speaking the name of Jesus and how he tolerates no wrongdoing but offers a way of escape through repentance.
(4) By absorbing pain and wrongdoing by saying to someone “You hurt me when…” rather than “I hate you now…”
These are all figurative ways to die, since you must resist your impulses of fear and anger in the moment to respond to a threat- whether it be from a boss or authority figure or someone else.
25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
“Straying” means wondering without a shepherd (a Lord). It means living under the whims of your fear and anger, retaliating against others or running from them.
In Jesus, you have passed from a life of anger and fear being lord to Jesus- the overseer and shepherd of your soul- being lord.
Dallas Willard said that the greatest test of maturity in a Christian is spontaneous love for one’s enemy. One other thing we’ve also said is, what God has done to you, he wants to do through you. You know you’ve returned home, had your sins carried away, and follow in Jesus’s footsteps when you respond to mistreatment from an authority figure or others with love, when you do good but suffer harm, and endure.
As Christians, we don’t suppress our objection to evil and harm (even though we turn from rage and aggression towards others). We have patience because it was addressed two thousand years ago and will be fully addressed at the return of the king. Therefore, we respond in ways that show respect, honor, patience, and mercy even as we oppose wrongdoing with courage and strength.
Let’s pray.
[1] William Arndt et al., A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 694.
[2] Johannes P. Louw and Eugene Albert Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains (New York: United Bible Societies, 1996), 298.
[3] Augustus Hopkins Strong, Systematic Theology (Philadelphia: American Baptist Publication Society, 1907), 192.