Living So All Will Know
Text: 1 Peter 2:13-17
Introduction
1. Illustration: Five year old Brian was impressed by the story of Simeon the Stylite, a Syrian hermit who lived in the 5th century. This man was admired as a saint because he lived for more than 35 years on a platform atop a high pillar. Determined to follow Simeon’s example, Brian put the kitchen stool on the table and started his perilous climb. When his mother heard some strange sounds in the kitchen, she came in, and shouted, "Brian! Get down before you break your neck!" As the youngster obeyed, he muttered, "You can’t even become a saint in your own house."
2. Jesus said...
a. Matthew 5:16 (NIV)
In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
b. This is the duty of every Christian; to be a living example of the Gospel to everyone we meet.
c. As Francis of Assisi said, "Go out today and preach the Gospel, and if you must use words."
3. Today we are going to examine two responsibilities we have as Christians...
a. Being Good Citizens
b. Being Good Neighbors
4. Let's stand together as we read 1 Peter 2:13-17
Proposition: As Christians we are called to be living witness.
Transition: First, let us examine...
I. Being Good Citizens (13-14).
A. To Every Authority
1. One of the great things about true Biblical preaching is that it exposes us to portions of Scripture that we find uncomfortable. This is one of those instances.
a. It is not very popular in the church or in social media to teach about submitting to the authorities.
b. Whether we like or agree with those in power in our government is irrelevant; what matters is what does God's word tell us to do?
2. Peter tells us, "Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority,"
a. The word "submit" is a compound verb from the Greek words hypo (meaning "under") and tasso (meaning "to order, place, appoint").
b. While it is often inaccurate to determine meaning from the roots of a word, the roots here do give an adequate determination of the meaning of the verb: "to order oneself under, or according to, a given relationship," or "to live according to the governmental order."
c. Peter was speaking of Emperor Nero, a notoriously cruel tyrant who ruled from a.d. 54–68. The emperor was the supreme ruler over all Roman provinces—including the areas to which Peter addressed this letter.
d. The emperor Nero was considered the supreme authority by his subjects, even worshiped by them.
e. The Christians should never worship the emperor, but they should obey his laws because he was an authority put in place by God (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 1111).
f. Clearly here the notion of "submitting" to the government is secondary to obeying God and to doing his will, because this group of subjects (the church) is "free."
g. That is, even though the Christians are "aliens and strangers," they are to live in the order that God has ordained.
h. Furthermore, for Peter and the entire church, "submit" does not imply total obedience, for the Israelites and the early Christians participated in civil disobedience when the demands of society overrode the demands of the Lord.
i. Peter exhorts the believers to live in submission "to every authority instituted among men."
j. His exhortation, then, is that Christians, in spite of their relative freedom, are nevertheless to live according to every sort of governmental order. The alternative is chaos.
k. Christians are not to submit to the governmental authorities because of the native authority of government or because governmental officials are particularly charismatic. Rather, they are to submit "for the Lord's sake" (McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – 1 Peter, 143-145).
3. Peter goes on to say, "or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right."
a. The local governor is one who has been "sent by him [the emperor] to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right."
b. That is, the local governor has derived authority and exercises it in a moral direction.
c. Governors had more responsibilities than these two concerns (obviously), but Peter's concern is with the need for Christians to be good people so that the judicial arm of the governor is not raised over the churches.
d. They must remember not only that their governor has authority to punish, but also that he can honor them for their good deeds.
e. Thus, "What starts off, then, as apparently a lesson in political passivity culminates in an injunction to take an active role in society" (McKnight, 146).
f. Today, one-third of all Christians live in freedom while the other two-thirds live under repressive governments.
g. Scripture does not recommend one form of government over another. Rather, it simply asks Christians to accept the government under whose authority they find themselves and to cooperate with the rulers as far as the Holy Spirit-directed conscience will allow.
h. Believers must do this “for the Lord’s sake”—so that his Good News and his people will be respected (Barton , 1112).
B. As Unto The Lord
1. Illustration: The captain of the ship looked into the dark night and saw faint lights in the distance. Immediately he told his signalman to send a message" "Alter your course 10 degrees south." Promptly a return message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north." The captain was angered; his command had been ignored. So he sent a second message: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am the captain!" Soon another message was received: "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am seaman third class Jones." Immediately the captain sent a third message, knowing the fear it would evoke: "Alter your course 10 degrees south--I am a battleship." Then the reply came "Alter your course 10 degrees north--I am a lighthouse. "In the midst of our dark and foggy times, all sorts of voices are shouting orders into the night, telling us what to do, how to adjust our lives. Out of the darkness, one voice signals something quite opposite to the rest--something almost absurd. But the voice happens to be the Light of the World, and we ignore it at our peril.
2. In submitting to the authorities we are submitting to the Lord.
a. Colossians 3:17 (NIV)
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
b. That doesn't mean that when the government tells us to do something wrong we do it.
c. That doesn't mean that when we see the government doing evil we turn and look the other way.
d. That doesn't mean that if we disagree with the government on one issue that we are can just do whatever we want to do.
e. However, it does mean that we live within the law.
f. It does mean that we do all within our power to live as positive examples.
g. It does mean that if we see something wrong we work within the system to change it.
h. It means doing what is right because it is right.
Transition: Peter also talks about the responsibility of...
II. Being Good Neighbors (15-17).
A. It Is God's Will
1. Not only do we have a responsibility to live out the Gospel in front of the society as a whole, but more importantly, to those with whom we have direct contact.
2. Peter says, "For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men."
a. The opening word, "For," introduces an explanation of 2:14: "for, as for this doing good business, it is God's will that in doing good…"
b. Furthermore, their good behavior "should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men" in that it will both demonstrate in their eyes the good behavior of this socially excluded group and thereby prevent the development of persecution.
c. The word silence is more literally “to muzzle”—in other words, to shut them up.
d. These unbelievers should finally have to admit that they could hold nothing against Christians except their faith (Barton, 1112).
e. In addition, their behavior will provide God with an objective measure for assessing them at the final judgment.
f. While it is naive to think that Christians will always be saved from social pressure or outright persecution just because they live holy lives, it is not naive to think that such behavior will sometimes have the desired affect on their opponents so that they will back off their foolish accusations and baseless persecutions (McKnight, 146-147).
3. In addition Peter says, "Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God."
a. Christians live under the governing order as free people, not as its slaves, for they are slaves of God, not Caesar.
b. But they are not to use this freedom from human authorities as an excuse for living in chaos and insubordination.
c. That kind of life will only hurt the church and will give ample justification to the persecuting powers that now threaten them.
d. What we must realize is that it was this passionate temptation to break free from the governing authorities that forced Peter to make these remarks.
e. The key here is the Christian perception that those who were followers of Jesus Christ were, like their master, independent of and free from the ruling governmental powers.
f. But that freedom and liberty were not to be used negatively, either to create political chaos or moral irresponsibility (McKnight, 147-148).
4. Peter then concludes this section with a short but power statement. He says, "Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."
a. These four short sentences summarize how believers can live peacefully in the world.
b. First, show respect for everyone.
c. The word “respect” means to honor, value, or esteem.
d. Believers should be especially conscious that God made all people in his image, whether or not they believe in Christ.
e. While believers are to “respect” everyone, they have an extra obligation to their Christian brothers and sisters.
f. They are called to love them. The word for “love” is agapao, referring to volitional, self-sacrificial love.
g. The believers of Peter’s day needed to stand together as a unified force against coming persecution. They needed to maintain the bond of love.
h. To fear God means to show deep respect, reverence, and awe.
i. While believers are to respect and love God as well, they are also to fear him. Proper fear leads to obedience.
j. They should show respect for the king, but they should “fear” God.
k. When we honor the king, we should give the government its rights, what it owns, what it controls; but we may not give to the government those rights that belong to God alone (Barton , 1112).
B. If You Have To...Use Words
1. Illustration: Earlier I used a famous quote from Francis of Assisi. There is a story of his life that shows how he lived out those power words. He went into a village and before stepping out into ministry he went to the local Bishop and asked for his permission to preach in that town. The Bishop responded with a sharp, "No!" Instead of being angry with the Bishop, Francis hung around town and begant to love people and serve them. After this went on for a while, the Bishop came to Francis and said, "Ok, you can preach here!"
2. The world will see Jesus in us both in what we say and in what we do.
a. John 13:35 (NIV)
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
b. Sometimes we have to earn the right to preach the Gospel.
c. Sometimes we have to earn people's trust before they will hear what we are saying.
d. Sometimes we have to show them Jesus; not in a Bible verse but in our daily lives.
e. What we need to do is stop trying to scare the hell out of people, and start loving the hell out of people.
Transition: Let's show people Jesus by living the Gospel message in front of them.
Conclusion
1. Today we examined two responsibilities we have as Christians...
a. Being Good Citizens
b. Being Good Neighbors
2. "Go out today and preach the Gospel, and if you must use words."
