Living With A Difficult Boss
Text: 1 Peter 2:18-25
Introduction
1. Illustration: Rick Warren ("Purpose Driven") accurately observes: "We can measure our servant’s heart by how we respond when others treat us like servants. How do you react when you’re taken for granted, bossed around, treated as an inferior…?
2. Most of us have probably had the experience of a difficult boss of supervisor at work. Someone that no matter what you do insists on making your life difficult or simply treats you unfairly because they know you are a Christian and they want to get under your skin to see how you will react.
3. We might even think that we are with in our rights to retaliate against these kind of people, but the Gospel calls us to a higher standard.
4. Today, Peter puts before us...
a. An Expectation
b. An Implication
c. An Illustration
5. Let's stand together as we read 1 Peter 2:18-25
Proposition: We are to live out the Gospel even with people who make it difficult.
Transition: Let's first look at...
I. The Expectation (18).
A. Accept Authority
1. This Scripture can be one of those that on certain days we just assumed rip it out of our Bibles and turn the page...next!
a. It's kind of like the guy that I used to know that whenever I was having a bad day, he would give me this stupid grin and say, "Count it all joy Bro!"
b. There are some days you just don't want to hear it, but that is the time you need to hear it the most.
2. Peter begins by saying, "You who are slaves must accept the authority of your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel."
a. It goes without saying that it is easy to work for masters who are kind, easy to get along with, and generous; but it is hard to have the same disposition to those who are nasty, quick tempered, and temperamental.
b. Yet, Peter insists, Christian slaves should be obedient to all masters, regardless of their personal characteristics.
c. Here he specifically addressed Christians who were slaves in pagan homes.
d. The Greek word means a household servant. Peter called these servants to accept the authority of their masters, meaning that they should cooperate, be loyal, and willingly obey (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 1112).
3. You might be asking, "But Pastor, what's that got to do with us? I mean slavery has been illegal here for over 150 years! In order to understand this we have to have a basic understanding of slavery in Peter's day.
4. The New World slavery that was institutionalized in the United States, especially known to the American public through the TV series Roots, differed dramatically from first-century slavery.
a. Slavery was a diverse institution in the ancient world, altering itself from one culture to another.
b. Yet the Roman and Greek worlds anchored their entire economic system in this institution.
c. Some have estimated that one-third of the population in urban areas was slave population.
d. In both worlds, especially the Roman world (which is our interest for 1 Peter), slavery was not usually a permanent condition of life.
e. Rather, it was a temporary condition on the path toward freedom.
f. Many ancient people voluntarily chose to be slaves of a Roman citizen so that, upon being granted freedom from slavery as a result either of good behavior or adequate savings, they could become full Roman citizens.
g. In fact, it is entirely possible that one reason Peter (and Paul) urged Christian slaves to be submissive and obedient was that by living obediently, they could be set free.
h. To be a slave was not to be assigned to a specific, especially low-class, station in life. Slaves had the status and power that was connected with their masters; if their master was powerful, they indirectly inherited that power too.
i. Thus, it was desirable at times to be a slave. While most slaves of the New Testament documents were born that way (because their mothers were slaves), many chose slavery over the vagabond existence of finding odd jobs.
5. Peter's exhortation to live under the order as slaves emerges, then, from this economic context. So if you put this in a modern context, what Peter is saying is "submit to the authority of your boss."
a. He reminds them that they are to do this "with all respect," or "with deep respect." He insists that they are to show the same "deep respect" even to "those who are harsh."
b. Peter wants the Christian slave community to manifest a kind of behavior that transcends the norm of society and demonstrates its supernatural origins.
c. In so doing, the economy will not be threatened, and the Christians will be seen favorably (McKnight, The NIV Application Commentary – 1 Peter, 165).
d. Yeah, but, what if my boss is a jerk? You are not responsible for what they do; you are responsible for what you do!
e. By submitting to their authority, being a hard worker, showing up on time, and doing what is expected of you, you will earn their respect.
B. Earning Respect
1. Illustration: "If your actions do not prove the truth of your words, then your words are no more than lies."
2. Earn the respect of others and you increase the chances of winning their souls.
a. 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 (NLT)
Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. 12 Then people who are not Christians will respect the way you live, and you will not need to depend on others.
b. There are going to be difficult people in your life; get over it.
c. However, being difficult to difficult people only makes them more difficult and you a hypocrite.
d. Once you lose their respect you may never get it back.
e. However, living the truth by your actions means more than anything you could say.
f. Actions speak louder than words.
Transition: Next is...
II. The Implication (19-20).
A. God Is Pleased With You
1. So what is the implication of submitting to those in authority over you, even if they treat you poorly?
2. Peter makes this very plain when he says, "For God is pleased with you when you do what you know is right and patiently endure unfair treatment. 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you."
a. "For God is pleased with you" translates an expression that describes whether or not one pleases someone. In this case, it concerns pleasing God.
b. The same expression stands at the beginning and end of these two verses, forming what is called an "inclusio"—a literary device that ties a section together and is used to give emphasis to this expression.
c. What pleases God—if one is going to suffer—is suffering for doing good; God is displeased when his people suffer because they have acted in some rebellious or sinful manner.
d. It is of God, Peter argues, for his people to endure suffering in spite of, or even because of, doing good.
e. Thus, Christian slaves are to submit to their masters as part of their holy conduct (2:11-12).
f. If they suffer in a submissive condition, then it is God's will for them to experience the suffering; if they suffer for insubordination, then they are acting outside of God's will for his people (McKnight, 166).
3. While bearing the pain of unjust suffering is commendable before God, there is no special commendation for patiently bearing punishment that is deserved.
a. The word for beaten means to strike with one’s fist.
b. Christian slaves who patiently endured suffering when they had done nothing to deserve it would please God.
c. However, if they suffered for doing wrong, then they would get no credit (Barton , 1113).
B. It Is God's Will
1. Illustration: Addressing a national seminar of Southern Baptist leaders, George Gallup said, "We find there is very little difference in ethical behavior between churchgoers and those who are not active religiously...The levels of lying, cheating, and stealing are remarkable similar in both groups. Eight out of ten Americans consider themselves Christians, Gallup said, yet only about half of them could identify the person who gave the Sermon on the Mount, and fewer still could recall five of the Ten Commandments. Only two in ten said they would be willing to suffer for their faith (Erwin Lutzer, Pastor to Pastor, 76).
2. When you suffer at the hands of another ask yourself "Why?"
a. Luke 6:32-33 (NLT)
“If you love only those who love you, why should you get credit for that? Even sinners love those who love them! 33 And if you do good only to those who do good to you, why should you get credit? Even sinners do that much!
b. When people, maybe even a boss, mistreat you is it because you did something right, or because you did something wrong?
c. If it is because you did something right, and you can stand before God knowing you are in the right, God will be pleased with you.
d. However, if you are being mistreated because you did something wrong, you are getting what your actions deserve.
e. It is a sad state of affairs when people cannot distinguish between the ethics of follower of Jesus and those who do not follow him.
f. So ask yourselves, am I being mistreated, or am I getting what I deserve?
g. If you are being mistreated, rejoice that you are considered worthy to suffer for His name sake!
Transaction: Then Peter gives us...
III. The Illustration (21-25).
A. He Is Your Example
1. It has been said that a picture is worth a thousand words. So Peter paints us a picture.
2. He says, "For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps."
a. Peter's insight here is immensely important, though it was not easy for Peter himself to grasp this idea.
b. We should pause here to reflect on Peter's own experience with the cross of Jesus.
c. The first time he heard of the cross he met it with a stiff rebuke; the second time, in the Passion week, he hid from Jesus.
d. Then a change occurred. His subsequent repentance and restoration led him to a complete about-face with respect to the cross, and he found it not only to be a healing instrument, but the paradigm for Christian existence.
e. Presumably that change occurred at Pentecost (Acts 2) with the Spirit's endowment in his life, completely reversing in his mind the significance of the cross.
f. What was formerly a stumbling block became the cornerstone of his theology (McKnight, 167).
3. Peter continues his illustration by saying, "He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. 23 He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly."
a. Here is an early Christian interpretation of Christ's life that is, at the same time, an exercise in the explanation of the essence of the Christian life.
b. This little section, in other words, is a glimpse into a Christian worldview of the first century—a world not at all like our world because of the predominance of suffering in the early church, but a worldview that retains its significance for Christian living (McKnight, 168).
c. The reason his suffering is such a noteworthy example for Peter's teaching is because of the condition of perfection that Jesus achieved.
d. That is, Jesus exemplified someone who suffered for doing good; he was perfect and yet suffered.
e. Thus, Christian slaves should take this example as a paradigm for their lifestyle.
f. They are to live holy lives and submit in obedience, even to petulant taskmasters; in so living they are following Jesus, who responded distinctively to opposition.
g. When he was slandered, he did not retaliate with sharp barbs, nor did he threaten those under whose hand he suffered; instead, he entrusted his case to the God who judges justly and waited for God's vindication.
h. The slaves, therefore, are also to respond kindly and not retaliate (McKnight, 168).
4. Then Peter continues with, "He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed."
a. Only Christ himself, the sinless Son of God, could bear our sins on the cross.
b. Christ took the death penalty for sin, dying in our place, so that we would not have to suffer the punishment that we deserve.
c. In a transaction we cannot comprehend, God placed the sins of the world on Jesus Christ, so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.
d. Because all our wrongdoing is forgiven, we are reconciled to God.
e. All who believe in Jesus Christ as Savior can have this new life and live in union with him. Our evil desires, our bondage to sin, and our love of sin died with Christ on the cross.
f. This is called substitutionary atonement. Jesus died as our substitute; his wounds have healed ours (Barton, 1113).
B. Following Christ
1. Illustration: A young boy looked up at his grandfather and wondered aloud, "Grandpa, how do you live for Jesus?" The respected grandfather stooped down and quietly told the boy, "Just watch." As the years went by the grandfather was an example to the boy of how to follow Jesus. He stayed rock-steady in living for Him. Yet the grandson often lived in a way that was not pleasing to God. One day the young man visited his grandfather for what both knew would be the last time. As the older man lay dying, his grandson leaned over the bed and heard his grandpa whisper, "Did you watch?" That was the turning point in the boy's life. He understood that when his grandpa had said, "Just watch," he meant, "Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ." He vowed that from then on he would live as his grandfather did - striving to please Jesus. He had watched, and now he knew how to live.
2. Everyday, in all circumstances, we need to follow the example of Christ.
a. Ephesians 5:2 (NLT)
Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
b. We have been given the ultimate example to follow.
c. Christ suffered for us, but he suffered for doing good.
d. He did everything that God expected of him.
e. He walked in obedience to the Father's will.
f. He faced persecution and ridicule like none of us will ever have to face.
g. Yet he submitted to it willingly because he knew it was God's will.
h. He did not retaliate; he did not speak evil; he continued to love even his persecutors.
Transition: Follow the example of Jesus!
Conclusion
1. Today, Peter puts before us...
a. An Expectation
b. An Implication
c. An Illustration
2. Are you struggling with an unfair boss?
3. Follow the example of Jesus!
