God is looking out for us
My Grandpa was an international crown green bowler. You know, the game played by people in flat caps, with funny shaped balls, on beautifully manicured lawns. My Grandpa played for … Scotland. I remember a display cabinet sitting proudly in the corner of his lounge, bursting with cups, shields, and all manner of very shiny trophies. When he retired from bowling though, he became a scout for Scotland, and he’d travel the country watching and looking out for young bowlers with talent, watching and looking out for people who were good.
God is watching and looking out for people who are good too. Look at verse 12, “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous”. God is watching and looking out for those of us who are good. It’s probably not the sort of good you’re thinking of though. It’s different from the sport scout’s good. It’s not a ‘good deeds’ good. It’s not a ‘tidies up the bedroom’ good, and it’s certainly not an ‘empties the dishwasher without being asked to’ good. It’s an ‘in the heart’ good. God is watching and looking out for those of us who trust him, and are living a life that focuses on the joy of heaven as home, and not this earth – living a Christian life. God is watching and looking out for, looking after, Christians.
‘Live a Christian life’ because “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous”
If God’s eyes are on the righteous. If God is watching and looking out for the righteous, surely we need to be righteous? Surely we need to be living a Christian life? Surely we need be striving to be like Jesus? The only person who was absolutely and completely righteous; the only person who was absolutely and completely good.
Peter is writing to the Christians in Asia Minor. Their life on earth is horrible. Absolutely horrible. They’re being persistently picked on, persecuted. They’re probably thinking what’s the point in being righteous? Life to them feels as though it isn’t worth living. But it is. They’re going to be in heaven with Jesus. As the Bible puts it, a place where there’ll be no more death or mourning or crying or pain; a place where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. They’re going to be in paradise.
Peter encourages them by repeating the words of David from Psalm 34 verse 15 “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears towards their cry.” Peter tells them “The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous”, reminding them that God cares for those who trust him, and that their home is heaven, and not this earth.
It’s easy to think ‘what’s the point?’ when things aren’t going well. And it’s hard to keep going when life on this earth doesn’t feel like it’s getting any better.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel – life in heaven. And we can keep going when we know that pain and suffering will end. We can keep going when we know that there will be justice, when we know, verse 12, that “the face of the Lord is against those who do evil”. There’s light at the end of the tunnel.
PVRs – Personal Video Recorders – they’re brilliant, aren’t they? You can record any programme on any date, at any time, at the push of a button. And, you can pause live TV. How brilliant is that? You can pause a live football match whilst you pop to the loo, and simply carry on watching when you get back.
Quite often I go through pain and suffering when I watch Crystal Palace play football. Sometimes I think “what’s the point?” Wouldn’t it be brilliant if I could use a PVR to zip to the end of a live match and find out the result? But I can’t.
In 2005, Crystal Palace played Brighton. Brighton scored, then Crystal Palace scored. Brighton scored again, then Crystal Palace scored again. And in the fourth minute of injury time, the very, very last kick of the game, Crystal Palace scored again to win 3-2.
I could’ve endured the 93 minutes of heartache, pain and suffering, and embarrassingly rubbish play by Crystal Palace, if I’d known all along that they were going to win, if I’d seen that light at the end of the tunnel.
Well, as Christians, we’ve been zipped to the end, and we know the result. We know that we’ll be with Jesus in heaven, in paradise. We can see the light at the end of the tunnel, and we can and should live our lives knowing that we have life in heaven as home to look forward to. We should, as Peter wrote in verse 11, “seek peace and pursue it”.
So what are the benefits of struggling to be righteous? Because it is a struggle. If we’re honest, every day we do the worst thing possible, we forget about God.
Everyday things distract us – articles in newspapers, stuff on TV, and events on the street. We find ourselves absorbed in a book, in a hobby, and in conversation, and God gets forgotten.
Everyday things test us – suffering, injustice, misfortune, and God gets forgotten.
When Peter says “the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous”, he’s encouraging all the Christians in Asia Minor, and he goes on to say that God’s “ears are open to their prayer”.
We speak to God through our prayers, and he listens to us in our struggle to be righteous. God will listen to us if we’re trying to be righteous. God will listen to us if we’re living a life that focuses on the joy of heaven as home, if we’re living a Christian life.
And in verse 7, when Peter talks specifically to husbands, he tells them to be righteous “so that [their] prayers may not be hindered”. Verse 7, “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honour to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.”
“So that your prayers may not be hindered”. Being righteous means God will listen when we speak to him. God will listen when we pray. Being righteous makes our prayers more effective.
So in our struggle to be righteous, God will listen to us when we talk to him, and he’ll look out for us. And, he’ll bless us.
Look at verses 9 to 10. “Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. ‘For whoever desires to love life, and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.’”
We need to work on being righteous. It’s not easy. We need to struggle our way through distractions and discouragements, so that “[we] may obtain a blessing”, “love life”, and “see good days”.
God’s blessing doesn’t mean that life on this earth will be easy though. It doesn’t mean that we’ll win the lottery, or get promotion, or just get lovely weather tomorrow. And it doesn’t mean we won’t suffer. Like the Christians in Asia Minor, it doesn’t mean we won’t be picked on and persecuted.
It does mean, though, that we will get God’s grace – God’s free and undeserved favour. Grace that will strengthen us in our struggle to be righteous. Grace that will strengthen us through suffering and times of great need.
I am absolutely terrified of heights, and my daughter Kate is desperate is to ‘Go Ape’. What’s Go Ape? Well it’s a so-called tree-top adventure, with lots of precarious walkways and indescribable ‘climby’ high things that I just can’t bear thinking about. And you’ll never catch me going up there because I’m terrified of falling off. But, when you Go Ape, you get clipped into a harness. So, if you do fall off, you don’t go anywhere and you don’t get hurt. It’s still the same scary walkway. It’s still the same scary journey. But suddenly there’s no need to be worried, no need to be frightened, and you can carry on your journey to the end.
Having God’s blessing, God’s grace, is a bit like that. We don’t have to worry because we’re clipped into his harness, and if we fall we’re not going anywhere, we’re not going to hurt ourselves, and we can carry on our journey. It’s still the same tough, scary journey. But there’s no need to be worried, no need to be frightened, and we can carry on our journey to the end – living a life that focuses on the joy of heaven as home, living a Christian life.
And if we’re not righteous, if we’re not striving to be righteous, so what? Well, verse 12, “the face of the Lord is against those who do evil”. It’s better to have God with us than against us!
‘Live a Christian life’ because it brings others to God
So, living righteously, living a Christian life, means that God will be with us, not against us. He’ll look out for us, listen to us, and bless us. There’s another big benefit though. Living a Christian life brings others to God.
Back in chapter 2 verse 12, Peter says to Christians in Asia Minor “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honourable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation”. He’s referring to Matthew chapter 5 verse 6 when Jesus says to the disciples, “let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven”.
And, in our passage, Peter goes on to talk specifically to wives, saying that unbelieving husbands, chapter 3 verses 1 to 2, “may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct”
He tells husbands, in verse 7, “live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honour to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life”. Woman may be built differently from men. They may be physically not as strong. But God is looking out for, listening to, and blessing, all of us (men and women) who are living a Christian life, a life that focuses on the joy of heaven as home.
Then he speaks to the others, verses 8 to 9, “Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless”.
All of this behaviour, this conduct, will bring others to God. We all need to live godly lives, and tackle the struggle to be righteous, even though we’ll be criticised by people who don’t believe the gospel, even though we may be picked on and persecuted. But some of those unbelievers will repent and believe when they see the way we live, when they see our fight to be righteous.
I remember being shown round by some Year 6 children when we were looking for a school for my daughter Kate. We were escorted by a boy and a girl. They were well-spoken, beautifully behaved, and full of joy for the school-life they were living. Their behaviour and conduct won me over, and I wanted a Kate like them.
Our behaviour and conduct can win others over too. When some of them see us in our hearts, craving for heaven as home and not this earth, when they see that we can carry on no matter what, they will want to share the joy of having heaven as home and not this earth too.
We don’t bring people to God by trying to make an impression though. We don’t bring people to God because we’re seen raising money for charity. We don’t bring people to God because we’re heard speaking politely without bad language, and we don’t bring people to God because we speak about the Bible. We can do all of these things without knowing Jesus. We can do all of these things with our hearts fixed on something other than the joy of heaven as home.
It’s not about what people see on the outside, it’s about what’s going on in the inside. It’s about what’s in our hearts.
To bring unbelieving husbands to God, Peter says to wives in verses 3 to 4, “Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewellery, or the clothing you wear – but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
Peter is talking specifically to wives, but what he says is applicable to anyone. He goes on to talk directly to husbands, and then to everyone. He’s not telling us today that we shouldn’t braid our hair, wear gold jewellery, and put on fancy clothing. He’s simply telling us that being righteous is really about what’s in our hearts, and not what people see externally. We should be living for God, and not for other people. If we’re serving at church, for example, we should be doing it quietly for God and not for earthly recognition from other people.
Jesus did nothing wrong. He committed no sin. He simply trusted in God. We can trust God too, because our wrongs have been dealt with through Jesus’ death on the cross (taking the punishment we deserve), and the wrongs of unbelievers will be dealt with justly by God on the day of judgement.
And, if in our hearts, we trust in God, other people will see our joy in having heaven as home, and will want to share that joy too.
Bringing others to God through our struggle to be righteous is not about wearing the badge, it’s about what’s in our hearts.
On that school open morning I mentioned earlier, all the Year 6 children had shiny enamelled colour badges on their lapels – showing prowess in football, netball, chess, orchestra, choir, and all manner of activities. And they were pretty proud of them. I was particularly drawn to a badge on one girl’s lapel – it read ‘drumming’. I was impressed, and said to the girl that I didn’t realise the school awarded colours for drumming. Whereupon she confessed that the school didn’t, and her mum had simply bought her the badge to wear for her next school interview.
So I was impressed for a little bit, and then less impressed when I realised that the girl was trying to impress outwardly and not inwardly.
Bringing others to God through our struggle to be righteous is not about wearing the badge, it’s about what’s in our hearts.
So how do we ‘do’ righteous? What’s involved in being righteous? Well Peter lists all sorts of things. For wives to husbands, be respectful and pure, and have a heart with a gentle and quiet spirit. For husbands to wives, be understanding and show honour.
And for everyone, verse 8, “have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless”.
Peter’s asking us to be in unity of mind with other Christians. To be in agreement on how to live a Christian life. He’s asking us to be sympathetic with other Christians, to feel what others feel. He’s asking us to be brotherly, and not to view each other as strangers. He’s asking us to have a tender heart, to be kind-hearted, to feel generous. And he’s asking us to be humble and feel that we are utterly dependent on God for everything.
All of these things are descriptions of what we should be like on the inside. They’re how we do an ‘in the heart’ good.
If we’re honest, we might be thinking that we’re not really like that, and it’s a struggle to be something that we’re really not.
But, if we’re doing everything in our life for God and we’re humble enough to know that we’re dependent on God for everything, then the seeds of all these things are in us, and they’ll flourish if we continue trusting in God and living a life that focuses on the joy of heaven as home – living a Christian life.
So, when ‘doing’ righteous, don’t worry about what’s on the outside. Don’t’ do stuff for reward or recognition. Don’t do stuff because you’re feeling pressured. Just make sure that inside you’re simply doing it for God.
When I shop, I always rummage through the magazines and newspapers to find the one that’s not creased. I always pick the chocolate bar that isn’t squashed, and I always buy the toy that’s in the box that isn’t crumpled. Why? The contents are the same. What’s inside is perfect, but by nature I find it hard not to focus on the outside.
I did a day once, working for a charity in Bermondsey called Fairshare. They basically take reject food and products from companies and redistribute them to the needy. For example, at the end of the day, they collect all the unsold sandwiches from Pret a Manger and deliver them to shelters and hostels for the homeless.
Well, when I was there, a lorry load of chocolate boxes turned up from Marks and Spencer. They’d been incorrectly packaged, and it would’ve cost too much for Marks and Spencer to repackage them, so they gave them to Fairshare. Of course, the contents were perfect, but the packaging, the outside, meant they were rejected by Marks and Spencer.
We might well be picked on and persecuted because of our external packaging, because of what we do. But if we’re ‘doing’ righteous with an ‘in the heart’ good, focussing on the joy of heaven as home, it doesn’t matter.
The next time you’re listening with a sympathetic ear to another Christian, don’t just look as though you’re listening, really listen. Is there a Christian in your church you don’t really know? Well go and talk to them, get to know them. Be generous to other Christians. Offer your house, your money, your time. Remember that everything we have comes from God, and we are utterly dependent on God for everything.
Peter’s verses 3 to 4 were aimed at wives for husbands, but they could equally apply to all of us for God: “Let [our] adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.”
‘Live a Christian life’ because heaven is home and this world is not
Peter is writing to the Christians in Asia Minor because their life on earth is horrible. Absolutely horrible.
For women though, life on earth was even worse. Unmarried women couldn’t leave their father’s home without permission, and married women couldn’t leave their husband’s home without permission.
Women could only do roles with little or no authority. They couldn’t testify in court. They couldn’t appear in public venues. They were not allowed to talk to strangers, and they had to be doubly-veiled when they left their homes.
One husband beat his wife to death when he found her drinking wine. A husband divorced his wife because she went into the street without a veil. One wife was divorced because her husband saw her speaking to a freed woman in public, and another because she went to the public games.
A book on morals around that time, suggested “A wife should not acquire her own friends, but should make her husband’s friends her own. The gods are the first and most significant friends. For this reason, it is proper for a wife to recognise only those gods whom her husband worships.”
It wasn’t a good time to be a woman, let alone a wife. And being a Christian wife married to an unbelieving husband was unthinkable.
No wonder Peter spent six verses talking directly to wives of unbelieving husbands.
Let’s read those six verses, verses 1 to 6 – “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external – the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewellery, or the clothing you wear – but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.”
It wasn’t a good time to be a woman, let alone a wife. And being a Christian wife married to an unbelieving husband was unthinkable.
But, note what Peter doesn’t tell the wives to do. He doesn’t tell them to leave their husbands. He doesn’t tell them to preach or argue. He doesn’t tell them to insist that slaves and freemen, gentiles and Jews, and males and females are all the same in the eyes of God.
What does Peter do? He simply tells them to be good wives. Through what must be a really hard earthly journey, Peter simply tells them to be good wives. And what keeps them going, what keeps them doing this? The joy of heaven as home and not this earth.
First shown in September 2014, the trailer for Channel 5’s ‘World’s Worst Journeys’ goes “These are ordinary people … pushed to the limit … in extraordinary situations … staring death in the face … in a fight for survival …shocking stories from around the globe … this is ‘World’s Worst Journeys’. It’s a moving programme that covers extraordinary events in people’s journeys – disasters at sea, on the road, and even in a cable car – but all the people survive. And it’s family and home that keep them going.
We might think our earthly journey is bad, but watch that programme and you might think otherwise.
What keeps us going? What kept the wives of unbelieving husbands going? What keeps Christians going? Well we have a family and home to keep us going too. A family and home that’s better than anything on this earth – God and Jesus in heaven.
If you’re here today to check out Christianity, welcome. It’s great to have you here. Do think about how Christians behave. What drives them towards righteousness? Why do they behave the way they do?
On June 15 this year, Dylann Roof shot and killed nine people during a prayer meeting in South Carolina.
Christian families of the victims confronted the man at a hearing and offered forgiveness. One of them said “I will never be able to hold her again, but I forgive you”.
When we suffer injustice, our hearts crave revenge, vindication and retaliation. But as Peter tells us in verse 9, we should “not repay evil for evil”.
And we do all these things in our fight for righteousness, we life a Christian life, because heaven is our home, and this world is not.
Let’s pray …
Heavenly Father, thank you for keeping your eyes on us, and thank you for listening to us.
Help us to remember, always, that our real home is in heaven with you, and not here on earth.
Help us fight to be righteous, and in doing so, bring others to you.
In your name, Amen.
