" Finally all of you live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing" 1st Peter 3:8-9
Introduction: In a Peanuts cartoon Lucy demanded that Linus change TV channels, threatening him with her fist if he didn't. "What makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?" asks Linus. "These five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they're nothing but when I curl them together like this into a single fist they form a weapon that is terrible to behold." "Which channel do you want?" asks Linus. Turning away, he looks at his fingers and says, "Why can't you guys get organized like that?
"There are two ways of being united -- one is by being frozen together, and the other is by being melted together. What Christians need is to be united in brotherly love, and then they may expect to have power. Moody's Anecdotes, Page 53
Transition: Someone well said, "whenever you sling mud, you lose ground" You not only lose ground when you sling mud i.e. insult others, and fail to live in harmony and love as Christ loved, but as we will learn today you miss the favor and blessing of God!
" Finally all of you live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing" 1st Peter 3:8-9 God desires his people too:
1. "Live in harmony with others"
2. "Be a family"
3. "Be a blessing and too inherit a blessing"
I. Live in harmony with others:
" Finally all of you live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers be compassionate and humble. Peter makes a sweeping challenge to the people of God, it is an all-inclusive call to "living out" what we are so quick to affirm with our lips! To be alive is a gift of God, to live for God is a choice that we make each day and in every moment that comprises that day. Peter declares that living in harmony, is really living! It’s living with the blessing of God on our lives, it’s living that’s refreshing! Are you a refresher?
Who can begin to calculate what encouragement can do to lift a hurting or fearful heart? People, who live in harmony, are refreshers! Encouragers! They understand that harmony by definition: Means agreement, a pleasing interaction! When people in the course of life bump into you, is there a pleasing interaction?
I am reminded of a friend of the apostle Paul, a man by the name of Onesiphorous, who searched hard for the apostle in spite of harsh prison conditions until he found him. Paul spoke of his friend this way in 2 Timothy 1:16-17
" May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorous, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains. On the contrary when he was in Rome he searched hard for me until he found me"
Friends I want to say to you that you can’t live in harmony with one another and not be a refresher! And you can’t be a refresher when you’re not living in harmony! Peter asks you a question that stretches across the centuries are you living in harmony? " Finally all of you live in harmony with one another. "Sharing the same thoughts and attitudes without being clones. We must take "others into consideration when making decisions. And in an age of selfish individualism we are to avoid slipping into a survival of the fittest mentality in the Church. * Andrew Whitman free to hope Pg 119. Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God
II. Be a family:
There’s more to living in harmony notice were to be sympathetic, love, as brothers be compassionate and humble. In essence were to be a family and act like a family! The Apostle Paul in Romans 12: 15: In harmony with Peter, writes: Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn" There is an expectation that comes with knowing God, its caring for others! Caring for others! May almighty God so shape and mold this congregation into the image of his son that when one of us cries we all taste salt! Being sympathetic is feeling what someone else feels, it’s an identification that goes well beyond the surface relationships that too often characterize our Christian lives! One of life's major mistakes is being the last member in the family to come down with the flu -- after all the sympathy has run out. *Bill Vaughan, NANA.
The challenge before us is to be sympathetic anyway! To really care, to risk being vulnerable to be authentic! People of God are to live in harmony, being sympathetic and loving, as brothers being compassionate and humble. We are: to love as brothers… you say explain that! Memories of sibling rivalry are what you’re thinking about when you hear the phrase Love as brothers! I was and am the oldest brother, I remember clearly my little brother wanting to hang around me go places with me Etc. What bothered me the most…is he always wanted to wear my socks! Now that may seem like a trivial offense, but remember I grew up in the 60s-70’s when bright colored knee high tube socks were the rage! I remember waiting for him after school making him hike his pant leg where to often his thievery was apparent! I would go after him, and he would run and run until dad or mom would say, "Mark he just wants to be like you" yuck!! I have grown up now, and the challenge to "Love as brothers" isn’t nearly as troubling! To love as brothers is to: Have such a sensitivity to others feelings and thoughts that it becomes a family characteristic! Now we all know that families sometimes don’t get along. Even in the Church family disagreements happen from time to time, but I firmly believe that we can disagree and not be disagreeable! In a healthy family problems are dealt with graciously, so it must be for the church. Be sympathetic; love, as brothers be compassionate and humble.
Pastor Andrew Whitman in his book Free to hope Pg 120 wrote: "Compassion is vital for Christians attempting to minister to fellow Christians who are experiencing difficulties. He goes on to say that compassion can be described this way: "Everything within me went out to him/her" This quality he concludes is particularly important in a society where we are so bombarded with needs that we can become cold and unfeeling and where so many people feel alienated and lonely."
Be sympathetic; love, as brothers be compassionate and humble. What does it mean to be humble? It’s a realization that all I am is found in all of Christ! It’s seeing ourselves as dependent on him, realizing that without his sustaining our lives with oxygen and health and income and other provisions we wouldn’t last a second! You can be sure Pastors need to learn and live the reality of humility!
Did you hear about the minister who said he had a wonderful sermon on humility but was waiting for a large crowd before preaching it?
A truly humble man is hard to find, yet God delights to honor such selfless people. Booker T. Washington, the renowned black educator, was an outstanding example of this truth. he was stopped by a wealthy white woman. Not knowing the famous Mr. Washington by sight, she asked if he would like to earn a few dollars by chopping wood for her. Because he had no pressing business at the moment, Professor Washington smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and proceeded to do the humble chore she had requested. When he was finished, he carried the logs into the house and stacked them by the fireplace. A little girl recognized him and later revealed his identity to the lady. The next morning the embarrassed woman went to see Mr. Washington in his office at the Institute and apologized profusely. "It's perfectly all right, Madam," he replied. "Occasionally I enjoy a little manual labor. Besides, it's always a delight to do something for a friend." She shook his hand warmly and assured him that his meek and gracious attitude had endeared him and his work to her heart. Not long afterward she showed her admiration by persuading some wealthy acquaintances to join her in donating thousands of dollars to the Tuskegee Institute. That’s humility! We must act like family by: "living in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, loving as brothers being compassionate and humble" Notice God’s word teaches that a blessing comes to those who make living for Christ their goal!
III. Be a blessing to inherit a blessing:
" Finally all of you live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing" 1st Peter 3:8-9 This has to be one of the hardest of Christian disciplines! To not retaliate when falsely accused or harassed! Peter that man of the sea who had lived his early years in the sun and the wind of his trade, must have struggled with this himself. In fact we know he did. It was Peter who during the arrest of Jesus in the Garden cut off a mans ear! Yet it’s this same Peter who has learned that God’s people must not: repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing" "To respond to insults with a blessing dies not mean responding with a pious God Bless you. It actually means offering the Gospel with its promised blessings, to those currently eaten up with bitterness towards us. The crucial test is this: Will the situation control me, dragging me into getting even"? Or will I let Jesus be in control of it giving blessing in return? Don’t let evil set the agenda!"* *Andrew Whitman free to hope Pg 120 What is the result of responding to attack this way? "Because to this you were* called so that you may inherit a blessing" The apostle Peter must have been thinking of Psalms 34: 12-14 " Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it: Would you live a blessed life? Then accept the conditions that God requires: God’s blessings are for those who are willing to obey God in lip and life! God’s people in their hearts know " That whenever you sling mud, you lose ground"
" Finally all of you live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing" 1st Peter 3:8-9
Appeal: 1. Are you living in harmony with your Christian brothers and sisters?
2. Are you sympathetic? Do you really care what happens in the lives
of others? Do you love as brothers? Are you compassionate…. humble?
3. How do you react to criticism? Do you bless others with your kind
and pleasant attitude? Are you experiencing the blessings of God?
