Sermon Tone Analysis

Those are some of my favorite scenes from that movie where Bruce Willis, in his hard-hearted personality, tells whiners to call the “wambulance.”

Do you ever feel like that?

I do sometimes.

I especially feel like that when I hear some of the criticism that the world has for the church today.

I feel that way when atheists or agnostics accuse Christianity of murdering people or starting wars in the name of religion.

Well, I’ll admit that while some misguided Christians have, in the name of Jesus, done unspeakable things, I think the atheists have a few misguided adherents of their own.

Can you say Stalin?

Can you say Hitler?

Can you say Chairman Mao?

When someone starts that noise about the bloody history of Christianity, I want to say, “Hey, just call the “wambulance.”

\\ But the siren of complaint continues.

They say that believers are unscientific and that we “stand in the way of progress.”

That just reflects their ignorance of the men of the reformation who spurred the progress of the Renaissance and whose scientific discoveries gave birth to the same scientific method we use today.

Can you say Francis Bacon?

Can you say John Kepler or Sir Isaac Newton or Blaise Pascal?

When I hear the modern scientist call the church regressive I laugh.

Listen its not the church which is endangering science, it is, in fact, postmodern relativism that is endangering the possibility of knowing any scientific truth.

So when they tell me that Christianity is dangerous, I just want to say, “Please!! Just call the “wambulance.”

\\ But the criticism continues, and I must say that while it is sometimes unwarranted and even diametrically opposed to the truth, many times it is not.

We have all been humiliated by the sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

We have all shuddered at the fall of famous protestant pastors and grieved at the constant stream of materialistic preachers who brag of their leer jets and their fat bank accounts balanced on the backs of the social security checks of the elderly.

No, quite honestly those critiques pierce our hearts and disquiet our souls, and saying “call the wambulance,” just won’t cut it.

\\ NEED

\\ Now, it’s tempting, I must say.

It is tempting to respond to the criticism of our faith in several inappropriate ways.

We’re tempted to defy our detractors.

We figure that if they declare war on us, we’ll declare war on them.

We decide to obey what the President said in the 08 presidential race.

We decide, “if they bring a knife to the fight we’ll bring a gun.”

We try to win a fleshly power struggle and it’s kind of light fighting a skunk.

Hey, even if you win, you lose!

The answer is not to defy our detractors.

That certainly will not win them to Christ!

\\ Neither is the answer to just defend our dogma.

That’s also the temptation.

We think we’ve got the best answers so we’re always doing more talking than listening.

Sure!

The philosophy of this world sorely lacks substance, but we cannot even love the person God has given us to reach until we hear them.

Our job is not to defend our dogma.

\\ Neither is the answer to disengage from the world.

That has been the strategy of many.

In fact, many, in the name of separation and holiness, have so shut themselves off from others that they are hopelessly isolated.

And how can we win them if we don’t even know them.

So if we are not to defy, defend nor disengage, what are we to do?

How can we answer them?

What is our rebuttal to a world highly skeptical of our faith in Christ?

How can we “silence the wambs?”

\\ BACKGROUND

\\ Well the first thing we need to understand is that we’re not the only ones to undergo ridicule or accusation.

Peter, the Apostle, wrote to a group of believers who were highly suspect.

If you were here last week, you’ll remember that Roman historians writing of Christians in that era suspected them of murder, cannabalism, and incest, considering their “superstitions” to be “strange.”

In fact, this book was probably written towards the beginning of the Emperor Nero’s reign, and it was Nero, you’ll remember, who set Rome ablaze and blamed it on the Christians.

I think these believers could relate to our dilemma.

\\ That’s why I love our text this morning.

It really does speak to this issue of “silencing the ‘wambs.’”

Peter writes in 1 Peter 2:15: /For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men—/ That is the key verse of this paragraph.

God’s will is that we “silence the wambs.”

So how do we do it?

Well let’s read this whole paragraph and we’ll see how.

Look at v 13:

 

/Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.

15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people.

Love the brotherhood.

Fear God.

Honor the king./

\\ Two strategies for silencing Christianity’s critics arise from these verses.

In the first place, you can “silence the ‘wambs’” through

\\ DIV 1: A FEARLESS SUBMISSION

\\ EXP

\\ Peter fearlessly begins his command to us with the “s” word, although in this case, it may be nuanced a little differently than in other places.

You could say it like this, /Therefore defer to every ordinance of man.

/The term “every ordinance” at first glance implies a law or statute.

So some would interpret this to say that all believers should obey the law.

Actually, however, the focus is much more personal.

The word translated “ordinance” here is more correctly translated “creation” or “human creature.”

What Peter is saying is that the follower of Christ should defer to everyone generally, but especially to those who are in authority such as the King, who is supreme, or their appointed leaders such as governors.

Thus, believers are to be willing to defer to those in supreme authority because they are willing to defer to anyone.

\\ Of course, the obvious question becomes, “Why?”

Why should I defer to anyone else?

After all, I’m an American.

I have rights!

Why should I defer to others.

The reason is given in v 13.

It is /for the Lord’s sake/.

It is not that people such as rulers or masters have intrinsic authority.

They are no better than you or anyone else.

On the contrary, they are but creatures of God themselves.

But Jesus submitted Himself to us and allowed sinful man to take Him to the cross and Paul the Apostle calls on us to let His mind be in us.

We are willing to defer others because He deferred to us.

That’s the reason for this submission.

\\ But there’s also a realization you and I need to make about it.

Paul gives us that realization in v 16: /as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

/You see, before you can truly defer to others the way God wants you to, you’ve got to come to a realization: This deferment is /voluntary/.

That’s right!

You are truly free.

Redeemed by God and loosed from your bondage to sin you are able to obey.

You are no longer bound by the taskmaster of this world.

You are free.

Your King lives in Heaven!

His name is King Jesus and you are to worship no other.