What Freedom Motivates

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In just a moment, I’ll read 1 Peter 2:13-17. I’ve struggled with how to preach this passage all week long. And that was BEFORE the death of George Floyd and riots across all of the cities. That only compounded my difficulty in preaching. But before I explain that I want to first help us place this text.

Imagine you are living in Rome in the 50s. Not the 1950’s…the 50s. Nero—a power-hungry lunatic is in power. You aren’t pleased with his rule—but what can you do? He’s the emperor. He’s in charge. He calls the shots. He appoints governors over you. You don’t have much of a voice.

He was so power hungry that in 55 he had his stepbrother Britannicus killed off. In 59 he even had his own mother executed. In 62 his first wife was executed. And one of his former counselors, Seneca, was forced to kill himself.

In 64, July of that year, a bad fire broke out and burnt much of Rome. 10 of the 14 wards were destroyed. The city was in an uproar and panic had swept through Rome.

Some accused Nero of starting the fires. And it’s quite possible that he did. He wanted to be seen as a savior of Rome. And so in order to create that illusion he had to destroy Rome so that he could rebuild it with his Neronian flavor. But people caught wind of this. You set fire to your own country it doesn’t do so well for your leadership. In that day they didn’t vote you out. They had you killed.

So to divert attention from himself, the historian Tacitus tells us that Nero blamed the Christians for the fire. They made perfect scapegoats. Nobody in Rome really understood these atheists. And so what happened as a result is that a massive persecution broke out all throughout the Rome.

Eventually in this persecution of AD 64—our author, the apostle Peter, would be crucified upside down.

But let’s pretend it’s not quite AD 64 yet. You’re just a regular person living under Roman rule. But all of a sudden you hear of this revolutionary named Jesus. You hear of his coming kingdom. You hear of his rule of love. You are overcome by this message. Yes, the message of the gospel penetrates your heart and you become known as a Christian. You’re discipled by people who actually knew this Jesus personally. And you hear things like, “you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession”. You’re free. You’re primary citizenship isn’t Rome. It’s the kingdom of God. You have one new Master and his name is Jesus.

You don’t like being under Roman rule. So, what might you conclude about your new status? I’m free! Nobody is in authority over me anymore except King Jesus. I don’t have to listen to Rome. I don’t have to listen to these governors they have placed over me. Or if you’re a slave—I don’t have to listen to my master anymore. Or the wife of an unbelieving husband—I don’t need to listen to a single thing this man says.

But listen to God’s Word:

READ 1 PETER 2:13-17

I really struggled this week with how much of this text to preach. Obviously, I want to cover everything—but I really think in order to understand Peter’s point we need to look at 2:13 all the way through 3:7. I think there is one big unifying point to all of these topics—Christians and government, slaves and masters, wives and husbands.

What Peter is doing here is known as a household code. They were common in literature like this, and you can see a couple other ones in Ephesians and Colossians. But the NT actually radically changes these compared to their secular counterpart. In secular household codes it was usually all about keeping power. But something happens in the New Testament and I think it’s vital for us to see this.

And that is part of why it’s so difficult to preach this text especially given our cultural moment. It’s the specific application of this stuff that makes it so difficult. Let me explain why.

If the kingdom of God is not our primary citizenship then we are in no position to take this text and apply it. For Peter and his audience that was foundational. The same thing for the stuff that the apostle Paul says…and frankly this was the same thing for Jesus and what motivated his being beaten, mocked, and abused and remaining silence. The kingdom of God is primary. And not like, “let’s give that lip service because we know that’s what we are supposed to say but my heart and my allegiance really belongs elsewhere.” No it’s truly God over everything—not just on Sunday mornings--and there isn’t even a close rival.

This text is written by a person in a minority position speaking to people in a minority position. And so if we are in a majority position or a position of power then it’s going to be different in how we apply the specifics. What I’m attempting to say here is that texts like these —especially what we will look at in more depth next week with slavery—were texts that were used by the powerful to oppress the weak. This text isn’t meant to do that. It’s not meant for the powerful to say, “Here is how the person in a place of weakness is supposed to respond.”

This is also difficult because our system of government is different. We cannot make a 1 to 1 comparison. In our governmental system—which I am so thankful to be living in a democracy and not first century Rome—but our system of government is so much different. The Emperor does not equal President, Congress, Supreme Court justices, Speaker of the House, etc. In a way when we say, “Honor the emperor” it’s really “honor the constitution”, hold fast to the rule of government set over us. But I don’t think this text says “nothing”…but it’s just difficult and we have to be careful not to assume our context into the context of the Bible.

So what I want to do is show what’s happening in this text and give a general guideline from God’s Word. Here is what is happening in this text. I think Peter’s central point is that Rather than giving license to rebellion, Christian freedom propels us into humble service for the redemption of others and the glory of God. Or as Martin Luther said it so well:

A Christian is a perfectly free lord of all, subject to none. A Christian is a perfectly dutiful servant of all, subject to all.

But before I show you where we get that from the text I want to try to place this in your laps. I want to try to answer WHY it is that we care about this. Look back at verses 2:11-12 that we looked at last week. According to this text, What does the human heart do? It’s driven by passions of the flesh. We could be specific as we did last week but we can also more broadly say, “the passions of the flesh work to put ME at the center of the universe.” And so each of us has within us that which would destroy us.

We’re silly if we think that this doesn’t impact our view and our execution of government. ME the center of public policy. I mean even the existence of slavery is evidence of putting ME at the center. But we can look at this vocationally as well. ME. Our relationships. Our marriages. You have a battle in your soul that is played out on every single one of these fields.

But what does redemption do? It transforms every one of these. And that’s what I want to show you this morning. I think this text especially speaks to what it’s like when you are on the weaker end of a relationship, or what happens as a minority, or if you are being persecuted, or are the person not in power experiencing in justice. This text speaks to this. Government. Vocation. Marriage. This is much of what our life is made up of—and so this definitely has relevance.

So again I think this is the central point: Rather than giving license to rebellion, Christian freedom propels us into humble service for the redemption of others and the glory of God.

Now I want to show you where I get this.

v13. Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution. Notice that “for the Lord’s sake.”

This is key. You aren’t submitting to an evil emperor. You are submitting to the Lord. It is for the Lord’s sake that you assume this role. This is a picture that is picked up with wives and husbands. I want you to hear the heart here in what John Piper says about what godly submission looks like. He says this in the context of marriage but the heart of it I think we can pick up:

"[Submission] is an attitude that says, 'I delight for you to take the initiative in our family. I am glad when you take responsibility for things and lead with love. I don't flourish when you are passive and I have to make sure the family works.' But the attitude of Christian submission also says, 'It grieves me when you venture into sinful acts and want to take me with you. You know I can't do that. I have no desire to resist you. On the contrary, I flourish most when I can respond creatively and joyfully to your lead; but I can't follow you into sin, as much as I love to honor your leadership in our marriage. Christ is my King.'" (Piper)

This principle governs everything that I’m saying from this point forward. We do what we do for the glory of God. If you’re in a position of power then for the sake of the glory of God you work to end injustice for those who are being treated unjustly. If you’re in a position of weakness then for the sake of the glory of God you use the power of your suffering for the good of others. This is why passage like this one at one period in history were used to keep slave masters in power and at another point in history texts just like this one were used to end abuse and slavery.

Am I doing this thing for the glory of God? Am I fighting for this public policy to preserve my way of life OR is the motivating factor the glory of God and the good of others?

Now notice how he is saying, “to every human institution”. That means that we don’t get to pick and choose. Whatever principle we gather from this passage it isn’t situational. It isn’t that we say, “well you do this when you’ve got a good emperor but things are different if he’s bad”, or vice versa. And you see how he’d defined “good and bad” leaders there. Verse 14 is what government is SUPPOSED to do. But our being subject isn’t conditioned upon whether they do or not do those things.

But that makes sense, right? Because our “be subject” isn’t conditioned about the one we are being subject to. Our “be subject” is grounded in the Lord who doesn’t change. I’ll show you this more in just a second.

v15. Now this is going to help us in establishing a principle that will apply to our other verses. “For this is God’s will”…what? Being subject....so that “by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.”

Historically, this is what that meant. People in the Roman Empire thought that Christians were awful atheists who wanted the downfall of Rome. They were considered cannibals, engaging in some weird thing called a love feasts, and stubbornly refusing to engage in the worship of the gods because they gave sole allegiance to their tribal deity.

So how did early Christians respond? They loved and served Rome. Back in that culture if folks didn’t want a baby they’d just leave it outside and let it die. Christians picked them up and cared for them. Christians started hospitals. Christians went and served lepers. Christians loved people who were persecuting them. Their character spoke volumes. And this is something that you don’t just find in Christian writings. Even pagans would acknowledge some of these things. It was part of why some of the persecution stopped.

There is something about silently suffering that speaks volumes. It causes people to ask questions. I think here of Jim Elliott. Elliott, Nate Saint, and others were martyred by a tribe of Auca peoples in Ecuador....Eliot, Saint, and others had guns on them to protect them from wildlife. When the tribal chief discovered what a gun could do and realized they didn’t fire them it caused them to ask questions. Eventually when Elisabeth Elliott came back she was able to win them to Christ. That’s the type of thing that Peter is talking about. It communicates something valuable when we are willing to lay down our rights and suffer for others.

And that’s why I say “Christian freedom propels us into humble service for the redemption of others and the glory of God.” See this in verse 16. Live as people who are free. Okay what does that mean? What does it mean to live free? Does it mean, “I’ve got rights. I do what I want. Nobody tells me what to do. I’m free to pursue my own interests. I’m free to be who I want to be and do what I want to do.” Or does it mean something different....I’m not shackled by a need for performance, a need to please people, an insecure identity, anger, sin, lovelessness, self-centeredness, fear of death. And so it frees me to be a slave of God.

I think you see this playing out in verse 17. This is really quite counter-culture what he says here. Honor the emperor. Okay. I get that. Everybody gets that. But “honor everyone”. Do you see what he’s doing. The honor for the emperor isn’t grounded in his status as emperor as much as it’s grounded in his status as someone in the image of God. Honor EVERYONE!! There isn’t an exception to this, friends. It doesn’t say honor those who are honorable. It says honor everyone.

But notice what he’s doing here with “Fear God”. That’s a direct shot at the claims of the emperor. That’s what he could hold over the people of God. I can kill you. I can execute you. I can make your life miserable. But that doesn’t hold any sway if they don’t fear him, if they don’t fear death but their fear is God. That’s why your subjection isn’t motivated out of fear of man—it’s not “I better obey or they are going to punish me” It’s my relationship to you is grounded in my relationship with God. If you call me to do something which goes directly against God, then I’m not going to do that thing even if it costs me my life.

Daniel 3.

It is never for the good of others to vacillate on the truth. It is never for the good of others to bow a knee to someone who is not God, because we are communicating something untrue about the greatest truth in the universe. This is why situational ethics are so dangerous. And again why we MUST have the glory of God as our governing principle.

But still my posture is one of service. I want to obey. It grieves me when I can’t. So that’s the principle that I think goes through this entire text.

We will come back here next week but I want to show you this in 1 Peter 2:18-25. See if we’re right about what this text is doing. We will look at this more next week but slavery is another one of those places where we cannot have a 1 to 1 comparison. Slavery in 1st century Rome was not the slavery that you saw in the US and England in the 1700s or 1800s. But it also wasn’t like an employee employer relationship. You are OWNED by your master—but you also got wages, you had a chance of being set free, it had nothing to do with your ethnicity, many more differences. But it wasn’t like having a 9 to 5 job. More on that next week.

But try to place yourself in the mind of someone who was a 1st century slave. You have new found freedom in Christ. “You are no longer a slave but free”. So how might you want to respond? Well, I’m going to just run away. I don’t have to obey my master anymore. Theologically this is true. But there is something else going on here. Rebellion may not be the application of that theological truth.

“Christian freedom propels us into humble service for the redemption of others and the glory of God.”

See again v18. The character of the one in power doesn’t dictate whether or not they subject themselves. verse 19 and 20 is just saying, “that if you sin against someone and are punished for it” what good does it do that you were able to endure the punishment? But consider the fact that he is even asking that question. He’s saying that something else is at play here. Their redemption.

“For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you”...

Notice the word “suffered for you”. I think this is Peter’s key point in the entire passage. The suffering of Christ---the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53—is predominately “for others”. His suffering is redemptive. His suffering is meant to accomplish something in someone else. I’m going to suffer if it means your redemption.

That’s what 22-25 is doing. Notice the connection here. He was silent. He didn’t respond to ill treatment by calling down angels from heaven. He didn’t spit back at them. He was quiet. He entrusted Himself to God the judge. God will make this right.

Was Jesus free? He was the most free person who has ever lived. He was not shackled by sin. He could do what he wanted. He was also the most powerful person to ever live. And so what did he do with that power? What did he do with his power and his freedom? Or what did he do when—even though he could have called on legions of angels—what did he do when he was being beaten, mocked, tortured?

Set himself as an example. There is such a neat Greek word here that I think we can illustrate.

I’ve heard in the news recently that they are going to stop teaching kids to write in cursive. I think it’s a bit silly but I’m also a tad grateful. In my mind, the sooner cursive becomes a thing of the past the better my chances of never being exposed for my continual inability to write an uppercase cursive Q. Or a lower case z. Never could get those.

Do you remember learning to write your letters? My hand is starting to cramp up remembering it. You’d trace over letters over and over and over again, and then you’d try to do it on your own. That process—under-writing—is the word that Peter uses in 1 Peter 2:21📷 that is translated “leaving you an example”.

If we really grasp what Peter is saying here I think we’ll be in a position to not only dismiss the heretical prosperity gospel but also prepared to suffer well.

Against the Prosperity Gospel

Here is a quote I read in a sermon awhile back from one of the founders of the prosperity gospel:

I believe that it is the plan of God our Father that no believer should ever be sick…It is not—I state boldly—it is not the will of God my Father that we should suffer with cancer and other dread diseases which bring pain and anguish. No! It is God’s will that we be healed.” –Kenneth Hagin

In other words suffering is always the path of the enemy. In Hagin’s mind the one suffering is in that situation because he or she is following in the footsteps of the enemy and not Jesus. In his mind, God’s will is to rescue you from that path of defeat and transport you to the path of glory. But that’s the exact opposite of what 1 Peter 2 is saying.

The path that Jesus walked was a path of suffering. A place where he slept on rocks for pillows and his last moments were spent nailed to a cursed tree. And he did this, Peter says, for us. Not only as our substitute but also as our example. To follow Christ is to follow the path of suffering. Tracing the letters of Jesus aren’t done with golden pens. It’s a path marked with pain and heartache and suffering but one which ends in the Father’s pleasure and ultimate glory.

The prosperity gospel keeps us from suffering well because it causes us to attribute it to the wrong hand. Rather than following the biblical call to endure suffering the prosperity gospel calls us to rebuke it, and in the process we end up rebuking the very hand of God.

Against the Pit of Uniqueness

Suffering has a tendency to turn us inward. And when it turns us inward it makes quick narcissist of us. Just around the corner of narcissism is what I’ve termed the dangerous pit of uniqueness:

It is here that you will make your bed in ashes. You’ve spiraled into depression and self-pity. Here you will become jaded and your conscience seared. You, and you alone, have been abandoned and forsaken by the God who said that He wouldn’t forsake anyone. You’re stuck in this pit with no rope. You even lack the fingernails to claw your way out. You are hopeless. (From here)

But 1 Peter tells us a different story. You aren’t swimming in uncharted waters, you aren’t blazing a new course of suffering. If you are suffering for righteousness sake (as is the case in 1 Peter) then you are following in the footsteps of Jesus. You aren’t alone in your suffering. He has been there before and he knows the road to glory. Keep on tracing his steps…following his example.

Suffering Apart From Christ

There is something assumed in this passage, though, which is often dismissed. This is suffering for righteousness sake. Let’s be honest, sometimes we suffer because we have made foolish choices and/or have been rebellious and sinful. Certainly in these times we are to fix our eyes on Jesus as well, but it’s more a call to repentance than it is a call to keep your hands to the plow.

Suffering because of doing evil isn’t following in the footsteps of Jesus. He didn’t trace this path out for you. It doesn’t mean that he isn’t there, nor that He isn’t gracious and kind and willing to restore and redeem. But it does mean that such suffering will often be messy.

If you gave me the letter z in cursive to trace I could knock it out of the park. But if you gave me a sheet of paper and said, “show me a cursive z” it’s not going to look good at all. And that’s what a lot of our suffering looks like. We aren’t following the footsteps of our master and so our suffering looks ugly. Rather than following in Jesus and not reviling when reviled we respond with anger and rage. When we find ourselves in an uncomfortable position we threaten and grab for power instead of entrusting ourselves and our situation to the Lord. We claim the name of Christ but our suffering doesn’t model that of Christ because we aren’t following His steps. Our suffering is our own.

Let us follow the example of Christ and willingly suffer for the sake of righteousness, knowing that this path alone leads to glory. Remember whose hand it is that you follow. Don’t be shocked that when you follow the writing of a nail-scarred hand that you’ll have some intense suffering along the way.

So here is the principle from this passage:

Rather than giving license to rebellion, Christian freedom propels us into humble service for the redemption of others and the glory of God.

If you don’t know Jesus—one of the things I want to say to you, and I will just speak for myself. But I know we don’t do a good job at times of following the suffering hands of Jesus. We grab for power instead of service. And that makes it look like Jesus isn’t precious. We haven’t at times represented Christ well, and so I’m sorry.

But that doesn’t change who Jesus is or His call upon our lives. While we were yet sinners Christ Jesus died for the ungodly. His suffering was to pay for your sin and my sin. He willingly took upon the Cross, willingly bore the wrath of God, in our place. That’s what you’re looking for. What you’re looking for in us as Christians—to not be hypocrites—you can find perfectly in Jesus. We DO blow it. But that’s the gospel. I’m sorry that at times we’ve used that as an excuse to pursue power instead of you. But the good news of the gospel is that Jesus even died for our hypocrisy. We grieve that. We want to trace those nail-scarred hands even better. So today we’re asking you not to become a hypocrite but to acknowledge that we all are—none of us are perfect. In fact far from it.

SHARE THE GOSPEL.

Lastly, believers. May we take this principle and may it govern our responses and our politics. Glory of God first. Redemption of others second. Our comfort and protecting our way of life—quite a ways on down the road.

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