We are continuing our look at what Peter had to say to the scattered believers around the Middle East. Many of them were being socially persecuted for their faith.
As the Asbury Bible Commentary states, “The impact of grace upon the readers’ lives has brought them into situations of conflict with the expectations and norms of their society.” It also says, “Their way of life inspired discrimination, slander, ostracism, and reproach from the non-Christians around them.”
A lot of people just don’t get us crazy Christians.
I’m sure you’re aware of the rather controversial National Prayer service held in the National Cathedral last Tuesday. I wrote two blog posts on that–the first one I published on Thursday, and the second one, which took me quite a while to put together–I will be publishing on Tuesday. But in my upcoming post, I (once again) talk about how there seems to be a rift between the progressive and conservative Christians out there. The Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer service was obviously liberal, and her plea to the president was about social justice and really didn’t point the way to Christ–in fact, the few times that she referenced Christ was out of context with scripture. And she never directly quoted scripture once in her so-called sermon.
Rather, what it was, was a relatively religious speech directed at one pew. And it’s interesting how those who are more left-leaning politically seem to see the government as their savior rather than Christ. They claim to follow the teachings of Christ, but is he really their Lord and Savior? I wonder if they even understand their need for an active Lord and Savior in their lives.
I also wonder if they truly understand that the Bible is for us to be transformed by, not to point our fingers at one pew or one administration. In my upcoming blog, I talk about that. The government can and does help people in many ways, but what’s our responsibility? After all, I thought the progressives were all about the separation of church and state anyway.
If you have your Bible, please turn with me to 1 Peter 3, and we’ll be looking at verses 8-13. And, maybe I should have titled this series, “From the Pens of Peter and Paul” because I can’t help but go to Paul, too. So, if you have a bookmark, put one in Romans 8, and if you happen to have another one, put it in John chapter 17. We’ll come to those toward the end of the sermon.
So 1 Peter 3, Romans 8, and John 17
And as you’re turning there, I have one more thing to say about Bishop Budde’s (Buddy) sermon. The main subject was unity. We all want unity–and I have to admit, I’d love to see our country as united as it was on Sept. 12, 2001. But, that unity doesn’t come from the president, though the president can have a part to play in it. The question I posed in my previous blog on Thursday was, what do we unite under? What do we unite as? Can we unite as Americans in this day and age, when our ideologies are so diametrically opposed? Maybe. If we want it bad enough.
But the further I studied scripture to form my opinion on both articles, I came to the conclusion that the Bible only talks about one kind of unity, and that is unity as believers under Christ.
Some may say that’s irrelevant because they lived under the Roman Empire back then. They had no voice, no freedom to change things. That’s true. But, Peter could have said something to the effect of, we’re all Jews. Well, that’s not the case, because not all Christians that he was addressing were Jews. This was a variety of Jew and Gentile (mostly Gentile) Christians throughout Asia Minor.
Ah, well, we can be united in our diversity, as Mariann Budde said. What I think she meant was, we can be united in spite of our diversity. And I get her sentiment. The problem is, what does she mean by being united? What does it look like? Her idea may be something different than what you and I imagine. And it may not be holy. And even if some religious institutions start unifying under what is unholy for the sake of unity, it is not unity according to The Bible.
Scripture: So what is unity according to The Bible? Let’s take a look.
8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. 11 They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil (Psalm 34:12-16).”
13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?
There is a lot here that we can dive into, a lot of ‘be this’ and ‘do that.’ Considering the trouble that Peter’s readers were in, they needed this type of charge to stick together and be the type of Christian that is different from the world. And, as Jesus instructed Peter and the other disciples; and as Paul instructed those in slavery or servitude at the time, we are to have a different kind of lifestyle that shows people who and whose we are. The bishop talked about legal and illegal aliens and strangers among us, but we are strangers in a strange land.
If we go back one chapter to 1 Peter 2:11-12, we read, “11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”
Again, this is a little difficult, because there is so much to unpack. Bishop Budde called us to be unified in our diversity, but that’s not what Peter calls the church to do. Peter and Paul called the church to be united in Christ. To be like-minded. Some translations will say, to be of one mind; and the Amplified Bible puts in parentheses, united in spirit.
We are having our annual meeting after church today, and as we begin any meeting, I always pray that we would be like-minded so that we would do the will of God in this church and beyond. Charles Spurgeon said, “…do not hold church meetings to talk about nothing, and so quarrel for the want of something to do. Be united with the resolve that you will glorify God, and that there shall be no dissension, no division among you: “Be ye all of one mind,””
I know the story of how we had a family leave because they didn’t like the color of the carpet. And that unfortunately happens–or did happen–in a lot of churches at one time when certain generations were more petty about things of that nature. Peter does not mean that we should be like robots voting unanimously about such minute details.
Kenneth Wuest [weest], who was a Christian scholar and professor, said that to be like-minded, “cannot be pressed to refer to minute details but refers to a unity on the major and important points of Christian doctrine and practice that should be maintained among members of the Body of Christ.”
A.W. Tozer looks at it this way, the idea of being like-minded is needed for the rest of Peter’s statement.
In other words, if we ‘drop the ‘e’ and add ‘ing’, we are to be like-minded in:
Being sympathetic, loving one another, being compassionate and humble. Not repaying evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
You. Not the government. You. And me. Every day.
If we go to verses 10-12, Peter quotes Psalm 34, when he says, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good; they must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Remember who Peter is speaking to here. He’s not guaranteeing them health and wealth and blessing upon blessing like you might hear preachers on TV say. I don’t just pick on the liberal Christians, some Evangelicals put the rest of us to shame. And one, I heard just recently say that if we obey Christ, we will reap a harvest like Peter did when he cast the nets and caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
Some Evangelicals take the Bible out of context as well. That’s not the point of the story. The point of the story was Jesus revealing himself to Peter. What did Peter do after he caught the fish? Did he say, “I’m rich, I’m rich, I’m rich!” And do a jig? “My business is blessed, hallelujah!” No. He dropped to his knees before Jesus. Did he do so to thank Jesus for this great blessing? No, he said, “Go away from me, I am a sinful man.” And what did Jesus say? He said, “Get up Simon, for now, you will become a fisher of men.”
And what did Peter do? Did he say, “No, wait, you just gave me this blessing…I can’t stop now. I’m on a roll!” No, Peter dropped everything and followed Jesus. I don’t know whatever happened to the fish. Now, maybe his associates sold them because they had them…I don’t know.
But the point is, Peter knows that following Jesus may produce some miracles, but he’s familiar with trouble too. He’s not guaranteeing them health and wealth. He’s saying, that if you want to live a good life, it’s not going to be found in worldly pleasures. Money doesn’t make you happy. Yes, money can be a blessing, but don’t look at your surroundings. Don’t look at what you don’t have. Don’t covet and don’t be jealous. Don’t be sad, because a good life is not made of these things. A good life is made from your conduct.
“…turn from evil and do good…seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer,”
When Peter says to ‘seek peace’ here, he’s not talking about the ‘peace that passes understanding’ that comes from The Holy Spirit. If that were the case, then we wouldn’t need to ‘seek’ it. The peace that comes from The Holy Spirit is a gift.
So when Peter says to seek peace, we go back to the idea of unity again. The Greek word that Peter uses here for peace is pronounced the same as my mother’s middle name, Irene, but spelled differently. And Eirene can convey the sense of an inner rest, well being and harmony. The ultimate peace is the state of reconciliation with God, affected by placing one’s faith in the gospel. In eschatology, peace is prophesied to be an essential characteristic of the Messianic kingdom.
So we are to actively pursue this kind of peace with God and with one another. It’s interesting that I would use the illustration of a modern Prosperity Gospel preacher because this type of peace is similar to the Hebrew Shalom, which implies inner health, well-being, and prosperity. The Prosperity Gospel or Word of Faith preachers often talk about those things–well-being and prosperity–being gained in an outward, materialistic sort of way.
So we are to pursue peace with God and peace with one another.
How do we seek this kind of peace? Peter explains that–rather David did in the Psalm, by saying, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech. They must turn from evil and do good.” Having a good and peaceful life does not rest in our circumstances, it rests in repentance. It rests in Godly behavior.
Have you ever met someone who was their own worst enemy? I’ve asked this question before, but I sometimes come across people like that. And they’ll blame everyone else for their situation and their misery–and maybe there are other people to blame–but they can’t dwell on their misery. They have to change their own life and their own behavior. They have to make wise decisions in life. They have to pursue peace. They have to turn from evil and do good. They have to find a way to repent of a lifestyle that is hurting them.
The phrase, “turn from evil,” again going to the Greek, means not to turn around, but to turn aside from an incoming object. To get out of the way of something coming at you. The arrows of the devil, the fiery darts, use your shield as you actively get out of the way.
As James says, “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
And that segues nicely into what Peter says next–again quoting from Psalm 34, “For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
It’s a strange comfort, knowing that, isn’t it? You almost feel guilty for it. I mean, we are to love and pray for our enemies and seek peace with everyone, as we just mentioned. But remember Peter’s audience here. He’s encouraging them by saying, the eyes of the Lord are upon you. Never mind about the others. His eyes are on them, too. Let God take care of them. Don’t worry about them. He’ll deal with them, himself.
It puts a load of pressure off of us, doesn’t it?
There’s an old saying, “Let go and let God.”
Yeah, we have to, don’t we? There are burdens that we don’t have to carry. But God can–and will.
It’s like what I said earlier about addressing slavery and the Roman Empire. Going the extra mile. Being good citizens and keeping to a good work ethic as God instructed us. Never mind about the oppressors. God will deal with them. Our responsibility is our responsibility. How are we going to choose to act in spite of the situation we are in? He sees us, and he will reward us for being faithful in our Godly conduct. And the oppressors? God is watching them too.
Now would be a good time to turn to Romans 8, and as you do, let me read to you something else from Romans. This comes from Chapter 2, this is Paul’s turn to quote from Psalms, “God will repay each person according to what they have done.” Then he says in verses 7 and 8, “7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
With words like that, it almost makes you want to reach out with compassion and evangelize to your enemies a little more, doesn’t it?
But the point is this, which Peter ends his statement with, “Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good?”
Quoting from Romans again, it reminds me of what Paul had to say at the end of Romans 8, starting with verse 31:
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So, I didn’t plan that. I didn’t plan a sermon on unity right after the Bishop of the National Cathedral just gave a political speech, which some called a sermon, on the same topic. She wants us to be a united nation under the umbrella of diversity.
Now, we can be at peace with one another, but harmonious? It is impossible to be completely harmonious–or one in thought, or of one mindset–with those who are so diametrically opposed to the way of God. Bishop Budde is diametrically opposed to things I personally believe, even though she is a Bishop. I wish we could be like-minded. I wish we could unite under Christ, through the inner sanctification of The Holy Spirit.
I wish our whole nation could have that same kind of unity. But we are living in a country where we are torn on so many social/political and religious topics. We used to be united–back when this was a socially/politically Christian nation. Now, it’s a post-Christian nation. Unless there is another great awakening, the only unity we are going to have is a post-Christian unity. Guess what that brings?
But for those who are in Christ, the Bible says, we are strangers and aliens on this earth. We are like Peter’s audience. We are a peculiar people, as King James puts it in 1 Peter Chapter 2. Peculiar, meaning not only different but more so, in proper context, as ‘set apart’ or holy, belonging to God. Not citizens of this world, but citizens and heirs of God’s kingdom.
Can we be united and separated at the same time? We can love, but not, as Jesus put it, equally yoked.
In case you haven’t been paying attention, I almost got through a sermon without quoting gotquestions.org. But…I just couldn’t help myself.
Here’s what they had to say:
Many people have been saved because of the prayers and service of Christians, so don’t turn your back on unbelievers, but having any kind of intimate relationship with an unbeliever can quickly and easily turn into something that is a hindrance to your walk with Christ. We are called to evangelize the lost, not be intimate with them. There is nothing wrong with building quality friendships with unbelievers – but the primary focus of such a relationship should be to win them to Christ by sharing the Gospel with them and demonstrating God’s saving power in our own lives.
To close, let’s turn to John Chapter 17 and read the prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he truly talks about us not being in unity with this world, but instead, being in unity with Him. Let’s start with verse 14 and go to verse 23. This is toward the end of him praying for his disciples.
14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
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