St Theodore's Sermon

	St Theodore's Wattle Park

Sermon of the Week

30/5/99

Living as the People of God - Submit not Submerge 1 Peter 2:11 - 3:12

Peter begins this section by reminding us again that we're aliens and exiles; in other words, foreigners; people who don't belong here, whose homeland is somewhere else. But he doesn't just mean we're tourists, visiting a strange country. No, we're here with a mission: to win people for Christ. And so here he gives a strategy for that mission. The core idea of that strategy is submission.

Now that's not a particularly popular topic these days is it? No-one likes the idea of having to submit to someone else. We'd all like to be independent and make our own decisions for ourselves and for very good reasons. First, our society, our culture, actively encourages us not to be submissive. Rather we're supposed to know our rights and make sure they're observed. We live in the age of liberation. [Council for civil liberties questioning the need to regulate porn on the Internet] So there's no incentive from our society to submit. But secondly, we live in an age when we feel powerless. Despite all the liberation and the emphasis on reclaiming power, we feel at a loss, the future is not in our hands, and to submit to others makes us feel even more vulnerable and powerless. Thirdly, we have bad models of submission. We look at our politicians and see self interest and partisan thinking. Many of us look at our work situations and see incompetent managers and stress inducing atmospheres. It's not so long since police corruption was in the news. Even in the Church we look around and see leaders who aren't even sure about the foundations of their faith any more, who even question the creed. Bishops who are placed in the position of having to be corporate managers, without the necessary skills or training, and who therefore don't have the time to do the pastoral work that should be their first responsibility and which they're mostly very good at. So it's not surprising that there are those who find the idea of submission difficult. But here we're told that the key to evangelism in a hostile world is to submit ourselves to others.

Well, Peter is aware of the difficulty of what he's about to say. I'm sure it was no less difficult in Peter's day to submit, in the way he's about to suggest, than it is today. So he begins this section by reminding us of our true citizenship. When he calls us aliens and exiles it's to remind us that our citizenship isn't here on earth even if that's where we're located for the time being, but in heaven. That's what he started with in ch 1, do you remember? And if we're citizens of heaven then it means that while we're here on earth, we're really foreigners. That means that our lifestyle will be different from the lifestyle of those around us. When you go to a foreign country, it's nice to experience something of the life of that country, but you tend to nevertheless remain separate from it, don't you? Depending on the country, you don't drink the water that the people drink. You're careful about what food you eat. You may not take part in their religious customs, other than perhaps as an observer. If it's a country where corruption is rife, you don't immediately start to act corruptly, just because that's what the locals do. Well similarly, if we're not truly citizens of this world, then we'll avoid taking on those characteristic behaviours that go against our citizenship of heaven.

But the reason for living differently, for abstaining from the desires of the flesh, as he puts it, isn't just for purity of life. Its purpose is also apologetic. That is, this sort of behaviour will silence those who want to put Christianity down. You know, one of the first arguments people use against becoming a Christian is that Christians [church] are such bad advertisements for what they believe. Well, Peter wants us to live such exemplary lives that even though our enemies may malign us, when they see the honourable way we live, they'll only be able to glorify God. So the example of our lives, the way we live, becomes a gospel opportunity. In fact he repeats this two or three times through this passage. V15: "For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish." 3:1-2: "Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives' conduct, ²when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." So the submission he's calling for is for the sake of the gospel. It's aim is to recommend the gospel to those we live amongst in this foreign land.

   And so he says, 'For the Lord's sake accept the authority of every human institution.' That is, we're to be subject to people who have been given roles to fill in God's ordering of the world. He begins by listing emperors and governors. That is those to whom we're responsible in the political world. He reminds us that they're there to punish those who do wrong & praise those who do right. But what about when that doesn't happen? Peter knows well enough that it didn't happen with Jesus, nor with Stephen, or Paul, nor, if tradition is true, would it happen with Peter himself. So what then? Well, he says you're to live as free people. That is, I take it, we're to exercise our rights within the political process, the way Paul did when he appealed to Caesar. But at the same time, we're not to use our freedom as a pretext for evil. So we're to judge our inner motives, to ensure that our protest isn't from any selfish desire on our part. But also, when he talks about being free he's reminding us of our citizenship of heaven. As citizens of heaven, there's a sense of freedom, because we know that nothing here on earth can hurt us in the long run.

   He then goes on to others to whom we may be responsible in our secular living. He says "Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle, but also those who are harsh." Why? Because it's a credit to you if you suffer while you're doing what's right. Mind you if you're doing something wrong and you're punished, you're only getting what you deserve, but if you suffer for doing what's right, then you have God's approval. He's talking here about the situation where the slave or servant was a Christian and the master wasn't, and so the master was giving the servant a hard time. If that happens, he says, then you're simply following in Jesus' footsteps. He was innocent, yet he suffered abuse and death. He didn't answer back, he didn't try to take revenge, but trusted God to vindicate him. He knew that God was the one who judges justly: that in the end the wicked would be punished and those who love God would be recognised. By the way, if you ever meet someone who doesn't believe in a final judgement ask them what their concept of justice is. How can there be any justice in the world if those who do wrong, epitomised here by those who crucified Jesus, get away with it? No every instinct we have, cries out for justice, and for a God who will vindicate the righteous and punish the wrongdoer.

   Notice that the motive for doing good is threefold. It's to give an example to others, as we've just seen, but it's also to follow the example of Christ, who suffered far more than we ever will, and thirdly, it's in response to what Christ's suffering has achieved. Why does he say Christ died? So that we might be freed from our sins to live a life of righteousness. Do you see how he keeps coming back to our changed status before God. We used to be like sheep going astray, but now we've returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls. The implication being that our lifestyle should reflect that status. We can't separate our salvation from the new lifestyle we're called to. That is, a life of right living.

   Next he goes on to talk about how we relate in our role relationships, in particular as husbands and wives. Again he's thinking of a situation where one of the couple is a Christian and the other isn't, but there are certainly things to learn here that apply equally well to couples who are both Christians and probably also things that those who are single can learn. He tells wives to accept the authority of their husbands. Why? Not because Peter's a chauvinist, but because by so doing they may be able to win over their husbands to the gospel. Again, living godly lives is a gospel opportunity. And he says, they'll win their husbands over without a word. In other words he's saying don't try to nag your husband into the kingdom. Rather win him over by your kingdom lifestyle. Did you notice that quote from St Francis of Assisi that I put on the front of last week's news sheet? "Go and preach the gospel - use words if necessary." Secondly, he says, it's not your outward beauty that will do the winning, but your inward beauty. I guess we all know the story of Beauty and the Beast. The beast starts out as a wealthy and handsome man, but on the inside he's mean hearted. But he's changed by a sorceress so that his outward appearance reflects his inward state, and she tells him that only when a beautiful girl loves him despite how he looks will he be returned to his previous appearance. Well, we all know how he traps a beautiful girl and as he slowly falls in love with her he changes and becomes beautiful on the inside, where it matters, and so he wins her over. Well, I guess that's the sort of thing that Peter is talking about here. It doesn't so much matter what we're like on the outside as what we're like inside. No amount of hairdressing, beautiful clothes and jewellery will hide the ugliness of a bitter heart, or resentment, or anger. And no matter how poorly dressed we may be, a beautiful heart will shine through. I'm sure you can think of examples of people you'd describe as beautiful, not because they're necessarily outwardly beautiful, but because their beauty shines through their personality; because they're beautiful on the inside.

   And of course such beauty isn't restricted to women is it? Remember that the Beauty and the Beast fable is about a man. So a husband is to demonstrate his inner beauty by showing consideration to his wife in their life together. I guess abuse was even more prevalent in those days than it is today. It was easy for a husband to mistreat his wife and there was nothing she could do about it. She was the weaker sex, so she was subject to his use of power in their relationship. Well, that isn't quite as true now. We at least have laws that prohibit physical violence against women. But women are still the object of abuse in too many cases: sometimes it's physical. More often it takes other forms. Verbal and emotional abuse can be just as much an exercise of power over another person as physical thuggery. And of course there are cases where the verbal and emotional abuse is carried out by the wife. But Peter is speaking to husbands and he says this mustn't happen. Rather we should give them honour. The word is the same as was translated 'precious' in the passage in ch2 about the living stone. We husbands are to treat our wives as precious, the way God declared Jesus to be precious. Why? Firstly, because we're heirs together of the precious gift of life. The wife may be the weaker partner physically, but when it comes to questions of spiritual life, she's an equal. Notice how Peter uses a play on words here. Husband and wife are joint partners in bringing physical life into the world aren't they, with the wife having a fair share of that responsibility. So too, in the area of spiritual life they're equal partners, being joint heirs with all of God's children, of the gracious gift of life. So to do anything but treat your wife with the respect and love she shows you is to compromise your understanding of the gospel. But more than that, he says, to act in that way will hinder your prayers. Remember how Jesus told us to forgive our enemies so that God would answer our prayers for forgiveness? Well, a similar principle holds true here. If we don't give our spouses the honour that's their due then our fellowship with them will suffer and, as a result, so will our fellowship with God. It's as though the breakdown in our relationship with our wife - or with your husband - will form a blockage between us and God.

   Finally, Peter sums up all of what he's been saying. He lists 6 characteristics that will lead to us receiving a blessing from God.

   1. We're to have unity of spirit. That is be like-minded. Remember in ch. 1 he talked about having minds prepared for action. Later on in the letter he talks about being clear minded. So our unity of Spirit has to do with us being agreed on what matters, what's important. But it also has to do with our attitudes. Paul talks in Philippians 2 about being of the same mind, that is, having the mind of Christ. In that wonderful passage he describes how Christ humbled himself even to death on the cross. So being of one mind is linked with having an attitude of humility, being willing to submit myself to others for Christ's sake and for their sake.

   2. We're to have sympathy. Hebrews talks about us having a High Priest who sympathises with our weaknesses. Sympathy means readiness to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn. To feel how they're feeling. And I guess most of us have experienced how sharing our joys with others increases them, and sharing our sorrows eases them.

   3.We're to have love for one another. This is the thing that Jesus said would single us out as his disciples. This is the distinctively Christian characteristic, that we love those whom Jesus loves, independent of how lovely they happen to be. Again, this is a gospel opportunity.

   5. We're to have a humble mind. We're to mimic Jesus who described himself as gentle and humble of heart. We're to clothe ourselves in humility. Peter of course had learned humility the hard way, by stumbling in his pride and having to ask Jesus for forgiveness for denying him 3 times. And he'd seen Jesus' example in both taking up a towel to wash the disciples feet and in his dying on the cross. So he knows what he's talking about. This is something we may be laughed at for. It seems so foolish in this day and age to act with humility, and yet isn't it great when you meet someone who's like that? And it's something that God will honour when Jesus returns.

   6. Finally he says don't repay evil with evil, but rather repay it with a blessing. This is the essence of the gospel isn't it? That evil is repaid with blessing. That God looks at his enemies and loves them, even to the extent of dying for them. Well, I guess if it's good enough for God then it should be good enough for us.

   So while we live in the midst of a hostile world how do we act? With humility. We willingly submit to every human institution that God has set in place in this world. But at the same time we refuse to be submerged by the world. We always keep in mind that our citizenship is not ultimately in this world but in heaven, in God's Kingdom. Although we live in the world, it's the values of the Kingdom that determine how we live. (Read 3:10-12)


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	Sermon of the Week
	30/5/99
	Living as the People of God - Submit not Submerge	1 Peter 2:11 - 3:12

	Peter begins this section by reminding us again that we're aliens and exiles; in other words, foreigners; people who don't belong here, whose homeland is somewhere else. But he doesn't just mean we're tourists, visiting a strange country. No, we're here with a mission: to win people for Christ. And so here he gives a strategy for that mission. The core idea of that strategy is submission.
	Now that's not a particularly popular topic these days is it? No-one likes the idea of having to submit to someone else. We'd all like to be independent and make our own decisions for ourselves and for very good reasons. First, our society, our culture, actively encourages us not to be submissive. Rather we're supposed to know our rights and make sure they're observed. We live in the age of liberation. [Council for civil liberties questioning the need to regulate porn on the Internet] So there's no incentive from our society to submit. But secondly, we live in an age when we feel powerless. Despite all the liberation and the emphasis on reclaiming power, we feel at a loss, the future is not in our hands, and to submit to others makes us feel even more vulnerable and powerless. Thirdly, we have bad models of submission. We look at our politicians and see self interest and partisan thinking. Many of us look at our work situations and see incompetent managers and stress inducing atmospheres. It's not so long since police corruption was in the news. Even in the Church we look around and see leaders who aren't even sure about the foundations of their faith any more, who even question the creed. Bishops who are placed in the position of having to be corporate managers, without the necessary skills or training, and who therefore don't have the time to do the pastoral work that should be their first responsibility and which they're mostly very good at. So it's not surprising that there are those who find the idea of submission difficult. But here we're told that the key to evangelism in a hostile world is to submit ourselves to others.
	Well, Peter is aware of the difficulty of what he's about to say. I'm sure it was no less difficult in Peter's day to submit, in the way he's about to suggest, than it is today. So he begins this section by reminding us of our true citizenship. When he calls us aliens and exiles it's to remind us that our citizenship isn't here on earth even if that's where we're located for the time being, but in heaven. That's what he started with in ch 1, do you remember? And if we're citizens of heaven then it means that while we're here on earth, we're really foreigners. That means that our lifestyle will be different from the lifestyle of those around us. When you go to a foreign country, it's nice to experience something of the life of that country, but you tend to nevertheless remain separate from it, don't you? Depending on the country, you don't drink the water that the people drink. You're careful about what food you eat. You may not take part in their religious customs, other than perhaps as an observer. If it's a country where corruption is rife, you don't immediately start to act corruptly, just because that's what the locals do. Well similarly, if we're not truly citizens of this world, then we'll avoid taking on those characteristic behaviours that go against our citizenship of heaven.
	But the reason for living differently, for abstaining from the desires of the flesh, as he puts it, isn't just for purity of life. Its purpose is also apologetic. That is, this sort of behaviour will silence those who want to put Christianity down. You know, one of the first arguments people use against becoming a Christian is that Christians [church] are such bad advertisements for what they believe. Well, Peter wants us to live such exemplary lives that even though our enemies may malign us, when they see the honourable way we live, they'll only be able to glorify God. So the example of our lives, the way we live, becomes a gospel opportunity. In fact he repeats this two or three times through this passage. V15: "For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish." 3:1-2: "Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives' conduct, ²when they see the purity and reverence of your lives." So the submission he's calling for is for the sake of the gospel. It's aim is to recommend the gospel to those we live amongst in this foreign land.
	And so he says, 'For the Lord's sake accept the authority of every human institution.' That is, we're to be subject to people who have been given roles to fill in God's ordering of the world. He begins by listing emperors and governors. That is those to whom we're responsible in the political world. He reminds us that they're there to punish those who do wrong & praise those who do right. But what about when that doesn't happen? Peter knows well enough that it didn't happen with Jesus, nor with Stephen, or Paul, nor, if tradition is true, would it happen with Peter himself. So what then? Well, he says you're to live as free people. That is, I take it, we're to exercise our rights within the political process, the way Paul did when he appealed to Caesar. But at the same time, we're not to use our freedom as a pretext for evil. So we're to judge our inner motives, to ensure that our protest isn't from any selfish desire on our part. But also, when he talks about being free he's reminding us of our citizenship of heaven. As citizens of heaven, there's a sense of freedom, because we know that nothing here on earth can hurt us in the long run.
	He then goes on to others to whom we may be responsible in our secular living. He says "Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle, but also those who are harsh." Why? Because it's a credit to you if you suffer while you're doing what's right. Mind you if you're doing something wrong and you're punished, you're only getting what you deserve, but if you suffer for doing what's right, then you have God's approval. He's talking here about the situation where the slave or servant was a Christian and the master wasn't, and so the master was giving the servant a hard time. If that happens, he says, then you're simply following in Jesus' footsteps. He was innocent, yet he suffered abuse and death. He didn't answer back, he didn't try to take revenge, but trusted God to vindicate him. He knew that God was the one who judges justly: that in the end the wicked would be punished and those who love God would be recognised. By the way, if you ever meet someone who doesn't believe in a final judgement ask them what their concept of justice is. How can there be any justice in the world if those who do wrong, epitomised here by those who crucified Jesus, get away with it? No every instinct we have, cries out for justice, and for a God who will vindicate the righteous and punish the wrongdoer.
	Notice that the motive for doing good is threefold. It's to give an example to others, as we've just seen, but it's also to follow the example of Christ, who suffered far more than we ever will, and thirdly, it's in response to what Christ's suffering has achieved. Why does he say Christ died? So that we might be freed from our sins to live a life of righteousness. Do you see how he keeps coming back to our changed status before God. We used to be like sheep going astray, but now we've returned to the shepherd and guardian of our souls. The implication being that our lifestyle should reflect that status. We can't separate our salvation from the new lifestyle we're called to. That is, a life of right living.
	Next he goes on to talk about how we relate in our role relationships, in particular as husbands and wives. Again he's thinking of a situation where one of the couple is a Christian and the other isn't, but there are certainly things to learn here that apply equally well to couples who are both Christians and probably also things that those who are single can learn. He tells wives to accept the authority of their husbands. Why? Not because Peter's a chauvinist, but because by so doing they may be able to win over their husbands to the gospel. Again, living godly lives is a gospel opportunity. And he says, they'll win their husbands over without a word. In other words he's saying don't try to nag your husband into the kingdom. Rather win him over by your kingdom lifestyle. Did you notice that quote from St Francis of Assisi that I put on the front of last week's news sheet? "Go and preach the gospel - use words if necessary." Secondly, he says, it's not your outward beauty that will do the winning, but your inward beauty. I guess we all know the story of Beauty and the Beast. The beast starts out as a wealthy and handsome man, but on the inside he's mean hearted. But he's changed by a sorceress so that his outward appearance reflects his inward state, and she tells him that only when a beautiful girl loves him despite how he looks will he be returned to his previous appearance. Well, we all know how he traps a beautiful girl and as he slowly falls in love with her he changes and becomes beautiful on the inside, where it matters, and so he wins her over. Well, I guess that's the sort of thing that Peter is talking about here. It doesn't so much matter what we're like on the outside as what we're like inside. No amount of hairdressing, beautiful clothes and jewellery will hide the ugliness of a bitter heart, or resentment, or anger. And no matter how poorly dressed we may be, a beautiful heart will shine through. I'm sure you can think of examples of people you'd describe as beautiful, not because they're necessarily outwardly beautiful, but because their beauty shines through their personality; because they're beautiful on the inside.
	And of course such beauty isn't restricted to women is it? Remember that the Beauty and the Beast fable is about a man. So a husband is to demonstrate his inner beauty by showing consideration to his wife in their life together. I guess abuse was even more prevalent in those days than it is today. It was easy for a husband to mistreat his wife and there was nothing she could do about it. She was the weaker sex, so she was subject to his use of power in their relationship. Well, that isn't quite as true now. We at least have laws that prohibit physical violence against women. But women are still the object of abuse in too many cases: sometimes it's physical. More often it takes other forms. Verbal and emotional abuse can be just as much an exercise of power over another person as physical thuggery. And of course there are cases where the verbal and emotional abuse is carried out by the wife. But Peter is speaking to husbands and he says this mustn't happen. Rather we should give them honour. The word is the same as was translated 'precious' in the passage in ch2 about the living stone. We husbands are to treat our wives as precious, the way God declared Jesus to be precious. Why? Firstly, because we're heirs together of the precious gift of life. The wife may be the weaker partner physically, but when it comes to questions of spiritual life, she's an equal. Notice how Peter uses a play on words here. Husband and wife are joint partners in bringing physical life into the world aren't they, with the wife having a fair share of that responsibility. So too, in the area of spiritual life they're equal partners, being joint heirs with all of God's children, of the gracious gift of life. So to do anything but treat your wife with the respect and love she shows you is to compromise your understanding of the gospel. But more than that, he says, to act in that way will hinder your prayers. Remember how Jesus told us to forgive our enemies so that God would answer our prayers for forgiveness? Well, a similar principle holds true here. If we don't give our spouses the honour that's their due then our fellowship with them will suffer and, as a result, so will our fellowship with God. It's as though the breakdown in our relationship with our wife - or with your husband - will form a blockage between us and God.
	Finally, Peter sums up all of what he's been saying. He lists 6 characteristics that will lead to us receiving a blessing from God.
	1. We're to have unity of spirit. That is be like-minded. Remember in ch. 1 he talked about having minds prepared for action. Later on in the letter he talks about being clear minded. So our unity of Spirit has to do with us being agreed on what matters, what's important. But it also has to do with our attitudes. Paul talks in Philippians 2 about being of the same mind, that is, having the mind of Christ. In that wonderful passage he describes how Christ humbled himself even to death on the cross. So being of one mind is linked with having an attitude of humility, being willing to submit myself to others for Christ's sake and for their sake.
	2. We're to have sympathy. Hebrews talks about us having a High Priest who sympathises with our weaknesses. Sympathy means readiness to rejoice with those who rejoice and to mourn with those who mourn. To feel how they're feeling. And I guess most of us have experienced how sharing our joys with others increases them, and sharing our sorrows eases them.
	3.We're to have love for one another. This is the thing that Jesus said would single us out as his disciples. This is the distinctively Christian characteristic, that we love those whom Jesus loves, independent of how lovely they happen to be. Again, this is a gospel opportunity.
	5. We're to have a humble mind. We're to mimic Jesus who described himself as gentle and humble of heart. We're to clothe ourselves in humility. Peter of course had learned humility the hard way, by stumbling in his pride and having to ask Jesus for forgiveness for denying him 3 times. And he'd seen Jesus' example in both taking up a towel to wash the disciples feet and in his dying on the cross. So he knows what he's talking about. This is something we may be laughed at for. It seems so foolish in this day and age to act with humility, and yet isn't it great when you meet someone who's like that? And it's something that God will honour when Jesus returns.
	6. Finally he says don't repay evil with evil, but rather repay it with a blessing. This is the essence of the gospel isn't it? That evil is repaid with blessing. That God looks at his enemies and loves them, even to the extent of dying for them. Well, I guess if it's good enough for God then it should be good enough for us.
	So while we live in the midst of a hostile world how do we act? With humility. We willingly submit to every human institution that God has set in place in this world. But at the same time we refuse to be submerged by the world. We always keep in mind that our citizenship is not ultimately in this world but in heaven, in God's Kingdom. Although we live in the world, it's the values of the Kingdom that determine how we live. (Read 3:10-12)

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