"Submit Yourselves for the Lords Sake"

1 Peter 2:13-25

Rev. Min J. Chung

(Sunday Worship, February 21, 1999)

Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honour the king.

Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Introduction

We all want to be like Jesus Christ. Amen? I want to be like Christ. We sing and talk about it. That sounds so romantic. But sometimes we need to think about how hard that is. We dont want to go through difficulties and suffering, but thats what Jesus did on this earth. He went through suffering and difficulties. Our call is to do that. This afternoon, even in the midst of suffering and difficulties, especially unjust suffering, our call is to submit. That becomes the most important word all throughout 1 Peter especially in the context of going through unjust sufferings. It is how we are to live in this world. Because we are Christians, we submit ourselves to the Lord. The rest of this chapter calls us to submit to the Lord and to human authorities especially as we go through injustices in our lives.
There once was a young man riding the subway. He was standing in the middle of the crowded train, and another man bumped into him. He walked quickly by him and out the door. He was a bit suspicious, so he checked his pocket and sure enough, his wallet was missing. He ran through the people and grabbed the coat of the person just as the door was closing. He pulls and ripped off half the coat. He was so happy. Even though he lost his wallet, at least he got half of the thiefs coat. He came home and saw his wallet on his desk. Perhaps sometimes we feel like the man who had his coat ripped off. "What did I do? Why is this happening to me?" Whether its at school, our job, in our relationships, how do we react? We react in different ways.
1. Some people react aggressively. I dont just get mad, I get even. Everyday youre in the subway looking for that guy who pulled off your coat. Claiming revenge, hostility, bitterness, determined to get him back.
2. Some of you react passively. You feel sorry for yourself. "There we go again. Thats just me. It always happens. Im just standing there and someone rips my coat off. Life is unfair. Thats just my fate." Never again are you vulnerable to others, because theyll hurt you.
3. Some of you react in a holding pattern. You hold on and postpone your feelings, "Im OK. Im fine. I dont need to talk about it or face up to it," but it eats you up inside.
These are all wrong ways to react to injustice. When we go through it, we are not to show hostility or keep it in our hearts, but we are to go through it like Christ did. We gotta live it like Christ did. If we live it that way, we become examples of how to handle it in our lives. Thats what 1 Peter is saying. We need to be examples in these areas. There is room for Christians to grieve and show our emotions and not hide our emotions, but as we deal with it, we become a great light through the sufferings. Then people will see us as real people, going through real sufferings and difficulties, and see Christ through us.
Martin Luther went to the funeral of a pastor named Nicholas Haussmann. There was a brief, simple, expressive eulogy read at his death in 1522. "What we preach, he lived." I dont know about you, but hopefully someone will say that about me after my death. You can lie, but just say it. Wouldnt that be a great thing to be written on your epitaph? Jesus did that, didnt he? What He preached, He lived. These types of people are the most like Jesus. A non-Christian who was talking about a Christian said, "I would not give much for your religion, unless it can be seen. Lamps do not talk, but they do shine." We need to be the lamps of this world. We are to shine so brightly that people dont hear how we talk. We are to live so loudly, that they cant always hear what we say. We dont even need to say things, but they will see the light shine. Charles Spurgeon said, "A mans life is always more forcible than his speech. When men take stock of him, they reckon his deeds as dollars and his words as pennies. If his life and doctrine disagree, the mass of onlookers accept his practice and reject his preaching." Our actions always speak louder than our words. We dont have to hide the hurting, but we shine the brightest in the darkest times. We need to deal with it according to Scripture. In the midst of darkness as we live in the world, and go through sufferings and difficulties in this life, there are four things that Peter calls us to (1 Peter 2:13-3:7). Well talk about three of them today. Next week, well discuss the whole marriage calling, which I know is irrelevant to you. The first calling (13-17) is to submit yourselves to governmental authority. The second calling (18-20) is t o submit yourselves to your earthly masters. The third calling (21-25) is to submit yourselves to the example of Christ. The fourth calling (3:1-7) is to submit to one another in marriage.

Body
1. Governing Authority
  1. Many of us have a misunderstanding about hierarchies. Are there hierarchies in Scripture? Are they legitimate? Yes. Many misunderstand hierarchies, perhaps because weve experienced injustice because of them. Perhaps youve seen (especiall y if youre from an Asian background) your father mistreating your mother, because of a misusage of their rank. Weve seen this in the political realm as well. But hierarchy is perfectly legitimate in Scripture. Its just a difference in role. Someone leads and others follow. But its not that leading is better than following. Biblical hierarchy is legitimate if our hearts arent sinful. There is a hierarchy even in the spiritual realm. There is a hierarchy among the angels€Gods angels and Satans angels€demons. If you look into 1 Thess. 4:16, there are archangels. If so, there are angels lower than them. There is a hierarchy. Also, when you think about saved people in heaven, there will be a hierarchy among believers. Luke talks about people being in charge of ten cities or five cities depending on what they have done in this world. Also, we will judge the angels in heaven, as 1 Co. 6:3 says. Did you know that there is a hierarchy among God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit? He is the equal being, in terms of status, but different in terms of function. God the Father sent His Son. He told His Son, "You go." The Son obeyed. He submitted Himself. Then God the Son sent the Holy Spirit . Theres a functional hierarchy in Scripture. Thats how Scripture sees hierarchy€just a difference in roles. It doesnt mean that one is higher or better than another€God the Father is not higher or better than God the Son. There are legitimate hierarchies in Scripture. Parents to children. The hearts of parents must be cleansed more and more so that we dont abuse our authority. Within the church system, theres a hierarchy. A lot of times, people criticize the hierarchical system in our church, but its perfectly legitimate. Its just that many misuse it. But if done correctly, its perfectly legitimate to have a hierarchy in the church. Government. Governmental figures and citizens. The government sets the rules and the citizens follow. Sports. The biggest guys on the football field have to listen to the little guys with striped shirts. Education. Teachers and students are part of a hierarchy. Its disappearing in America today, but there is supposed to be that functional hierarchy. Businesses. Bosses and employees are in a hierarchy. 1 Peter 5:5 says this, "Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older." It doesnt mean, "Since Im two months older than you, you must submit to me." But we are to submit to people who deserve respect, with white hair and wrinkles and life experience. There is a call to submit for the Lords sake.
  2. You might say, "Pastor Min, Peter didnt know who would be in government right now. How can you respect the president with all hes done?" However, the Bible doesnt give the basis of respectability as our reason for respect, but the only basis it gives is his position. We dont respect him because of his character or respectability. It doesnt say, "if hes respectable," but "because God has put him in there." God has put President Clinton in office for some reason. What kind of a leader did Rome have at that time? Nero. Do you know who he was? Christians were being killed because Nero set the whole city on fire and blamed the Christians. They were used as torches, killed, and ripped apart in the lions den. I visited the Roman Coliseum and felt like I could almost hear the screams of Christians as they were eaten by lions. Neros government was a lot worse than any government that exists today. Peter himself was to be killed by Nero, yet he still said, "Submit yourselves, to the governing authority," because of the order and hierarchy that exists in the spiritual realm.
  3. An interesting thing is that in the Bible we are never called to an insurrection against the whole government. We must stand in the midst of bad governments and not sin. Yes, we can disobey when they tell us to sin but otherwise we must stand. Our problem isnt understanding it, but doing it. We are to do it for the Lords sake. Verse 14 talks about two purposes of government:
    1. To punish. To restrain the sin of society.
    2. To commend. To do right.
  4. How are we to submit? Verse 16 says "as free men but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil." Christians are free not in the sense that we can do whatever we want, but we are free to obey God. We are free to love the authorities. We obey from our hearts, not only because we have to, but because we love to (this will happen if we love Jesus). We obey as a free man, not because we are bound to the command, but because the Lord Jesus Christ gave us this command. This is a freedom t hat willingly submits for the Lords sake. Freedom is never without limitations. When we stay within the boundaries of freedom, we are truly free. Last week we talked about the war in our souls. Its hard to obey the governing authorities, the unjust boss, or the unjust husband. Thats why there must be a war within. The Holy Spirit must help us. God must free us from the restrictions of our sinful hearts, so that we can freely obey for the Lords sake. Submit even to unjust authorities, for the Lords sake.
  5. What happens when we do this? "You should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." These days when people talk about Christians, since were not good examples, they use our nickname€hypocrite. How do you silence that? By submitting. By living out our faith. Do what is contrary to the world. Live it out, and youll silence the ignorant talk. That word, silence, is the same word that Jesus used when He stands up in the midst of the storm. The disciples are trying to get the water out of the boat. Jesus stands and says, "Quiet! Be still." Then everything in the universe stops. Hush. Silence. How can we silence the ignorant talk of this world? If they talk bad about CFC or the church of Jesus Christ, how do we silence all that? We do it with good works. When we do that good work, we are saying, "Quiet! Be still." Then all the ignorant talk will cease and they will glorify the Lord.
  6. How do you decide whether to be a doormat or to stand up for justice? Its always testimony over justice. We might have a right to justice and its OK to seek it, as long is it doesnt hurt the testimony. Sometimes we must forsake our rights for the sake of the testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2. Earthly Masters
  1. "Submit yourselves to earthly masters for the Lords sake." Its talking about slavery. Now look at this carefully: "Not only to those who are good and considerate." Even if youre a slave, that might be easier to do, but he adds, "also to those who are harsh." We cant even say nice things to regular people who are harsh, but how in the world can we submit to harsh people? It shows the radical-ness of Christianity. Its radical. It goes against the flesh. It goes against the flow. It goes upstream. It goes against the fleshly desire of retaliating. It goes against the flow, when the whole world says retaliate, take revenge, to submit. Why do we submit? For the sake of Christ. Thats why there must be a war within. Theres a war of the flesh between retaliating and going against the flow.
  2. Many people misunderstand slavery. Let me read a bit of background from a commentary. "It wasnt as bad as American slavery. The horrible degradation of slaves in 19^th century America, that gave the word slave a far worse connotation than is accurate for most of the society to which Peter was writing. Although mistreatment of slaves could occur then too, it must be remembered that 1^st-century slaves were generally well treated and were not only unskilled laborers, but often managers, overseers, and trained members of the various professions (doctors, nurses, teachers, musicians, skilled artisans). There was extensive Roman legislation regulating the treatment of slaves. They were normally paid for their services and could expect eventually to purchase their freedom. Nevertheless their service was involuntary (in earlier Roman history slaves had been acquired through war or kidnapping from foreign lands, but by the first century most slaves had simply been born into slave households). Their legal status, social standing, and opportunity for economic independence were clearly lower than others in Roman society. So a word stronger than servant but weaker than slave is needed€something meaning semi-permanent employee without legal or economic freedom. Although servant comes the closest, no single English word is adequate€perhaps because no comparable institution exists in modern Western society. Therefore, even though there is no exact parallel to such servant status in modern society, the fact that this was by far the most common kind of employee-employer relationship in the ancient world, and that it encompassed a broad range of degrees of functional and economic freedom, means that the application of Peters directives to employees today is a very appropriate one." In some sense, this commentator is suggesting that the relationship is close to employee-employer relationship, even though not exactly. So we can apply this to our job€the boss-employee relationship. If you have an unjust boss, this applies. Sometimes we need to go through it like a silent lamb, like how Christ went through the cross. Even in school, it might be your teacher or professor. It might apply to parents who misused their authority. It calls us to respect and honor them. It might be your pastor in your home church. Some ask for counseling in those cases. We need to honor and respect them. Is my priority my right or my testimony? We need to think about the testimony of the gospel and submit ourselves to the governing authorities for the Lords sake.
  3. This text gives three reasons why this is foolishness, according to the world. Why respect this unjust boss?
    1. Commandment of God. God knows better then us. You need to do it, for the Lords sake.
    2. Consciousness of God. "It is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God." Its not only commanded by God, but being conscious of God. When youre righteous and your boss or professor is mistreating you, not only should you recognize the presence of that unjust ruler, but also the presence of God. He commands you to bite your tongue and love that person, to pray for that person, and submit yourself to that person. E ven if your boss is yelling at you and your conscience is saying retaliate, we bite our tongue, because my conscience is bound to God. Thats anxiety. Our conscience is bound to God. So we live the way we do not because other people are looking, but because God is present in that place. Think about preaching. If I were to ask each and everyone of you to come up here, youd be very conscious of other people. You try preaching. Its not easy. 500 people looking at you. 1000 eyes. 5000 toes pointing at you. Its not easy. You become self-conscious. But even more than that, we need to be conscious of the presence of God. Our conscience is bound to God.
    3. Commendation of God. If you suffer for doing good, its commendable before God. God commands it, we are aware of Him if we go through it not because of our sins but because our love for Jesus, and its commendable. My goal is to receive the commendation of God, not of men. Thats why. Do you know why it says submit to your boss, parents, other authorities, injustice? Because you want to receive the approval of God. Thats why we do it.
3. Example of Christ
  1. For the sake of the Lord. "He suffered for you, that you should follow in his steps." We are called to follow what? The example of Christ. He left an example of how we should follow in His steps. What aspect do we need to follow? A couple. First, we need to follow the example Christs death on the cross where he bore our sins. Thats His passive obedience. Wow! He died in our behalf! The other aspect is His life. Thats His active obedience. He overcame sin everyday of His life. This text talks about His life€how He lived. Christ was an example in His sacrificial death, but this is talking about His holy life. Its talking about His everyday overcoming sin, His life endurance, His active obedience. Thats what Peters talking about. Christ committed no sin. When? When He went through unjust suffering and everyday of His life, He committed no sin. If He had committed one sin, He couldnt have died for us. Everyday He lived a holy life. That earned Him the right to die on our behalf. Its just as important as His death. He lived a holy life. Specifically what aspect? This text is talking about the specific aspects of suffering unjustly. Christ is the only true victim in the world. Some of you say, "Im a victim." We have that mentality in unjust situations. Im suffering. My coat. But you bumped into that guy and made him suspicious. The only person who went through His life and death and unjust suffering perfectly is Jesus Christ. Hes the only true victim. Dont expect good things to happen to you just because youre doing everything right. This is our call. "To this you were called." What is this? Unjust suffering. Not only suffering, but unjust suffering€difficulties for the sake of the Christ. Not because of sin, but unjust suffering. Dont be surprised when you go through unjust suffering. To this you were called. Its our calling to go through unjust suffering and to submit ourselves to the example of Christ, for He went through unjust suffering. Dont be surprised when we go through that. Its not talking about suffering for our sins. Many times we do, but this is talking about suffering for the sake of the Lord. Our suffering in Christ is not a divine consequence of our sins, but discipline for holiness. Not divine condemnation, but divine calling. Holiness is like a light€the more holiness in our life, the brighter we get. If we go through it like Christ, well silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
  2. There was a rich man who lost his job. He lost all his money, his home, and his wife died. All he had left was his faith. As he was walking beside a big church, which they were in the middle of building, he saw a person chiseling a stone in a triangular shape. This man asked the worker, "Why are you cutting that stone into a triangular shape?" He replied, "See that corner? Im going to fit it in there." It was an empty spot in the shape of a triangle. The man was so blessed. God was speaking to him through that. "God is chiseling me so I can fit into the kingdom of God." He wants to use you somewhere. God has a purpose. Even though you may be going through an unjust situation, Hes making you like Christ, so you ll shine the light before men.
  3. How can we endure through these situations? The answer, of course, is to look at Christ. We need to see that example and think about Christ. In terms of the present, we are to be conscious of God and seek His approval. And remember in terms of future, well receive the commendation of God, the approval of God. So now we are conscious of God and know His presence, and later final judgement is coming so everything will be made right, but in terms of the past, look at verse 23. "When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly." The word entrusted is in the past imperfect tense. Past imperfect tense means that its a past action but also a repeated action. How did Jesus go through this unjust suffering? He repeatedly entrusted Himself to the Father on that cross. When He was beaten, mocked, ridiculed, and scorned, only because He repeatedly entrusted Himself to the Father, was He able to overcome repeatedly. Thats how you do it. As you are conscious of God, and repeatedly think about the judgment of God, the approval of God, every moment as you go through difficulties and injustice, you need to repeatedly entrust ourselves to the Lord. That means that you pray before you go home: "Lord, help me. This spring break Im going through it without a fight with my dad." Then as you go home, you listen to the praise tape and pray and are pumped up. Youre home and you want to say something with a louder volume, you go to the bathroom and pray to the Lord. Lord, help me to bite my tongue and receive the nail. We need to do that constantly in our lives.
  4. Ive received my share of injustice, I guess. Ive been through attacks and difficulties a little bit. I feel like I havent received anything yet in my young ministers life. But when I receive those moments, one prayer doesnt do. I need to constantly pray whenever the thoughts come, repeatedly entrusting myself to the Lord. "Help me not to attack or to be bitter. Help me to meditate on your presence and strength. Jesus, I love you." I need to constantly entrust myself to Him.
  5. Yesterday I was reading Matthew 5. It talks about the suffering of Christians. It says you will be persecuted, but rejoice and be glad. So we think, "It might be OK to go through it, but how can I rejoice and be glad?" I might be able to go through it, but how can I rejoice and be glad? Only if my hope is in the next world. Only if I really, truly believe that Hell make everything right; only if I have my hope in Him; only if Im aware of the consciousness and presence of God and if the approval of God is the only thing I live for. Only then can I rejoice and be glad. "Go ahead! Keep saying those bad things about me! Keep throwing those rocks at me! Im getting my reward in heaven!"
  6. There was a man who planted trees. This man was talking about how his trees can last more than two weeks without water. A younger man asked, "How did you do that? What did you do with these trees?" He said, "When they were young, I frequently kept water from them. This hardship caused them to send their roots deeper into the soil in search of moisture. Now mine are the deepest rooted trees in the area. While others are being scorched by the sun, these are finding moisture at a greater depth." Hardships are sent by God to deepen our roots. When we go through dry times, desert times in our lives, our faith roots will be deep enough to draw strength from the Lord. Everytime I go through injustice, God is giving me a chance to grow deeper and deeper and deeper into Him. Rejoice and be glad! Grow deeper.
  7. Most of the Psalms were born in difficulties. Many times David wrote his psalms when being chased by Saul or by his son Absalom. Do you know when the flowers smell the best? When stepped on. Most of the epistles were written in prison. Most of the thoughts of the greatest thinkers were written when they passed through the fire. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrims Progress where? In jail. Florence Nightingale, too ill to move from her bed, organized hospitals in England€on her sickbed. Christ is most glorified when we go through suffering for His sake. Even though we might go through injustice in our lives, we must go through it by the power and strength of the Lord. When we do that, people will see God through it and Hell be glorified in our lives.
  8. "Elijah Lovejoy, that great American hero, editor, school teacher, and Presbyterian clergyman, was so upset about slavery in American history that he left the pulpit and returned to the press in order to be sure his words reached more people. He constantly fought slavery. He was committed forever to fighting uncompromisingly the awful sin of slavery. He said, If by compromise it is meant that I should cease from my duty, I cannot make it. I fear God more than I fear men. Crush me if you will, but I shall die at my post. Four days later, thats what happened. He was killed by the opposition, and what is worse, nobody was prosecuted. People might say that was a waste, but there was one young man who was deeply moved by the martyrdom of Lovejoy. His name was Abraham Lincoln," (Presbyterian Life, November 1, 1965) who took up the torch to fight the fight for the sake of the gospel. Whatever we go through, repeatedly go to Him. See Him on the cross€anything is easier than the cross, saints of God. Go through it by His power and strength. When we do, life will emanate through us and people will glorify Him. People see the movie of Christ through our lives. The juice of Christ comes out. His blood comes out and is seen by ignorant men. Then Jesus is glorified. Lets pray.
Conclusion
1. Ill say this week and next week as well, for the workers who are working, for the students who are studying, for the citizens obeying the government, for the children who have to listen to their parents, for the wives who are going through difficulties at home: The beauty of Christian is in his submission. Thats the beauty of a Christian. He or she is beautiful when he submits to the Lord. He shows that submission through human authorities, because he is humble before the Lord and loves Jesus and through it all, God is manifest. He accomplishes good to people who are submitting himself to Him. Itll silence the ignorant talk of foolish men, because when we live freely, we love to submit for the sake of Christ. The best way to show Jesus i s going through it like Jesus injustice. Thats exactly what He did. May He be glorified. Pray to the Lord for that kind of heart. A submissive heart. A humble heart. A strong heart. A deeply-rooted heart. A constantly-entrusting heart. Lord, grant this body a submissive heart. A humble heart. A strong, powerful heart that can go through the highs and the lows, the dark and the desert. A deeply-rooted, entrusting heart, for Your sake.
2. What was Peter saying to all these persecuted Diaspora? Even though youre going through all that, we can show Jesus through the beauty of Christians. The beauty of Christians is in their submission to Christ. Submission to governing authorities. Unjust rulers. In their humility, they entrust themselves to the power of God and there Christ is shown. Thats the gospel. We need to pray, "Lord, every corner of my flesh says, Retaliate! Spit back! Talk back! But every part of my spirit says, Submit yourself to the Lord, to authorities, to parents, for Jesus sake. " There, God will bless you. There, great is your reward in the next world. Then you can rejoice and be glad. The beauty of Christ will be emanated. Lets pray that God will give us that submissive, humble heart so that our lives will shout louder than our words, that people will see Christ through us, as we live what we preach. Lets pray.

Suggested Closing Song:

Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed?

I Believe In You (The Kry)

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