Something More Important Than Self-Preservation
Preached by Benjamin Vrbicek
October 18, 2015
In Matthew 13:44, Jesus described the Kingdom of heaven in this way:
The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
The point is that when you find God, it’s as though you found the greatest treasure in the world, and if that treasure costs you greatly, so be it. God is worth it.A month ago, Mike Greiner, one of our pastor-elders, preached the Sunday sermons. During the sermon, he gave an illustration that went like this: he said, if I come up to you after the sermon and tell you to meet me tomorrow in Pittsburgh at 3am, then you are going to need a reason to do that. You don’t just say, “Sure, I’ll do that; no problem.” You need a reason, a good reason.We’ve been going through the letter of 1 Peter. It’s a letter that the Apostle Peter wrote to several churches. And what God told these Christians to do, was far more difficult than driving to Pittsburgh at 3am. God was calling them to follow in the footsteps of Jesus, which might have meant giving up their lives, if need be. And he’s making this same appeal to you as well. That’s hard stuff.But, the passage also gives us a reason, a good reason, to sell our stuff to buy a field.
1 Peter 2:13-25
13 Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. 18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Introduction
I have a friend named Rem. Rem and I were friends in college. We had this Bible Study on campus that we helped lead. I can remember praying with Rem before the start of each week. Those were good times. I can remember going down in the basement of a building on campus where we would talk about our lives and how we wanted to live them for God and we’d prayed pray for each other in all the many ways were screwing it up and needed the Gospel. We’d talk about and pray for each of our girlfriends, who eventual we both married. Those were good times.After college, Rem went to Beirut, Lebanon, with his wife to tell people about Jesus. But first they had to go to Amman, Jordan to spend two years learning Arabic.They’ve come back to the States now, but it was interesting talking to him about his time in Beirut and how, even a few years ago he commented how much of his ministry related to Syrian refugees there (Syria boarders Lebanon).And I remember once talking to him about something related to the Christian faith, something fairly nuanced and definitely a very secondary matter. In other words, talking about the minutia.And Rem commented to me, “You know, that’s a good thing to talk through, but it’s hard for me to imagine having an argument or discussion about this in my context. As a missionary on the front lines, where people don’t know anything,” he said, “I’m continually trying to get people to grasp the most basic of the most basic things in about Christianity.”That stuck with me.Sometimes, as a preacher and someone who studies the Bible in all of it’s nitty-gritty details (and I love the details!), I don’t want to miss—and I don’t want us to miss—and something HUGE, even something huge in this passage.This passage really only has one point, or at least one fundamental assumption that makes this passage intelligible. It may seem like there are several points, but there is only one point, one underlining assumption, and it’s this:
There is something more important than self-preservation.
There is something more important than avoiding suffering in this life. There is something more important than your reputation. There is something more important than life.And that something is God.There are some details in this passage that are hard to understand, hard to wrestle with, but that’s not our main task. I don’t want to talk about the details and miss the most basic of basic, namely, this isn’t a passage mainly about submission to and the honoring of authorities.It’s mainly a passage about God. It’s a passage about viewing all of the details of our life in relationship to the to the huge reality of the universe: God.This passage is like a pot of boiling water. You look at the surface and you see continually little bubbles popping up here and popping up there. As you look at this passage you can’t hardly get through a verse without seeing the fact that God makes all the difference in the world.Let me show you what I mean. Let me show you the difference of a Godward life in this passage. Look at the way God bubbles to the surface.
“for the Lord’s sake” v. 13
“For this is the will of God” v. 15
“Live as people who are free… living as servants of God” v. 16
“Fear God” v. 17
“when mindful of God,” v. 19
“what credit” v. 20 (a veiled reference to God; there is One who applies the credit)
“gracious thing, in the sight of God” v. 20
“have been called” v. 21 (again, veiled reference)
“entrusting himself to him who judges justly” v. 23
“He himself bore our sins… so that we might live to righteousness” v. 24
“but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer” v. 25
Do you see? You can’t hardly get through a verse without seeing the fact that God makes all the difference. And this is what this passage is about. The way that a person who has received the love of God in the Gospel of Jesus Christ begins to live radically different than before.What kind of difference does God make—specifically? There’ll be more in the coming weeks, but this morning, let’s just talk about the ones in these verses in particular.
1. Honor the government
First, we have honoring the government. Let me re-read verses 13-17 which speak to this.
13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.
Twice a month there is the Swatara Township Commissioners Meeting. It happens just a few minutes south of here on Eisenhower Boulevard. I was asked to pray at the opening of the last meeting. Jason did it a few weeks ago; I’m sure we’ll both do it again sometime in the future.(There’s a man in our church who is friends with the president and he’s asked for evangelical pastors to pray. That’s a good thing.)So at the meeting, after the Pledge of Allegiance, I was called forward by name, and I walked up to the lectern with my huge Bible—not the one I’m holding now. (I have a huge one at home. It’s what’s called a “study Bible” because it has all sorts of notes in it to help you study. Anyways, it’s the one I brought because it was the one I grabbed at home.)But as soon as I stood up there, I could feel the eyes in the room looking at me because now they had a pastor standing at the microphone—who was just supposed to pray—but now he’s holding a huge Bible looking like he was about to preach.So very quickly I said, “I have a huge Bible, I know, but I’m only going to read three words—just three.”Then I looked down and read, “Honor the emperor.”And then I said this, “Those words are significant because they were spoken by a close follower of Jesus named Peter. And they are significant words because at the time Peter wrote, the emperor was Nero. I’m not historian, but we can all probably agree, Nero would have been difficult to honor.” And then I added, “But because of the love that Peter had received from God in the person and work of Jesus, Peter was changed, and so are all Christians.”Then I made it a point to look at the council members standing above me and said, “I don’t know if you feel honored by the Christian community, but I want to let you know that we do intend to honor you. And I thank you for the services you provide and I would like to pray that God would help you to create a society where people can flourish.” Then I prayed a 20 second prayer “in Jesus’s name” and went home.We could get lost in some of the details of this, but the point is clear enough isn’t it? If God has become your God, then Peter is saying that we ought to see government as having a God-given role to play, and we ought to respect them for that and honor them accordingly.Our government today is not perfect. But it’s so much better today than the one that Peter had to work with. Peter’s government, the one he writes about here, in just a few years time, was going to kill him. Church tradition says that he was crucified upside down under Nero.And in saying what he says here, Peter is very similar to Jesus (he’s not Jesus, of course, but he has been transformed by Jesus and is now walking in the footsteps of Jesus). Here’s what I mean. In the gospels we have it recorded that Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” talking about paying taxes (Matthew 22:21; Mark 12:17). And when Jesus said that, he was effectively bankrolling the government that would crucify him. You see how what Peter is saying here is similar: honor a government that will kill him unjustly.It’s campaign season, isn’t it? Debates and commercials and signage and radio spots and sloganeering and posturing and mudslinging and gossip and slander and the like.This passage doesn’t say that Christians have to agree with all that takes place in government. It doesn’t say that. We don’t have to agree; we shouldn’t agree with everything, but it does say that the overriding tone of our disagreement should be honor.There may be a place for witty, cutting remarks, and satire, but these ought not to be our default way of speaking about the government and to the government.How you doing, church?I told this story at my small group the other day but I’ll share it with you as well. When I lived in St. Louis, years ago, during an election season my neighborhood was plump with yard signs, often of opposing candidates. That’s not unusual, I know. But what I’m about tell you was. I had one neighbor that had a sign that said something like, “Remove ‘so and so’ from office.” And then his neighbor had a sign that said, “Vote for ‘so and so.’” Their signs faced each other. Still not unusual, perhaps, until I tell you that the guy (“Mr. So and So”) lived in the house that said “vote for ‘so and so.’” That’s crazy to me.I heard a pastor say on this passage that our disagreement with aspects of our government ought to be “tempered with sorrow” (Slaves of God: Free from All to Honor All by John Piper on May 29, 1994; here). People know you care when you disagree with tears in your eyes.How are we doing, church? Has the reality of a Godward life so penetrated your soul that you can speak differently and act differently?Besides honoring those in government, this passage also speaks specifically of following in Jesus footsteps of enduring unjust suffering.I didn’t know where to break it, so let me read all of vv. 18-25 again.
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
These are tricky verses, aren’t they? Peter, why would we ever intentionally allow ourselves to be mistreated? That’s crazy. Self-preservation is the most important thing in the world, right?The passage talks about being mistreated and not mistreating back. This makes no sense… unless the Son of God did it for you. Unless of course, we really believe that the most free we will every be is when we are the most enslaved to God. If our bedrock assumption is that having the love of God through Jesus is our highest treasure, then we will be free because no one will ever be able to take our treasure.This is good news because if Jesus is your treasure, suffering can’t beat it out of you.But remember, it is not mere suffering. It is a certain kind of suffering that matters, and that is a Godward suffering, a suffering—to use the words of the passage—“mindful of God.”Is there a suffering in your life that you have been resisting because it’s just going to be too much? Perhaps God is calling you to forgive someone, but the suffering involved in forgiving someone is just too great?Perhaps you got the shaft at work over something, and you’re tempted to bail. O, you won’t quite necessarily, you’ll just check out. Someone commented to me once that there are lots of ways to quite without technically quitting.This passage, is asking you to consider what is your highest treasure in life. Think how this letter would have landed upon the first audience. You want us to do WHAT?Let me put in just one disclaimer before coming to the close. My disclaimer comes from v. 23.
23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.
I just want to make sure that we are clear about something. Suffering unjustly for the sake of God is not the same thing as saying injustice doesn’t exist. Injustice is still injustice. Notice that phrase, “entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” That phrase, “him who judges justly,” is a circumlocution for God, which mean’s a roundabout way of speaking. Peter could have just said, “Jesus kept entrusting himself to God.” And that would have been true. But here he says, “him who judges justly.”Why? I think he does this because he wants use to know that the way Jesus got through his unjust suffering was by continually reminding himself that there was someone keeping score.But there I go diving into the details, again. That’s the thing with this passage, with the whole Bible really. There is gold in the details.I’ve been going on an on about suffering and doing hard things for Jesus. Maybe there is someone here that just needs the gentle, but sturdy reminder that God is keeping score. And if things have happened to you—like really, really bad things—he knows.
Conclusion
A few of us on staff were at a pastor’s conference this week and over lunch we were chatting with another pastor. In the conversation Joel Osteen came up. I’ve listened to dozens of his sermons. I’m familiar with his teaching and his emphasis. And this other pastor commented sort of casually, “You know, I don’t think it’s that Osteen is so wrong, so much as the fact that his time scale is off.”What this pastor was saying was that, “God does want good things for us, they just don’t come to us in this life, and if Osteen—and those like him—would only acknowledge that, he’d be orthodox, or closer to orthodox.I don’t want to make too much of this, but that’s actually not right. It’s not simply the timeline that is off. It’s the emphasis that’s off as well.Here are some book titles by Joel:
Break Out!: 5 Keys to Go Beyond Your Barriers and Live an Extraordinary Life
Every Day a Friday: How to Be Happier 7 Days a Week
Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day
It's Your Time: Activate Your Faith, Achieve Your Dreams, and Increase in God's Favor
Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential
Shal Linne is a Christian rapper, in his song about false teachers he has an allusion to that last book title and says, “If you’re livin’ your best life now, you’re headed for hell.”The tragedy of prosperity theology is not that it promises too much, but that it promises too little (Albert Mohler, here).You see, if you don’t get worldly treasure in this life, that’s okay if you are a Christian, because what you get in the next life is your treasure, and your treasure is God. It’s not just the timeline that’s off, it’s the emphasis. In prosperity theology, God is never the treasure. In Christianity, God is the treasure.And Peter hardly gets through one verse without saying because Jesus bore our sins on a tree, we are healed, and we have returned to the Shepherd of our souls, and that’s good news!Yes, God at times might ask us to do harder things than travel to Pitt at 3am, or sell everything, but he is our treasure and we get him forever.
