SERMON STRUCTURE: LIVING AS SERVANTS OF GOD

1 Peter 2:11,12,18-25; 3:8-18

CIT (Central Idea of the Text): The suffering of Christ for us shows how we should respond when we are hurt.

SERMON FOCUS: “¹⁹For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly.” (2:19).

MO: Consecrative

SO: “⁹Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but, on the contrary, repay with blessing. It is for this that you were called — that you might inherit a blessing.” (3:9).

TITLE: Living as Servants of God!

Then … the completed sermon should be evaluated in terms of how well it adheres to the CIT and SF, and accomplishes its SO.

INVOCATION

OUTLINE OF 1 Peter 2:11,12,18-25; 3:8-18

1. Conduct yourselves honorably among unbelievers. (2:11,12).

1. Abstain from the desires of the flesh [i.e., the desire to retaliate]. (2:11).

2. Conduct yourselves honorably among unbelievers [“the Gentiles”], (2:12a)

3. So that, though they malign you, they may see your honorable deeds. (12:12b).

2. Follow the example of Christ’s suffering. (2:18-25).

1. “¹⁸Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind, but those who are harsh.” (2:18).

   1. “¹⁹For it is a credit to you if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly.” (2:19).

   2. “^20aIf you endure pain when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit it that?” (2:20a).

   3. “^20bBut if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval.” (2:20b).

2. “²¹For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.” (2:21).

   1. “²²He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” (2:22).

   2. “²³Whe he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.” (2:23).

   3. “²⁴He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his stripes you have been healed.” (2:24).

   4. “²⁵For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.” (2:25).

3. Repay evil and abuse with blessing. (3:8-18).

1. “⁸…have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” (3:8)

2. “⁹Do not repay evil for evil, or abuse for abuse; but on the contrary, repay with a blessing ….” (3:9a) (3:9-12).

   1. “^9bIt is for this that you have been called — that you might inherit a blessing.” (3:9b).

   2. “¹⁰…those who desire life and desire to see good days, let them keep their tongues from evil and their lips from speaking deceit” (3:10).

   3. “¹¹let them turn away from evil and do good, let them seek peace and pursue it.” (3:11).

   4. “¹²For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.” (3:12).

3. But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. (3:13-16).

   1. “¹³Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good?” (3:13).

   2. “…¹⁴do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated.” (3:14).

   3. “¹⁵Always be prepared to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is within you,” (3:15).

   4. “^16ayet do it with gentleness and reverence.” (3:16a).

   5. “^16bKeep your conscious clear, so that when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.” (3:16b).

4. For it is better to suffer for good than to suffer for doing evil. (3:17-18).

   1. “ ¹⁷it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God’s will, than to suffer for doing evil.” (3:17).

   2. “^18aFor Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God.” (3:18a).

   3. “^18bHe was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” (3:18b).

SERMON DEVELOPMENT

Living As Servants of God

1 Peter 2:11,12,18-25; 3:8-18

Introduction

1. During the last month our sermon texts have come from the book of 1 Peter.

2. Sermon topics have centered on the differences that Easter should make in our lives —

1. We have thought about Our Living Hope in Christ (06 April), the elements of living A Holy Life (13 April), and what it means to be God’s Chosen People (27 April).

2. This Sunday will bring those topics to an end — at least for now.

   1. Next Sunday sets a different direction in two ways: first, by the secular calendar, it’s Mothers’ Day.

   2. And second, by the Church or Liturgical calendar, it’s Pentecost — the “birthday of the church,” the day on which the Holy Spirit came upon all believers.

3. Today’s sermon is the last in this series, but in some ways it is the most difficult, because our Scriptures today command us to do something that is often contrary to our human nature, and it is SO easy to fall back on our human instincts and ignore or brush off what the Scriptures are telling us.

4. And I want to say to you all honestly that I have as much trouble living according to what God commands in this area as any of you. And so I am, as I always am, preaching to myself first.

Scripture

1. The context for our Scripture is the last half of the second chapter of 1 Peter and all of the third chapter.

1. That passage is printed for you in the bulletin insert.

2. We will not be reading all of it, but only selected verses, which are printed in bold.

3. And I will be reading only one section at a time, with a few comments before going onto the next part.

2. The central idea in this whole passage is that the suffering of Christ shows us how we should respond when we are hurt. (Sermon Focus)

3. And right away we see the problem, because we know how we instinctively respond when we are hurt — we usually respond in anger and pain, and with an eagerness to retaliate, to strike back, to inflict hurt and pain on others to a degree that at least equals our own, if not exceeding it.

4. But Peter says to us, “⁹Do not repay evil for evil, or abuse for abuse, but, on the contrary, repay with blessing. It is for this that you were called — that you might inherit a blessing.” (3:9).

5. And that is the specific objective of the message for today.

6. But, I’m getting ahead of myself already. Let’s pause to read the first two verses of our selected passage.

7. The passage is 1 Peter 2:11, 12. I am reading from the New Revised Standard Version.

[Read here 1 Peter 2:11, 12 (NRSV).]

Exposition

1. “Abstain from desires of the flesh,” Peter tells us. (2:11).

1. Now “desires of the flesh” is a phrase that conjures up for us images of improper physical relationships between people.

2. But I don’t think that’s what he means here.

   1. What Peter has in mind is something much more subtle, but equally as powerful:

   2. It is the human tendency to “fight back,” to retaliate, to repay evil with evil.

2. And he follows that up with another command that helps explain his meaning: “Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles,” he says.

1. We remember that he is writing to Jewish believers, and so he properly calls those who do not believe “Gentiles.”

2. We might substitute the word “pagans” here, but that word has pejorative overtones, and so it’s not a word we want to use.

3. “Conduct yourselves honorably among those who don’t believe” is probably a better way of capturing what he’s saying.

4. And the reason for that good conduct is “that, though they may malign you, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God.” (2:12).

5. And that of course is a reflection of what Peter was saying in the first half of chapter 2.

6. And Peter will return to this idea later, so let’s move on.

Scripture

1. In our second section of Scripture, Peter encourages us to follow the example of Christ’s suffering.

2. The passage here is chapter 2, verses 18-25. Again, I’m reading from the New Revised Standard Version.

[Read here 1 Peter 2:18-25 (NRSV).]

Exposition

1. In these verses, Peter addresses his remarks to those folks in his time who were most likely to be abused and mistreated — the slaves.

1. So we have to be careful in reading this passage that we don’t take it as an endorsement of slavery, or any abridgement of the rights or dignity of any kind of racial or ethnic or cultural group.

2. But in Peter’s day, and indeed in our own southern culture up until the last 40 years or so, blacks have been widely treated as second-class citizens.

3. And even today there is widespread suspicion of, and discrimination against, people of Hispanic or Arabic heritage.

4. So we must be very careful not to read into Peter’s remarks any endorsement whatever of the horrendous conditions that prevailed in his time, and linger in degrees in our own culture.

2. Neither must we read into Peter’s words any hint that we should avoid doing all that we can to promote the cause of social justice for all peoples of the world.

3. But what Peter does say about the condition of the slaves we need to hear for ourselves:

1. “¹⁹ …it is a credit to you [Peter says] if, being aware of God, you endure pain while suffering unjustly.

   1. “^20aIf you endure pain when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that?” he asks.

   2. “^20bBut if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God’s approval” he says.

2. And then Peter comes to the point that is most relevant for us.

   1. “²¹For this you have been called [he says], because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.” (3:21).

   2. What then does Peter mean when he says “for this you have been called”?

      1. Does he mean that we have been called to be slaves?

      2. Or does he mean that we have been called to win God’s approval?

   3. Surely Peter is saying to us that we are called to win God’s approval!

   4. And how are we to do that?

   5. Clearly, by following Christ’s example.

   6. And what is Christ’s example?

      1. “²²He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. (3:22).

      2. “²³When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly.” (3:23).

Scripture

1. Now Peter fills this out just a little more in the third part of our Scripture for today: 1 Peter 3:8-18.

2. We do not have time or space to read all these verses, but a few of them carry the point quite well.

3. I’m reading verses 9 and 14 from the New Revised Standard Version.

[Read here 1 Peter 3:9, 14 (NRSV).]

Exposition

1. Peter here makes a significant assertion: that in repaying good for evil, in repaying insult and injury with blessing, that we ourselves inherit the blessings of God.

2. “Even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed,” he says.

Reflections and Conclusions

1. In today’s pluralistic society, Christianity is only one voice among many.

2. And very unfortunately, because Christians have often behaved so badly in the name of Christ, very few people see in the face of organized Christianity what Christianity is all about.

3. Last Sunday I quoted the remark attributed to Mohandas Gandhi, “If it weren’t for the Christians, I would be one.”

4. In these days what we often hear from western Christians, especially from extremely conservative churches, are loud complaints that their rights as Christians are somehow being violated by the exclusion of their beliefs from the public forum, especially in such issues as the display of the Ten Commandments or other religious texts in public buildings, or the exclusion of state-sponsored prayer in public schools.

5. And the reality of life for many Muslims in this country, especially those who are black or of Arab descent, is widespread suspicion and sometimes outright hostility, some of it in the name of those who malign Islam as a faith. And that kind of criticism extends to the highest levels of organized Christianity, including, regrettably, such public figures as Franklin Graham.

6. Peter says we are to have none of that. Christ’s example of bearing his sufferings and returning blessings for curses is to be our example and our pattern.

7. It is a pattern that runs completely contrary to our human nature. And it is so subtle and so insidious that it springs itself upon us almost unawares.

8. And so let us hear again the injunction that Peter gives to us:

“⁹Do not repay evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but, on the contrary, repay with blessing. It is for this that you were called — that you might inherit a blessing.” (3:9).

9. John Bunyan was a leader of English Baptists in the middle of the 17th century. When he was imprisoned for preaching in the village square, an officer named Cobb attempted to persuade him to give up his public meetings. Cobb appealed to him to obey the government as the apostle Paul had instructed. “Yes,” Bunyan replied, “but Paul was in prison. There is more than one way to obey. We can obey by doing everything we are told, and we can obey by refusing and suffering what is done to us.”¹

10. That is the response to unmerited suffering that Scripture requires of us.

May the grace of God be with us all as we try to pattern our lives after the example that Christ has set for us.