Enduring Suffering & Sorrow

[Read 1 Peter 2:13-25]

Oh boy, am I gonna step in it this morning. You know, this is the danger/benefit of preaching through books of the Bible. I’m not really in charge of what passage I’m preaching at what time. I just keep taking the next set of verses and try to apply it to our current situation. 

So, I pick this book of 1 Peter because it’s written to a group of people who are suffering—and they’ve been suffering for quite a while. I thought it would be relevant to our current situation and help guide us through some rough waters. 

Then, I come to this verse and I’m once again surprised at how relevant scripture is to our every day living and situations. This letter was written to a group of people suffering and what did Paul have to write to them about? Submitting to governing authorities? Do you think that’s relevant to our current situation—our current suffering? It’s extremely relevant. 

It’s also a massive pile of dynamite to touch right now, isn’t it? Our country is so divided right now over the topic of authority. Who has authority to do what? That’s what this past Supreme Court decision was all about, right? Did Governor Evers have authority to extend the Safer At Home Order? The Supreme Court said that he didn’t. So, the order was cancelled. Now, there’s a lot of people who are really happy about the decision and there’s a lot of people who are very angry about that decision. 

But the question comes to us: How are we supposed to relate to the authorities over us? The overwhelming refrain from Scripture is that we must submit to them. So, at the beginning of this passage, Peter says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors…” (1 Peter 2:13–14, NIV). Romans 13 says the same thing: “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.” (Romans 13:1, NIV). Titus 3 says that same thing: “Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good,” (Titus 3:1, NIV). So, there should be no question about how we are to relate to the authorities over us. We are called to submit to them. 

You might be wondering, “Why?” Peter answers that question in two ways. First, because of God. Second, because of evangelism. 

First, he says that we are to “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority…” (1 Peter 2:13, NIV). We are to submit to the authorities in our lives for God’s sake. As Romans 13 points out, we are to submit to authorities because they’ve been placed there by God. So, when we submit and honor the authorities about us, we are submitting to and honoring the God who placed them there. 

We do not submit to authorities for their own sake. We submit to them for God’s sake. That’s an important distinction. As one commentator put it, “It is because Christ, not Caesar, is Lord that one submits.” (Davids, p. 99). It’s an important distinction because we must not submit to anything that goes against the will of God. Our submission to authorities on earth is always filtered through our submission to Our God. 

The second reason Peter gives for submitting to authority is for the sake of evangelism. He says, “For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.” (1 Peter 2:15, NIV).

Throughout history Christians have been slandered and misrepresented from non-believers. In Peter’s day, the Roman world was already calling them atheists (because they rejected the Roman gods), cannibals (because they ate the “body” and “blood” of Christ), and incestuous (because they married their “brothers and sisters” in Christ). So, Peter tells the church to watch how they act. They are already falsely accused of many things. Why add to that list? Actually, he says that our good behavior in submitting to the governing authorities will silence their false accusations. We will begin to have such a reputation in the community that people won’t believe the slanders about you. They know you better than that. 

It’s not much different today. We know that when a Christian makes a mistake, they end up being smeared all over the news. Or, if someone claiming to be a Christian, does something wrong, the headlines read “Christian does _________!” So, Peter tells us to be careful how we act—especially in regard to the authorities over us. Any trouble we get ourselves into will affect our witness in the world. Rather than silencing their false accusations, it will only add fuel to the fire.

Peter builds off this by saying, “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:16–17, NIV). By submitting to authorities, we are not enslaving ourselves to them. We are free people in Christ. Yet, that doesn’t mean we are to use our freedom to put ourselves back into slavery to sin. That would be foolish. Our freedom is FROM sin and TO God. We are free people, enslaved to God. This is why we submit to authorities—BECAUSE we are enslaved to a God who has put them in their position and tells us to submit to them. So, show respect to everyone, love fellow believers, fear God, and honor the president and governor and mayor. 

Now, I know there is a nagging complaint rising up in many of you right now. It’s been there since the beginning of this message. “Yeah, Yeah, I know the bible says we are supposed to submit to authorities, but it also gives examples of disobeying authorities.” You have been thinking about the passage in Acts where Peter (the one telling us to submit to authorities) says, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!” (Acts 4:19, NIV). 

This is a passage we hold dearly in the United States, don’t we? We hold it dearly because our country was founded on civil disobedience. At the core of our DNA is a rebellious streak—a desire to rise up and disobey when someone wants to tell us what to do, screaming “You’re not the boss of me!” 

So, we get uneasy when people start talking about submission to authorities. We are forced to acknowledge submission to authorities is in the Bible—so we can’t ignore it—BUT we can always pull our our “trump card,” and talk about how we can rebel against authorities in the name of God. That helps us return to our comfort zone of rebellion. Then, as I’ve spoken with people over the years, I’ve watched them justify rebellion after rebellion after rebellion in the name of “obeying God rather than man.” 

I once had a teenager from my youth ministry who had been disobedient to her parents. So, she was grounded. Part of her “grounding” was that she couldn’t attend our youth ministry for a couple weeks. So, what did she do?  She climbed out her window and snuck through back yards so she could attend youth group. When I found out what she had done, I called her father and pulled her off to the side. I asked her why she snuck out of the house and disobeyed her parents. Her answer: “My parents aren’t good parents. They aren’t even Christians. They were preventing me from going to church. I decided that I would obey God rather than my parents, just like Peter and John.” I had to tell her that obeying God meant obeying her parents—even non-Christian parents. I had to tell her that missing a couple weeks of youth group was way different than being told “speak no longer to anyone in this name.” (Acts 4:17, NIV). I had to tell her that I had called her father and was sending her back home and I expected her to honor God by honoring and obeying her parents. I would see her again in a couple weeks. 

Now, I assume that many of you were sympathetic to her plea. Some of you may even be thinking that I did the wrong thing. Some of you are thinking that we can disobey the authorities over us when they are non-Christian, overreaching, and harsh rulers. That is what gives us the right to disobey them, right? Look at verse 18: “Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.” (1 Peter 2:18, NIV). Yes, this passage is speaking directly to slaves, but the principle applies across the board to any submission by a Christian. We are to submit to authorities—in reverent fear of God—even those how are harsh. Other translations translate the word “harsh” as “unjust.” We are to submit even to unjust rulers. We are called to submit to rulers who are cruel and wicked and overreaching and abusive. 

Like many pastors like to remind their congregations when they preach on this topic, it is very likely that Nero was the emperor at the time when Peter wrote this letter. Nero—the emperor who was said to tie Christians to stakes and burn them to light his parties. The emperor who was known for some of the heaviest persecution of Christians in history. And Peter, who is living in the midst of that persecution, is telling the Christians to HONOR that emperor and SUBMIT to that emperor. I have to say that it would have been much more difficult to honor and submit to Nero than to honor and submit to Trump OR to Governor Evers. There’s no comparison. 

Peter gives us two reasons to submit to authorities that are harsh and unjust. First he says, “For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are 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.” (1 Peter 2:19–20, NIV). The first reason Peter gives us for submitting to unjust and harsh authorities is that it is commendable in the sight of God. It is commendable to submit ourselves to unjust authorities as we “are conscious of God”—as we keep our eyes on God. It is commendable for us to suffer for doing good and enduring, as we keep our eyes on God. 

As I thought about that principle this week, something came to me. Peter tells us that submitting to unjust authorities and suffering for doing good is commendable in the sight of God. In Romans 13, Paul says, “Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.” (Romans 13:2, NIV). Rebelling against authorities God has instituted, is rebelling against God. Alright, make sure you have those two principles firmly rooted in your mind. It is commendable in the sight of God to endure sorrow and suffering, while doing good and submitting to harsh and unjust authorities. It is also rebellion against God to rebel against the authorities he has placed over us. 

Does this mean there is no place for civil disobedience? No. There is a place for civil disobedience. Scripture is clear on that as well. But, I think understanding these two principles forces us to think long an hard before we decide to resist authorities. When we decide to resist authorities, it is very possible that we are NOT honoring God through our disobedience—that we are even rebelling against God himself. Yet, when we choose to submit to authorities—even suffering for that submission—we know that it’s commendable to God as we keep our eyes on Him. So, if you are going to rebel against the authorities, you better be extremely sure that you are honoring God through your rebellion—otherwise you may find yourself rebelling against God. Civil disobedience is NEVER something we should rush into. It should NOT be our first instinct. It should be a last resort. 

The second reason Peter gives us for submitting to unjust and harsh authorities is Jesus Christ himself. He says, “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 cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”” (1 Peter 2:21–24, NIV). What happened to Jesus was unjust and harsh. The rulers who ordered his execution were wicked and evil. They were cruel and harsh. Yet, Jesus submitted himself to their authority. He was completely innocent. They mocked him and insulted him and he didn’t hurl mocking and insults back. He kept his mouth shut. They beat him and he didn’t threaten them back. He submitted himself to harsh and unjust authorities—and Peter says that he did it “leaving [us] and example.” We are to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, by submitting ourselves to unjust and harsh authorities. 

How was Jesus able to do this? “Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” (1 Peter 2:23, NIV). He entrusted himself into God’s hands—our God who is not harsh and is completely just. He didn’t try to take matters into his own hands. He didn’t try to assert his rights. He trusted God with everything—even his life. He knew that God is a just judge; that God would one day make everything right and restore order. He knew that God would look upon his innocent suffering and would honor it and repay Him. He knew that God would look upon the injustice and harshness of the leaders and REPAY them for their deeds too. He entrusted his entire life into God’s hands. 

Look at how God used his faithful submission. Look at the way God used the injustice done to Christ. God used it beyond anyone’s comprehension. He lifted Jesus up and exalted him by raising Him from the dead. He exalted His name above every other name. He used his faithful submission to bring about healing and freedom for any who are enslaved to sin. He used this faithful submission to bring about our salvation and to heal us. We are no longer lost sheep, wandering astray on the hillsides of this world, but we are not part of God’s flock. He is our Shepherd and is caring for us and Watching Over us. So, we must keep entrusting ourselves to Him—our entire lives—and trusting that He is a just judge who will make things right in the end. 

This season of Quarantine has been very difficult for our country. I have no doubt in my mind about that. I think it’s been more difficult than many people have realized. There has been much sorrow and suffering as a result of these executive orders to Stay At Home. People have suffered from loneliness and isolation. People have suffered from loss of jobs or businesses.

How do we respond to this suffering brought on by governmental executive orders? We submit and entrust ourselves to God. He is a just judge and it’s commendable in his sight for us to submit and keep our eyes on Him. God will make this right one day. As we suffer here on earth, we are storing up a treasure in heaven that doesn’t fade away. So, we submit and entrust ourselves to God. 

Now, here in Wisconsin, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Governor overreached in extending the Safer At Home order. It has been lifted and each county is implementing their own plans. So, how do we respond in light of this? We submit and entrust ourselves to God. We follow Peter’s lead when he says, “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves.” (1 Peter 2:16, NIV). We are still enslaved to God, which means we still must live as God’s ambassadors in this world. We must still live wisely, intelligently, and with love toward our neighbor. So, we continuing to work on plans to meet again in small groups and for public worship in some capacity. As we make those plans we make those plans in submission to our God and to the authorities he has put in place. 

In some ways, much has changed. In other ways, not much has changed. We will continue to live each day submitting and entrusting ourselves to God—just like we’ve always done.