09-27-09 Submit to WHO?!

Near the end of his life

Peter saw up-close and personal

the turmoil that often comes into a person’s life

as a direct result of their submission to Christ.

It really could be no other way, of course,

given the warfare that continues to rage on this earth.

At present the god of this world

is not the Creator God - Jesus Christ,

it is Satan.

And we are told that 2CO 4:4 ... the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

It is the way things are.

It is not the way they will always be,

but it is the way they are now

and the way they will remain until the return of the King.

And Peter wrote his 1^st letter to his fellow Christians

to give us the knowledge, the attitudes, and the game-plan

that would equip us for successful living in a hostile world,

a world that rejects our God

and wars against His life within us.

We’ve spent most this year

in a study of that letter

and have reached the last half of the second chapter,

the section of the letter in which Peter is now offering us the practical how-to’s

for this life we are called to live.

And these are not just religious platitudes, you know.

What we’re looking at

is as practical as it gets.

These are not simply suggestions of things we should do in order to please God.

This is our God sharing with His children

the way real life works -

the way real life lived in a hostile body and a hostile society works.

It just takes us so long to see the truth sometimes.

That’s especially true with this call to submission

that forms such a major part of the last half of Peter’s letter.

Rather than recognizing submission as the incredible doorway it is

to true freedom of the human spirit,

we begin viewing it as the exact opposite - we view it as slavery.

This principle seems to be especially hard for men

who frequently view submission as a sign of weakness.

I have known more than a few men in my life

who have been determined not to submit to any authority if they can find any way around it.

They refuse any job in which they are not allowed to be in control,

they refuse to submit to the needs or wishes of their wife,

they certainly won’t submit to any governmental regulation if they can get away with it,

they stand in judgement over the lives and beliefs of their fellow Christians,

and in the process their lives are miserable and their relationships are in shambles.

Nobody wants to work with them or for them,

their marriage is a pathetic shell of what it was designed to be,

their life is filled with endless petty power conflicts with every authority they come in contact with,

and in the process they live lives of constant tension, isolation, and loneliness.

And yet they continue to cling to their determination never to submit

for fear it would somehow threaten their manhood or make them feel weak,

and they never seem to discover

that not only is submission not their enemy

but it is, in fact, their doorway into the greatest freedom they can ever know.

But it is so hard for us to see this truth for what it really is -

one of God’s greatest protections we will ever know

from so many of the forces that seek to destroy the life of Christ within us.

Well, as we’ve already seen, Peter begins his call to submission

with the one we would be inclined to most quickly reject - the pagan governmental structures over us.

1PE 2:13-14 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.

But he doesn’t stop there.

From there he then turns his attention

to the second most commonly resented authority in our lives -

those who have authority over us in our work.

He does this by illustrating it with the most extreme employer/employee situation,

that of the master and his servant.

In 2:18-19 he says,

1PE 2:18 Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.

Paul deals with this same issue a total of four separate times,

in Ephesians, in Colossians, in his first letter to Timothy, and in his letter to Titus,

and when he addresses it

he doesn’t just use the word “servant”,

he uses the word “slave”.

COL 3:22 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord.

1TI 6:1 Let all who are under the yoke as slaves regard their own masters as worthy of all honor so that the name of God and our doctrine may not be spoken against.

And just as we found when we were looking at Peter’s comments about governmental authorities,

from a human point of view

the difficulty with these comments about those who have authority over our work

is how clear these statements are.

Both Peter and Paul state openly

that some of these Masters are absolute jerks.

Well, Peter doesn’t call them jerks,

but that’s what he means when he talks about those who are unreasonable.

So why is Scripture so clear and so strong

about our submitting to the authority of the masters in our lives?

Well, in just a few moments I’ll share three major reasons

why Peter and Paul say what they say,

but let me preface it first

with two observations.

First, let me remind us that Biblical submission to authority

does not mean that we give up our right

to do all we can within God’s moral framework

to keep those in authority over us both fair and accountable in their dealings with us.

It’s true that both Peter and Paul

chose to illustrate this principle

with the most extreme situation

in which the worker is the literal “legal” property of the master.

In such a situation

there could be no negotiation or appeal for a better work environment,

or better pay,

or better hours,

or better safety measures,

or better food or housing.

But in our society today

with most job situations

there are a wide range of options available

for negotiations with our employers,

and we frequently even have access to those who are in authority

over the ones in authority over us.

A huge part of the message our God gives to us about human authority structures

is that those structures exist for our benefit

and for our protection,

and if there are things we can do within those authority structures

to improve our lives

we have every right to pursue them,

assuming our motives are not vindictive or malicious.

If we are being abused or misused by an employer

and we can take steps to correct the situation,

there is nothing Christian about allowing the abuse to continue.

And the second observation I’d make here

is that during most of our lives

most of us will find that we are both under authority

and also in authority over others.

And in those situations in which we are in authority over others

we need to view that authority

as both a high calling and a special trust given to us by God.

Whether it is authority we hold within the governmental structure,

or authority over employees under our supervision,

or authority we hold within the family structure,

or any other situation in which our actions and choices impact others,

such authority is a crucial stewardship given to us by our God.

Maybe I can say it best this way -

holding authority over another person

is not a right to use them for our own ends,

it is a responsibility to protect them in the way that makes their life

as safe, productive, and fulfilling as it can be.

Here, as with all things,

our perfect role model is God Himself.

He has the right to absolute authority over each of our lives.

But He uses that authority

not to use us for His own goals like disposable worker bees in the hive,

but rather He uses His authority

to direct us into the most fulfilling life we could ever know.

And whenever we hold authority over another person

our goal should not be finding ways of using them for our goals

but rather building a structure for them in which they can be truly productive.

But having said that,

let me share with you

the three major principles underlying God’s call to us

to submit to the masters in our lives.

And the first of these three

comes right out of these verses we’re studying in 1^st Peter.

To submit to the masters in our lives

is one of the most powerful ways we’ll ever have

of quieting a common but highly destructive lie

used by Satan against the presentation of Christ to our world.

Do you remember how Peter started this how-to section of his letter?

1PE 2:12 Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may on account of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.

1PE 2:15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

All too often

Satan succeeds in feeding Christians the lie

that their union with Christ

and His life within them

now gives them the ability to become their own absolute authority in life.

They believe that the voice of God within them

takes authority over any other voice that goes against what they believe God is saying to them,

and often that they even have the divine ability

to know and communicate God’s will to those around them.

“God told me to tell you...!”

“I don’t have to submit to you

because God has told me to do it differently.”

And once this lie is in place within the Christian,

they will frequently become among the most arrogant

and divisive people around.

And please don’t misunderstand me here.

We most certainly do gain direct access to the mind of Christ

as a result of the Spirit of God within us.

But there are two other powerful voices that continue to seek influence over us as well -

the voice of our flesh and the voice of Satan,

and apart from our choosing to trust the written Word of God

when it calls us to submission to the authority structures He has placed us under

we are utterly incapable of knowing the difference between those three.

How do you tell the difference between your feelings

and the voice of the Spirit of God?

How do you tell the difference between Satan disguised as an angel of light

and the voice of the Spirit of God?

God has built several protective safeguards into this sin-soaked world in which we live,

one of which is His commitment to reveal Himself and His mind to us

through the authority structures He’s placed over us.

And when Peter calls us to submission to the masters in our lives

he is doing it in part

because it silences that hideous religious arrogance

in which an employee seeks to set himself in authority over his employer,

using his claim to the voice of God as his authority.

And here again we need to keep a clear vision

of what matters most in the few years we spend on planet earth.

We can so easily be deceived into believing

that what matters most is what makes the most money,

or what’s most efficient,

or possibly even proving to ourselves or to our fellow workers

that we’re right and our boss is wrong.

In other words,

we can easily allow ourselves to believe

that the job matters more than the people.

But what matters the most

is how our conduct affects our employer’s access to God.

And at the heart of what Peter is saying to us

is his message that the guy over us may be a jerk,

he may even be incompetent,

but he’s also God’s creation in need of his Creator

and we are to honor him or her through submission to their authority,

because it will do more to open them up to the voice of their God than anything else we could do.

And the second of the three reasons offered to us for submission to the masters in our lives

takes this principle to an even higher level.

Listen to where Peter goes next with this.

1PE 2:19-25 For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God. For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

OK, do you see what he does there?

He takes our relationship with an unreasonable master

and draws a powerful parallel between that relationship

and Christ’s relationship with those who crucified Him.

And he even goes to the point of telling us

that we have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in Hi steps...

And the message imbedded in this passage is threefold.

First, our submitting to an unreasonable master reflects the image of Christ within us,

second, it pleases our Lord when we do this,

and third, by drawing this parallel between Christ submitting to those who abused Him

and us submitting to those who abuse us

he strongly implies that our following His example

will do much to help bring about the salvation of the one who abuses us.

Simply put, our submission is one of the most powerful ways we have

of mirroring the heart of our Lord

to those who stand in authority over us.

And obviously, here again it comes back

not to what we say

but rather to how we live.

And I don’t know if you noticed it,

but Peter also uses this discussion

as an opportunity to state once again

in such clear, simple, powerful words

the very heart of everything our God wants all of us to most clearly understand.

...and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

I do love that so much.

There’s lots of stuff He wants us to know about improving our lives,

but the foundation of this whole thing between us and our God never changes.

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, ... for by His wounds we were healed. For we were continually straying like sheep, but now we have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

Can you hear the intensity of His love for us in those words?

I hope so.

We fumble along in our efforts to live the life He’s called us to live

and when we look back a ways

we can see that we are much better now than we were when we started,

but still each day our longings for righteousness

exceed our grasp,

and we are never even for an instant what we really wish we were.

And yet each new day

we once again forget what lies behind

and reach out to what lies ahead

and rest secure in the absolute certainty

that it never has and never will rest upon our performance.

It rests always, only on the fact that He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross,

and because He did, by His wounds we were healed.

And did you notice it’s in the past tense?

We WERE healed.

Our spirits now truly are holy, pure, and right in every way,

never to be undone again.

And now, even in all the struggle and turmoil,

we know we have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

And no matter how much we wander at times,

or lag behind,

or get caught up in the sometimes confusing maze of life,

we know with certainty that we belong to Him,

and He knows it,

and He’s well pleased with the arrangement,

and He will never leave us, never abandon us,

and He both can and will bring us safely home.

That’s what the Shepherd does, you know,

He knows each of His sheep by name,

and He brings each of them safely home.

Well, let me just mention the final motivation offered to us by our Lord

when He calls us to submit to those masters we’re under.

This one is found in Paul’s letter to the Colossians

and here again what we find here is astonishing.

He says, COL 3:22-24 Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men; knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.

Paul tells us that when we submit to and serve the masters over us

from God’s point of view

we are actually submitting to and serving Christ Himself.

And with this statement

he’s doing two things for us.

First, he’s reminding us of the level at which Christ is involved in the daily details of our life.

He is there with us,

aware of every choice of submission and service we make,

even when no one else in the world may know.

And second,

he is giving us a powerful survival tool

for those times when what is demanded from us

seems unreasonable to the extreme.

He’s saying, “My child, I know how you feel about this person and the demands they make of you.

I know there is nothing within you that wants to see them benefit from your actions.

But would you be willing to do it for Me?

What if I was the one who was benefitting from what you do?

Would that be OK? Because that’s really what’s happening here.

It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.”

It’s all so different than we think, isn’t it?

There is so much more going on here than we realize,

and the significance of the choices we make

is so much greater than we will ever know this side of the grave.

And in the end we make it through

by doing what Peter calls us to do in the 4^th chapter of this letter.

1PE 4:19 Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right.