Passage: 1 Peter 2:13-25
Intro: Footprints aren’t very common in Arizona
1. not enough rain to make mud, anything else dries in 3 seconds
2. but when we do find them, they are unmistakable evidence that someone has passed this way before.
3. if we see a set of footprints disappear over a cliff, we tend to avoid following them.
4. if we see them suddenly meet up with paw prints of a large cat, replaced by blood and drag marks, we would run the other way.
5. there is a powerful statement in the passage that was read for us.
6. v21 says “to this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps”
7. two things leap out at us from this verse.
8. first, we wonder what “this” is referring to
9. 2nd, we have a little shudder of fear when we see that word “suffer”.
10. as we have seen earlier in this letter, followers of Jesus Christ have a unique set of values that set us apart from the world.
11. there is no doubt that following the footprints of Jesus will lead us places where our flesh will resist going.
12. the life of Jesus Christ was characterized by faith; unquestioning obedience to His Father because He trusted His Father.
13. that’s what the “this refers to in v21, “this life of obedient faith”
14. What are we called to believe about God, believe so much that it changes the way we live?
I. Faith in the Sovereignty of God
1. vv 13-17 deal with the believers relationship to the government.
2. don’t forget! The government these believers were under was headed by Nero.
Il) apparently Nero enjoyed driving chariots, wanted to practice at night as well, sent soldiers into town to find Christians, who he tied to posts around his track and then lit them on fire to provide light for him.
3. here was a king who delighted in tormenting believers, and Peter is telling them and us to “submit yourselves to every authority”
4. notice something in vv13, 15, 16, &17.
5. each one points to the reason we submit, and the reason has nothing to do with the behavior or attitudes or politics of the king
6. “for the Lord’s sake”…it is because God has placed these rulers in place by His sovereign will.
7. Paul says the same thing in Rom 13:1
PP Romans 13:1
8. no one rules except by the sovereign will and choice of God.
9. and I’d imagine the recipients of this letter had some questions they would like to ask God about His choice in this case.
10. as believers, we are called to believe that God knows exactly what He is doing to promote His cause and His purposes.
11. there is no doubt that His ways are difficult to swallow, even harder to digest!
12. He has told us that, and asks that we submit to His greater wisdom
PP Isaiah 55:8-9
13. submission to the government, especially in the U.S., is not particularly taxing.
14. generally speaking, few of us find submission to our government a struggle.
15. but the footprints of Jesus continue into a darker place.
II. Faith in the Justice of God
1. If there is anything we all want, it is to be treated in the way we deserve.
2. if we do a poor job, we’ll take the rebuke, the “F”, being passed over for the promotion
3. but if we do a good job, we want the praise, the “A”, the pay upgrade and the office with a window and a door.
4. this, we believe, is justice.
5. Peter address a situation that is a hotbed for injustice; slavery
6. in Romans times, slavery was different in many ways from that which was practiced in the U.S. before the Civil War.
7. many of the slaves in Roman times, especially the household slaves mentioned in v18, had sold themselves into slavery on purpose.
8. even so, they were considered property by their owners, and sometimes treated as such.
9. and sometimes, as Peter mentions, they did good work and suffered what Peter calls “unjust suffering”
10. unjust suffering implies many things.
11. being misunderstood, having our work overlooked, being the target of unprovoked hatred, doing good and being beaten for it,
12. when this happens, our whole being cries out for justice!!
13. and it at this point of pain that Peter writes these words, “to this you were called”, and specifically he means a life of such radical faith in God that it will accept with grace the awful pain of unjust suffering.
14. for us to accept unjust suffering, receiving ill-treatment for doing good, we must ultimately believe in the just nature of God
15. that for now we may experience the awful pain of injustice, but God’s justice will, in the end, rule.
Il) PK pastors conference, Max Lucado said, “It’s not about me. It’s not about now.”
16. now we’re going to discover something in these next verses, because the fact is that the calm acceptance of injustice has a purpose.
17. and if we are following in Jesus’ footprints, we will accept this purpose and make it our own.
III. Faith in the Redemptive Purpose of God
1. if we look back over this passage, we have seen this purpose before
2. v15, “by doing good you should silence…”
3. how do we silence those unfair charges, the ignorant talk of those who hate God?
4. “by doing good”
5. God’s will is that, while the injustices and charges may be numerous, our detractors will be forced to say, “when I look at his life, I have to admit that it is above reproach”
il) After his Sunday sermon, the pastor of a church in London got on the trolley Monday morning to go back to his study downtown. He paid his fare, and the trolley driver gave him too much change. The pastor sat down and fumbled the change and looked it over, counted it eight or none time. And you know the rationalization, “It’s wonderful how God provides.” He realized he was tight that week and this was just about what he would need to break even, and at least enough for his lunch. He wrestled with himself all the way down that old trolley trail that led to his office. And finally he can to the stop and he go tup, couldn’t live with himself, walked up to the trolley driver, and said, “Here, you gave me too much change. You made a mistake.” The driver said, “No, it was no mistake. You see, I was in your church last night when you spoke on honesty, and I thought I would put you to the test” Paul Lee Tan, Encyclopedia of 7,700 Illustrations
6. anyone can talk, anyone can memorize Scripture. But to live it, that’s where the redemptive power of God is released.
7. anyone can be a Christian when he is being treated justly, fairly. But that’s not our calling
8. the footprints of Jesus are bloody ones, selfless ones, ones that suffered the most unjustified pain.
9. v22, no sin, no deceit, no just cause for torment, execution.
10. on the cross, he was the target of vicious insults, trash-talking, physical attacks.
11. the flesh in those situations demands retaliation, retribution.
12. but the response of the Spirit is faith, v23..”he entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly”
13. isn’t this a great definition of faith? To accept everything, especially unjust suffering, as something God can and will use.
14. vv24-25 tell us what was going on, what God’s whole purpose was.
15. the bearing of our sins with the purpose that we might be freed from those most awful of chains and live healed, righteous lives.
16. that we who were so terribly lost could be restored to our Shepherd, our Father.
17. God’s purpose is redemptive, and He calls us to walk in the same footsteps of Christ, for the same purpose.
Il) Elisabeth Elliot, going back to the tribe of those who killed her husband and four others, a classic case of unjust suffering. Yet because she and others refused to retaliate, but instead accepted the redemptive purposes of God, a miracle took place. And years later, Stephen Saint, son of Nate Saint, was baptized by a Auca pastor, a man who was one of the spear-wielding Indians who had killed his father.
18. we don’t know how God will use our acceptance, but the nature of faith is that we will obey the call of God and walk in the footprints of Jesus for the redemptive purposes of God
Conc. Certainly our salvation gave great purpose and meaning to the unjust suffering Jesus accepted from the hand of God.
1. in what ways are we called on to bear the cross in our lives?
2. perhaps an unreasonable boss, a teacher who persecutes us for being a believer, a neighbor who does all they can to make our life miserable.
3. we are called to walk in Jesus’ footprints, this line of steps that goes from one lost soul to another; reaching out, loving, seeking, finding, and always having faith in our sovereign, just, and redeeming God.
4. we are called to be willing to suffer for the benefit of just one other person who needs to see authentic Christianity lived out in the toughest of circumstances.
5. when we accept suffering, we can take part in the most powerful event there is; the rescue of a lost sheep, to be restored to the Shepherd of his soul.
