SUBMIT TO YOUR
MASTER
Submission! Not a popular word in our 21st
century context. We don’t like to submit; in a free and democratic country we
have the right to speak out, to say “no,” to go and do as we please. We will
not submit.
Ah, but
we do submit. We submit all the time. As Pete shared last week, we submit
(generally) to traffic laws. We submit to the police officer who pulls us over.
We submit to breathalyzer tests if, unfortunately, it is necessary. We submit
to those in authority over us, like judges and employers. You are even
submitting to me right now as you listen to this sermon. You have given me the
authority to preach and you are respecting that authority by submitting.
Submission
is necessary for order and organization. The opposite of submission is
rebellion. When man’s laws and God’s commands are in conflict, we must become
civilly disobedient. But in general, submission is necessary for peace.
Submit
to law and order? Yes. Submit to my employer during work hours? Yes. But submit
to my master? Wait a minute, I am not a slave. This passage of Scripture we are
talking about today is about slaves and masters, and that is so first century.
It does not apply to us today.
Slaves
are used and abused. They are treated like property with cruelty and
inhumanity. You are nobody’s slave. Wives are not slaves to their husbands.
Employees are not slaves to their bosses. This is an irrelevant passage and
subject for Christians today. Or is it?
We
cannot relate to the context of slavery in first century Rome. There are,
however, principles that can be gleaned from this passage. The main lesson is
this: Peter teaches Christians to submit
to authority in the context of suffering for the sake of holy living. He
uses the slave, the most vulnerable person in Roman society, as a paradigm
(pattern) for the person who follows Christ. And the lesson here is more about
suffering unjustly than about slavery.
1. How we are, and are not, like slaves
a) Why you are not
a slave – On the one hand, Peter is literally talking to slaves; you are
not a slave. Some preachers have tried to preach about employer/employee
relations out of this passage but that is a stretch. There is no parallel
between masters/slaves and bosses/employees. Here’s why:
William
Barclay provides an excellent description of the slavery of that day: “To
understand the real meaning of what Peter is saying we must understand
something of the nature of slavery in the time of the early church. In the
Roman Empire there were as many as 60,000,000 slaves. Slavery began with Roman
conquests, slaves being originally mainly prisoners taken in war, and in very
early times Rome had few slaves but by New Testament times slaves were counted
by the million.” Slaves made up a quarter of the population.
Slaves
not only broke rocks and dug ditches (hard labor), slaves could also be
doctors, teachers, musicians, actors, etc. They were beloved members of the
family. But they had no rights. They were property, like a sheep was property.
Slaves could not marry but could have children; if children were born, they
were born into slavery and were automatically property of the master. It was
said that the only difference between a slave and a wagon was that the slave
could talk. Slaves were “things” and tools.
In a
nation of civil liberties and free will, you are not a slave.
When
slaves came to Christ for salvation they were taught about their “freedom in
Christ.” While this was true, Peter reminded them that they were still slaves
and needed to submit to their masters. They were not to work less, but work
harder. Show the master that a Christian makes a better slave. This is why
Peter writes as he does:
“Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters
with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to
those who are harsh,” (18). The Greek word for “harsh” gives us the word
for “scoliosis,” the curvature of the spine. It is an easy thing to submit to a
good and kind master, but Peter encourages Christian slaves to submit to crooked
or cruel masters too. These are the ones who make you suffer.
Peter
continues, “For it is commendable if a
man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of
God,” (19). That word “commendable” comes from the root word “grace.” What
Peter is really saying is, “it is gracious to endure suffering,” or “bear your
suffering with uncommon grace.” He repeats this “grace” word in v. 20.
Suffering
comes three ways: 1) for no apparent reason, 2) because of our mistakes, and 3)
sometimes we suffer unjustly at the hands of others. Number 3 is the one that
fits our text. How do we suffer graciously when others deliberately cause our
suffering?
Therein
lies the key – grace. God’s grace helps us to endure abuse at the hands of
others. The sufferer is “conscious of God” in their situation and can appeal to
His presence there.
b) How you are
like a slave – You are not a slave. And yet you are like a slave. Jesus
taught that His followers are to behave in a manner like slaves. Jesus said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the
very last, and the servant of all,” (Mk 9:35). He said again, “Whoever wants to be first must be the slave
of all,” (Mk 10:44).
First in what? Jesus was talking about those
who want to be top-notch disciples, first in His kingdom, prime followers. If
you want to follow Jesus closely, you will become like a slave. A slave to
whom? Well, Jesus is our master, but he did say “the servant of all.”
Now the
principles of suffering that Peter taught become relevant to us. There are
going to be jerks in our life who make us suffer, who hurt us with their words
and actions. Peter tells us, as slaves of Christ, submit to them. With God’s
grace, bear the suffering and be gracious to your oppressor. Be conscious of
God’s awareness of your pain and suffering.
Why on
earth would we want to do that?
c) Following the
steps of Jesus – Why would we let others get away with making us suffer?
Peter said, “To this you were called,
because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow
in his steps,” (21). Slavery is our calling as followers of Jesus.
Suffering is an expected part of being a disciple of Jesus. And as we suffer we
follow in his steps.
The word
“example” in Peter’s day was used to refer to a pattern of letters of the
alphabet over which children learned to write by tracing those letters. It
suggests the closest of copies. So Jesus is the paradigm by which Christians
write large the letters of his gospel in their lives. If we as Christians are
willing to be slaves of God, our identity is such that we are willing to suffer
unjustly as Jesus did. Jesus left us a pattern to trace out our lives upon and
be like Him.
While
there appears to be insanity in this teaching – what purpose does unjust suffering
serve in God’s greater plans – there is a purpose to this lesson. And God is
glorified by it.
2. What Jesus taught us about suffering unjustly
a) The pattern of
gracious suffering – Let’s first look at the pattern of Jesus’ suffering.
How did he suffer?
Peter
makes a strong application of Isaiah 53 in this part of his letter. 1 Peter
2:22-25 is the deepest NT connection to the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53. It
is Peter who identifies Jesus as the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.
Four
reactions stand out in the way Jesus endured the suffering of unbelievers:
1) Jesus did not sin – Quoting Is. 53:9,
Peter notes that Jesus was an innocent sufferer, “He committed no sin...” He did nothing that deserved the suffering
He endured. As I shared earlier, our suffering can come from our human
condition such as illness, or aging, or death. Our suffering can be the result
of sin and poor judgment. But sometimes we suffer because there are
mean-spirited people in our lives who want to cause us pain. It is nothing we
have done or said; we are simply the target of someone’s frustration or
anguish, be it a boss or a relative. And they are socially-challenged to deal
with their issues properly.
2) Jesus did not verbally retaliate – “When they hurled their insults at him, he
did not retaliate…” (23a). I observed that in Is. 53 three times the writer
says he did not open his mouth: “he did
not open his mouth” (7); “as a sheep
before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth” (7b); and “no deceit was found in his mouth” (9).
Jesus did not defend himself; he did not object to the cruel treatment; he did
not call them names or insult their character.
It’s
hard to keep our mouths shut when we experience injustice. We demand our
rights. We tell the waitress off; we complain to customer service. That’s what
they are there for, right? When have we learned to be silent like Jesus? How in
our world of “rights” have we trained ourselves to endure like Jesus?
3) Jesus did not threaten revenge – “when he suffered, he made no threats” (23b).
Westerns are all about revenge. “You’ll pay for this,” the victim says, and
then we wait for the gunslinger to exact justice on the bad guy. Jesus did not
threaten the Jews or the Romans with payback.
4) Jesus submitted himself to God’s justice
– “Instead, he entrusted himself to him
who judges justly” (23c). One of the most difficult things to do is trust
that God is going to judge our oppressor. God will bring justice; our problem
is that we want to see justice done. Can we trust God to bring justice even if
we are not there to witness it?
As we
entrust ourselves to God’s justice, our calling is to be gracious in suffering,
as Jesus was gracious in his suffering.
When we
are threatened and refuse to compromise our faith, this is grace. When we
suffer for what we believe and do not complain, this is grace. When we are
passed over and refuse to get bitter, this is grace. When we endure harsh
treatment and still praise the Lord, this is grace. When we are falsely accused
and do not retaliate, this is grace. When we are ripped off and can still
smile, this is grace. When we lose the game but not our temper, this is grace.
When we face countless trials but still count it all joy, this is grace. When
we love the Lord through our tears, this is grace. This is also being conscious
of God.
b) What’s the
point of suffering graciously? The point of suffering graciously is
demonstrated in Christ’s suffering and victory. This is the way to break the
world’s ways and perhaps bring unbelievers to a knowledge of God.
Peter
continues his argument for slave-behavior in the Christian by explaining what
Christ won through suffering.
By
suffering, Jesus:
·
Bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that
we might die to sins and live for righteousness.
·
Healed us from our brokenness. “by his wounds
you have been healed” (24c; Is. 53:5)
·
Reconciled us to God. “For you were like sheep
going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your
souls” (25; Is. 53:6).
I will not stand here and lie to you – this is a painful
route. To let people attack you for your faith, to suffer when you have done no
wrong, to be gracious when others are ungracious, is a tough way to live. When
it is appropriate, we can tell a Christian brother or sister when we have been
offended. But this is about being a witness to unbelievers and showing them
Jesus when all they show us is the devil.
This is
what Jesus endured, not just to save us, but to be an example to us, that we
should put up with suffering if only to bring the unbeliever to Christ.
We come to Christmas once again, hoping against hope that
the old story of Bethlehem will have something to say to us. While Christmas
focuses on the pastoral scene of a baby born in a clump of straw with Joseph
and Mary, some sheep and their shepherds standing around the crude manger, the
shadow of the cross falls across this picture. The cross and suffering were
part of the plan right from the start. Jesus came to die for the hurt and the
sin we have experienced.
We might
question God in times of suffering, thinking he doesn’t understand our hurt, or
that he has forgotten you. If we do, we’re wrong.
“Let me
pose a hypothetical question for a moment: What if Jesus had answered back when
he was attacked? What if he had retaliated? What if he had insulted Herod,
mocked Pilate, and used his divine powers to escape the Roman soldiers? He
could have fought back. He could have told them off and even worked a miracle
to free himself. What if he had? We would not be saved. We would still be in
our sins. We would still be lost and on our way to hell. He entrusted himself
to God in the midst of his suffering—and the result was our salvation. We’re
going to heaven because Jesus didn’t lose his temper.
And what will happen if we do for others what Jesus did
for us? Perhaps our powerful silence will convict them. Perhaps our kindness
will disarm them. When you resist the urge to get even, when you stop claiming
your rights, when you give up trying always to be understood, when you give up
your anger and bitterness, do you know what happens? You become like Jesus! And
that’s when your life begins to change the world around you.”[1]
At
Christmastime we know one thing for certain: Jesus is Immanuel, God with us.
God is with us. He endured pain, suffering, and death – He knows our suffering.
And God is with us. Submit to your master, Jesus Christ, and be like him.
AMEN
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