WEBVTT 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:01.600 Hello, friends. 00:00:01.679 --> 00:00:02.799 This is Pastor Creighton. 00:00:02.959 --> 00:00:06.080 Thank you for tuning in to Newsong Church's Sermon Podcast. 00:00:06.320 --> 00:00:13.359 At Newsong Church, we want to see Jesus lifted high in Port Perry, Ontario, as we worship, grow, and serve. 00:00:13.599 --> 00:00:18.800 You can learn more about us and find contact info at newsongportperry.ca. 00:00:23.359 --> 00:00:28.800 The second lesson is from 1 Peter 2, verses 13 to 25. 00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:47.439 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the Emperor as Supreme, or to governors as sent by Him, to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 00:00:48.560 --> 00:00:55.679 For this is the will of God that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 00:00:57.280 --> 00:01:07.040 Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:09.840 Honor everyone. 00:01:10.400 --> 00:01:12.319 Love the Brotherhood. 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:13.760 Fear God. 00:01:14.400 --> 00:01:16.159 Honor the Emperor. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:26.959 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. 00:01:27.359 --> 00:01:35.120 For this is a gracious thing when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 00:01:35.519 --> 00:01:40.319 For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it you endure? 00:01:41.120 --> 00:01:49.120 But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 00:01:50.719 --> 00:02:00.959 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:07.760 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:13.599 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:24.560 When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 00:02:25.759 --> 00:02:35.759 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 00:02:36.879 --> 00:02:40.639 By his wounds, you have been healed. 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:49.360 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:51.199 The word of the Lord. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:56.319 Honor everyone. 00:02:56.879 --> 00:02:58.479 Love the brotherhood. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:02:59.840 Fear God. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:01.280 Honor the enemy. 00:03:10.800 --> 00:03:14.479 Gracious God, you are the Lord, you alone. 00:03:15.439 --> 00:03:29.280 You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them, and you preserve all of them. 00:03:31.599 --> 00:03:34.240 Lord Jesus, you are our good shepherd. 00:03:35.039 --> 00:03:37.680 We are sheep need to hear your voice. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:42.800 And so we pray, Good Shepherd, lead us to pasture. 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:44.479 Give us rest. 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:46.639 Give us hope by your words. 00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:50.400 And we pray, Holy Spirit, illumine this word to our hearts. 00:03:52.400 --> 00:03:56.960 That it would produce within us life and life abundant. 00:03:57.439 --> 00:03:59.439 It's in Jesus' name we pray. 00:03:59.919 --> 00:04:00.479 Amen. 00:04:01.039 --> 00:04:02.479 Please be seated. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:16.800 Forgot to ask Rachel's permission to use this opening story, so here we go. 00:04:19.920 --> 00:04:22.399 It's a great way to start a sermon, isn't it? 00:04:25.360 --> 00:04:32.240 There are a few, a handful of moments when we were first dating that I realized Rachel is a remarkable person. 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:35.120 And I still have that thought on a regular basis, that's true. 00:04:35.360 --> 00:04:47.519 But one of the uh moments I thought Rachel is a remarkable person is at some point or another, whether we're preparing for a trip or we're traveling, Rachel pulls out not one, not two, but three passports. 00:04:47.680 --> 00:04:53.839 She's an American, British, and Canadian citizen, and Rachel can explain that to you after service if you want. 00:04:54.160 --> 00:04:58.879 It was remarkable because it was something like that of Jason Bourne. 00:04:59.040 --> 00:05:04.560 Like it was something a super spy would pull off, so I'm still a little suspicious. 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:10.319 But, you know, me, I go traveling, I've got my one Canadian passport, right? 00:05:10.399 --> 00:05:11.279 But not Rachel. 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:15.920 She's she's got three governments behind her wherever she travels. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:18.800 She's a triple citizen. 00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:26.480 It's easy to feel as a, I don't know, it's easy to think of myself as a citizen of one country alone. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:36.720 But when we look at the teaching of Scripture in the New Testament, we start to glimpse that no matter how many passports we might have, we are all of us dual citizens. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:39.040 We all of us have two citizenships. 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:41.600 We have an earthly state to which we're citizens. 00:05:41.759 --> 00:05:46.800 I suspect most of us in this room are citizens of Canada, if we're not citizens elsewhere as well. 00:05:47.120 --> 00:05:52.000 We are citizens of earthly states, that's true, but we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom. 00:05:52.240 --> 00:05:56.800 That's what Paul writes to the Philippians in Philippians chapter 3, verses 20 and 21. 00:05:56.959 --> 00:05:59.839 We are citizens of heaven. 00:06:00.480 --> 00:06:05.040 But that's not at the expense or at the exclusion of our earthly citizenship. 00:06:05.120 --> 00:06:09.519 But the two sometimes have a bit of tension to them, don't they? 00:06:09.839 --> 00:06:12.720 My kingdom is not of this world, is what Jesus says. 00:06:12.959 --> 00:06:18.959 And so the values of heaven are not always in perfect alignment with things on earth. 00:06:19.040 --> 00:06:23.040 That's why we pray, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven, isn't it? 00:06:23.279 --> 00:06:25.360 Because these two things aren't exactly the same. 00:06:25.439 --> 00:06:31.040 And when we confuse the two, I think that's when the church has gotten into most trouble in history. 00:06:31.439 --> 00:06:36.160 So here we are, citizens of heaven and citizens of our earthly state. 00:06:36.879 --> 00:06:38.639 Peter knows this well. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:48.079 He's writing to Christians who live as citizens of Rome in the first century, citizens of heaven and citizens of this earthly empire. 00:06:48.399 --> 00:07:06.959 And he's writing to these citizens of heaven, citizens of the earthly empire, in light of Christ's death and resurrection, Peter understands that the whole world, the whole world has been re-centered around this remarkable thing that has happened in the cross and in Christ's resurrection. 00:07:07.040 --> 00:07:09.519 We are born again to a living hope. 00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:16.879 We now live with earnest love and we live as those who have been claimed by this kingdom reality. 00:07:17.199 --> 00:07:22.399 Christ's death and resurrection are at the center of everything for Peter. 00:07:22.639 --> 00:07:30.240 And because he holds to these facts, it gives us reason to persevere. 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:45.920 Despite whatever earthly persecution or opposition Christians face, Peter understands that Christ's death and resurrection has given us every reason to press forward into our kingdom hope because that's where our ultimate citizenship lies. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:52.000 Nevertheless, the question remains how do we live the gospel? 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:57.920 How do we live as citizens of heaven in the midst of the earthly kingdom we live in? 00:07:58.160 --> 00:08:01.439 We've probably wondered that question in one way or another, right? 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:09.759 How does my Christian faith inform how I live my life politically or live my life as a citizen of Canada or elsewhere? 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:13.439 How do we live the gospel in real time in the real world? 00:08:13.600 --> 00:08:18.079 Which, first off, we should acknowledge that the gospel is everything to do with the world that we live in, right? 00:08:18.319 --> 00:08:21.360 Like it's not an otherworldly hope. 00:08:22.079 --> 00:08:25.120 It is an otherworldly hope, but it's not just that. 00:08:25.360 --> 00:08:27.759 It's heaven and earth being reunited. 00:08:27.839 --> 00:08:31.439 It's things on earth being made a little bit more like they are in heaven. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:36.240 And here we are, like salt and light scattered into the world that we occupy. 00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:43.360 We're meant to be citizens of heaven, even as we live out our citizenship in our earthly states that we occupy. 00:08:43.440 --> 00:08:46.960 But how do we live the gospel in the midst of our earthly state? 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:48.879 That's the question for us this morning. 00:08:49.039 --> 00:09:00.080 And I think Peter gives us three imperatives, three important imperatives that tell us what it means to live out the gospel in the midst of this earthly kingdom that we occupy. 00:09:00.240 --> 00:09:02.240 And the three imperatives are these. 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.200 One, be subject. 00:09:05.759 --> 00:09:08.000 Two, be free. 00:09:08.639 --> 00:09:12.159 Three, follow Christ's example. 00:09:12.399 --> 00:09:15.440 How do we live the gospel in the midst of the earthly kingdom? 00:09:15.600 --> 00:09:20.960 Be subject, be free, and follow Christ's example. 00:09:21.679 --> 00:09:24.159 I think there's always going to be tension here. 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:35.679 So if we get to the end of the sermon and we still feel like there's an unresolved melody, so to speak, that's probably okay because this gets complicated to live out in real time, doesn't it? 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:40.080 Simple solutions are rarely the way things are, right? 00:09:40.399 --> 00:09:46.879 So here we are trying to live out the gospel as best we can in the midst of this earthly kingdom. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:50.000 Number one, we start by doing that by being subject. 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:56.480 Pull out your order of service, pull out your Bible, and turn with me, if you will, to 1 Peter chapter 2. 00:09:56.639 --> 00:09:59.360 Let's start at verse 13. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:23.039 Peter writes this: he says, Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to the governors as sent by him, to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:31.039 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 00:10:31.679 --> 00:10:43.360 So the first thing we should probably notice here is when Peter says, be subject to every human institution, those institutions ordained by God, he's not making a suggestion. 00:10:43.679 --> 00:10:44.320 Right? 00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:50.000 He's not saying, you know, on a good day, or when you feel like it, or when it's a convenient thing to do. 00:10:50.240 --> 00:10:52.799 This is a command, this is a divine imperative. 00:10:53.039 --> 00:10:56.000 Be subject to the human institutions that you occupy. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:03.360 And bear in mind he's saying that about first century Rome, which is not exactly the friendliest government towards Christians. 00:11:03.519 --> 00:11:05.279 That's a remarkable thing to say. 00:11:05.440 --> 00:11:10.320 And Paul says much the same things to Roman Christians in Romans chapter 13. 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:15.360 Paul says this let every person be subject to the governing authorities. 00:11:15.600 --> 00:11:22.320 For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 00:11:22.720 --> 00:11:27.279 Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed. 00:11:27.440 --> 00:11:30.480 And those who resist will incur judgment. 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:35.759 For rulers, he says, are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:40.320 And Paul goes on to say, Because of this you also pay taxes. 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:44.879 That's a recent memory for Rachel and I, who did our taxes yesterday. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:48.480 For the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. 00:11:48.720 --> 00:11:58.559 Pay to all what is owed them, taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.919 It's a lengthy quote for momens, but I think it's worth it. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:11.360 Peter and Paul both understand that a Christian's duty is to live as a subject in the state, be the best kind of loyal citizen that you can be. 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:14.159 That should be something of the Christian's reputation. 00:12:14.320 --> 00:12:23.679 The default posture towards institutions and authority for Christians is to will their very good, to be loyal subjects. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:30.720 And by willing the good within the institutions that God has set up, which is also a remarkable thing to think about, right? 00:12:30.879 --> 00:12:33.759 Kind of like God looks at creation and he says, yeah, that's okay. 00:12:33.919 --> 00:12:34.960 No, he says that's good. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:36.559 He says that's very good. 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:45.919 God doesn't necessarily look at particular governments and say, yeah, that's very good, but he does look at government or governance and says, this is a good thing. 00:12:46.159 --> 00:12:50.399 Because it promotes order and it promotes well-being and it promotes security. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:54.000 God wants to work with the institutions in place. 00:12:54.559 --> 00:13:11.919 And as we work within these institutions that God has set up, work within the spheres of authority, and we will their good, and we do our best to live out our call as citizens to do good, we end up silencing critics who would falsely accuse us. 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:14.480 Did you notice that in verse 15? 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:22.720 When we do this, by doing good, you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. 00:13:22.879 --> 00:13:28.720 In Peter's day, that was probably a criticism that was something like this: Christians are insurrectionists. 00:13:28.960 --> 00:13:32.720 Christians want to set up a whole new kind of government for themselves. 00:13:32.879 --> 00:13:37.360 They're going around saying Jesus is Lord, and we know that Caesar is Lord. 00:13:37.600 --> 00:13:40.639 So Peter wants to communicate very clearly. 00:13:40.799 --> 00:13:43.519 We're not interested in political uprising. 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:47.600 I mean, that's kind of what Jesus' disciples were expecting in his final days, weren't they? 00:13:47.840 --> 00:13:49.519 That's not the program here. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:51.279 His kingdom is not of this world. 00:13:51.440 --> 00:13:57.279 We live as the very best citizens we can, willing the good of the state that we live in. 00:13:57.679 --> 00:14:01.840 And as we do good, we silence criticism. 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:06.799 Maybe for our day, it's something like the criticism of Christians just don't care. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:10.720 Christians are so heavenly minded that they're no earthly good. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:19.120 When we do good within the world that we live in, when we do good towards Port Perry or Canada, we show that yes, we do care. 00:14:19.279 --> 00:14:22.879 We're so heavenly minded that we have to do earthly good. 00:14:23.679 --> 00:14:27.919 I think this is just such a deep part of Newsong's own DNA, isn't it? 00:14:28.080 --> 00:14:35.840 I mean, we strive to be a community-serving church because we want to do good toward those we live with, right? 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:38.399 We want to do good to our town and our township. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:40.960 We want to be known as those who do good. 00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:46.480 And friends, ever since Newsong's beginning, Newsong has faced some opposition, hasn't it? 00:14:46.720 --> 00:14:52.799 I mean, every church that takes a stand for the gospel can expect to receive opposition in one form or another. 00:14:52.960 --> 00:15:07.360 And so I know sometimes this generates a certain degree of fear within our congregation because the more we step out there and we try and serve our community or we run seminars that partner with families and we can experience some opposition or mumbling in our community. 00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:13.600 I just think we gotta do good to show that we mean it to our community, don't we? 00:15:13.840 --> 00:15:15.440 Let the criticism come. 00:15:15.679 --> 00:15:19.360 We can't make friends with everyone, though we strive to do good by everyone. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:22.879 We strive to love our neighbors earnestly and sincerely. 00:15:23.039 --> 00:15:35.360 And by doing good, our community might look at us, or our members within our community might look and go, you know, I disagree with those guys for this reason, this reason, and this reason, but I can't deny that they love their neighbors. 00:15:35.679 --> 00:15:38.159 I can't deny that they want their very best. 00:15:38.559 --> 00:15:46.320 This is what we're called to do, to do good and by doing good give an answer to false criticism. 00:15:46.639 --> 00:15:56.320 Peter understands what's true with regards to Nu Song towards its community should be true for Christians with regards to their governing authorities. 00:15:56.559 --> 00:16:00.480 Christians do good and silence criticism in doing so. 00:16:02.080 --> 00:16:07.279 So don't shy away when you experience that kind of opposition or criticism. 00:16:07.600 --> 00:16:09.919 Press into the good you are called to do. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:14.960 That is what it means to live faithfully in the midst of this world. 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:18.480 Now you might be thinking, well, that's a nice ideal, Creighton. 00:16:19.759 --> 00:16:23.360 But not every authority has our very best in mind. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:26.879 Am I supposed to just blindly submit myself to them? 00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:33.120 Am I supposed to just go along with whatever evil they might be up to or collude with wickedness? 00:16:33.360 --> 00:16:35.120 I don't think Peter's trying to say that. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:38.639 He's making a very nuanced point here, and we should track with Peter. 00:16:38.879 --> 00:16:43.519 Peter wants us to be subject to our governing authorities, that's true. 00:16:43.759 --> 00:16:46.080 But he also wants us to live free. 00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:48.240 Did you notice that in verse 16? 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:49.679 Let's have a look. 00:16:51.360 --> 00:17:02.240 Verse 16, live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. 00:17:03.360 --> 00:17:04.960 Which one is it, Peter? 00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:08.480 Be a subject of the government or live as those who are free? 00:17:08.720 --> 00:17:11.759 And I think Peter would say something like, yes. 00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:24.160 But we need to understand what Peter's talking about when he talks about true freedom, because I'm not sure it lines up exactly with a popular conception of what freedom is. 00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:34.480 I think for a lot of folks, at least on Twitter it seems, uh, freedom is something like limitless autonomy. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:39.279 There's no hindrance on my own self-determination, right? 00:17:40.799 --> 00:17:51.519 And while it's true there can't be freedom within sort of a despotic domination, I don't think that Peter understands true freedom as limitless autonomy. 00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:56.000 In fact, I think the whole story of Scripture shows us that that's not the case. 00:17:56.240 --> 00:18:03.759 Our first parents wanted limitless autonomy, and so they disobeyed God to determine what is good and evil for themselves. 00:18:03.920 --> 00:18:06.000 And look what happened next. 00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:11.680 There was such devastating and deadly fallout that comes from self-determination. 00:18:12.319 --> 00:18:16.640 When we live as if freedom is limitless autonomy, we don't become more free. 00:18:16.720 --> 00:18:23.920 We become bond, we we we descend into greater bondage into ourselves. 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:25.200 That makes sense. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:27.680 It's like we curve in on ourselves. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:32.079 So, no, true freedom is not limitless autonomy. 00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.359 I think Peter has something bigger in mind for us. 00:18:35.599 --> 00:18:42.880 True freedom is living into our responsibility as servants of a higher law. 00:18:43.200 --> 00:18:48.559 True freedom means living as servants of a higher law, with a reverent fear of God. 00:18:48.640 --> 00:18:49.680 Did you notice that? 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:59.759 He says, as servants of God, and last week we talked about what it means to have a reverent fear of God, a wonder and an awe at God's grace and his majesty. 00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:06.880 We live as those who submit ourselves to God, the highest good, the one who wills our greatest good. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:11.920 And in doing so, in submitting ourselves as such, we discover true freedom. 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:20.960 There's a great prayer book prayer that in addressing God, it says, in your service there is perfect freedom. 00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:24.960 And that can sound like a contradiction, but for Peter it's not. 00:19:25.359 --> 00:19:36.799 If God wills our greatest good and he has designed us in accordance with his good, then living as his servants, living according to his design, is discovering our greatest freedom. 00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:38.319 Is that making sense? 00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:39.839 Is that tracking? 00:19:40.880 --> 00:19:46.240 Here we are, called to true freedom, to live into that responsibility. 00:19:46.559 --> 00:19:51.519 Can I share one of my favorite um aspects of our Canadian parliamentary system? 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:54.240 Some of you are thinking this is a great time for a nap. 00:19:55.279 --> 00:20:03.599 One of my favorite features of the Canadian parliamentary system is this idea that you can have a loyal opposition. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:11.039 That's something unique to our uh Canadian parliament and our British parliamentary heritage. 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:32.960 If you what we have right now is we have a liberal party that that is um that is in power, and no, I'm not asking what you think about the Liberal Party or the Conservatives for that matter, but here we have a Liberal Party uh in power that's been asked to form a government in the king's name, and you have a conservative party as the loyal opposition, right? 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:41.440 And in an ideal world, the conservatives are calling the liberals into account, or if the roles were reversed, the liberals will be calling conservatives into account. 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:49.200 And the idea is that there's a check and balance on power here, that both should be working together for Canada's common good. 00:20:49.759 --> 00:21:02.640 So you we might disagree about whose platform is superior to the other, but if you were to ask the question, which party is more loyal to our king as the head of state, the liberals or the conservatives, again you'd sort of have to say, well, yes. 00:21:03.119 --> 00:21:06.880 Both are acting out their loyalty in accordance with their role. 00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:09.039 Is that making sense? 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:15.440 True freedom, this submitting to a higher law, means sometimes we live as the loyal opposition. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:36.960 We will the very best for the world we live in, for the state we live in, but sometimes honoring everyone as image-bearers of God, which is what Peter calls us to, means we have to live our lives saying no, at least in part, so that we can say a greater yes to the good of the world that we live in. 00:21:37.119 --> 00:21:38.400 Do you catch that? 00:21:39.279 --> 00:21:46.240 Sometimes Christians are called to be incongruent with the world that we live in. 00:21:46.319 --> 00:21:57.200 Not because we're sticks in the mud, but because we're saying yes to a higher law, a higher good, and we desire the very best for our neighbors and the state that we live in. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.279 We honor everyone as image bearers. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:06.960 Value, prize, and respect them, and we value, we honor, we respect the king as our head of state. 00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:17.680 But sometimes we live as those who are free, not as a cover-up for evil, but to will the very best for the state that we live in. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:21.920 Sometimes we take the position of the loyal opposition. 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.279 Luther puts this tension like this, Martin Luther. 00:22:25.440 --> 00:22:35.599 He says, A Christian is most is the most free Lord of all and subject to none, and a Christian is the most dutiful servant of all and subject to everyone. 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:38.000 Isn't that a remarkable thing? 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:45.680 We are bound to will the greatest good we can for our neighbors and for our state. 00:22:45.920 --> 00:22:50.720 And we do so by willing God's greatest good in accordance with his design. 00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:51.680 Amen? 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:54.559 Okay, I'm glad we're tracking here. 00:22:54.880 --> 00:22:57.359 Be subject, be free. 00:22:57.599 --> 00:22:59.519 There's real tension in there. 00:22:59.759 --> 00:23:01.440 How do we resolve that? 00:23:01.680 --> 00:23:02.720 Let's land here. 00:23:02.880 --> 00:23:13.680 I think Peter doesn't necessarily lay out here's what it looks like in every situation all the time, but I do think he points us in a pretty remarkable direction that, truthfully, I'm still wrestling with. 00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:16.720 But boy, I think we should track with Peter on this. 00:23:17.200 --> 00:23:21.279 How do we resolve this tension between being subject and being free? 00:23:21.519 --> 00:23:22.880 I think Peter says this. 00:23:29.359 --> 00:23:38.720 He says this servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust. 00:23:38.960 --> 00:23:45.039 For this is a gracious thing, when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. 00:23:45.279 --> 00:23:49.200 For what credit is it if you sin and are beaten for it? 00:23:50.160 --> 00:23:55.519 And are beaten for it, you endure, but if you do good and suffer for it, you endure. 00:23:55.920 --> 00:23:58.960 This is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:03.200 So immediately there's like five or six questions that come up, aren't there? 00:24:03.440 --> 00:24:14.240 On the one hand, we read servants, or other translations might say slaves, and we get a picture in our mind, and we say, How can Peter ever endorse such an institution? 00:24:14.480 --> 00:24:21.039 And how can he call these slaves into just mere submission, regardless of how their masters treat them? 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:23.039 And those are good questions. 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.680 There's a few things we ought to bear in mind. 00:24:25.920 --> 00:24:32.480 First, we should bear in mind that human trafficking is wickedness, and it's condemned in Scripture. 00:24:32.640 --> 00:24:37.519 We can look at 1 Peter 1.10 or Revelation 18, 11 to 13. 00:24:37.680 --> 00:24:40.720 It's grounded in our status as image-bearers. 00:24:41.119 --> 00:24:50.000 But we should also bear in mind that when Peter describes servanthood here, indentured servanthood, it's not the exact same thing as the transatlantic slave trade. 00:24:50.079 --> 00:24:51.920 At least that's what comes to my mind. 00:24:52.960 --> 00:25:04.559 For Peter's day, an indentured servant had the opportunity to one, be paid and two, save towards his or her own freedom. 00:25:04.799 --> 00:25:14.960 So it wasn't a lifelong servitude necessarily, but it was, it functioned more like a social welfare system within first century Rome. 00:25:15.200 --> 00:25:17.279 Rightly or wrongly, that's what it is. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:24.240 And Peter understands that there's a way of living out our faith in Christ, even in that context. 00:25:24.559 --> 00:25:27.680 He's not saying that we should never call out abuse. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:42.799 He's not saying that we should never seek justice, but he is addressing servants who know what it is to be mistreated by pointing to a deeper theological truth in the midst of their situation. 00:25:43.200 --> 00:25:48.240 We suffer as subjects sometime, that's true, those who are under authority. 00:25:48.400 --> 00:25:54.079 But Peter wants us to understand that our suffering is not suffering for suffering's sake. 00:25:54.319 --> 00:26:00.160 Our suffering is joined together somehow with Jesus' own suffering. 00:26:00.400 --> 00:26:02.720 This is what he says in verses 21 to 25. 00:26:02.960 --> 00:26:04.079 Let's have a look. 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:15.680 He says, For this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 00:26:15.920 --> 00:26:19.759 He committed no sin, neither was any deceit found in his mouth. 00:26:19.920 --> 00:26:22.960 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. 00:26:23.119 --> 00:26:30.000 When he suffered, Jesus did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to the one who judges justly. 00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:39.119 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:42.559 By his wounds you have been healed. 00:26:42.880 --> 00:26:51.519 For you were straying like sheep, but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls, and what a good shepherd he is. 00:26:53.119 --> 00:26:58.079 Somehow our suffering is bound up together with Jesus' own suffering. 00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:00.000 Scholar and Bishop N. 00:27:00.079 --> 00:27:00.160 T. 00:27:00.319 --> 00:27:01.279 Wright puts it this way. 00:27:01.359 --> 00:27:08.000 He reflects that Peter isn't simply recommending that people remain passive while suffering violence. 00:27:08.319 --> 00:27:21.359 He is urging them to realize that somehow, strangely, the sufferings of the Messiah are not only the means by which we ourselves are rescued from our own sin. 00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:30.960 They are the means, when extended through the life of his people, by which the world itself may be brought to a new place. 00:27:31.759 --> 00:27:39.680 Peter believes that the death and resurrection of Jesus was and is the point around which everything else in the world revolves. 00:27:40.319 --> 00:27:50.799 Somehow, he is saying, we must see all the unjust suffering of God's people as caught up within the suffering of his Son. 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:59.920 We suffer not just for suffering's sake, but we suffer in following the example of Christ, who suffered for our sake on the cross. 00:28:00.559 --> 00:28:08.000 Christ willing our greatest good meant he was willing to take up his cross so that we can have a share in his resurrection life. 00:28:08.240 --> 00:28:12.559 Sometimes I hit suffering and I think, well, this has to stop immediately. 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:13.920 I mean, we all think that. 00:28:14.000 --> 00:28:19.440 That's a natural thing, because suffering is not something we enjoy, and I don't think Jesus enjoyed his suffering, by the way. 00:28:19.680 --> 00:28:22.079 But why was he willing to endure it? 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:24.319 Because of his great love for us. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:26.240 Because he willed our greatest good. 00:28:26.319 --> 00:28:29.519 And I think Peter is trying to point us in that direction. 00:28:29.759 --> 00:28:35.920 Sometimes we as Christians shy away from suffering, and I count myself among that. 00:28:36.319 --> 00:28:40.880 But I think Peter is encouraging us, don't shrink away automatically. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:45.920 See your suffering as an opportunity to will the greatest good of your neighbor. 00:28:46.160 --> 00:28:52.319 Be willing to suffer for your neighbor, be willing to suffer towards that greatest good, to see it come to pass. 00:28:52.559 --> 00:29:06.880 Sometimes loving our neighbor, honoring everyone, means, yes, we call out injustice and we call out violence, but we ought not to shrink away from personal suffering when it means willing the greatest good of another in following Christ's example. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:08.480 Does that make sense? 00:29:08.799 --> 00:29:10.960 There's tension there too, isn't there? 00:29:11.200 --> 00:29:15.039 And we need to pray for wisdom to know exactly how that's realized. 00:29:16.000 --> 00:29:25.039 But all of this means we have to trust in God's justice and not our own autonomous vengeance. 00:29:26.079 --> 00:29:26.720 Right? 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:30.000 Here's a remarkable story. 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:33.359 Um, scholar Edmund Clownie records this. 00:29:33.519 --> 00:29:37.519 He says, he writes the words of a Korean pastor. 00:29:37.680 --> 00:29:49.119 He says, the Korean pastor says, I thank God that he has given me the love to seek to convert and to adopt as my son the enemy who killed my dear boys. 00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:51.839 He says the year was 1948. 00:29:52.000 --> 00:29:56.319 The place was the town of Sun Chun, near the 38th parallel. 00:29:56.480 --> 00:30:05.039 A band of communists had taken control of the town for a brief period and had executed the pastor's son and two older boys, Matthew and John. 00:30:05.279 --> 00:30:08.799 Or pardon me, the pastor's son, son's two older boys. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:13.359 They died as martyrs, calling on their persecutors to have faith in Jesus. 00:30:13.599 --> 00:30:22.000 When the communists were driven out, Chai's son, a young man of the village, was identified as the one who had fired the murderous shots. 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:24.880 His execution was ordered. 00:30:25.519 --> 00:30:33.039 But this pastor requested that the charges be dropped and that Chai's son be released into his custody for adoption. 00:30:33.440 --> 00:30:40.000 Rachel, the 13-year-old sister of the murdered boys, testified to support her father's incredible request. 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:43.599 Only then did the court agree to release Chai Sun. 00:30:43.759 --> 00:30:48.640 He became the son of a pastor and a believer in the grace of Jesus Christ. 00:30:48.880 --> 00:30:51.279 That is a remarkable story, isn't it? 00:30:51.599 --> 00:30:53.519 But let's think about it for a minute. 00:30:53.759 --> 00:31:03.279 This pastor had every right in an unlimited, autonomous freedom, to make sure that this guy was getting what was coming to him. 00:31:03.680 --> 00:31:06.079 But instead he chose true freedom. 00:31:06.319 --> 00:31:08.960 He chose to follow Christ's example. 00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:16.000 He chose not to shy away from suffering, but to enter into it for this boy's greatest good. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:31.119 Friends, this is what we're called to as Christians in our communities, in our workplaces, in our families, not to shy away from suffering, but to enter into it for the sake of others, following Christ's example. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:36.480 When we do this, we live the gospel in the midst of the earthly kingdom. 00:31:36.720 --> 00:31:40.720 We live as subjects who do good that silences criticism. 00:31:40.880 --> 00:31:47.680 We live as those who are truly free with the responsibility to will the greatest good for our neighbors. 00:31:48.480 --> 00:31:53.519 And in following Christ's example, we're willing to suffer for others. 00:31:54.000 --> 00:31:57.680 So, dear news song, honor everyone. 00:31:58.480 --> 00:32:00.559 Love the family of believers. 00:32:01.839 --> 00:32:06.160 Reverently fear God and honor the King. 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:07.279 Amen. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:13.599 Thank you for listening today. 00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:19.200 We worship a generous God who calls us to follow Him in giving willfully, cheerfully, and sacrificially. 00:32:19.440 --> 00:32:25.920 Newsong Church's mission and ministry is 100% funded by the generous gifts of those worshiping and journeying with us. 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:33.680 If you'd like to offer a gift towards Newsong's ministry, please visit Newsongportperry.ca slash giving for more information on how to do that. 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:36.799 May God bless you and keep you today and every day.