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A Reason to Submit | Series: I Peter | 05-16-10

A Reason to Submit
Series: I Peter:
Finding Your Way in a 'Whatever' World
I PETER 2:13-25

  I. A Difficult Command. 13a
     A. Submission is unnatural.
     B. Submission should be unforced.

 II. Motivations for submission.  13-15
     A. "For the Lord's sake."
     B. It enhances our testimony.

III. Practical Applications.
     A. The government.  Vs. 13-17

The Purpose of the Government
          1. Punish those who do wrong and
          2. Commend those who do right.

As a Christian Citizen Remember
          1. The limited influence of government. 
              Ephesians 3:10, II Corinthians 10:3-4
          2. That you stand in the shadow of the cross.  Vs. 16-17

Two Misguided Approaches to the Government.
          1. Christians lash out.
          2. Christians cave in.  Acts 5:29
     B. The workplace.  Vs. 18-20

IV. A Powerful Example of Submission:  Jesus.  Vs. 21-23

Full Text 

As we return to I Peter, Peter has just finished explaining that Christians are aliens and strangers in this world.  But now he wants his readers to understand that, even though their citizenship is in heaven, they are also to be good citizens on this earth.  Let's read our text for today.  I PETER 2:13-25.
Our text today begins with
I. A Difficult Command.

Look at the first two words of this passage.  Verse 13 begins with simply, "Submit yourselves."  In the Greek it literally means "to put under."  Peter was writing to a group of Christians who were suffering great injustice.  They were facing persecution for their faith by the government, by their neighbors, and at work..  And when you're on the receiving end of injustice, everything in you wants to retaliate, to rebel, and to make things right.  So these first words of Peter would not be what the people would want to hear.  He says, "Submit yourselves".
To begin with,
A. Submission is unnatural.

Dr. Dobson wrote a book entitled, "The Strong-willed Child."  He says that rebellion is natural for children.  You don't have to teach it.  He says this lack of submission begins at a very early age, and doesn't get much easier.  Nearly every parent will have a "testing of the wills" with their child.  If you don't win early, your child will test you more and more.  And with most children, even if you win, they will try again later.  But if you don't establish yourself early, when they are teenagers, you will really have a problem on your hands. 
But even as adults, we don't like to be ordered around.  You get a lot farther being nice to people and asking politely than in being "the boss".  When we were in Michigan, we only had three churches in a county 70 miles long.  So each time there was a fifth Sunday in the month, all three churches got together for food and praise.  The people of all three churches knew each other very well.  One church had a very bossy retired school teacher.
On one of those occasions I was standing outside talking with four or five guys.  We were all about 30.  All of a sudden this retired teacher pulls up behind me, gets out, opens her trunk, and very sternly orders, "You boys!  Get these things out of my trunk and down to the basement -- NOW!"
I just crossed my arms, leaned up against her car and looked here straight in the eye and said, "No."  The other guys had started for the trunk and I stared them back.  They all had looks of shock on their faces.  I learned later that no one had ever dared to tell her, "No" before. 
Then I said, "It's too bad you didn't learn some manners when you were in school."  At that point, the old retired school teacher melted and said, "Look, my legs aren't as good as they used to be and I'm afraid I'll fall if I try to carry something on steps.  Would you please help me?"
"I would love to!  You guys want to help, too?"
"Sure!  Yea!  We'll help!"
We took everything down and put it right where she wanted it.  And after that incident … she was still a bossy old lady! 
Should I have done that?  Probably not.  But we humans don't like to submit.
Beaumonts have created a great atmosphere in their shop.  Even though some have the authority to order people around, it doesn't go to their heads.  You'll hear things like, "Would you mind doing this?"  Or "Could you help me?"  It makes so much difference in people's attitudes.  Why?  Because we don't like to submit to authority.
Do you have that inside of you?  The speed limit is 65 and we go 70.  A parent sets a dress code or a curfew and their teenager will always want to push just past the line.  Challenging authority comes to us naturally.

Let's also notice that
B. Submission is unforced.

The verb "submit" is in the middle voice.  Literally, it means "place yourself in submission."  Biblical submission is placing yourself under someone by choice.  Paul says this submission is to come from the heart.  If you submit to someone because you have no choice, what credit is that to you?  Instead make sure that submission is your choice.  When it's your choice, it gives you your freedom back.
Richard Foster says, "Peter made decision makers out of those who were forbidden to make decisions."  We make the decision to submit.

This is a difficult command, so Peter also gives
II. Motivation for submission.

Verse 13 says, "13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." 
When it's difficult to submit, remember first that it is
A. "For the Lord's sake." 

You are really submitting to God.  You see, submitting to others honors God.  Christians are not to submit to the governmental authorities because they agree with their views, or because the leaders are likeable, or because the teacher is cool.  Instead, they submit "for the Lord's sake."
Let's say you go for a parent/teacher conference at school.  And the teacher tells you about how your child is constantly in trouble.  He cut off some hair of the girl sitting in front of him.  He won't listen.  He doesn't do his work.  He does not submit to authority.  And you're embarrassed.
But what if you go for a parent/teacher conference and the teacher goes on and on about how your child follows instructions and pays attention and is doing excellent work.  Your child submits to authority.  You're proud, right?  In the same way, when we submit to those in authority, it honors God.
Another motivation is found in verse 15.  When we submit it
B. Enhances our testimony.

Look at verse 15 again.  "For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." 
The people that Peter is writing to are being mistreated and abused.  People were slandering them.  They were accused of rebelling against Rome and human authority.  They were accused of atheism.  They didn't worship Caesar or the many Roman gods.  They were accused of cannibalism.  People had gotten the wrong idea about communion and spies thought the Christians were literally eating Jesus' flesh and drinking His blood.
There was all this hostility and of course the natural response is to be defensive.  Sue them for slander!  Make them pay!  But as far as Peter was concerned the best way to answer these accusations was  to live a godly life that was full of good deeds.  The most powerful testimony we can have as a church is through submitting and doing what Philippians 2 says, treating others better than ourselves.
It is the lack of submission among Christians that has done so much damage to our testimony.  At one point the television evangelists were falling left and right.  They were not faithful to their spouses.  They took money for themselves, and they cheated on their taxes.  They were definitely not submitting to any authority!  Suddenly, all churches and preachers were suspect.  I try not to even touch any of the church's money.
I have heard church leaders say they don't even want the government to know they exist.  What they are really doing is trying to avoid paperwork and taxes.  They are not submitting.  They give all churches a black eye.  But when we do things right and submit to the authority of the government, we bring honor to God and our testimony has more power.
After Peter lays out this difficult command and helps us understand why it's so important, he gives two ways this submission is played out for his readers.  Our culture is different from this one in the First Century, but let's look at how this applied to them and draw some parallels to the challenges we face of being submissive today as citizens of the United States.

III. Practical Applications.
 A. The government.

It seems like we are in a constant state of elections anymore.  As soon as one election is over, people are campaigning for the next.  So, let's spend a little more time on this one. 
As Christians, we are first and foremost citizens of Heaven.  As much as I love our country, I love Heaven even more.  But part of being a good citizen of Heaven is being a good citizen of earth. 
I Peter 2:13-14 says, "13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right."
No matter what you think about our governmental leaders, our government is much easier to submit to than the one in Peter's day.  According to an early Roman Historian, Tacitus, who lived during this time, rumors spread that Nero, emperor of Rome, himself, had ordered the burning of Rome so that he could blame the Christians.  Listen to Tacitus describe Christians during this time: "Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burned, to serve as a nightly illumination when daylight had expired. 
Both Peter and Paul would have been killed for their faith during this time.
Peter here says the government has two purposes:

1) Punish those who do wrong and
2) Commend those who do right. 

But that's not what Rome's government was doing.  Yet Peter says to submit yourselves to them with a willing spirit.  Pay your taxes.  Respect the governmental officials.
Now this passage brings us to a subject with a wide variety of opinions.  What should be the role of Christians when it comes to the government?  Specifically what do we do when the government is going in a direction we don't approve of or a government official is in office that we don't agree with? 
We are blessed to live in a democracy, not a dictatorship.  Here in America, we, the people, are the government.  That means that part of being a good citizen in our country is to hold our elected officials accountable and do what we can to see that officials are elected that honor God.  Living in a democracy, political involvement is the responsibility of every Christian.  But let me give you a few things to remember as Christian citizens.
As a Christian Citizen
1. Remember the limited influence of government.

There are Christians whose hope seems to rise and fall every election or over every law that is passed.  While it's appropriate to care about those things, we should also be realistic and understand that the majority of our efforts should be focused on spiritual change.  Peter knew the best way to change the world was not through political rebellion.  Yes, our nation began that way and that was an extreme case, and sometimes that is necessary.  But rebellion is not the most effective way to turn people to God.
Have you ever thought about how Jesus changed the world with His life?  He could have come as a King.  In fact there was a time in John 6 when the people wanted to make Him King.  But Jesus refused.  And there was a political movement called the "Zealots" who already wanted to overthrow the oppressive Roman government.  Jesus could have joined them.  But He didn't.  Jesus understood the important truth that government and politics are limited.  Politics is an honorable profession, and we need great people involved in it, but the Son of God chose a different way to make a difference.  He came to proclaim the Kingdom of God.  Jesus said, "I came to seek and save the lost."
There is a book titled, Political Illusion, and the premise of the book is that the big political illusion in our day is that there is a political solution for every problem in life.  We're especially aware of it as we are surrounded by political ads that seem to promise a solution to every problem we face.  Some people give large amounts of money and significant amounts of time to seeing a political agenda advanced.  And that's ok.  We should be active in our government.  But you need to realize that ultimately there is no hope there.  If you want to make a difference in your world, you might want to take a lesson from Jesus.  Chuck Colson explained it this way: "The Kingdom of God is not going to arrive on Air Force One."
God's instrument is the Church.  The hope of the world does not rest upon the next election.  It is not dependent up on a law being passed.  The hope of the world is Jesus Christ and Ephesians 3:10 says God's intent is that through the Church Jesus is to be revealed to the world.
According to Open Doors Ministry, Chinese government officials became so fed up with sky-high rates of crime, drug addiction, and sickness in the Lahu county in the Yunnan province, that in the mid 1990s they turned for help to the only model citizens in the area-the Christians.
"We had to admit that the Lahu people were a dead loss because of their addiction to opium," confessed an official who did not want to be named.  "Their addiction made them weak and sick.  Then they would go to one of their 'priests,' who required animal sacrifices of such extravagance that the people became poor.  And because they were so poor, they stole from each other, and law and order deteriorated.  It was a vicious cycle that no amount of government propaganda could break.  We noticed, however, that in some villages in the county, the Lahu were prosperous and peace loving. There was no drug problem or any stealing or social order problems.  Households had a plentiful supply of pigs, oxen, and chickens.  So we commissioned a survey to find out why these villages were different.  To our astonishment and embarrassment, we discovered the key factor was that these villages had a majority of Christians."
So officials launched a daring experiment in 1998, the likes of which would have been unthinkable in China 10 years before.  They sponsored Christians to go into the troublesome villages and share their faith.  They started by picking out the worst village, which had 240 people, 107 of which were hopelessly addicted to opium.  Christian Lahus were bussed into the village at government expense, and the villagers were herded together by the police and made to listen to the testimonies of the Christians. A year later, there were 17 converts in the village, and they began to grow rich because they stopped spending money on drugs.  Eight of the 17 converts even had enough to own sewing machines and started small businesses.  By early 2002, 83 of the villagers were Christians and the prosperity had spread. 
The government official said, "We are delighted with the results and have been extending the tactic to many other villages since then."

II Corinthians 10:3-4.  "3For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world..."  We do not use physical weapons.  We fight with love in action and prayer.  That's the most effective way to change the hearts of people.  And when people's hearts are changed, we solve the problems of welfare and crime and prison over-crowding, and unwanted babies, and kickbacks and corruption and substance abuse, and everything else.  As a citizen you should be involved in the political process, but remember your best weapon is to spiritually impact the world with prayer and love in action.

Secondly, as a Christian Citizen
2. Remember that you stand in the shadow of the cross.

I Peter 2:16-17.  "16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king."  Peter knew that rebellion towards the government will give some people a bad perception of the Christian faith.  But a submissive spirit, which is not a real popular strategy in politics, can honor God.
It is significant to realize that Jesus lived under unjust and unrighteous officials in His life.  Yet we don't have any record of Him ever attacking the government.  He never led a protest.  He never led civil disobedience.  Jesus never demonstrated against the abuse of the Romans.  In fact, in stead of fighting Rome, Jesus taught us to pay our taxes.  He never even spoke out at the injustice of his own trial.  He spoke only of the Kingdom of God.  His political involvement could have hindered his life mission to seek and save the lost.
C.S. Lewis wrote that one of the primary strategies of the evil one is to promote what Lewis called, "Christianity and…"  In other words, if Satan cannot get people to reject Christianity outright, he will try to get them to fuse it into some other movement or philosophy or cause, so that they are no longer committed to what he called "Mere Christianity." 
And one of primary ways this happens is for people to equate the Christian faith with some political or social agenda.  And it has happened throughout history and the church.  Even today there are churches that spend more time cursing America than they do uplifting Jesus Christ.  Or on the other hand, a Christian Republican makes his political views a requirement for his faith and so his Democratic coworker rejects Christianity, but what he's really rejecting is a political view.  And there many who may reject Christianity - not because they reject Jesus - but because they reject what we've attached Jesus to. If you're a Christian, you're involved in politics from the shadow of the cross.  Be careful that your political involvement doesn't keep people from the only One who can really save them.
Christians tend to take
Two Misguided Approaches to the Government.
1. Christians lash out.

Many Christians check their Christian love at the door when they start to talk about a certain politician or some government action.  In his book, The Jesus I Never Knew, Philip Yancey writes, "Regardless of the merits of a given political issue, whether a Pro-life lobby on the right, or a peace and justice lobby on the left, political movements risk pulling onto themselves the mantle of power, that smothers love.  From Jesus I learn that whatever activism I get involved in, it must not drive out love and humility.  Otherwise I betray the Kingdom of heaven."  You can get upset at decisions and laws, but don't lose your Christian love for people.
On the other extreme,
2. Christians cave in.

Many Christians think that submission to the government means no political action at all.  Why is it easier, in America, to obtain a divorce than a car loan?  Why are 15 million kids, 1/4th of all our country's children, growing up without a dad?  Why is it easier for a minor to get an abortion than to have their teeth cleaned?  How can all of these things be true in a country where the polls say that 84% of the population claims to be Christian, and 43% say they went to church last Sunday? 
We can't cave in.  Some political issues are at their core spiritual issues.  We must disagree when the government goes in the wrong direction.  In fact there is one instance when we are to disobey our government.  In Acts 5:29 the apostles laid down the principle that when the government gives a command that goes against God's command, we must obey God.  They told their government, "…We must obey God rather than men!"
The Second practical application for Peter's readers is:
B. The workplace.

Look at I Peter 2:18-20: "18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But 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."
To begin with, realize that there were many slaves, like we think of slaves.  They were sold and abused.  But often they were no different than employees today.  They were paid and free to quit if they wanted to.  So, the application is to us and our jobs.  Peter says we are to submit even to those harsh, unfair employers.  Why should we do that?  So we can gain the respect of others.  We can't reach them with Christ if we are not respected.
Actually, being an employee is similar to being a child in that, life tends to be a whole lot easier and more fun when you submit.  If you don't submit, your boss will make it harder on you and may even fire you.  This isn't always easy, but life is a lot less stressful when you submit and you are in a better position to influence someone for Christ.
Finally, let's take a look at
IV. A Powerful Example of Submission:  Jesus.

Listen to I Peter 2:21-23: "21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.' 23When 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."
Jesus gave us the ultimate example.  He didn't deserve anything He suffered.  Even His trial was illegal, but He did not retaliate.  If He could submit and endure injustices, maybe we can, too.
But the greatest thing Jesus did is found in the last 2 Verses of our text. 
I Peter 2:24-25 says, "24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."
Jesus took the punishment we deserved when He went to the cross.  Like sheep, we have all gone astray.  Have you returned to the Shepherd of your soul?  If not, come to Him now, accepting His marvelous grace, being buried with Him in baptism.  Or maybe you've already done that and would like to place your membership with us.  Either way, come as we stand and sing.

Based on a 09/05/2004 sermon by Kyle Idleman of South East Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky.