Following Jesus and Respecting Authorities
I Peter 2:13-17 (cf. Jeremiah 29:4ff.)
Introduction: A man of God wrote a letter to exiles, urging them to
live peaceably in their place of residency, to pray for it’s leaders, and to
seek the good of that nation. Yes, I could be talking about Peter and his first
letter, but there was another letter written centuries before with a similar
message. In Jeremiah 29 we have a letter written by Jeremiah, a message from God
to His people in exile. Let’s read a few lines in Jeremiah 29:4-7…
4 "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of
Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to
Babylon: Build houses and live in them;
plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters;
take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may
bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the
welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on
its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare…
God promised that He would bring the people back to
the land in the future, and he would preserve them in the present. They could
find hope and comfort in the plan of God, as they live life as exiles. Notice
he says, “seek the welfare of the city… pray to the LORD on its behalf… for
in its welfare you will find your welfare…” (Daniel and his friends tried to live by that while in exile, and they rose to positions of influence... though there was a den of lions and a fiery furnace along the way!) The NT seems to pick up on
Jeremiah’s perspective on how exiles should live in their land of residency. Our
study in First Peter has reminded us that we are Pilgrims living in a fallen
world. We can also find comfort
in remembering that although we are pilgrims and exiles, we know and are known
by the King of kings! He knows your name! He has a plan, and you have a
part in it. Even though we are not of the world, for a while, by God’s
will, we are in it.
As we continue
our study in I Peter, we are reminded of our obligation to the authorities God
has allowed in our lives, including the government. Not only are we to pray for those in
authority, but we are to respect and submit to them as well. Remember, Peter is writing to fellow
pilgrims, dispersed through Asia Minor, and under the authority of Rome. Nero
was the Emperor. This section in I Peter will deal with some sticky issues,
and an important part of that is submission to those in authority. He starts
talking about the king and governors, he will talk about respecting our
supervisors and employers in the workplace, he will talk about line of
authority in the family, and he will even talk about the authority that God
delegates to leaders in the church. The
point is that we recognize God as the ultimate authority, and our
conduct “among the gentiles” will lay a foundation for our witness and for the
mission of God.
The BIG
Idea: Except where it conflicts with the authority of God, for the sake of your
witness, respect and submit to the authorities God has put in your life.
I. Submit:
Believers are to respect and submit to government authorities for the sake of
the Lord (13,14). 13 Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human
institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, 14 or to governors as sent by him
to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.
The call
to “be subject” or to “submit” to all human authorities has its roots in the
idea that God has delegated authority to certain people and institutions to
maintain order and to make it possible for Christians to live and carry out His mission
in the world.
“Be
subject” or “Submit yourselves” (hupotassō)
is a military expression that could have the sense, “to arrange in formation
under the commander” (MacArthur, First Peter). As armies have a line of command, so God has
ordained government to bring order in society. Paul said in Romans 13:1, “Let
every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no
authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”
There may be times when the government is in conflict with what God clearly
says in his Word, we’ll touch on that below. But God has ordained human
government for our good. So, because we trust God, we respect the authorities
he has established, whether or not we voted for them. You choose to respect the
office. Peter is talking about submission that is not the result of compulsion,
but stems from the recognition that God is in control, and that no one has
authority unless He allows it.
Remember
that as we have been reading I Peter, at least three times already has reminded
his reader that they are exiles, sojourners, and pilgrims in this world. How
then are we to live? Remember the
previous verses,
11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to
abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the
Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may
see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation… (I Peter 2:11,12).
Look again at the words written by the prophet
Jeremiah to the nation in exile. This is how he told them they should live
during their time in exile in Babylon (Jer 29:4-7)… They are to build houses and have
children and plant gardens. They are to make it their home while they are
there. When we went to Brazil as
missionaries we were not exiles, but we were foreigners, resident aliens. It
did put us in an odd position, especially after our first five-year term. Where was home? We
owned no property in either the US or Brazil.
We had always lived in church or mission owned housing until our move
here. By the time we were ready to come on
our first furlough, our daughter said something like, “I don’t want to leave
home!” For her, home was where we lived, not where we were returning. We asked ourselves
that question a few times over the years, and Mary Ann always determined to
make a “home” wherever we were. We are thankful where God has us right now. Jeremiah
told his countrymen in exile that they were not only to make a home, but in
v.7, “…seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and
pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.”
We are exiles, but we don’t want to be so heavenly minded that we are of no
earthly good! God has us here for a purpose. We can be a voice for
righteousness and a light in the darkness. So, as far as we are able, we want
to seek the good of our nation and pray for our leaders.
As we see also that idea in I Timothy
2:1-4, where we are told to pray for those in authority, just as the
Jews were to seek the good of the country to which God had sent them. Yes, we
are citizens of heaven, we are pilgrims, but this country is our home, for a
little while, and we are called to pray for our leaders (whether or not we
voted for them!) and seek the welfare of this place. I think that means be a
voice for righteousness, even while we remember, God is in control, He is
sovereign, the Lord of history. As Paul
said in Rom 13:1, “Let every person be subject to the governing
authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist
have been instituted by God…” What
about those times when corruption and unrighteousness conflicts with God’s absolute
authority? Acts
gives us some orientation in that scenario. When the apostles were told to stop
preaching Christ, they said “we
cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (4:19-20; cf. 5:29). So, except where it conflicts
with the authority of God, for the sake of your witness, respect and submit to the
authorities God has put in your life… even if you didn’t vote for them!
II. Silence accusers with your good life:
Being a good and respectful citizen is one way that we silence accusers
and give a good witness (15). 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good
you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.
Verse 15 begins with the phrase, “For this is the will of God…” That should get our attention! We
all want to know God’s will and do God’s will if we are His children. We want
to obey our Father because we have experienced His grace and we have seen His
love. We love because He first loved us. So, we trust Him, and we obey Him.
Remember this passage immediately follows verse 12 where we read, “Keep your
conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as
evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of
visitation.” This is one more way that our conduct among the
nations is revealed to be honorable,
one of the “good deeds” that characterize us, and so “silence the
ignorance of foolish people” and ultimately bring glory to God. Paul gave similar instruction to Titus as to
how he was to admonish the believers in Crete to live:
Remind
them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready
for every good work, 2 to
speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect
courtesy toward all people. 3
For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various
passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others
and hating one another (Titus 3:1-3).
Fallen humanity rebels against authority. That is our sinful nature. As new creatures in
Christ we are to respect authority, including government. Peter would one day be put to death by Nero, yet
here he is saying that submitting to kings and governors is a way that we
silence the ignorance of foolish people. This is the will of God.
Like some
of you I’ve felt a little discouraged by the divisions in our country. It could
get worse! There will be times when we need to speak up against injustice and
stand with those who are treated unfairly. The church in Europe has been
rightly criticized for not taking a united stand against the Nazis prior to WW2.
Some, like Corrie ten Boom’s family, did what they could to help those who were
being treated so unfairly.
As
a Dutch pastor from the countryside was visiting
them at the time, they sought his counsel. Representing the confusion
on obedience that many have, he said: “Miss ten Boom! I do hope
you’re not involved with any of this illegal concealment
and undercover business. It’s just not safe! Think of your
father! and your sister-she’s never been strong!” The minister
[told them] that Christians are required to obey all those who are
placed over them. Papa replied “we will obey those
who make the laws but not if they are against God’s higher law”. (Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place).
In times like that we must obey God, rather than
men. We have a pretty good system in our country, but it isn’t perfect. But be
comforted that God is in control. Be informed. Be involved. Vote wisely and
prayerfully. And respect (and pray for) those in authority. That’s the BIG Idea: Except where it
conflicts with the authority of God, for the sake of your witness, respect and submit
to the authorities God has put in your life.
III. Serve: We are free, not to do whatever we wish, but to
serve. We serve God by serving others (16).
16 Live as people who are free, not
using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
Freedom
is something we cherish. It is alluded to in the Pennsylvania state motto: Virtue,
Liberty, Independence. In New Jersey it is simply, Liberty and
Prosperity (apparently, we are not so interested in virtue across the river!).
New England has some interesting state mottos. The New Hampshire motto says, “Live
free or die!” In Maine it’s “The way life should be!” If we are in
Christ we are free, just as the Lord said, “If the Son therefore
shall make you free, you are free indeed!” How
has Christ made us free? What does it mean in our text to live as free? First
of all, we are no longer slaves of sin,
Romans 6:6 “We know that our old self was crucified with him in
order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no
longer be enslaved to sin.
Romans 8:2 “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in
Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
We are not in bondage to sin, free to obey God. And,
we are no longer slaves to Satan…
I John 4:4 “Little children, you are from God and have overcome
them, for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world…”
His point is that we are no longer in bondage to sin,
we are not slaves of Satan or in bondage to our fallen nature. We are free. Not free to sin, God
forbid. We are free to live in a life that brings glory to God. We are free to
obey, free to choose righteousness. Freedom is not license to sin. And so, don’t
use your freedom as a cover-up for evil… The Bible is full of admonitions calling
us to live lives that bring glory to God. The people around us who don’t know
God are not free… they are in bondage to sin and Satan, even though they don’t
realize it. In Christ our chains are gone, we’ve been set free. And so instead
of living to feed our appetites, we can…
…live as
servants of God. We are free to serve
God, and because of Him, serve others. So, except where it conflicts with the authority of God, for the sake of your
witness, respect and submit to the authorities God has allowed...
including government.
IV. Show each a proper respect: Respect
for human authorities flows from our reverence for God, the ultimate authority (17). “Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear
God. Honor the emperor.”
Peter makes a general, overarching statement first: “honor everyone.” Respect each person,
recognize they too are created in God’s image, however hard it might be to see.
They have value. Yes, ALL people matter.
Humans are unique, and all human life is precious. Our Declaration of Independence agrees that
“All men [all humans] are created equal and endowed by their creator with
certain unalienable rights…” Race, nationality, social standing, income, none
of that matters. People are people, created in the image of God, and they
deserve respect. Honor everyone. And…
“…love
the brotherhood…” What is true of
our attitude toward all people, takes on a deeper, more personal element among
believers in Jesus. It stems from the Lord’s own words in John
13:34-35, “A new
commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you,
you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another." Peter
has called his readers to this already in 1 Peter 1:22, “Having purified your souls by your obedience
to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a
pure heart…” John speaks about it repeatedly in his first
letter, for example in 1 John 4:7-11,
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from
God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does
not know God, because God is love. 9
In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son
into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we
have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for
our sins. 11 Beloved, if God
so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
We are to honor all, love the brethren,
and thirdly “…fear God…” We’ve spoken
enough about that that we needn’t dwell here. God is God, our creator, the all-powerful,
awesome, King of the Universe. We are His creatures; once lost and in darkness
but now brought near by the blood of Christ. We tremble at that, but not
because we are fearful, but because we understand that it is only by His grace
that we are His (I Jn 3:1). As Peter said a few verses back, in 1 Peter
2:9-10, “…But you are a
chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own
possession… Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you
had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy…”
So, it is proper for us to “fear God.” Paul put it
this way to the Philippians...
…work out your own salvation with fear and
trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and
to work for his good pleasure. 14
Do all things without grumbling or questioning,
15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God
without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom
you shine as lights in the world... (Philippians
2:12-15).
And He, the Lord of the universe, the absolute
authority to whom we owe everything, has delegated authorities in the world,
and He calls us to “…honor the emperor…” The emperor of Rome from the mid-50s to the
mid-60s A.D., was Nero. Not Mr. Nice Guy. Whatever authority he had, it is
because God had allowed it. So, honor the emperor.
What is God
saying to me in this passage? Except where it conflicts with the authority
of God, for the sake of your witness, respect and submit to the authorities God
has put in your life… including government (whether you voted for them
or not!).
What would
God have me to do in response to this passage? Some years
back, I remember being part of a conversation where a past president of the US
was being criticized. An older, wiser brother was present. He was just
listening, he hadn’t said anything, and someone asked what he thought. In his typical
humble wisdom Dr. Cain said, “I know one thing, I don’t pray for him enough.”
That convicted me, and it reminded me that there is no one in authority unless
God allowed it. Could it be that He wants to wake us up, and to get us
praying? Pray for those in
authority, whether or not you voted for them. When elections come, be
informed on the issues, and vote your Christian convictions. And
then pray for those who are elected, and, as God said to the exiles
through Jeremiah, seek the good of the city, and the country, in which
you are living as exiles. And God will get the glory as we shine like lights in
the world. AMEN.
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