Pilgrim Living: Emotionally
Healthy Discipleship
I Peter 3:8,9
Introduction: In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demands that Linus change TV
channels and then threatens him if he doesn’t. Linus asks,
"What makes you think you can walk right
in here and take over?"
"These five fingers," says
Lucy. "Individually they are nothing, but when I curl them together like
this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is terrible to behold."
"What channel do you want?"
asks Linus. Then, turning away, he looks at his fingers and says,
"Why can’t you guys get organized like that?"
There is power in coming
together! God has designed the church to work together. We are stronger
together than any of us could be alone. The Great Commission is our mission and
as we serve together we all have a part in it. What is our “focus” in the
Christian life? The big idea in these two verses is to be focused
outwardly, focused on others. As we’ve been walking with Peter through this letter,
he is helping us to gain (or regain) that perspective. We are pilgrims
living in a fallen world. We were created for eternity and we are here, as a
part of the church, “on assignment.” Peter said in 1 Pet 2:12 “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.”
Context: Finally,
all of you… (citizens, workers, wives, husbands)… All of the “pilgrims” to
whom he has been writing, since you are on a mission, live like this…
The BIG Idea: The key to having a “heart” for
people is to give our heart to God, and to allow him to make us more like
Jesus. There is actually no verb in v.8, Peter begins with a series of five rare adjectives to emphatically make his point. This is what he desires to characterize the lives of his readers...
I. Live… in Harmony with one another: BE LIKE MINDED (like Jesus prayed,
and the early church showed [Jn 17; Acts 4:32; Rom 12; I Cor 1:10; Eph 4:13]).
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy,
brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
The idea of unity is fundamental to God’s design for the church. We are one body. The problem is we don’t
always act like it. We know it is God’s desire for the church to experience
practical unity, to be of one mind. Jesus prayed that would be our experience.
In fact, the model for the unity of the church is the unity between the Father and
the Son! Jesus prayed…
And I am no longer in the world, but
they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your
name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one… (John 17:11).
We also read in John 17:22,23…
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be
one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may
become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and
loved them even as you loved me.
Notice the result of the unity that
Jesus is praying for here, “…so that the
world may know…” That fits well with Peter’s point in this context. We
should have the mind of a servant so that we don’t give people an excuse for
unbelief. Rather, we show them that something real, supernatural, is happening
our life. God gets the glory. I am thankful that in our church, though we have
a diversity of opinions on many subjects, we don’t let those differences define
us or divide us. What we have in common is far stronger than anything that
could divide us: We belong to God! The key to having a heart for people
is to give our heart to Him, and to allow Him to make us more like Jesus.
II. Have… sympathy: Empathize with the suffering, have
compassion on the perishing. We feel for the
people around us. We care!
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of
mind, sympathy, brotherly
love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
These next three
words seem to be closely related so we’ll touch on them quickly: sympathy,
brotherly love, and a tender heart. “Sympathy” is basically a transliteration
from Greek. This is the only place this word occurs in the Bible. The root idea
is to be “with” someone in their feelings or emotions. If “one mind” denotes
trying to under-stand each other’s thinking and being focused on the same goal,
then “sympathy” means we seek to share in their feelings, “…rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep
with those who weep…” It is related
to #IV below, “a tender heart,” I
have a hard time separating the ideas. It seems this word might emphasize more
the idea of empathy, identifying with others in their pain and struggle,
perhaps the other is more about being “moved to compassion,” focusing on
our heart attitude toward those in need, having a “tender heart.” We might
think of Job’s friends who came to him in the midst of horrible loss, his
children, his business, finally his health. We read in Job 2:11-13,
11 Now when Job's three friends
heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own
place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. They
made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort him. 12 And when they saw him from a
distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and wept,
and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven. And they sat with him on the ground seven
days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his
suffering was very great.
They sat with him for a week before they said anything, “for they saw his suffering.” (Only after
a week did they start “preaching”!). Do we sympathize with the hurting people
around us? In the body, if one part
hurts, we suffer together, if one part rejoices, we rejoice together. The key
to having a “heart” for people is to give our heart to God, and to allow him to
make us more like Jesus.
III. Have... love: If we had to choose one defining and
identifying characteristic of authentic Christianity, it could well be love.
Both love for God, and “…brotherly love…”
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of
mind, sympathy, brotherly love,
a tender heart, and a humble mind.
We’ve seen a form of this word, “brotherly love,” (“Philadelphia” comes from the same root) already in
this letter. We read in 1 Pet 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…” The same idea was
reflected with a different word in 1 Pet
2:17 “…love the brotherhood…” Remember,
God’s love for us is our motivation to love one another. John made the point
when he said, “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. Beloved, if God so
loved us, we also ought to love one another…” (I Jn 4:10-11). Here, Peter lists this as a characteristic of Pilgrim-servants. The idea is
that we are a family, and like a family, as brothers and sisters, we are
committed to our relationships. This is how we live. But what if I don’t “feel” loving? I like CS
Lewis’ answer:
The rule for all of us is perfectly simple. Do not waste time bothering
whether you 'love' your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do
this we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved
someone, you will presently come to love him…
Remember, Jesus told us to love one another, and by that “they
will know you are my disciples.” Is God’s glory your top priority? Then Peter
says choose love. If you don’t feel it, choose to live it in your
relationships for the glory of God. The key to having a “heart” for people is
to give our heart to God, and to allow him to make us more like Jesus.
IV. Have a… tender heart: Guard your heart!
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of
mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a
tender heart, and a humble mind.
Paul uses the same word in Ephesians
4:32 when he exhorts, “Be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave
you.” The same root word is used of Jesus in Matthew 9:36, “When
he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were
harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” The noun form of the
word used here refers to the “bowels” or intestines. Most often it is used to
describe the emotions, much as we use the word “heart” in modern English. Jesus saw the multitudes and was “moved to
compassion.” We need to see the people around us in the same way. What
things keep us from having a tender heart? Why is it so easy for our heart to
get “hard” toward others?
I think that we need to be intentional about “guarding our heart,” as
the Proverb says, “Everything else
depends on it…” (Prov 4:23). The key to having a “heart” for people is to
give our heart to God, and to allow him to make us more like Jesus.
V. Have... humility: “…a humble mind…”
(When we see God rightly, we see ourselves more clearly). It isn’t thinking
badly about ourselves, but thinking more about others.
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of
mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
Philip Brooks
said “The true way to be humble is not to
stoop until you are smaller than yourself, but to stand at your real height
against some higher nature that will show what the real smallness of your
greatness is.” If we focus on God’s holiness, if we think about His
majesty, if we reflect on the depths of His love, we’ll see ourselves a little
more clearly. We all fall dreadfully short. False humility is talking down about ourselves
(secretly hoping someone will speak up and say how great we really are!). Humility
is to know the truth about ourselves, and being so overwhelmed by the grace
that God has shown us, that we look for the good in others, and desire God’s
glory above all.
Corrie ten Boom was asked if it was difficult for her to remain humble. She
replied,
“When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on
Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches
throwing garments on the road, and singing praises, do you think that for one
moment it every entered into the head of that donkey that any of it was for
him? If I can be the donkey on which Jesus Christ rides... I give Him all the
praise and all the honor.”
Andrew Murray gave a beautiful
definition of biblical humility, I love to quote it, if only I could embrace it…:
“Humility is perfect quietness of
heart. It is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to
feel nothing done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and
when I am blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I
can go in and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace
as in a deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble. The humble person is not one who thinks
meanly of himself, he simply does not think of himself at all.”
As we get our
eyes off of ourselves and onto Jesus, we will think of ourselves less, and
think about His glory, and His love for the world. I like the way Pastor Steve Foster
put it, “When we finally fall down before Him in worship and open our eyes,
the first thing we see is the nail prints in His feet. As we look up, we see
his outstretched, nail-pierced hand ready to lift us up.” As we grasp His
love for us, we will love one another, and we’ll start to think of others
before ourself. The key to having a
“heart” for people is to give our heart to God, and to allow him to make us
more like Jesus.
VI. Be... forgiving: Not insisting on “justice” and our
personal rights, remembering what Jesus did for us... So, as a people forgiven,
having experienced God’s grace,
Do not repay evil for evil or
reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called,
that you may obtain a blessing… (9).
We will pick up with verse 9 next
week, but I’ll say a word about it here. Remember, Peter is writing about
having the attitude of a servant, putting our mission and God’s glory above our
preferences or our rights. Peter says don’t strike back. Jesus didn’t (cf. I Pet 2:23)! Instead, we should be quick to forgive, we
should be quick to extend grace. C.S.
Lewis said: “Everyone thinks forgiveness
is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” Isn’t that the
truth? We are quick to embrace our right to be offended. We want justice!
I read in a devotional the story of two writers collaborating on a book…
There was only one problem when Tara Barthel and Judy Dabler set out to
write their book Peacemaking Women: No sooner had they started than they
weren't speaking to each other. [How is that for irony! SN.]
Judy had been Tara's first choice as co-author for a book about resolving
conflicts. Everything from her conciliation expertise to her Christian
experience made her the ideal partner.
Tara was pregnant with her first child when the writing process began,
and in her task-oriented mind, it was imperative that the manuscript be
completed before the baby came. Judy, however, was blindsided by a series of
major setbacks, including personal health issues, her husband's hospitalization
after a lawn-mowing accident, her mother's hip replacement, her father-in-law's
bout with lung cancer, the loss of two employees in her counseling ministry and
an unusually taxing caseload.
But Judy isn't one to make
excuses. And though Tara would have probably understood why Judy's work wasn't
coming in on time if she had known what her friend was up against, all she
could see was a colleague who wasn't making good on a promise.
Everything at this point
became email driven—the kind of communication that strips itself of personality
and voice inflection, leaving the real meanings obscured by cold keyboard
strokes. And every time the other's name would appear in the in-box, stomachs
would churn.
This wasn't going well. Not at
all. Two peacemaking professionals in a standoff. In need of peace.
You'll be glad to know that
both of them finally applied the truth of their book. The hurt came out,
understanding occurred, and forgiveness was expressed and granted. And their
book had an extra chapter about very up-close-and-personal conflict.
Their story teaches a lesson.
When people disappoint you, be patient. There may be more going on underneath
the surface than you realize.
Ironically, these ladies were
collaborating on a book about peacemaking!
If they could let a grudge lead to bitterness, it can surely happen to us
as well. You see how these ideas fit together? If we love we will be
forgiving, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.”
A Texas businessman and philanthropist, Robert L. Thornton, told the story
of his parents having an “energetic” disagreement…
…my father jumped up from the table,
grabbed two pieces of paper, and said to my mother, “Let’s make a list of
everything we don’t like about each other” Mom started writing. Dad glowered at
her for a few minutes, and then wrote on his paper. She wrote again. He watched
her, and every time she stopped, he would start writing again. They finally
finished. “Let’s exchange complaints,” Dad said. They gave each other the
lists. “Give mine back,” Mom pleaded when she glanced at his sheet. All down
the page, Dad had written, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
Love covers a multitude of sins! Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love chooses
to forgive. The apostle Paul said, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted,
forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you…” (Eph 4:32). We are forgiven, we must be
forgiving! We have been shown such
grace, we should be gracious!
What is God saying to me
in this passage? The
key to having a “heart” for people is to give our heart to God, and He will begin to make us more like Jesus.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? Individually we’re not much. But
when we come together we can form an awesome weapon in the hands of God. God saved
us by His grace, and He has us in this world, and in this church, for a
purpose. It’s not just to take up space. This is GOD’S Church. And He tells us
in His Word that we have two primary areas of responsibility. 1) to use our
gifts for the encouragement and building up of one another; and 2) to be a witness in the place where God has
put us. And He get’s the glory. We need each other, to hold each other
accountable, to provoke one another to love and good works. To encourage one
another. And each of us have unsaved or unchurched friends, relatives, and
neighbors who desperately need Jesus. Alone we may not be much, but together, we can
be a fearsome weapon in the hands of our mighty God! Will you allow Him to use
you? AMEN.
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