WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.080 We hope that you enjoy this teaching from Christ Church. 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.500 This material is copyrighted and no unauthorized duplication, 00:00:09.880 --> 00:00:15.280 redistribution, or any other use of any part is permitted without prior consent from Christ Church. 00:00:15.280 --> 00:00:22.640 Please consider donating to this work in the San Francisco Bay Area online at ChristChurchEastBay.org. 00:00:22.640 --> 00:00:37.179 I will be reading the scripture as written in your liturgy from 1 Peter 2, 9 through 29, I believe. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:44.420 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, 00:00:44.939 --> 00:00:52.620 God's special possession that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness. 00:00:52.640 --> 00:00:54.539 into his wonderful light. 00:00:55.100 --> 00:01:00.560 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:06.099 Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. 00:01:06.599 --> 00:01:15.439 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul. 00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:21.180 Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, 00:01:21.180 --> 00:01:25.020 they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day. 00:01:25.020 --> 00:01:26.400 He visits us. 00:01:27.100 --> 00:01:31.240 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority, 00:01:31.700 --> 00:01:38.000 whether to the emperor as the supreme authority or to governors who are sent by him, 00:01:38.280 --> 00:01:43.660 to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 00:01:44.000 --> 00:01:46.700 For it is God's will that by doing good, 00:01:47.020 --> 00:01:50.180 you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 00:01:50.180 --> 00:01:55.240 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. 00:01:55.640 --> 00:01:56.980 Live as God's slaves. 00:01:57.360 --> 00:01:59.540 Show proper respect to everyone. 00:02:00.140 --> 00:02:01.620 Love the family of believers. 00:02:01.960 --> 00:02:02.620 Fear God. 00:02:03.100 --> 00:02:03.960 Honor the emperor. 00:02:04.500 --> 00:02:07.020 Slaves in reverent fear of God, 00:02:07.180 --> 00:02:09.000 submit yourselves to your masters, 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:12.340 not only to those who are good and considerate, 00:02:12.500 --> 00:02:14.600 but also to those who are harsh. 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:25.180 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:31.879 But how is it, to your credit, if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? 00:02:32.060 --> 00:02:36.379 But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, 00:02:36.539 --> 00:02:38.560 this is commendable before God. 00:02:38.560 --> 00:02:42.340 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, 00:02:42.659 --> 00:02:46.180 leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps. 00:02:46.560 --> 00:02:47.879 He committed no sin. 00:02:48.379 --> 00:02:50.180 No deceit was found in his mouth. 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:54.699 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate. 00:02:54.939 --> 00:02:57.080 When he suffered, he made no threats. 00:02:57.420 --> 00:03:01.800 Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 00:03:01.800 --> 00:03:04.060 This is the word of the Lord. 00:03:04.620 --> 00:03:05.560 Thanks be to God. 00:03:07.640 --> 00:03:08.760 Thanks, Shantanez. 00:03:09.600 --> 00:03:11.260 You know, I tried last night. 00:03:11.340 --> 00:03:14.380 I spent about three or four hours and another hour this morning trying to shorten this, 00:03:14.680 --> 00:03:15.980 knowing all the things we'd have today. 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:17.780 And I only made a small dent. 00:03:17.860 --> 00:03:19.920 So just want to put that out there, heads up. 00:03:20.380 --> 00:03:25.180 And I also just want to thank Jonathan for giving me another passage on slaves. 00:03:25.180 --> 00:03:27.220 I had to preach on it last time. 00:03:28.280 --> 00:03:30.780 But we're going to get through this. 00:03:30.780 --> 00:03:32.800 And I know that's a question that's out there. 00:03:32.919 --> 00:03:34.060 And I want you to know I'm going to address it. 00:03:34.240 --> 00:03:37.319 And there's another place on our website where I address it further. 00:03:38.180 --> 00:03:42.180 I just want to put that out there as the caveats going into this sermon. 00:03:42.639 --> 00:03:44.139 But let's go to the Lord in prayer. 00:03:47.020 --> 00:03:50.000 Father, we pray that in the preaching of your word, 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:54.400 that you would form your church into the church that she was made to be. 00:03:55.340 --> 00:03:59.879 That you'd make us more like Jesus by your Holy Spirit with the power of your word. 00:03:59.879 --> 00:04:01.859 In Jesus' name, amen. 00:04:02.719 --> 00:04:03.060 All right. 00:04:03.159 --> 00:04:05.960 So last week we read from 1 Peter chapter 2. 00:04:06.039 --> 00:04:07.759 We're in the book of 1 Peter. 00:04:08.299 --> 00:04:14.039 And last week we read chapter 2 verses 9 and 10 that to be a Christian is to be part of a chosen people, 00:04:14.159 --> 00:04:18.199 Peter says, a royal priesthood and a holy nation, God's special possession. 00:04:18.360 --> 00:04:21.699 And in case it's not clear to you, these are incredibly good things, 00:04:21.819 --> 00:04:24.439 an incredibly high honor and privilege and calling. 00:04:24.439 --> 00:04:28.019 To be a Christian united with the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:30.339 This is an absolute gift of an identity. 00:04:30.459 --> 00:04:34.439 The highest fulfillment of God's intentions for what humans are meant to be. 00:04:35.240 --> 00:04:38.939 But notice just as soon as Peter points to the privilege of being the people of God, 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:43.740 he is also quick to remind his readers here in verse 11 that that is not all that they are. 00:04:43.839 --> 00:04:48.180 He reminds his readers that they are not just the elect, but elect exiles. 00:04:48.519 --> 00:04:49.759 They have a dual identity. 00:04:49.759 --> 00:04:56.039 Verse 11, dear friends, or a more literal translation in the Greek, beloved, beloved he calls them, 00:04:56.379 --> 00:05:02.180 beloved I urge you, not only as God's beloved, not only as God's elect holy nation, but as what? 00:05:03.159 --> 00:05:04.939 Foreigners and exiles. 00:05:05.219 --> 00:05:05.620 You see that? 00:05:06.120 --> 00:05:08.620 They are beloved and foreigners and exiles. 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:13.180 That's how Peter is encouraging his readers to understand themselves with this dual identity 00:05:13.180 --> 00:05:17.860 that actually the people of God have always shared from at least the time of Abraham, right, 00:05:17.860 --> 00:05:24.740 who himself was chosen and blessed by God, but at the same time was a perpetual pilgrim waiting 00:05:24.740 --> 00:05:25.680 for his final home. 00:05:26.199 --> 00:05:28.939 This is how Christians are supposed to see ourselves. 00:05:29.680 --> 00:05:35.040 And for Peter, this dual identity is critical for every Christian's self-understanding if we 00:05:35.040 --> 00:05:38.620 are to live rightly and faithfully before God and amongst our neighbors. 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:43.680 It's the key ingredient to living a compelling life as followers and representatives of Christ 00:05:43.680 --> 00:05:48.579 in this world, even and especially when this world is hostile toward Christians. 00:05:48.759 --> 00:05:50.500 We always have to hold both. 00:05:50.620 --> 00:05:56.680 We always have to believe both, that we are God's beloved elect and foreign exiles. 00:05:56.980 --> 00:05:57.879 And let me tell you why. 00:05:58.439 --> 00:06:02.720 See, if we only understand ourselves to be God's beloved elect, but not also exiles, 00:06:03.019 --> 00:06:07.800 waiting for the king to finally bring his heavenly home down to us, then what's going to happen? 00:06:07.800 --> 00:06:13.620 Well, we'll have this over-realized sense of the kingdom of God, and we'll be tempted toward 00:06:13.620 --> 00:06:20.300 triumphalism and arrogance, a sense of supremacy and entitlement, self-assertion, and this idea 00:06:20.300 --> 00:06:26.280 that because we are God's special people, we have a license to dominate and oppress and 00:06:26.280 --> 00:06:27.740 look down upon others. 00:06:28.360 --> 00:06:30.480 And honestly, I've been guilty of this in my own life. 00:06:30.560 --> 00:06:36.019 I grew up in a pretty fundamentalist church, and while I doubt they ever explicitly taught this, 00:06:36.019 --> 00:06:41.120 in my own sinful heart and in my own broken understanding of Christianity, I had the sense 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:47.339 that people who were not Christians were either ignorant of the facts and the evidence or that 00:06:47.339 --> 00:06:52.399 they willfully rejected the truth because they just wanted to hang on to their immoral lives. 00:06:52.919 --> 00:06:57.620 So I just assumed that people who weren't Christians were either not as smart and rational as me 00:06:57.620 --> 00:07:01.039 or not as righteous as me and my religious tribe. 00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:07.240 And this kind of religious supremacy and logic has sadly been used at many points in history 00:07:07.240 --> 00:07:12.980 by many Christians to coercively assert themselves and their ways and their wills upon others. 00:07:13.620 --> 00:07:20.620 The medieval crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, the anti-Semitism of European Christendom. 00:07:21.379 --> 00:07:29.140 Sadly, Christians have not been immune to taking in supremacist ideology, to using power-grabbing 00:07:29.139 --> 00:07:32.779 techniques and violent coercive behavior. 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:37.740 But this was never how God intended for His people, the church, to understand themselves 00:07:37.740 --> 00:07:40.039 as His chosen people and holy nation. 00:07:40.339 --> 00:07:44.839 If anything, this high and privileged identity as a royal priesthood was meant to humble us, 00:07:45.259 --> 00:07:49.500 not feed our tribalistic religious superiority complexes. 00:07:49.500 --> 00:07:56.459 And not only does neglecting our exilic identity as Christians make us elitist and puffed up and 00:07:56.459 --> 00:08:02.060 oppressive, but if we never reckon with the Christian's exilic identity, then we'll also 00:08:02.060 --> 00:08:06.779 never be able to make sense of the hardship and the suffering that we face as we seek to 00:08:06.779 --> 00:08:09.579 follow Christ and deny ourselves and take up our crosses. 00:08:10.579 --> 00:08:17.279 You know, no matter where we live, the exilic dimension to our Christian identity is not just 00:08:17.279 --> 00:08:20.419 for the church in North Korea or Iran or China. 00:08:21.179 --> 00:08:24.119 It's for Americans and Brits and Argentinians as well. 00:08:24.179 --> 00:08:29.299 No matter where we live, whether in Yemen or in the Bible Belt, Christians are exiles. 00:08:30.259 --> 00:08:36.240 And so discouragement, persecution, and public shame against Christians shouldn't ever surprise 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:36.579 us. 00:08:36.679 --> 00:08:40.959 Why would we expect that our lives would be smooth and easy or that following Jesus would 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:47.540 be a cakewalk if our Lord and our King's life was also not a cakewalk? 00:08:48.580 --> 00:08:49.420 Why should ours be? 00:08:50.500 --> 00:08:56.680 Exiles expect that following Jesus will be difficult until He returns to finally establish His eternal 00:08:56.680 --> 00:08:58.180 home on earth. 00:08:58.920 --> 00:09:04.800 And yet as elect exiles, as the elect, we are also able to bear these hardships and disappointments 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:10.939 with real and lasting hope because we know that we are special and precious to God regardless 00:09:10.939 --> 00:09:12.339 of our circumstances. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:18.539 So even when we are oppressed and disadvantaged and thrown into prison or even killed for our 00:09:18.539 --> 00:09:21.919 beliefs, we the elect, we can never lose our sense of security. 00:09:22.539 --> 00:09:29.620 Because even if our own country says we don't belong there, God says we belong to Him and to 00:09:29.620 --> 00:09:31.539 His kingdom and to His people. 00:09:31.539 --> 00:09:36.360 And that's how we can face tomorrow with lasting joy and honesty. 00:09:37.099 --> 00:09:42.419 It's only when we hold both, elect and exiles, beloved and foreigners. 00:09:43.599 --> 00:09:48.839 Now here in 1 Peter 2, verses 11 and following, having established this dual identity of his 00:09:48.839 --> 00:09:53.639 Christian readers, what Peter begins to do is give them directions for how to practically 00:09:53.639 --> 00:09:55.959 live out and embody this dual identity. 00:09:56.099 --> 00:09:59.779 Basically, he's trying to cast a vision, a more concrete and practical vision of what it 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:03.839 looks like to live as God's beloved religious minorities. 00:10:04.379 --> 00:10:08.220 He's trying to answer the question, how do you live in a time and place where you are 00:10:08.220 --> 00:10:13.100 a religious minority, possibly socially and politically disadvantaged, and where you and 00:10:13.100 --> 00:10:17.159 your community just seem so different and so foreign to the neighbors around you? 00:10:17.959 --> 00:10:21.879 And I wonder if that's a question that many of us here have as well, living in this very 00:10:21.879 --> 00:10:26.600 secular Bay Area, this place where our coworkers cannot believe that we give up our Sunday 00:10:26.600 --> 00:10:30.519 mornings to come to church and sing songs to this invisible deity, right? 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:36.580 This place where our neighbors cannot believe we give a tenth or more of our income to the 00:10:36.580 --> 00:10:41.320 church, and where even some of our own family members cannot believe that being a pastor or 00:10:41.320 --> 00:10:46.019 on a church staff could be a full-time job that actually makes a positive contribution to 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:46.399 society. 00:10:46.519 --> 00:10:47.300 I feel this too. 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:51.600 How are we supposed to live in this kind of an environment? 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:53.899 Do we choose the way of the turtle? 00:10:53.899 --> 00:11:00.340 Do we cloister back into our shells to escape the antagonism of the hostile world and maintain 00:11:00.340 --> 00:11:02.360 our own self-righteous purity in our shell? 00:11:03.179 --> 00:11:07.159 Or do we choose the way of the ostrich just ignoring the world around us with their heads 00:11:07.159 --> 00:11:12.139 in the sand, growing numb to all that's going on, just trying to bide our time until Jesus 00:11:12.139 --> 00:11:12.799 comes back? 00:11:13.559 --> 00:11:18.840 Or do we choose the way of the wolf prowling around, trying to gather, muster our massive 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:23.579 wolf pack, looking for an opportunity to attack in force against all our threats and all 00:11:23.580 --> 00:11:27.100 our enemies to gain power on a specific turf? 00:11:28.160 --> 00:11:31.080 Or do we capitulate to the ways of the elephant and the donkey? 00:11:31.680 --> 00:11:36.440 Just let the algorithms, just let the media polarize us and force us to choose between two 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:40.580 simplistic options and just run within those ideological tribes. 00:11:42.040 --> 00:11:47.600 Christchurch, I cannot think of a more important, more relevant cultural moment in my lifetime, 00:11:47.600 --> 00:11:56.019 36 years, for the church in America to recover and insist upon our nuanced, paradoxical, and 00:11:56.019 --> 00:12:00.320 Jesus-shaped dual identity as elect exiles. 00:12:01.159 --> 00:12:05.720 See, the elect need not cower in the way of the turtle, nor grow numb in the way of the 00:12:05.720 --> 00:12:06.279 ostrich. 00:12:06.840 --> 00:12:11.540 And yet, as exiles, we also know that full assimilation and capitulation to the ways of 00:12:11.539 --> 00:12:16.159 the elephant and the donkey are also not an option, and neither is the violent, revolutionary 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:17.599 way of the wolf. 00:12:17.659 --> 00:12:23.539 No, the church is called to walk in the way of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. 00:12:24.480 --> 00:12:29.120 So what we find in our text today are three ways that we can walk in the way of the Lamb. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:35.419 To those who are God's beloved and yet foreign, exiled religious minorities, Peter urges them, 00:12:35.419 --> 00:12:37.979 Peter urges us to do three things. 00:12:38.659 --> 00:12:42.759 Fight the good fight, let your light shine, and live as free slaves. 00:12:43.079 --> 00:12:47.059 Fight the good fight, let your light shine, and live as free slaves. 00:12:47.639 --> 00:12:48.599 Let's start with the first one. 00:12:48.679 --> 00:12:50.179 Peter's exhortation to fight the good fight. 00:12:50.259 --> 00:12:51.539 Look again with me at verse 11. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:58.939 Having established their dual identity as beloved and foreign exiles, he urges them toward a certain 00:12:58.939 --> 00:12:59.459 way of living. 00:12:59.519 --> 00:13:05.259 Now again, if people convinced that they are God's special, chosen, holy nation, that could lend 00:13:05.259 --> 00:13:07.539 itself to a certain kind of fighting, right? 00:13:07.620 --> 00:13:09.319 A certain kind of combativeness. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:13.360 And again, we've seen this in history, and many Americans, particularly on the right, are 00:13:13.360 --> 00:13:14.899 pursuing this today, right? 00:13:14.960 --> 00:13:21.200 In this cultural moment where leftist secular ideology increasingly makes Christians feel 00:13:21.200 --> 00:13:27.700 like exiles, many on the right are seeking to fight back and reclaim their special privileges 00:13:27.700 --> 00:13:31.600 in what they believe to be a fundamentally Christian nation. 00:13:31.600 --> 00:13:37.600 But what I want you to hear very clearly at this church, from this pulpit, is that yes, 00:13:37.659 --> 00:13:43.960 the secular left is worryingly anti-Christian and often anti-truth and anti-reality, but 00:13:43.960 --> 00:13:49.560 the solution isn't the restoration of Christendom by any means necessary. 00:13:50.519 --> 00:13:54.800 What verse 9 says, when verse 9 says that the church is a chosen people and a holy nation, 00:13:54.799 --> 00:14:00.000 it is not insisting upon the establishment of a Christian nation state as some geographical, 00:14:00.359 --> 00:14:02.620 ethnically bound political entity. 00:14:03.259 --> 00:14:03.500 No. 00:14:04.399 --> 00:14:10.079 Neither Christianized Europe nor North America nor even the nation of Israel as a political, 00:14:10.679 --> 00:14:15.939 cultural, and ethnic entity have ever been the pure and holy nation of God that's being 00:14:15.939 --> 00:14:16.819 talked about right here. 00:14:17.699 --> 00:14:22.620 Actually, the holy nation of God has always been a people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, 00:14:22.620 --> 00:14:27.279 united not by their own blood and soil, but by the blood of Christ. 00:14:28.320 --> 00:14:34.139 And yes, sure, we do hope for the nations of the world and their legislative policies and 00:14:34.139 --> 00:14:36.560 practices to be influenced by the Christian faith. 00:14:36.639 --> 00:14:41.500 We do pray that the way of Jesus might inspire more equality, more justice, more mercy, more 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:44.419 compassion, more truth, more morality in this world. 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:51.120 But to pursue Christendom and maximal political power and influence as our highest and most important 00:14:51.120 --> 00:14:55.600 pursuit is to naively disregard the pattern of Jesus' life. 00:14:56.500 --> 00:14:57.679 He's the lamb who was slain. 00:14:58.759 --> 00:15:00.259 He's the stone who was rejected. 00:15:01.580 --> 00:15:06.919 The Word of God does not call us as elect exiles to take up arms in the name of Jesus and to 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:12.419 fight the enemies out there, but rather to fight the good fight is to wage a different 00:15:12.419 --> 00:15:13.399 kind of war. 00:15:13.480 --> 00:15:16.019 Look what Peter urges these beloved foreigners and exiles to do. 00:15:16.019 --> 00:15:22.199 Verse 11, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from sinful desires which wage war 00:15:22.199 --> 00:15:23.939 against your soul. 00:15:24.939 --> 00:15:25.600 Did you hear that? 00:15:26.620 --> 00:15:32.120 The war is a war within, within your heart, not a war for the sake of your mere rights and 00:15:32.120 --> 00:15:33.600 privileges and preferences. 00:15:33.819 --> 00:15:35.460 It's a war for your soul. 00:15:35.860 --> 00:15:39.740 That's the war that we Christians are meant to give our greatest attention to. 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:46.100 Whether we live in Christianized context or pagan context, we're always exiles at war, 00:15:46.180 --> 00:15:51.980 but the war we're to most focus on is the war inside of us, the war between our sinful 00:15:51.980 --> 00:15:55.779 desires and the Holy Spirit indwelling within us. 00:15:56.259 --> 00:15:59.639 It's not pagans versus Christians on the streets of Oakland and Berkeley. 00:15:59.799 --> 00:16:06.100 It's greed and porn, apathy, hatred, selfishness, arrogance, lust, jealousy, and addiction against 00:16:06.100 --> 00:16:11.360 love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. 00:16:12.519 --> 00:16:17.080 And my question is, is this the war that we are most preoccupied with? 00:16:18.379 --> 00:16:23.000 Just like Jesus said, we are to focus on the planks in our own eyes before worrying about 00:16:23.000 --> 00:16:27.379 the specks of those around us or across the political aisle. 00:16:28.320 --> 00:16:33.259 Being God's chosen elect doesn't give us the right to be extra judgmental, nor does it give 00:16:33.259 --> 00:16:37.899 us a reason or a right to insist upon our status as God's special privileged people, 00:16:38.159 --> 00:16:42.559 and then to stomp on others and assert our coercive dominance over those who don't share 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:43.240 our Christian beliefs. 00:16:43.319 --> 00:16:48.159 We don't fight for more and more ground and privilege with the same tools and tactics that 00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:49.799 every other empire uses. 00:16:51.139 --> 00:16:54.779 We don't use swords and guns and nukes and public shaming and canceling. 00:16:55.439 --> 00:17:00.059 We don't toil and try to build the city of God ourselves here in America or even in Jerusalem 00:17:00.059 --> 00:17:02.299 through politics and posturing. 00:17:03.179 --> 00:17:07.299 Our calling is not to build up a temple in Jerusalem with its steeple reaching into the 00:17:07.299 --> 00:17:07.559 heavens. 00:17:07.700 --> 00:17:15.279 No, we as elect exiles look forward with hope to the new Jerusalem that comes down when Jesus 00:17:15.279 --> 00:17:21.480 returns to consummate His kingdom to which all the nations will flow. 00:17:22.619 --> 00:17:27.419 So in the meantime, we fight the good fight of faith against the wicked tendencies and inclinations 00:17:27.420 --> 00:17:30.680 in our own hearts, and this is the way of the Lamb. 00:17:31.980 --> 00:17:36.940 Now, lest we become overly introspective and focus only on what's going on inside our hearts, 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:44.640 Peter commends to these elect exiles a public and outward-facing life as well in the pluralistic 00:17:44.640 --> 00:17:46.039 society that they inhabited. 00:17:46.039 --> 00:17:53.019 Verse 12, live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:57.059 they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us. 00:17:57.559 --> 00:18:00.599 And this is just another way really of saying what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount, 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:00.799 right? 00:18:00.879 --> 00:18:05.740 Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father 00:18:05.740 --> 00:18:06.579 in heaven. 00:18:07.599 --> 00:18:13.119 Yes, we may feel awkward and different and strange to the watching world around us, and 00:18:13.119 --> 00:18:17.859 they may call us legalistic Pharisees because of our high standards of morality, and they 00:18:17.859 --> 00:18:23.599 may call us bigots or prudes because of our sexual ethic, or they might call us narrow-minded 00:18:23.599 --> 00:18:28.139 dogmatists because of our insistence that Jesus is the only way to the Father, that He 00:18:28.139 --> 00:18:28.699 is Lord. 00:18:29.979 --> 00:18:35.519 But this is God's world, and the eyes and the minds and the hearts of every human being, 00:18:35.579 --> 00:18:41.239 no matter how hostile, they are wired in such a way that they cannot ultimately deny the 00:18:41.240 --> 00:18:43.000 good deeds that we do towards them. 00:18:43.720 --> 00:18:46.359 They cannot unsee it because they are made in God's image. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:52.440 This is why God told the exiled people of Israel in Babylon to seek the welfare of that 00:18:52.440 --> 00:18:59.140 city and to pray for it, because it is often by these prayers and good deeds as we let our 00:18:59.140 --> 00:19:04.380 light shine before others that even the most hostile people are eventually convinced to turn 00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:08.160 and glorify the God we worship here every single week. 00:19:08.820 --> 00:19:11.700 I recently read the story of this pastor in New Hampshire. 00:19:11.840 --> 00:19:16.900 His name is Randy, and he said that before he became a Christian, he once hated church people 00:19:16.900 --> 00:19:22.920 until he found himself at his second wake in less than a month, his second wake in less than a month. 00:19:23.660 --> 00:19:28.120 At this first wake, grieving the suicide of his son's girlfriend, a family friend of that girl 00:19:28.120 --> 00:19:30.100 approached him and his wife with kindness. 00:19:30.099 --> 00:19:35.119 Her name was Debbie, and numerous times, he said, she came over to ask if his sons needed any support. 00:19:35.819 --> 00:19:36.299 And he writes, 00:19:36.379 --> 00:19:39.859 In a sea of darkness, Debbie was the only light we saw that day. 00:19:40.379 --> 00:19:44.039 I was surprised, comforted, and drawn in by her warmth and compassion. 00:19:44.799 --> 00:19:46.279 Yet I soon forgot about her. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.099 But now at the second wake, again, in less than a month, grieving the death of his other son's 00:19:51.099 --> 00:19:54.240 girlfriend from a car crash, he writes, 00:19:54.299 --> 00:19:57.579 As we waited in line to pay respects, I saw Debbie again. 00:19:57.579 --> 00:20:03.279 She asked about both of our sons, more kindness, more light, more carefully measured sweetness, 00:20:03.419 --> 00:20:04.339 just when we needed it. 00:20:04.679 --> 00:20:08.980 And as she walked away, I turned to hide the tears in my eyes, silently wondering, 00:20:09.559 --> 00:20:10.599 Who is like that? 00:20:11.639 --> 00:20:12.359 He continues, 00:20:12.439 --> 00:20:17.579 The line was getting shorter, as I considered what to say to this mom who just lost her daughter in a car crash. 00:20:18.119 --> 00:20:20.480 Having never met her, I knew only two things about her. 00:20:21.099 --> 00:20:24.199 She had been very close to her daughter, and she was a Christian. 00:20:25.099 --> 00:20:26.299 I didn't like church people. 00:20:26.299 --> 00:20:30.899 In my opinion, Christians were simple-minded and hypocritically judgmental. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:35.759 But I set those feelings aside to mentally rehearse the condolences I would share. 00:20:36.899 --> 00:20:42.839 But as I readied myself to speak, she reached out and took my hand in a friendly manner. 00:20:43.519 --> 00:20:47.919 Then she surprised me by speaking of my family's grief rather than her own. 00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:52.539 I am so sorry, Zach lost Ashley, she said. 00:20:53.340 --> 00:20:56.519 And she even asked to spend time with this family and their sons. 00:20:57.340 --> 00:20:58.039 And Randy writes, 00:20:58.120 --> 00:20:59.960 As I walked away, I asked the universe, 00:21:00.400 --> 00:21:01.620 What is going on here? 00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:04.840 She just lost her daughter, her best friend, 00:21:05.259 --> 00:21:06.980 and she wants to care for my son? 00:21:06.980 --> 00:21:09.039 Who does that? 00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:14.200 On the way home, they get in the car, and his wife turns to him, and she says, 00:21:14.400 --> 00:21:15.920 I'm going to start going to church. 00:21:16.960 --> 00:21:18.079 And the rest is history. 00:21:18.779 --> 00:21:20.039 He's a pastor in New Hampshire. 00:21:21.400 --> 00:21:24.099 Live such good lives among the pagans of the world, 00:21:24.500 --> 00:21:26.440 that though they accuse you of doing wrong, 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:31.460 they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. 00:21:32.160 --> 00:21:33.279 Fight the good fight. 00:21:33.279 --> 00:21:35.940 Let your light shine, Peter says. 00:21:37.039 --> 00:21:39.359 And now our third point, live as free slaves. 00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:41.720 So in verses 13 to 20, 00:21:42.079 --> 00:21:45.259 Peter gets even more specific about how to let our light shine 00:21:45.259 --> 00:21:50.339 by addressing the question of how we are to relate to two kinds of authority figures, 00:21:50.720 --> 00:21:54.859 those who govern the places we inhabit and those we labor under. 00:21:55.660 --> 00:21:59.379 Peter gives a little theology of politics and a little theology of work. 00:21:59.599 --> 00:22:02.759 But most importantly, I want us to see how our dual identity 00:22:02.759 --> 00:22:06.319 comes into play in our politics and our work 00:22:06.319 --> 00:22:09.940 and how Jesus, as the Lamb of God, informs this identity. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.619 I think the core of these verses is in verse 16. 00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:19.480 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil. 00:22:19.859 --> 00:22:21.660 Live as God's slaves. 00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:23.079 Did you catch that? 00:22:23.940 --> 00:22:25.700 Peter reminds them that they are free 00:22:25.700 --> 00:22:29.180 and at the same time, God's slaves. 00:22:29.259 --> 00:22:34.319 Their ultimate authority isn't a politician, an employee, or a slave master, 00:22:35.220 --> 00:22:36.880 but it's God. 00:22:37.580 --> 00:22:38.400 It's God. 00:22:38.400 --> 00:22:44.759 And thus their freedom, their freedom is not a freedom from all authority 00:22:44.759 --> 00:22:46.460 to do whatever evil they might desire, 00:22:46.540 --> 00:22:49.500 but a freedom under and bestowed by God, 00:22:49.900 --> 00:22:52.820 given to them to serve God and His purposes. 00:22:53.259 --> 00:22:58.580 They are elect exiles who are free slaves, another dual identity. 00:22:59.660 --> 00:23:03.780 And Peter helps them work this out, again, in their politics and in their workplaces. 00:23:03.779 --> 00:23:04.859 So let's start with politics. 00:23:05.000 --> 00:23:05.619 Verse 13, 00:23:06.160 --> 00:23:08.700 Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority, 00:23:09.099 --> 00:23:11.319 whether to the emperor as the supreme authority, 00:23:11.559 --> 00:23:14.539 or to governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong 00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:16.279 and to commend those who do right. 00:23:16.339 --> 00:23:18.160 For it is God's will that by doing good, 00:23:18.460 --> 00:23:21.000 you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 00:23:21.039 --> 00:23:24.359 Now, Peter is not saying absolute submission 00:23:24.359 --> 00:23:28.160 ought to be rendered to our governing authorities no matter what. 00:23:28.839 --> 00:23:30.359 Actually, in verse 13, he says, 00:23:30.639 --> 00:23:31.539 Submit, what? 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:35.700 For the Lord's sake, making the Lord the highest authority. 00:23:36.339 --> 00:23:38.299 As New Testament scholar Scott McKnight writes, 00:23:38.379 --> 00:23:40.039 Far from an endorsement of Roman authority, 00:23:40.480 --> 00:23:45.200 Peter's perspective was one that put Nero and his authority in its proper place. 00:23:46.019 --> 00:23:49.019 But in the same breath, Peter is also saying that there is a respect 00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:53.599 and a deference and a submission we do owe to our governing authorities, 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:56.639 which God Himself has established to uphold justice 00:23:56.639 --> 00:23:59.960 and to restrain injustice and maintain order. 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:04.220 Tom Wright comments that though tyrants can behave terribly, 00:24:04.840 --> 00:24:05.960 even toward God's people, 00:24:06.059 --> 00:24:10.900 it is part of God's will that His created earth should be ruled and governed by human authorities. 00:24:11.840 --> 00:24:14.940 Order is better than chaos, even though order can turn into tyranny. 00:24:15.799 --> 00:24:20.559 And though our hatred of tyranny might lead us into the normal kind of revolutionary politics, 00:24:21.299 --> 00:24:23.460 Peter advocates a different way. 00:24:23.460 --> 00:24:26.100 Be subject to the ruling authorities, 00:24:26.100 --> 00:24:29.180 but make sure at the same time that by your good behavior, 00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:33.559 you shame those who out of folly and ignorance want to criticize you, he says. 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:38.660 That is how God is establishing His presence and His rule on earth as in heaven. 00:24:39.079 --> 00:24:42.460 Oppressive tyranny and violent revolution are not the only options. 00:24:42.460 --> 00:24:49.680 Serving the true God by living a peaceful, wise, visibly good life in the end is far more revolutionary 00:24:49.680 --> 00:24:56.220 than simply overthrowing one corrupt regime and replacing it by probably another one. 00:24:57.480 --> 00:24:59.460 And this is the nuanced way of the Lamb, right? 00:24:59.900 --> 00:25:03.000 Remember Jesus before Pontius Pilate, He said to Pilate, 00:25:03.400 --> 00:25:07.220 You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. 00:25:07.220 --> 00:25:10.600 He recognized His Father's authority over Pilate, 00:25:11.259 --> 00:25:14.299 and yet He did not forcefully resist Pilate either. 00:25:15.319 --> 00:25:16.299 But maybe you're wondering, 00:25:16.460 --> 00:25:19.400 What about when our leaders and our governments are corrupt and unjust? 00:25:19.480 --> 00:25:21.860 Are we just supposed to submit and be complicit? 00:25:22.299 --> 00:25:23.059 And the answer is no. 00:25:23.140 --> 00:25:27.940 The people of God have indeed rightfully practiced civil disobedience when warranted. 00:25:28.559 --> 00:25:30.799 When Israel lived as foreigners in Egypt, 00:25:31.319 --> 00:25:34.400 and Pharaoh ordered the slaughter of the Hebrew babies, 00:25:34.400 --> 00:25:37.460 the midwives in faith rightfully disobeyed. 00:25:38.320 --> 00:25:40.220 And when Israel was exiled in Babylon, 00:25:40.460 --> 00:25:44.040 and King Darius decreed that no one should pray to anyone else but him, 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:46.160 did Daniel stop praying to Yahweh? 00:25:46.440 --> 00:25:47.660 No, he kept praying. 00:25:48.600 --> 00:25:52.480 But see, the difference with Christians is that we are willing to suffer the consequences 00:25:52.480 --> 00:25:56.080 rather than stir up an uprising in self-protection. 00:25:56.700 --> 00:25:58.480 Daniel disobeyed by praying to Yahweh, 00:25:58.560 --> 00:26:01.940 but he trusted God, and he willfully went to the lion's den. 00:26:01.940 --> 00:26:06.840 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to bow to Nebuchadnezzar's statue, 00:26:07.460 --> 00:26:11.500 and they willfully went to the fiery furnace, trusting the Lord. 00:26:12.240 --> 00:26:15.860 Yes, civil, nonviolent disobedience is a good way to honor God, 00:26:16.279 --> 00:26:20.840 particularly on clear-cut black-and-white issues that the Scripture clearly teaches on, 00:26:20.900 --> 00:26:25.880 but probably not on less clear matters of what is best for society. 00:26:25.880 --> 00:26:32.520 Like, I'm not sure if we should exercise civil disobedience over maybe California's irrigation policies, 00:26:32.900 --> 00:26:37.540 or maybe the legal voting age, or the minimum wage standard. 00:26:37.680 --> 00:26:42.280 The most important thing we need to ask ourselves as Christian political agents in society 00:26:42.280 --> 00:26:46.300 is will our actions and our votes, to the best of our understanding, 00:26:47.120 --> 00:26:50.360 honor Christ and demonstrate love for our neighbors. 00:26:50.359 --> 00:26:59.179 As the Wheaton scholar Karen Jobes from Westminster, my great alma mater, writes, 00:27:00.019 --> 00:27:03.459 the apostle gives his readers two major principles of engagement. 00:27:04.199 --> 00:27:09.099 Their allegiance to God in Christ does not exempt them from submitting to pagan authority, 00:27:09.659 --> 00:27:13.139 and they must maintain their identity as God's holy people, 00:27:13.500 --> 00:27:17.379 and consequently be prepared, if necessary, to suffer unjustly, 00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:22.620 and without retaliation for holding to their convictions and values as followers of Christ. 00:27:22.700 --> 00:27:25.660 The overarching principle for those who would walk in the way of the Lamb, 00:27:26.040 --> 00:27:29.040 as it says in verse 17, is show proper respect to everyone. 00:27:29.780 --> 00:27:33.580 Love the family of believers, fear God, and honor the emperor. 00:27:34.340 --> 00:27:36.300 Christians are called to do all of the above, 00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:41.820 and this formula has always led Christians to be a unique and compelling light and blessing to the world. 00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:43.980 And actually, because they've held these things together, 00:27:43.980 --> 00:27:46.819 refusing to honor the gods of their Roman rulers, 00:27:47.519 --> 00:27:50.759 and yet still respecting these rulers by paying taxes and being good citizens, 00:27:50.819 --> 00:27:52.940 because Christians show that you can be good citizens 00:27:52.940 --> 00:27:55.440 without worshiping your emperor or his gods, 00:27:55.819 --> 00:27:57.839 and because Christians also saw religious identity 00:27:57.839 --> 00:28:00.480 not as something that's tied to their culture or ethnicity, 00:28:00.700 --> 00:28:02.839 but just about one's relationship with God. 00:28:03.380 --> 00:28:05.559 The historian Larry Hurtado, he writes that Christians, 00:28:05.920 --> 00:28:08.460 they were the ones who were able to offer the first reasoned defense 00:28:08.460 --> 00:28:11.019 of religious liberty in the ancient world. 00:28:12.539 --> 00:28:15.500 And I know I'm past time, but I've got to comment on the slaves, okay? 00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:19.740 I've got to comment on this, especially, you know, just having celebrated Juneteenth. 00:28:20.299 --> 00:28:22.759 And again, I'm sorry that I can't address this at length, 00:28:22.920 --> 00:28:26.539 but again, if you want to hear that sermon, I can find that for you. 00:28:26.700 --> 00:28:29.620 And we want you to know this is a church where you can bring those kinds of questions, 00:28:29.779 --> 00:28:32.720 and where you can get to know your pastors and dialogue with them and go deep with them. 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:34.880 But if I could just say very quickly, 00:28:34.880 --> 00:28:38.080 the slavery mentioned here, it was very different 00:28:38.080 --> 00:28:41.900 than the transatlantic chattel slavery that we typically think about 00:28:41.900 --> 00:28:43.360 when we hear the word slaves. 00:28:43.900 --> 00:28:47.240 We're talking about basically a third of the population in the ancient world, 00:28:47.300 --> 00:28:48.180 a whole class of people, 00:28:48.580 --> 00:28:51.600 and this wasn't an institution of slavery that was based on race 00:28:51.600 --> 00:28:54.720 or where slaves could not seek education. 00:28:55.160 --> 00:28:57.560 Many slaves had very important functions and responsibilities. 00:28:57.740 --> 00:28:58.420 They could own property. 00:28:58.520 --> 00:29:00.140 They could even own other slaves. 00:29:00.760 --> 00:29:03.320 And there were no laws against their public assembly. 00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:04.679 So really, it was very different. 00:29:05.059 --> 00:29:08.220 Not to say that it was right, but it was very different than what we think of today. 00:29:08.319 --> 00:29:11.319 Even here in the Greek, the word is different than the normal word doulos. 00:29:12.039 --> 00:29:14.039 It's more of a household servant, oiketai. 00:29:14.700 --> 00:29:17.639 And for sure, you know, there was oppression and there was injustice, 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:23.259 but there was also opportunity for these servants to become free and full Roman citizens. 00:29:23.899 --> 00:29:29.000 One scholar at UCLA, he even says that the majority of urban and domestic slaves 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:33.500 could legitimately anticipate being emancipated by the age of 30. 00:29:34.259 --> 00:29:36.140 Okay, so this is something quite different, 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:40.119 and there are lots of places in Scripture that talk about slavery that we could go to, 00:29:40.240 --> 00:29:42.680 but that's not what Peter's getting at here, okay? 00:29:44.359 --> 00:29:47.740 Peter's primary agenda here, his focus, at least in these few verses, 00:29:48.220 --> 00:29:50.740 isn't on ending the institution of slavery, 00:29:50.740 --> 00:29:57.319 but rather, he's giving instructions to workers and laborers on how they should live 00:29:57.319 --> 00:30:02.960 even when they find themselves in harsh, oppressive, and unjust work environments. 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.140 Verse 18, 00:30:04.799 --> 00:30:07.279 In reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters, 00:30:07.380 --> 00:30:09.120 not only to those who are good and considerate, 00:30:09.400 --> 00:30:10.839 but also to those who are harsh. 00:30:11.259 --> 00:30:14.620 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering 00:30:14.620 --> 00:30:16.620 because they are conscious of God. 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:19.559 Peter isn't writing pro-slavery material, 00:30:19.559 --> 00:30:21.440 but actually he's writing to slaves with dignity 00:30:21.440 --> 00:30:25.779 and saying that you can live a commendable life even as a slave 00:30:25.779 --> 00:30:29.139 because your ultimate master and allegiance is unto God, 00:30:29.460 --> 00:30:34.139 and to be a slave is even to be like your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:30:35.000 --> 00:30:36.799 Just like slaves, just like Jesus, 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:39.919 slaves can shine brightly by honoring God, 00:30:40.159 --> 00:30:43.759 particularly when they suffer injustice for His namesake. 00:30:44.159 --> 00:30:45.139 As it says in verse 20, 00:30:45.139 --> 00:30:47.940 If you suffer for doing good and you endure it, 00:30:47.940 --> 00:30:50.380 this is commendable before God. 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:54.660 And so the application for us as Christian workers and employees 00:30:54.660 --> 00:30:57.880 who probably do have more freedom to just leave our jobs, 00:30:58.000 --> 00:30:59.380 flee from our bosses and employers, 00:31:00.279 --> 00:31:02.660 the applications that Christians don't slander, 00:31:03.140 --> 00:31:04.660 don't disrespect our supervisors, 00:31:04.840 --> 00:31:06.180 we don't quiet quit, 00:31:06.820 --> 00:31:09.600 we don't just leave our jobs just because we feel like it. 00:31:09.680 --> 00:31:11.480 Sure, we have the freedom to leave our employers 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:14.980 if it's a toxic work environment and it's unjust, 00:31:14.980 --> 00:31:17.539 and if God is calling us elsewhere, 00:31:17.700 --> 00:31:19.360 but we leave not just because we want to. 00:31:20.059 --> 00:31:24.319 We leave based on the principle of seeking what is most commendable before God 00:31:24.319 --> 00:31:26.200 and the good of those around us. 00:31:26.900 --> 00:31:30.880 Because Christians don't simply work for their own consumeristic ends, 00:31:31.579 --> 00:31:34.799 but they primarily work as a reflection of Christ to the world. 00:31:35.480 --> 00:31:36.779 That's what's most important to Peter, 00:31:36.880 --> 00:31:37.839 not that slaves get free, 00:31:37.940 --> 00:31:40.059 but that they represent and reflect Christ. 00:31:40.059 --> 00:31:43.839 And as our very own Christ Church member Denise Yon teaches 00:31:43.839 --> 00:31:45.460 in her faith and work curriculum, 00:31:45.960 --> 00:31:48.839 what it means to reflect Christ is to show the world, 00:31:49.259 --> 00:31:51.099 the person of Christ as a provider, 00:31:51.720 --> 00:31:53.099 as a bringer of good news, 00:31:53.539 --> 00:31:54.619 as a creative artist, 00:31:55.059 --> 00:31:56.220 as community servants, 00:31:56.700 --> 00:31:57.799 as image bearers, 00:31:57.960 --> 00:32:00.159 and as renewers in our communities. 00:32:01.399 --> 00:32:03.980 And sometimes this might mean staying in our jobs, 00:32:04.259 --> 00:32:07.039 even under unfavorable working circumstances, 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:10.119 if we feel like our work as providers and missionaries 00:32:10.119 --> 00:32:12.980 and artists and servants and image bearers and renewers is not complete. 00:32:14.299 --> 00:32:17.899 This is the theology of work that Peter's trying to instill in us. 00:32:18.519 --> 00:32:20.759 So see, in the same way that Peter encourages his readers 00:32:20.759 --> 00:32:24.220 to submit to their pagan and often hostile political authorities, 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:28.799 he does the same to slaves and workers under even harsh bosses. 00:32:29.119 --> 00:32:31.399 He encourages them to let their light shine 00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:36.800 by using their freedom to serve even harsh authority figures. 00:32:37.380 --> 00:32:39.540 And perhaps you have trouble receiving this word 00:32:39.540 --> 00:32:41.920 because, man, why would anyone want to live like this? 00:32:42.200 --> 00:32:46.540 Especially if they are part of God's special, chosen, holy nation. 00:32:47.220 --> 00:32:50.780 To submit to hostile, harsh authorities just sounds so foolish, right? 00:32:50.860 --> 00:32:52.940 Irrational, self-destructive, and unnecessary. 00:32:54.019 --> 00:32:57.700 But Peter would remind us that this is the way of the Lamb. 00:32:57.700 --> 00:33:01.740 Our very calling as elect exiles, verse 21, 00:33:01.860 --> 00:33:05.279 To this you were called because Christ suffered for you, 00:33:06.080 --> 00:33:09.600 leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps, 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:13.180 not in the way of the world, but in the way of the Lamb. 00:33:13.279 --> 00:33:16.900 Verse 22, He committed no sin and no deceit was found in His mouth. 00:33:17.180 --> 00:33:19.680 When they hurled insults at Him, He did not retaliate. 00:33:20.039 --> 00:33:21.620 When He suffered, He made no threats. 00:33:21.740 --> 00:33:24.700 Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly, 00:33:24.700 --> 00:33:28.420 even under the greatest affliction, followers of Jesus. 00:33:29.140 --> 00:33:30.240 We abstain from sin. 00:33:30.900 --> 00:33:32.600 We tell the truth even when it costs us. 00:33:32.680 --> 00:33:33.580 We never retaliate. 00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:35.600 We make no coercive threats. 00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:40.440 And we do all of this by trusting in the justice and timing of our judge on high. 00:33:40.500 --> 00:33:43.900 We do all of this relying on the same Spirit that empowered Jesus to do it, 00:33:44.140 --> 00:33:47.039 leading, yes, to His cross, but also to His resurrection. 00:33:47.960 --> 00:33:51.460 We do it for the good of others because Jesus did it for our good. 00:33:51.460 --> 00:33:55.579 Now, perhaps this sounds to you like a good way to get beaten up, 00:33:55.960 --> 00:33:58.740 taken advantage of, stepped on, and even killed. 00:33:59.539 --> 00:34:04.600 But my question is, what if this is also the way to resurrection life with Christ 00:34:04.600 --> 00:34:08.260 and to sharing His unique love with the world? 00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:12.559 Christchurch, do we just want to live and then die like everyone else, 00:34:12.619 --> 00:34:18.240 or do we want to live and die and live again more fully like Christ? 00:34:18.239 --> 00:34:20.819 Christchurch, do we want our lives to make sense? 00:34:20.939 --> 00:34:22.179 Do we just want our lives to make sense? 00:34:22.319 --> 00:34:25.819 Or do we want to live the kinds of lives that make people like Pastor Randy 00:34:25.819 --> 00:34:27.779 ponder to themselves with tears in their eyes, 00:34:28.079 --> 00:34:29.059 who is like that? 00:34:29.379 --> 00:34:30.279 Who does that? 00:34:30.779 --> 00:34:32.299 And how and why? 00:34:33.299 --> 00:34:37.799 The only answer is Jesus and His people following in His steps. 00:34:37.879 --> 00:34:39.819 So do we want our lives to make sense? 00:34:40.379 --> 00:34:43.199 Or do we want our lives to make much of Jesus 00:34:43.199 --> 00:34:46.119 as we live by faith in the way of the Lamb? 00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:47.239 Let's pray. 00:34:49.699 --> 00:34:52.699 Lord, we ask for Your Spirit's power and grace 00:34:52.699 --> 00:34:54.599 to live in the way of the Lamb, 00:34:55.259 --> 00:34:58.619 to Your glory and for the good of this world. 00:34:58.960 --> 00:35:00.500 In Jesus' name, amen.