Lord, thank you that we can meet together.
Lord, we are opening your word.
Your word is powerful.
It is for us.
It is about you.
And we ask that you will minister to us by your word.
Any kind of dross or unnecessary words that I say,
may they fall to the ground.
May your word be lifted up.
And minister to us today in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Please be seated.
We are a people that, whether we think so or not,
we like conformity.
I just read an article about a lifestyle blog.
I didn't read the lifestyle blog.
But there's like this sub-genre of lifestyle blogs that's about parenting.
And there's a bunch of moms who are talking about how much parenting sucks
and about how they regret the kids being such a ball and chain, so to speak.
And it seems kind of crazy.
But, you know, because of our propensity to conform,
there's going to be a lot of people, a lot of parents that read that.
And it will give them license to indulge in their selfish nature.
There's a lot of good lifestyle blogs as well that help people to cook healthier foods,
to be more conscious of social issues around.
The point is, we are people that conform.
We do.
There's not too many fully autonomous people sitting in this theater this morning.
And I would suggest that there's not many walking the streets of Ottawa.
In Canada, in the States, conformity is the air we breathe.
And I'm not suggesting that it's wrong.
I'm just drawing your attention to it.
So, we are on the third week of our sermon series on the crucified Messiah.
Each week, we're taking a look at one aspect of what Jesus has done on the cross,
how he accomplished something.
So, the first week was Jesus.
George preached on Jesus.
He was a substitute for us.
And that's what he did on the cross.
Last week, we talked about how, on the cross, Jesus inaugurated a new covenant.
This week, we're looking at how Jesus is an example for us to follow.
And the thing with Jesus being an example to follow,
we're looking at 1 Peter 2.
Shane read a big section, 18 to 25, just for context,
because we're actually just reading, taking a look at one verse, verse 21.
And we could have looked at a few other verses throughout the New Testament
because this idea of imitating Christ is actually throughout the Bible.
So, we could have looked at John 13.
It says this in verse 34, a new commandment.
This is Jesus speaking.
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.
In Philippians 2, it says,
Do nothing from selfish or empty conceit, but with humility of mind,
regard one another as more important than yourselves.
And it continues on.
It says,
Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 5, verse 1 and 2.
Therefore, be imitators of God, and walk in love as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.
You get the picture.
There's a ton of verses about imitating Christ.
But we're reading 1 Peter 2, verses 21.
And this is what it says.
I'll read it again.
For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.
This text is worth our consideration.
I mean, all of those texts really are, but this text in particular this morning,
because it flies in the face of our current cultural moment.
Because at the heart of this text, it teaches us that true satisfaction in life,
and real, genuine happiness is found in actually giving up our prerogatives,
and giving up our freedoms for the sake of others.
But it actually goes a bit further than that.
It says, it'll teach us, and I'll hope to bring your eyes, your attention to it.
It also tells us that we are actually created to be subjects,
not autonomous individuals.
That we were created to be subjects, not autonomous individuals.
And that true human flourishing is found not in the expressions of more freedom,
but the limiting or the suspending of such freedoms for the sake of others.
We live in a society that values a curated life.
If something doesn't tickle your fancy, or you want to incorporate something new,
you do it, you get it, you spend the money.
You take a class, you watch YouTube tutorials till the cows come home.
But the point is, you can curate your own life.
It's about what you can do, your own freedoms.
And I'm suggesting that the scriptures, and this one in particular, suggests the opposite.
But before we can really jump into this verse in 1 Peter chapter 2,
I just want to take a few moments to talk a bit about the background of the book here.
Or, I guess, really chapter 2.
So Peter here is talking to slaves.
It's likely that a good amount of Peter's audience,
the people that he's addressing, were slaves.
And slavery was bad back then.
It was terrible back then.
However, just to be clear, it wasn't the same as the African slave trade.
It wasn't based on race.
It wasn't man-stealing.
People found ways into, found, you know, themselves in slavery for a number of different reasons.
One could be that they were conquered people.
Another, that they couldn't pay back debts.
So people, I mean, slaves were all sorts of different ethnicities.
And they could participate to a degree in social life.
But nevertheless, they were slaves.
They were still property owned by other people.
And as property, their masters had full authority over them.
To treat them really well or to treat them terribly.
To inflict beatings on them.
There's no sort of mechanism that they could appeal to,
to have their masters' hands stayed or punished for beating them.
They were really at the whim of their master.
And just a pause on this.
Because as I was studying this, one thing came to mind.
And I'm reading this.
Peter's addressing slaves.
It sounds really good.
Why doesn't Peter tell the slaves to run for the hills?
To fight for their freedom?
Why does he just tell them how to act in a nice way to their unjust slave owners?
To their masters?
Is this somehow Peter condoning slavery?
And if he's not condoning it, why isn't he fighting against it?
And I struggled with this a bit.
Struggled, in one sense, with my own, I don't know, frustration.
Initial frustration.
But also, how am I going to explain this to the folks here?
Or, I don't know, I have new neighbors now.
They say something like, well, like, have you read this part of the Bible?
How do I explain that to them?
I would just like to say one thing.
The overarching story, like, the story in the Bible that is used time and time again
to communicate God's interaction with humanity is the Exodus story.
God has rescued, we looked at a bit of this last week,
but God rescues this people from terrible slavery.
Slavery, that was generations after generations after generations after generations,
saves them into promise, into freedom, into non-slavery,
but really into human flourishing.
And this story is brought up time and time again throughout the Scriptures.
And I would also like to say, wherever the true Christian faith,
the true Spirit-filled, real conviction of the Spirit message is believed,
believed, slavery diminishes and eventually is no more.
Slavery is incompatible with the message of the Scriptures.
So what do we have here with Peter?
I think Peter is addressing specific people in a specific situation
with a specific goal in mind.
And this is actually one reason why the Bible can be trusted,
because it doesn't talk in just outrageous platitudes,
ideals that are so lofty, they don't make sense.
The Bible speaks into the muddy mess of life.
Peter is addressing slaves.
Who addresses slaves?
It was a problem then,
it is a problem in parts of the world now,
and has been a problem throughout human history,
but he addresses it.
And that gives me great hope in the Scriptures,
because I know that they apply,
they touch different parts of real human experience.
So that's a little apologetic for why I think,
actually, Peter isn't somehow condoning slavery in the Scriptures.
If you still struggle with that,
I'd love to chat with you about it.
I might not have the answers,
but we can still have a bit of a dialogue about that.
But anyways, so Peter here is addressing slaves.
And although they are slaves,
how does Peter address them?
Verse 9, take a look with me in chapter 2, verse 9.
This is what Peter says.
Speaking to slaves.
You'll speak to other people as well,
but right here he's speaking to slaves.
But you are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation.
If you're a slave, imagine hearing this.
What else does he say?
Verse 16.
He says,
live as people who are free.
Here's a big, big, important thing for you to understand.
That if you are in Christ,
whether a slave or free,
a woman or a man,
poor, rich, young or old,
your eternal standing is declared,
even if your current temporal standing hasn't changed.
These are slaves.
They're still slaves.
But they're free men.
They're a part of a holy nation,
a royal priesthood.
That's who they are,
and that's who they'll be for eternity.
And that's how Peter addresses them.
At the same time,
he's addressing them as slaves.
So it's important that we keep this in our mind
as we take a look at our verse.
So let me read our verse again.
1 Peter 2, verse 21.
For to this you have been called,
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example,
so that you might follow in his steps.
If we're talking about these slaves,
Peter is addressing these free men
that are currently slaves
but will eternally be free,
there is no more free person
in the entire universe
than God himself.
The scriptures teach us that
God is the uncreated one
and that everything that is created,
he created.
We see this in John chapter 1.
This means he's subject to no one.
He relies on no one.
He looks to no one for affirmation.
He is not seeking somebody's approval.
He's not a debtor of anybody.
He is in no need of anyone
or anything.
And what does he do?
The second person of the Trinity,
God, the Son of God,
what does he do?
He descends to earth,
is born of a virgin,
fully man, fully God,
and he suspends his divine rights,
his divine freedom, so to speak.
And he's born in a specific time
in very not the greatest circumstances
to common folk
and grows up in a backwater,
dinky little town
some hours north of a walk of Jerusalem.
You remember when he first comes on the scene,
what do they say about Jesus?
Can anything good come from Nazareth?
Like, what's Nazareth?
The completely free and independent God
lays it down
to enter into the reality of humanity.
And Peter is addressing this.
And, I mean, this is all throughout Scripture.
The Apostle Paul actually says in Ephesians 2,
verse 7,
talking about Christ,
but Christ emptied himself
by taking the form of a servant,
literally taking the form of a slave,
a bondservant,
being born in the likeness of men.
So Jesus came to save,
and what happens to him?
What happens?
He is crucified not because of crimes he committed,
but because a Roman governor
kowtowed to an unruly and jealous Jewish mob
2,000 years ago.
He is crucified as a criminal unjustly.
He suffered unjustly.
He had accusations thrown on him unjustly.
He suffered, he suffered, he suffered unjustly.
But this was God's design all along.
Jesus, what he did when he came,
it wasn't a plan B.
It was always in God's plan and providence
that this would happen.
That Jesus would suffer for the sake of others.
This was always, always God's plan.
And although this text is specifically addressing the slave,
it's actually addressing everyone.
It's addressing all Christians.
And Peter uses two ways to elaborate
on our call to suffer
as Christ.
The first is this.
Let me just read this again.
Verse 21.
For to this you have been called
because Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example
so that you might follow in his steps.
So how do we imitate Christ?
We take him as an example
and we follow in his steps.
The idea of an example
is literally like a stencil.
If you take a stencil,
you're not innovating.
You're trying to stencil the exact image
of whatever stencil you're kind of filling in or using.
It's like painting by numbers.
You don't elaborate.
You try to mimic the exact image that you're seeing.
And this is the same type of idea
that we are not innovating something new
in the Christian faith.
We are looking to Christ.
We are trying to imitate him.
We're using him as an example.
We're looking at his life
and then examining our life.
And if there's some kind of incongruity,
then we adjust.
We'll talk about that adjustment in a bit.
But also the second thing
that we follow in his footsteps.
It's not something that we see today,
but the idea here is that
there's disciples following a rabbi.
The rabbi goes this way.
The disciples go this way.
The rabbi goes that way.
They're hanging on his every word.
They're forsaking all other opportunities
to follow the rabbi.
To be a disciple of the rabbi
is a very, very good thing.
Maybe they'll have disciples later on,
but that's the idea that we're seeing here.
To follow in his footsteps
is to literally follow on his coattails.
Again, the call is not to innovate
new ways to be a Christian.
The call is to imitate Christ.
So when we suffer unjustly,
interestingly,
and we suffer righteously,
we bear witness to Christ.
It's a wordless witness.
And that's, by the way,
not an excuse not to share our faith.
But it means we bear witness to Christ
in his suffering,
but without words.
Indeed.
Like, with deeds.
Not indeed.
Like, indeed, that's what you'll do.
No, but like, indeed.
We also trust that God will vindicate us,
so we ought not to seek vengeance.
And I'll just pause really quickly.
It is not an ungodly thing
to push back against misunderstandings
or slander.
I think there's a,
we live in a society
where we have mechanisms
to fight injustice,
and we ought to.
But I think what this is getting at
is this.
I'll just say this.
Like the slave
is addressed as a royal,
a holy nation,
a royal priesthood,
that they are freemen.
That's their eternal standing.
There is nothing that will
further that eternal standing.
Their reputation
before God Almighty
is secure.
Christ calls them brothers
and sisters.
There is nothing more
that they can do
to be accepted
or righteous in God's eyes.
The problem is
if you're pushing back
against unjust suffering
in a way
to guard your reputation,
to advance your reputation.
in a selfish way,
maybe if somebody
is unjust to you,
you're going to be unjust back.
You're going to get them back.
If they slander you,
you're going to slander them back.
You're going to dig up
a bunch of dirt
and broadcast it.
Because to hell
with them
if they're going to mess me up,
if you have that idea.
Because how can one
elevate one's own reputation
if your reputation
is secure
for eternity
in Christ?
So,
this is not calling us
to be a perennial doormat.
We fight injustice
when we can,
but not
as a self-serving way,
in a way that's still loving
the person
that is persecuting us.
But, you know,
to really understand
how to
faithfully endure
unjust suffering
in the same way Christ did,
you have to have
an eternal mindset.
You have to.
And I'll tell you
the reason why.
The slave won't be
a slave forever.
The slave will either
be released
or will die
and then they are
a slave no longer.
And by the way,
their eternal,
as a reminder,
their eternal position
is free man
or free woman.
So, to have an eternal mindset
means we can endure
suffering now.
Why?
Because there are benefits
and pleasures
and glories
and union with Christ
forever and ever.
Romans 8
says this
in verse 31,
What then shall we say
to these things?
If God is for us,
who can be against us,
he who did not spare
his own son
but gave him up
for us all,
how will he not also
with him graciously
give us all things?
Matthew chapter 5,
Jesus says this,
Blessed are you
when others revile you
and persecute you
and utter all kinds
of evil against you
falsely on my account.
Verse 12,
Rejoice and be glad
for your reward
is great in heaven.
Your eternal rewards
are just that,
they're eternal.
So, it's important
to have an eternal mindset
to remember that this world
as we see it today
with all of the ups and downs
and it feels like 2020
has a bit more downs and ups,
that this will not be
the end of the story.
Interesting too
that Christ lays down
his life for us.
He endures the cross
despising the shame
and remember that Christ
doesn't stay on the cross,
he doesn't stay in the tomb.
He is resurrected forever
and if we endure
the sufferings like him
as he is our example,
then we too will participate
in the resurrection.
That if we are found
in Christ,
we will have
that eternal
security with him.
That's a wonderful,
wonderful truth.
So, I mentioned
at the beginning
that this flies
in the face
of our current
cultural moment.
This text asks us
to give up our freedom
and be defined
not by how we curate
our lives
but in following
a life of self-sacrifice.
And calls on us
to have a life
of duty
and not self-expression.
So, by the way,
if this is wrong,
your quarrels
with Christine, okay?
Christine,
if she watches this,
I'm sorry.
Anyways,
I was talking with her
about this.
I'm just joking around.
But Christine talked
about this idea
of duty
versus self-expression
and she says
it's interesting
because the queen,
she has embraced duty
at the expense
of her own dreams.
I mean, listen,
the queen's not suffering,
okay?
She's still the queen.
She still enjoys
a lifetime of benefits
that we don't have.
But how about if she
wanted to do something else?
How about if she
wanted to be an engineer?
I don't know
if you guys maybe
know a biography
or you've watched
The Crown 1,500 times,
you know.
But maybe she
wanted to do
something else.
What does she do?
What has she done?
She suspended
her own privileges,
her own self-interest
for the sake of others.
And Christine goes,
compare that with
Meghan Markle and Harry.
What do they do?
They say,
forget about duty.
We're going to live
our best life now.
We're going to curate
our life.
We're going to live
the life that we want
even if it means
despising
laying down our lives
for other people.
You get what I'm
trying to say here.
It's an interesting
compare and contrast
with the Queen
and Meghan and Harry.
By the way,
if I'm wrong
on that at all,
again,
the quarrel's with Christine,
so I feel no problem.
Christine's a big,
she's a big royal fan.
Being self-defined
is the highest form
of humanity
in our culture.
Having freedom
to embrace
whatever we want,
to embrace
whatever we want
for a time
and then throw it
to the wayside.
I mean,
a very,
very selfish,
we live in a very,
very selfish,
self-centered
cultural moment.
And I said to you
that true human happiness
isn't the embracing
of more freedoms
but the restriction of it.
Consider this.
if you are all about
creating the best life now,
then that's going to change
from time to time.
You're worried about
how other people see you,
so you spend a ton of money
on a new wardrobe.
By the way,
none of these things
in and of themselves
is wrong,
but hear me out.
Maybe your spouse
or significant other,
your partner,
just doesn't do the trick anymore.
How can you live
your best life
when they've gained
30 pounds?
You know,
they've lost their job
or this other person
looks a lot better.
How can you live
your best life?
No, no, no.
Forget about it.
What happens
if your children
are weighing you down?
They're not children
who are here.
You're not weighing
your parents down.
Hear me out.
How about if your children
are getting in the way of,
you know,
you want to vacation
three, four times a year
and not in a tent?
You know?
You want to be
in an airplane.
Well, I don't know
if you want to be
in an airplane now,
but you get what
I'm trying to say.
The point,
the point is,
your kids,
like they're a nuisance.
How are you supposed
to live your best life now?
And so on,
and so on,
and so on.
What does that sound like
to you?
Does that sound like
a free person
or like a slave?
If you worship something,
you will be enslaved to it.
And I'm going to put forward to you
that that's the case
for God Almighty as well.
That we are made to be slaves,
to be subjects.
But,
if this is rubbing you
the wrong way,
when we are slaves to God,
we are slaves to other people.
When we are subjects to God
and subjects to other people,
we experience true freedom.
Some of you have been Christians
for a long time
and you know
that there's some seasons
that are just sweeter
with the Lord.
It's like,
you read the Bible
and every verse,
it's like it is,
it is,
it is water
in a dry land,
but then there's other seasons
where,
I mean,
you labor over the scriptures
or you labor at church
and you're just,
you don't feel it.
But just,
hold on a second.
Those times when you are,
it's a sweet season
with the Lord,
does that feel like slavery?
Or does it feel like freedom?
Does it feel like you are less
of your true self
or that you are more
like your true self?
The world tells us
that we need to
obsess over me,
consume to overflow,
to live whatever life
makes us happy,
but it really is
calling us to slavery
to our flesh.
And if you're honest
with yourself,
I'm honest with myself
right now,
we fall into it.
We fall into it.
We prayed it
at morning prayer
at the 8 a.m. service,
but we didn't today.
There's a call
called the call for peace.
I don't know if we'll,
it'll be in the,
yeah,
it won't be.
But the call for peace
goes like this,
a very ancient prayer.
I love it.
This is what it says.
O God,
who art the author
of peace
and lover of concord,
in knowledge of whom
standeth our eternal life,
whose service
is perfect freedom.
And then it goes on.
Laying your life
down for others,
suspending your own freedoms,
following the example
of Christ
will lead to blessing
and blessing
and blessing.
Enduring unjust suffering
might feel really,
really,
really unfair.
But remember
that Christ went through it.
So He can relate to you.
So when you pray to Him,
it's not that He says,
you know,
sucks to be you.
I know what you've gone through.
I've experienced it.
I can relate.
And what fruit does it bring?
It brings blessing to others.
No more slavery
to our flesh,
to our desires,
to our addictions,
to our passions.
And it means we get to operate
the way we truly
were designed to operate.
To both the Christian
and the non-Christian,
consider the reality that
no matter what,
you will be a servant
or slave to something.
You will.
And if that bothers you,
we can talk about it.
If you want to beat me
over the head
after the service,
verbally,
you can.
I'm happy.
I'm happy to talk.
And if you're honest with that,
if you're honest with that,
if you really consider it,
consider becoming a slave of Christ.
Maybe for the first time.
Maybe you're struggling
with your faith.
Maybe you haven't truly
ever been saved.
You know it,
you know,
deep down,
you may be feeling
conviction today.
today is a perfect time
to become a slave
to Christ,
a slave to God.
To follow the example
of Christ,
to lay down
whatever freedoms
you may have
for the sake of others
because ultimately
you are doing it
for God.
Bearing witness
to the very nature
of the cross of Calvary.
And he will help you do this.
He will help you do this.
Israel was taken from Egypt
out of slavery.
Still slaves up here.
But God was patient with them
and he'll be patient
with you as well.
Slavery to Christ
is true freedom.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
thank you so much
for your words
in Holy Scripture.
Thank you so much
that our example
is Christ
of how to suffer unjustly.
How to walk
in a way
that is pleasing to you.
How to be a slave to you
which is perfect freedom.
Lord, I pray
that this morning
that you will
to the Christian
and the non-Christian,
to the skeptic,
to the believer,
to anybody in between,
that by your Holy Spirit
you will show us
areas in our lives
where we are addicted
to pleasure.
That we are slaves
to pleasure.
We are slaves
to the need
to be recognized
and rather,
Lord,
you will begin
the process,
again,
by your Holy Spirit,
fellowship of believers
by your word
to start removing that.
Help us to serve you.
Help us have
that eternal mindset
and to look to Christ
as our example.
Pray all these things
in Jesus' name.
Amen.