1 Peter 2:11-25
So in this season of new life, we continue to look at what it means to be disciples of Jesus. Last week we looked at the first part of Peter’s letter to the church where he establishes our distinct identity as a Holy People, a Royal Priesthood, as a people whose primary loyalty is to Jesus.
He now turns to the subject of our relationship to the non-Christian world we live in.
In today’s intensely practical reading, Peter has three basic pieces of advice to give to us: live honourably, be good citizens, and love your enemies. So let’s look at this reading in a bit more detail.
Firstly, to live honourably. To paraphrase vv.11-12 – “as aliens, conduct yourselves honourably among the unchurched so that they may see your honourable deeds.”
When we put Christian and non-Christian ethics and morality side by side, there are always going to be some pretty big differences. E.g., we Christians are commanded to love our enemies, not to store up riches on earth, not to love money or the things that money can buy, and so on
However, as well as differences, there are also areas we have in common; helping the poor and needy and protecting the vulnerable. Peter is saying, be honourable in our dealings with the world, so even if they don’t understand our faith, they will see by our actions that in all things we act with grace to glorify our Father through Christ.
So Peter’s first piece of advice about how we get along with our non-Christian neighbours is all about character: don’t live lives of unbridled selfishness, but instead practice the virtues that are admired by all people of good faith. We could call it loving our neighbour in a genuine and practical way.
The second thing he tells us in vv.13-17 is to be good citizens.
And right there in v.17 is the heart of practically living the Christian life: “Honour everyone. Love the family of believers. Fear God. Honour the emperor.”
Living the Christian life can be as simple and straightforward as that.
There is, though, a big red flag here saying ‘beware’! Lest we end up like parts of the Church in Nazi Germany, and parts of the Church in modern China and other countries: all earthly authority is relative to the authority of God, and of God’s anointed King, Jesus Christ, who is described by Peter in Acts 10:36 as ‘Lord of all’.
But this is not a general call for rebellion against the powers that be. Jesus showed a different way; he spoke the truth fearlessly to those in power, but he also refused the way of the sword, choosing instead to love his enemies and pray for those who crucified him.
And so Peter says that for the Lord’s sake we are to ‘accept the authority of every human institution’ – that is, every governing authority. Peter recognizes a legitimate role that they exercise on God’s behalf: govern, administer, and uphold the law.
Peter is well aware that they do not always fulfil this role; it would have been impossible for him to be unaware of monsters like the emperors Caligula and Nero, he himself was Martyred under the Emperor Nero. But nonetheless, order and justice are part of God’s will for society, and civil authorities bring this to pass.
Notice that Peter isn’t just concerned that Christians avoid persecution: he’s concerned for the reputation of Christianity as a whole. ‘For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorance of the foolish’ (v.15).
In other words, when some unbelievers begin to spread slanders about Christians, others will say, ‘but look, our neighbours Jack and Helen are Christians, and they’re not like that –they’re law-abiding citizens and they’re always the first to help when neighbours are in need’.
So we’re to live honourable lives, practicing the virtues that all people of good will can believe in, and we’re to be good citizens, obeying the laws of our nations wherever those laws do not contradict the law of God and the teaching of Jesus.
The last thing Peter talks about is loving our enemies.
The context of these verses was a particularly difficult issue at the time – the issue of the vulnerable position of Christian slaves. Christians evangelised amongst the slave population, and slaves were seen as sisters and brothers on an equal footing with non-slaves in the Christian Church. And there were undoubtedly times when Christian slaves felt that they should not obey the instructions of their pagan masters – a dangerous decision, given that masters had power of life and death over their slaves.
But this option was not open to the slaves in Peter’s churches. When they were beaten unjustly by their masters, their main options were to cower, to fight back, or to run away. But what Peter tells them is something different: follow the example of Jesus and love those who persecute you. Look at verse 21:
‘For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps’.
When I was learning to write, we had a thing called a ‘Copy Book.’ There was a sample of perfect lettering at the top of a page and we had to practice the letters, copying them underneath the original over and over again until we got it right. I failed abysmally.
Jesus’ life is like that perfect sample of handwriting; our job is to practice imitating him over and over again until we get it right. And this is particularly so, Peter is telling us, in the way we respond to insult and injury that comes our way because we are Christians. We are not to respond to it in kind; we’re to trust in God the righteous judge, and respond with love as Jesus did.
This is simply the teaching that Jesus gave us in the Sermon on the Mount, that we should love our enemies, pray for those who mistreat us, and bless those who persecute us. Peter is not guaranteeing that this will get us out of trouble – far from it.
But he has something even more important in mind! Look at the last two verses of today’s reading. “(Jesus) himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were going astray like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.”
In other words, because Jesus accepted the unjust suffering that was meted out to him, people who were going astray have now come back to God through him. And this may well happen through us as well, Peter is saying. If we hate our enemies and retaliate in the same way, they will have no opportunity to repent and turn to God, so in the end the Kingdom of God is harmed by our actions.
But if we love them as Jesus loves them, then the Holy Spirit can work in their hearts, and who knows what might happen as a result?
Let me pray…