Plymothian

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

¹² With the help of Silas,^[b] whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.

¹³ She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. ¹⁴ Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.

Humble and Alert

To the youthful members of the churches in northwest Turkey, Peter tells them that they should be humble and alert.  The humility should be to those who are older and wiser, but the primary humility is with regard to God.  For every member of every church, the main goal is to cultivate a posture of consistent submission to God.  The anxieties of life often weigh us down when we are trying to make the most of things by ourselves.  If we keep our eyes on God we can cast off our anxieties as soon as we are aware of them.  Anxiety is a common condition of the heart.  We are nervous and fearful, but it is often because we are not thinking of the mighty hands of God that are large enough to take away the anxieties and give us strength to face our fears.

Secondly, we can long for oblivion.  I mean the kind of oblivion that is embraced by those who pursue the forgetfulness of TV, alcohol, or drugs.  We want to dull the senses to get through life, but Peter tells his audience to heighten our senses.  In my opinion many American Christians are removed from the game because they fall asleep.  They become dead through business and distraction.  Satan in effect has one his battle with them.  If we are alert to things that really matter, we will suffer for stirring people from their slumber.  However, many faithful believers around the world are suffering for their faith and we need to show solidarity with them.

Prayer

May we humble ourselves under your leadership.  Le us not rely overly much on our own perceptions, but let us rely on you.  Help us also to stay awake and be alert.  I feel so drained at the end of a busy day, it is easy to try and live the next day in a daze of busy activity or mindless entertainment.  Help us to see you and act on your desires for our lives and the lives of our family.

Questions

1. What commands does Peter pass on to his readers?
2. How did following these commands help readers endure suffering?
3. What anxieties would the original recipients have cast upon God?
4. How are you modeling humility for the next generation?
5. How are you modeling alertness to the things of God?

 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: ² Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

⁵ In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Mentoring and Being Mentored

A person ideally needs to find people older than themselves from whom to learn.  They need, then, to pass on that knowledge to the next generation.  In so doing the information they are gathering needs to be passed on and they become a conduit.  They must learn because they have responsibility.  They must be mentored because they are mentoring.

Fathers don’t mentor their children as often as they might.  This often leads to children growing up without feeling protected and secure.  It means they don’t have an experiential knowledge of placing themselves under the leadership of an older man.  Ideally, older men and women earn respect because of their experience.  They follow God closely and because they are older, they have seen more of Satan’s tricks and appreciate more how God leads people.  They can then pass on that experience to the younger generation so they grow in godly wisdom.  However, many youngsters these days are prone to see older people as irrelevant or out of touch.  It is more important to youth to operate the newest piece of technology and stay connected with friends their own age than to connect with those who know better.  The Bible points out in this passage that the admission of a youth that they don’t know everything comes from humility.  What is humility?  Humility is seeing oneself as one truly is.  We are miniscule with respect to God, but we are loved by God in a way that gives us all value.  Someone who has a true assessment of their own limitations can seek understanding from someone less limited.  Someone who thinks their only weakness is kryptonite is actually unteachable.  The pride of youth prevents growth.

When older people see this, they can think that investing in the next generation is a waste of time.  Why bother when they think they know it all already.  One reason to care is that they are going to be managing the nation’s finances and pension funds will be mismanaged by proud people.  God’s motivation for older people to be active in pursuing relationships with their juniors is to have a willing heart to do God’s will.  The lack of communication between the generations in our churches is not godly.  We need more approaches like Tru (http://tru.davidccook.com/AboutTru.aspx) which seeks to connect families intergenerationally.  The adults in the church don’t just see their children go through stratified programs and watch the children float away, disconnected, into college.

Prayer

Father, I thank you for the older men who are correcting me and guiding me toward truth based on their experience of truth.  I pray that I would continue to pass on the knowledge that you have given me.

Questions

1. What should elder people do?
2. Why might they object?
3. Why might younger members of a church tune out those who are older?
4. Who mentors you?
5. Who are you mentoring?

¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. ¹⁵ If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. ¹⁶ However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name. ¹⁷ For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸ And,

¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

Suffering for Being a Christian

The Guardian reported an attack on Pakistani Christians in Peshawar.  The Guardian is a reputable British newspaper, so this event is not being exaggerated by Christians to create a media scare.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/22/suicide-attack-pakistani-church-peshawar

What is your reaction to this kind of persecution?  To read more of these kinds of stories, visit Voice of the Martyrs at persecution.com

Prayer

We are unaware of so much suffering for being a Christian.  We see the faith as something of a luxury that we add to our lives.  Father, help us to care for our persecuted brothers and sisters in the world.  Let us not protect ourselves from their stories.  help us to enter into prayer to share in their sufferings.

Questions

1. How did ancient Christians suffer?
2. How does Peter encourage them repeatedly in his book?
3. How do modern Christians suffer?
4. How do suffering Christians receive encouragement from their brothers and sisters in the world?
5. What would you want people to do for you and your church in the weeks following a suicide attack?

⁷ The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. ⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ⁹ Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

The End Is Nigh

Sandwich boards anyone?  Do you remember the people walking the streets with ‘The End of The World is Nigh!’?  They seem to be less prevalent these days.  We tend to think of them as kooks:  little old men with long beards who have lost some of their marbles.  Was the apostle Peter one of them?  Was he a deluded, sad man who was about to die expecting Jesus to come back right then?  Some people think he was, but it won’t surprise you to know that I don’t.  The criteria for Jesus’ return are open enough that he could come back at any moment.  It is the expectation that he could come back that keeps us looking expectantly at the skies.  This imminence of Jesus’ return is talked of in language like ‘he is near’, but it does not mean that the time is now.  It means more that he is close; waiting in the wings.

In light of Jesus’ waiting in the wings, we should live with a sense that it would take very little for him to return.  What do you want to be found doing when Jesus comes back?  We have been left to steward the outpouring of God’s grace.  We are ambassadors who go ahead of the royal return.  If that is the case, there should be a measured gravity to our words.  Then when Jesus returns he will receive the glory that he is due, because we have paved the way.

Prayer

Jesus, I tend to think of the end times as increasingly hard to talk about meaningfully.  Help me to live with the sense that you are near.  At the Father’s command, you could return at any second.  As I talk to you I see a connection between your return and the brevity of life.  As I have lost a friend recently, and watched others struggle with sickness, I have thought that I should be more intentional about what years I have.  As I think about your return, I have that same sense of urgency.

Questions 

1. What do you think Peter meant by ‘The end is near’?
2. How does living in light of Jesus’ return cause Christians to live?
3. Looking at the end of history, who receives the accolades?
4. Whose agenda do you serve?
5. If Jesus’ return is possible at any moment, how should you change your focus?

Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. ² As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. ³ For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. ⁴ They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. ⁵ But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.

Leaving the Old Life Behind

Pagans make choices in line with who they perceive themselves to be.  They don’t really understand why Christians don’t join in with their fun, because it is all that they know.  However, Christian’s pleasure comes from service of Jesus.  It may sound sadistic, but Christians get pleasure out of suffering because it is an honour to suffer for Jesus.  Christians also know that fleeting, selfish choices have eternal results.  Reckless, wild living overindulges the senses in ways that leave them dulled.  Reckless, wild living leads to broken relationships and heartache.  Partying is not a twenty-first century invention, people have been going wild for years.

What motivates this behaviour?  Some people have experienced pain and the numbing of the senses through sex, drugs, or alcohol takes the suppresses the pain for a while.  Unfortunately, choosing sex, drugs, and alcohol to drown sorrows often gives rise to more.  A lack of satisfaction with what one has can lead one into a vain quest for more.  Lust believes that I am being deprived of ultimate pleasures or fears that they will never be mine.  Teens drink alcohol before they can really make wise decisions regarding its consumption.  Youths have sex because they don’t believe that they should wait for the security of marriage.  People take drugs so that they can find the elusive highs which they crave.  Such cravings shorten life.  The body was made for peace and harmony.  There is a tranquil satisfaction that God wants for us.  Religion is not about the alternative to sex, drugs, and alcohol.  What I mean is, we are not meant to lose ourselves in some spiritual experience that numbs us or makes us uncontrollably wild.  Our experience of God, through Christ, should be a sustainable life with its quiet moments and excited outbursts.  But we look to God’s leading, we don’t take our resources and dissipate them over a short period of time.  Like a person who knows the quality of the ice-cold beverage they drink on a day where the heat is relentless, the Christian draws out the moment and savours it.  We become aware that every moment is precious because we share it with our Lord Jesus Christ.

The quality of the relationship is a deep mystery.  It is hard to explain.  However, once a false selfish religion gives way to a pursuit of God, nothing in life seems the same.  The parties of writhing bodies, intoxicated beneath strobe lights begins to look like empty shells of containing malnourished souls, mindlessly dancing their way to hell.

Prayer

In the name of freedom, we have made choices to embrace destructive lifestyles.  Help us to see reality in light of our future hope.  Help us to see the darkness that surrounds the partying and carousing that many of us once embraced.  There is more joy in the shared experience of a family picnic than there is in a passionate liaison with a stranger.  Help us to remember that the senses are best used to look out from a mountain over creation, not to be flooded by drugs and alcohol.  Help us to take time to question why we want unhealthy things.  We give over to you the corrupted desires of our former life.  Heighten our senses to your presence.  Let us be satisfied with you.

Questions

1. What does suffering in the body show?
2. What does seeking pleasure as the greatest good show?
3. Why do you think Peter had to remind suffering Christians of the judgment at the end of time?
4. Why does the church in the west keep quiet about living with final judgment in mind?
5. What life have you left behind?  How would you talk to someone enticed to go back to it?

¹³ Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats^[b]; do not be frightened.”^{[c] 15} But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, ¹⁶ keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. ¹⁸ For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit. ¹⁹ After being made alive,^[d] he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits— ²⁰ to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, ²¹ and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God.^[e] It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who has gone into heaven and is at God’s right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him.

Do Not Be Frightened

What could cause fear to overshadow the true identity of an early Christian?  Perhaps the prospect of being considered a fool because you believed in something other than the majority.  Perhaps the breakdown in your family because you became a follower of Jesus and others did not.  However, we must remember that the great danger that Christians faced in ancient Rome, was that they could be physically and sexually abused or killed.  We, in the west, do not experience that kind of fear on a daily basis.  For now, we have the freedom to worship how and when we choose (as long as it is not in conflict with the laws separating church and state).  There are, in every culture, those who speak maliciously about Christians.  I was slandered for my faith in my undergraduate school.  The debate often degenerated into ad hominem name calling by the lecturer.  I was afraid that if I wrote anything on a paper from a biblical perspective my grades would suffer.  I remember a fellow student called Tim who included Bible verses in his papers and he got slammed.

Because we do not fear being dragged to our death, does that mean that there is no application of this passage for us?  Whatever our circumstances we can consider the suffering of Christ and how he was focused on the future hope of resurrection.  His future position is so elevated that it speaks to us of our true citizenship in ways that should help us persevere.  What about our most common fears and anxieties, though?

We sometimes have a general anxiety that things are not going to go too well for us.  We don’t feel accepted and we are afraid what others think of us.  If we are angry or depressed, it is often in reaction to something that we fear.  For example, I fear that I am not going to get a certain project done.  I therefore give up and become depressed, or I fight it with an anger.  In both cases a true cure would be to remove the cause, which is the fear.  Fear is mostly about the future.  Anxiety and nervousness are closely connected to fear.  It saps our confidence and therefore our effectiveness.  There are steps in a process to release fear.

1. Talk to a Christian mentor openly about your fears no matter how silly they seem.
2. Bring your fears to God and confess them.
3. Visualise yourself laying your fears at the foot of the cross.
4. Ask Jesus what fears you have that you have not dealt with.

Prayer

Jesus, I have fears.  Let me know truly what triggers my fears.  Reveal to me the unresolved issues from my past and the important issues for my future.

Questions

1. What should be the recipients’ attitude in the face of suffering?
2. How does Peter suggest persecuted people combat fear?
3. What should the Christian be prepared to do?
4. How is fear the mind killer?
5. How can you keep your mind clear so that you can make the most of every opportunity?

Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, 2 when they see the purity and reverence of your lives. 3 Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves. They submitted themselves to their own husbands, 6 like Sarah, who obeyed Abraham and called him her lord. You are her daughters if you do what is right and do not give way to fear.

7 Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Harmony In The Home

The commands in the passage are toward a certain end:  harmony.  The house should be a home where peace reigns.  This is not the mere absence of war, but a place where everyone pulls together to understand and support the family.  Wives who became Christians might be tempted to see themselves as free to dominate their husbands and exercise control because of their elevated status in Christ.  Most households were organised around a patriarchal system.  Jewish homes were more subjugating than Greek ones, but both had put women in a lowly role.  Women who found they had a voice might become ugly and try and revolt against years of subservience.  However, Peter recommends that women build beauty from the inside.  There is a calm power in grace under pressure.  A women need not be a doormat, but she can express her opinion boldly, whilst thinking of the good of her husband and household.  This attitude shows the shallowness of a woman who is vapid and adorns herself with trinkets.  Shakespeare reinforces the point by writing:

Virtue is beauty, but the beautious evil

Are empty trunks o’erflorished by the devil

Men do not use their physical power to dominate their wives.  They create harmony in the household by considering their wives.  An attentive man will generally be a successful man in marriage.  A man must cultivate the ability to listen to the cares and concerns of his wife.  He must factor her opinion into his decisions.  In Christ, the man must see the woman in his life as his equal.  In working side by side with her, the prayers that he has for his family will be answered.

Prayer

God, make our home more harmonious by reminding my wife and myself of our responsibilities.  I do not always find time to listen and when she worries she sometimes tries to take control.  Fear can attack the harmony of our home.  Let us find our confidence in you.

Questions

1. What are wives to do?
2. What are husbands to do?
3. How does this harmony relate to Peter’s directions on slavery (see “in the same way”)?
4. How can you learn to be a better spouse?
5. How does proximity with God create more harmony in your marriage?