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With that being said, open up your Bibles to First Peter chapter two. It’s on page if you want to grab a Bible on the seat in front of you. It’s on page 181 of the Bibles that we carry here at church. There comes a place in our spiritual lives, and hopefully it comes very early in our spiritual lives, where we get to a position where we accept Christ as our Savior, and then we get to a place of commitment where we desire just to see what Jesus has for our lives. We ask the question, God, what do you want from me? And we lay ourselves down and not to live according to our wills, but what he desires for us. The question we look at this morning as we dive into the Book of Second Peter, we just simply ask ourselves, whatever Jesus has called you to do in this world. What are you willing to give up for the sake of the gospel? What in yourselves are you willing to lay down that others may know? Jesus discover in Scripture that the people that Jesus uses in his ministry are those who just simply surrender, those who are about submission to his authority over them. And the thing I love about Jesus is that you don’t have to be wonderfully gifted and talented to be used of God. You just have to be willing. And in that attitude, God works in you and through you to accomplish his will in this world.
It’s amazing to me to look back and to see how God can just take ordinary people and do supernatural things with them. But it all starts with a place in your life where you look at God and what he’s done for you and say to him, God, now that I know you, just have your way with me. And this morning, the context of the passage of scriptures that we’re looking at are very simplistic in what they proclaim to us as people, but it only speaks to the heart of people who are at a place in their lives that say to Jesus, Jesus, I just want you to have control. And the reason is, is because today we talk about the word submission. And unless Jesus has become Lord of your life, that word is very unattractive to you. As a matter of fact, I would say even in giving your life to Jesus, that word can still be unattractive to us. I think as individuals, what we express in our hearts many times is an attitude of rebellion. It’s all about me and what I want and what I get and forget whatever else has done to me. I’m just seeking after myself. My glory, my gain. The Bible calls that pride. In many ways. I am my own God. Though I know who he is, I elevate myself and my needs above his and what he desires.
Pride and selfishness tends to think that we are our own boss. A lot of times it plays out into the work world. If anyone’s ever had a boss above them at some point in a particular moment, all of us have thought, my boss is dumber than me and I can do a better job, right? If only I had the position, I could show them how it really is. A lot of times in our lives I think we treat without saying it. We treat Jesus the same way. Doesn’t God know that I’m in charge of me and that it’s my life that I’ve been given by him, but I can do with whatever I desire. Say the word submission to an American culture. It’s. It doesn’t sit with us, right? Especially knowing that we’re a generation of people that were raised by hippies. 60s. The 70s. Let’s just do whatever, right? I love me and everything that makes me feel good about me. When Jesus calls us to in this world is a life of submission. And I got to say, in talking about submission to authority for some good reason, some of us don’t enjoy it, because in positions in our life we’ve been abused by people of authority. Nonetheless, it’s a place in which Jesus calls us to in this world. It’s a life God has given us as a life of service. Talking about submission and even thinking about Jesus’s earlier earliest followers, it was difficult for them to accept what he called them to do.
In a Jewish mind, when Jesus showed up in this world, Jesus was going to take the kingdom of God and he was going to conquer the world, and he was going to rule and reign. And when his followers began to realize that Jesus was going to lay himself down and ask them to be obedient to the authorities above them, they hated it. And despised him. And yet, when you come to a passage of Scripture in first Peter chapter two, Peter begins every position of our lives with one central theme to us, which is seek to show Jesus in this world with an attitude of submission and service. And Peter breaks down all the sections of chapter two into chapter three. And every area of our life, every facet in which we would abide by his people. All of us live under a form of government, and he says in 213, submit to every human institution. In fact, he ends this section in verse 17. He just goes ahead and says, submit to all people. In verse 18 he says, servants, submit to your masters, which we’ll talk about. I’m not telling. You need to go out and sell yourself as a slave. But we’ll talk about what that means to us in context. And he he’s talking about in our work environment and even in family life.
Husbands, serve your wives, wives, submit to your husbands. There’s an attitude of submission and attitude that elevates the other person above your well being for the benefit of Jesus and to sacrifice for the gospel. And so the question is, what are you willing to sacrifice that others may know Christ? I think what Jesus desires for us in this passage of Scripture is that we become people that don’t live by rebellion and fight, that we don’t live by fear and run away, but that we become people that live by faith and trusting in him through all things. Passages. Scriptures, as Paul explains, asks us as people just to simply let God have control by submitting and allowing his authority to work in us and through us. Maybe we should stop and ask ourselves, why does Jesus ask us to submit? Let me give you a few responses to that. First is very simple, very plain, and I think it’s the reason Peter begins these passages of Scripture. It’s because others judge Jesus by his followers. And to think about the importance of who you are in your relationship to Christ as you encounter this world, you may be the only Jesus that people experience in this life. And like it or not, people judge Jesus by the way that you choose to live your life. Jesus even told his followers and they will know we are Christians by our love.
It’s a life that’s demonstrated by action. Second is this selfishness doesn’t cooperate with Jesus, but selflessness does. And the reason is, is because Jesus isn’t is interested in our individuality as he is our community as a whole. And so when we live to worship Christ, we think about the benefit of all people and the way that we conduct our lives so that Christ may be known to them Third is this as we look at all areas in which Peter admits to us here that we need to think and and serve Jesus, he he’s recognizing for us that every area of our life is a place of worship. It’s not just about Sunday. As we sing at the cross and we think about worshiping God, it’s it’s Monday when you go to work and you’re frustrated from your boss on Friday. It’s Tuesday when you’re upset over elections that have taken place. It’s Wednesday when your spouse maybe has frustrated you or done something glorious for you. Father’s day is coming up, ladies, I think here soon, so think about that. But it’s all worship. When you’re vacuuming your home. You can worship when you’re choosing not to retaliate towards other people who have wronged you. It’s an attitude of worship that others may see Jesus. We notice in our actions and through our worship, is that relationally bad situations get better. When someone is willing to submit and serve the well-being of other people, how do we know that the answer is Jesus? It’s always Jesus.
We see Jesus most through sacrifice. I think in this world, when the people that are most difficult to love are still loved, Jesus has people do that. You think about Jesus and the sacrifice that he’s placed for us. We see the love of God by the evidence of Jesus going to the cross, and in that it inspires us to know this God that loves us so dearly. And may our response to that in Christ be the same towards other people. And that while I choose to rebel against God, God still loved me. And so as you rebel against me, I love you that you may see Jesus. That is difficult to swallow, easy to say, but difficult to swallow. I kept thinking, even in my own life, some of the hardest things I’ve had to do is forgive somebody when they’ve wronged me. More than anything, I wanted to fight, scream, bring justice back. Let other people see the fury that I brought on an individual. But when you step back and think for the well being of Christ and the sake of the gospel. This isn’t that beneficial. Bless those who choose in those moments to make the sacrifice. Because in this world you are the people that are praised the least. You’re the people that are recognized the fewest. It seems in our world, when someone does something wrong, we get pleasure out of seeing the other person bring justice.
But in your sacrifice, Christ can be made known. Why submit to point to a better way through Jesus? Why do we submit? Because God holds you accountable for you. When I was a little kid, I had to learn this tough lesson once I think I threw my sister down or something very difficult for my mother to swallow, apparently, because my punishment. But I did something unjust to my sister. And my excuse was when I went inside his mom, she made me do it right. That ugly face she made at me, she deserved to be punished, mom. She made me do it. The reality is, you know, as you grow up, that that excuse just doesn’t cut it. Regardless of the way that one person treats you, God still holds you accountable for you. And what God calls you to do in this world is despite what others might do to you. We learn from First Peter when we talk about submission, that we as people are never without a place in our lives that we are to submit for the sake of Christ. We become servants to this world. And when I look at Jesus telling us to submit for the sake of the gospel, to sacrifice for him because he is our king, we notice that God, what he wants to do, is to put us in a place that he can bless our lives.
God desires for us to be in a position in this world in which he can bless and work through us. And what we see is that when we submit to authority, when we submit in this world, what it brings is better unity, that we may communicate the truth of who God is. There’s nothing more significant to a world that deserves not to be loved, than to have a people still choose to love it. And Peter is asking us as people now that we know Jesus and everything, who he is in our lives. When he brings up the word submit, he’s asking us what in the world would we be willing to give up and sacrifice for the sake of the gospel? And he’s asking us as people to begin to find the purpose of our living outside of self. Modern psychology and philosophy will say, are you not happy? We’ll look deep within yourself to discover the true meaning of who you are. Then live out life through that. Jesus tends to think the opposite of that. God says, listen, I’m the one that created you. I’m the one that understands who you are and why you exist on the on this earth. And so for you to understand and find joy in this world, it’s about living life outside of yourself because God has created you ultimately for relationships, one with Almighty God.
And as you grow in that living that relationship out with other people and through the word submission, we’re learning how to best live out that life for the sake of the gospel that other people may begin to know and grow in a life with Jesus. Define life outside of yourselves. And so Peter begins the journey like this. In verse 13 and 14 he says to us, submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors, as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. Sometimes we read passages like this when it tells us to submit to human institutions, and we always have a group that likes to think hypothetically in any situation. What if they’ll say not? You’re in Nazi Germany and the Germans come to your house? And my response to that is, that’s hypothetical. And you don’t live in Nazi Germany. Okay. But if it ever happens, you have my permission to punch them in the face. Okay. Kick them. Run. Hopefully they’re down. All right. But to the realistic world, that doesn’t live in the hypothetical, what God has called us to do is submit to authority, doesn’t mean that we have to always submit to every authority. Let me give you an instance, the book of acts. In chapter five. The apostles are going out preaching the gospel into this world, and they’re the leaders of Jerusalem.
Come to the apostles and they say, listen, you’re not to speak the gospel anymore, knowing that’s what Jesus had called the apostles to do, knowing that’s what Jesus desires for his church to do. The response then was this Peter and the apostles replied, we must obey God rather than any human authority. The response was, there comes to a place in our lives when we recognize that government requires us or asks us to do things that are contrary to God’s Word, and in so doing, we obey God rather than men in all cases. Some people will take liberty to justify this. Seems every year I have a conversation with a local pothead and they know two verses. God calls every seed bearing plant good and judge not right. Seeking to justify their own wrongdoing. I always find it humorous. We get to a place like that where you’re so lost on the focus of which Jesus wants to accomplish, that we desire to justify our own wrongful behavior any way that we can, and we use the Bible to actually do that. Well, God’s saying to us, listen, human government may not always be easy to abide by, but God’s called you to abide by it anyway. And being an American citizen thus far, there’s nothing unjust. A human government requires us to do that. It’s against God. So what do we do? We pray for them.
We respect the authority that God has placed over our heads, and we abide by it. What does that do with complaining? Well, I think it eliminates it for the sake of the gospel. To be honest, praise God for the people in our church who would ever pursue politics to change it for the sake of Jesus. But in my day to day life, it really doesn’t make much difference. My focus is central to Christ and His kingdom. Thinks more than just this world and what’s taking place. It thinks about all of eternity and the sake of all people. Amen. To know him. And might I give up a particular amount of my liberties that other people may know? Jesus. Absolutely. Every day we’re faced with an opportunity where we will be challenged to not submit to something, and every day we must make the conscious decision. Is this going to bring glory to God by bringing submission to this authority? Paul goes on and says in verse 16, excuse me, 15 for such is the will of God, that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. I like that he recognizes for us. And when you’re submitting to authority, you’re not going to always see eye to eye with other people. And people aren’t always going to see eye to eye with you. Matter of fact, some of them are going to treat you unjustly.
Your neighbor that carries particular philosophies that do not agree with Jesus is probably not going to like you because you like Jesus. And your response to that is not dislike your neighbor as well. It’s love him. And so Paul goes on for us in verse 16. He says, listen, act as free men then, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people. I like it. So, Paul, I mean, I understand that you want me to be nice to most people, but how many people you want to be nice to? He goes ahead and clears the table. We’re talking about serving everyone in this world. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the King. Act as free men. Paul reminds us in this verse of something we contradict as people. I think that verse 16 has gotten in recent days the Catholic Church in enormous trouble. Don’t use your freedom as a covering for evil. Catholic Church If you’ve watched the news recently, you’ve seen a lot of charges come against priests for particular things that they’ve done wrong. And the way that they’ve handled it was well. The priest did something wrong. He broke the law. But let’s cover it up and handle it in house and not report it to the authorities. And we’ll just make this person repent of their sins and move on with life.
And they’ve swept it under the rug and they’ve used their freedom for evil. And now news comes to light of things like that happening of kids being molested comes before grand jury, and now the human authorities are handling it. And you ask yourself, the people who claim to follow after Jesus, how does that make Jesus look in those moments? For the sake of the gospel, though we may find particular freedoms in Jesus, we give up those freedoms for the cause of Christ to proclaim his name. That other people may know him. I like how it says it in the book of Judges. Without a concern for authority or respect for anyone above us. We tend to live life however we please, regardless of what others may think. You get to the book of judges and you’ll read this phrase over and over. As I listed here in chapter 17, it happens every few chapters in this book, the same verse is listed. Israel falls into sin. When you ask the question, why did Israel fall into sin? It explains right here. It says, in those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what was right in his own eyes. That means Israel came to a place where God taught them who they were. They had to make a decision and say, God, I want to submit to you in my life, or I want to be God myself. And rather than submit to God and His authority over them and accept the authority that God placed through rulers above them, they chose to live out life for themselves.
Who cares about anyone else? It’s about me and my pleasure. That tells us, as you read the book of judges, Israel continued to go through cycles where they get to a place where they can accept God’s authority over them, but they reject it, and they live in sin, and the nation suffers because of it. You think about that in the life of a Christian. You get to a place where God has called you to submit and demonstrate his name into this world. And can I tell you the only thing that truly changes the heart of people for any amount of time is Jesus. Are you tired of social injustices in the world? You read about slavery still existing today, of all things, 250 million people in this world today are still in slavery. How do you change such an injustice like that? The answer is make disciples for Jesus. Do what it takes to go in this world, to demonstrate Christ to other people, that they may come to know them and allow Jesus to change their hearts. The alternative is to get to a place in our lives where we look at what God has called us to do and say, you know what, God? I see the word submission. Don’t like it.
I want to be king. See you later. And the result is a nation suffers. By the power of God, demonstrated through Christians that lay down their lives and sacrifice for the cause of Christ. A nation can rejoice. And so the praise this morning is to those who seek the importance of honoring their King by honoring their country, who understand the significance of the gospel, and live that out by submitting to authority, even when it’s difficult. To those who think about the times in their lives where they’ve been wronged and they still choose to forgive for the sake of Christ, rather than retaliate in anger and frustration. And so Peter moves for us in this passage of Scripture to thinking more than just about the typical government authority. He also thinks about those who suffer unjustly. He says in verse 18 to 20 servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable. I’m going to let you know, as we read the context of Scripture here, that Peter is writing to people who can’t change their current position and occupation. They’re bound by law to serve the individuals who they’re serving. This is talking about both slaves and indentured servants, people who have signed a contract and given over their lives to serve the benefit of another person. And so they’re stuck in this position. We have a little more freedom in America today.
You may feel like a slave at your job, but you, of all people, have more than likely chosen the job or occupation that you have. But Peter is saying nonetheless, to all of us, if your employer is reasonable or if your employer is unreasonable, still serve for this, finds favor. He tells you why. For this finds favor. If for the sake of conscience towards God, a person bears up under sorrow when suffering unjustly, for what credit is there? If when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently endure it. This finds favor with God. I get two portions of scripture sometimes where I’m just not satisfied sometimes. And this would be a portion for me today. And here’s why. It’s because Peter doesn’t answer for me why these people are suffering unjustly. I want to know why all suffering happens in this world. And Peter doesn’t even address it. For me, when I think about the idea of suffering, it is easy to accept suffering when I do things that are wrong. That was a natural consequence for a poor behavior. Think of when I was in college. I decided I would retaliate against this teacher. This don’t observe this high school students. I would retaliate against this teacher that I had by being disrespectful to him.
I had already graduated school, but I still had to go. And and so I just sat in my class because he mocked me one day on the first day of school, and I just slept in the front row. And at the end of the semester, I suffered the consequences with an F. Those consequences were easy to handle because my behavior made sense towards that consequence. To get an F and to be disrespectful from a teacher, I deserve that. But what about consequences that we don’t deserve? What about when we suffer for doing what’s right and Peter doesn’t even tell us how to handle that? You know what he says in that instance? Serve anyway. Peter says that as people, it’s better that we serve for in suffering and do what’s right and that suffering than do what’s wrong. Listen, if we go into this world and people wrong us, and then we make them pay the consequences rather than allow God to take care of the moment. God also doesn’t bless that life. Not only are we receiving the consequence from from the the master that we’re serving or the employer that we have, but now we’re receiving consequences from God for doing wrongly towards an employer who’s wronged us. I said this last week, but I’ll say it again because we need to reminded of it often. Whatever punishment you think that you’re going to dish out to this world. God’s, God’s is much better.
Amen. Love people to Jesus, the way that Jesus has loved you, and know that one day God’s going to do a far better job in bringing his justice on sin than you ever will. Jesus would far much rather bless you for doing what’s right in a moment of suffering, and to bring his justice upon you because you’ve chosen to retaliate. Knowing what he’s called you to do in this world. And the truth is, we recognize that it is hard to serve wounded. It’s hard to serve when it employers make it difficult. It’s hard to serve your spouse when you’re not getting along. It’s hard to serve government when you feel like it’s oppressing you. It’s hard to serve. And I’m reminded of what Peter spoke to us in chapter one. It’s for us not to focus on the present trouble, but knowing that your faith is much more precious than gold. It’s to look at the hope that Jesus has brought forth into your life. To think that your actions on this world don’t just have earthly implications. It’s got eternal implications, gives you a fresh perspective on the life that you’re living. To think about eternity in mind. To think about Jesus and mind. To think about the reality of the gospel and the effects that he can have if he can penetrate the hearts of others. I think we have the tendency sometimes to underestimate the effect that we have on our culture, and what we can do to bring people closer to Christ.
And you get to a place like this in Scripture where you say to yourself, okay, God is asking me to serve. I think I can do that. I think I’ll serve. And then you read this portion of Scripture and you see, okay, and now God has called me to serve even the unjust, even the most difficult people, even the most unlovable. Jesus wants me to serve. Who in the world does that? And why? Why in the world would I even conceive of doing that in my mind? And so then Peter, knowing that he’s building this in our in our head and in a case of rebellion, is coming up because the word submission has already been spoken. As people, we want to rebel. He then draws out the Jesus card, for you have been called for this purpose since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps. Talking of Jesus, he said, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth, and while being reviled, he did not revile in return, and while suffering he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by his wounds you were healed.
You get that? By his wounds you were healed. Amen. For you were continually straying like sheep. But now you have returned to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. The truth is, as people, we tend to stop serving when we feel we’re in someone else’s good graces, without concern that they’re in God’s good grace. And Peter says to us, Jesus has already given you this example. You think of the change that Christ has brought to this world because when he was persecuted against, he still chose to love. And in our situations of adversity in life, you know, coming back to this world with justice and vengeance may bring a temporary satisfaction. It may bring a temporary release from the pressure that we’re facing in this world. But when we talk in the scope of eternity, it does nothing. But when someone else is willing to sacrifice and when someone else is willing to, to pay the expense, that attitude of submission by those wounds that someone else embraces, others might be healed. You. What that ultimately demonstrates to us as people, as an attitude of grace. You are grace agents in this world, and that demonstrating when no one else deserves your love, when no one else deserves your affection, you turn to the most unlovable person and you say, I love you. Pride is a hard thing to swallow, isn’t it? Rebellion and justice for us can be difficult.
Peter says to us in this world, because what you’re demonstrating most when you lay down your life is Christ. You’re showing to God His authority over you, out of worship, and you’re showing to this world the significance of who Jesus is. And so the question we ponder both now and every day of our lives that we’re faced with decisions such as this and challenges. What will I give up for the sake of the gospel? How can I best love that others may see Jesus? What is it that God has called me to do in any area, in all areas of my life, that Christ may be known in the lives of others? And can I say, lest I bring forth confusion, that it’s it’s more than words, actually, it’s mostly action that we demonstrate a life of Christ to other people, that they may desire to inquire of us while we choose to love, even in the most difficult times. And in those moments, we can show Jesus in the most practical way. I would say this Jesus doesn’t care what we have to say on Facebook. Facebook and your friends oftentimes don’t care about the venting that you and especially Jesus mean. When your world is hurting. Don’t attack other people online. Go to Christ with that. Show the beauty of who Christ is by the language in which you choose to respect, rather than the vengeance that you have on other people.
Let me ever get online and get stressed by Facebook. Does that ever break your heart when you go to places as people with a group of believers and you want to share Christ with others and you’re thinking about sharing Christ, but there’s one person in your group that just treats other people like dirt. You ever been to that restaurant after church on Sundays? If you go to a restaurant, tip your waitress well. Tell them you go to Apple Bible Church. Tip your waitress well, if you don’t, um, tip your waitress well, tell them you go to a different church. Okay. But you heard Alpine Bible church tips. Well, okay. Serve people. I think sometimes we get in the mentality of serving type jobs, and we treat those people as if they weren’t important because they have other those serving type jobs. But seek to show them Jesus. When you go out in the community, love other people to Christ. May we not be embarrassed by people in our our congregation that just treat other people like dirt. But sacrifice for the cause of Christ. And so he says this. He starts off from the highest authority in our world of government, and he brings it down to our employer and finally into the family. And I got to say, oftentimes this is the place that we address last in lives that we care way too much about what other people think about us and not enough about what our spouse thinks about us.
And so he says to the ladies, I always point this out in Scripture, but every time God talks to the women, he always says more than when he talks to the men. It’s like God knows us. And so he says, in the same way, wives, be submissive to your own husbands, so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, but they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives. Don’t underestimate the power of your actions for Jesus. That’s right. As they observe your chase and respectful behavior, your adornment must not be merely external braiding the hair and wearing gold jewelry or putting on dresses, but let it be the hidden person of the heart, but the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit which is precious in the sight of God. Ladies, you want to be treated like a queen. Treat your husband like a king. It’s saying to us in this passage of Scripture two we get to this portion of these verses, and I always feel like in the minds of people, sometimes we get that, but, but, but do you know what he said to me? But do you know how they’re treating me? But do you know that I don’t feel this way, even though that you’re calling me to be this way towards them. And I read the rest of the passage, and he never said anything about the.
But he only said, listen, you’ve married this person, and this is what God has called you to do, regardless of the way they treat you. Treat them this way. And swallow your pride. You want to be treated like a queen. Treat him like a king. All right. I got to admit, I went and watched the Avengers. Oh, man. This past week. I’m so strong, I just tore the Bible apart. It pumped me up, obviously. I want to come home. And I’m going to confess. I want to be a superhero to Stacy. Just call me the Hulk, sweetheart. You may not think that I’m incredibly good looking, but I don’t care. Lie to me. Tell me how you like my muscles. Build me up. Make me strong. That’s how your husband should feel when he comes home. Maybe not like the Incredible Hulk. I don’t think that you want that. Who wants green people in their house? Right? He’s got an anger issue. Well, I’ll tell you, the more time that you dedicate towards regardless of how your spouse might treat you or this current moment, the more time you dedicate towards building them up, more sensitive their heart becomes in response to you. There’s a popular teaching that we use in this church. It says without love she will react without respect and without respect. He’s going to react without love.
And it’s just a vicious cycle. And the only way that that cycle ends is that one person in that moment recognizes what God has called them to do, and they stop and they submit. Even when it’s hard, and even when someone’s given them a reason not to love them, they submit and they just serve. And the heat of a debate rather than debate back. That’s a clever word for arguing. You just love you say, you know what? I don’t care, man, I love you. Whatever you want. I just want to serve you. Obviously, this is important to you, and I just want you to be on this, I love you. Now, let me give you an extreme example, ladies, for in this way, in former times the holy women also who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, just as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord. And you have become her children if you do what is right without being frightened by any fear. How do you handle that? Go home and call your husband. Lord, no, don’t do that. I saw you do that. Okay, Lord. Don’t do it. Don’t do that. Whatever you want. That’s not good. The Bible is saying customarily, in that time, that was just the way men were addressed. We don’t do that today, so we’re not going to bring it back. Okay. Some things in the past we want to keep in the past.
Right. Some of you guys are like, no, that’s not. No. The point of the story is Peter’s given us an extreme example of of how much Sarah just wanted to love Abraham. And she understood. Yes. There are authorities in my life in which I. I respect that authority over me. But, you know, all the authorities that exist in this world, there is nothing more intimately and nothing more you’re involved with in this world than your marriage relationship. And so Peter is saying, look how extreme Sarah went for the sake of the unity of her marriage, just to serve and to love. And 90% of the time, those who read this verse really try, I think, as believers really try. And then there’s that 10%. Just couldn’t take it anymore. And we lashed out. We wanted to honor him in this position ladies. But but he just did that one thing that pushed my buttons. Without love, he’ll react. He’ll react without respect. Without respect. He’ll react without love. And someone has to end it. Someone has to see what Jesus would rather have in that marriage relationship than what currently exists. And someone must be willing to lay it down. And maybe 90% of the time you did do what was right. God still holds you accountable for the ten. And so in an attitude of submission, it’s about confessing. Looking at what Jesus has said to us, we get to a place in our lives where we say, okay, Jesus, I want you to have control.
And Jesus, I want to serve. And in recognizing that without causing a spouse to repent of the wrongdoing that they’ve done in their lives, we just go to them and we reaffirm what we want to do for them in that marriage relationship. Men and women. Honey, I did this. It was wrong. I just want to love you. Maybe it goes beyond just the marriage. Maybe we think of employers. Maybe we think of people just in our lives where it says honor all of the brothers of this world, all the Brotherhood, just honor them. And we think of people who’ve wronged us, and yet we’ve still chosen to retaliate and be angry back to them rather than to show Christ. And we go back to those moments and we say, you know what? Um, I was wrong. Regardless of what they’ve done, just tell them I was wrong. And I love you. And there’s nothing more important to me that you understand how much I care about you. And my attitude did not display it, and I’m sorry you ever had to do that in those moments. Can I just say there is nothing more beautiful to Jesus than to watch someone swallow their pride and come to another person for the sake of Christ and loving them. You know, I’ve seen a lot of times in those moments is that when one person swallows their pride and humbles themself, so goes the other.
Not always. We don’t live that kind of life so that other people won’t respond. We don’t say, you know, I’m apologizing to you, but you didn’t apologize to me. So I take my apology back and we’re moving on. It doesn’t work like that. It’s all about a concern of what Jesus desires for you. And regardless of how they respond to me in my repentance towards them, Jesus sees the beauty of that moment and he is my King. And so he says to the guys, one whole verse. Husbands, in the same way, live with your wives and in an understanding way, as with someone weaker since she is a woman, and show her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered. You can’t lead your family to Jesus guys, if you can’t talk to Jesus. And so he’s saying here, honor your wife as a weaker vessel. Can I just give you an idea of what I think this passage is talking about? Women are different than men. That’s what I think he’s talking about. And here’s how you know. I’ll give you a marriage example. Stacey likes to talk more than I do. And you can say that’s that’s pretty much every marriage thing I say, I know, that’s why I shared it, right? I can’t get in trouble for that.
That’s all. That’s everybody. So Stacey likes to share things and go through an emotional experience. As a guy, I just want the details, tell me what I need to know so I can get the job done. She wants me to understand the emotional experience through every detail to that point where I need to understand. So I got to pay attention long enough to get to the point where I need to do what I need to do. Right. Okay. That’s good. Let me explain how this works for us culturally. Men and women, because we’re wired different, require a different amount of social interaction. Guys, there’s this new show that just came on called Mountain Men. If some of you have watched it, you’re dreaming about going to live in Montana on some ranch by yourself and living on your own, off the land, real men where they are with no phone. You don’t even. You just talk to the animals. You don’t need conversation, right? That’s you and the ladies enjoy the social interaction of life. You uproot your family and move to Utah. There’s a lot of people that have done that here. Guys, let me tell you, when you make a decision like that, there is a lot more burden placed upon you than you realize. Why? Because your wife has just lost her entire social network of friends.
And now tag you’re it. I’m serious. You know, psychology says two. It takes 2 to 3 years for a family to feel like they’re a part of a community. Which means if you moved to Utah, outside of your network of social friends, your wife is really going to have to depend on you to see her emotional needs as a lady for quite a number of years, until she can begin to network and develop those friendships again. And so if you have made a move like that recently, or you’ve gotten out of that shell, what you need to do as guys is give her money and say, go out with the ladies in church. She needs that social interaction. And we recognize guys, you’re not wired that way. You can try for as long as you want, but it takes energy for a man to do that. So ladies, give your man some grace. And and guys understand that need for your wife. She needs that. And the best way for you to serve her talking about submission is listen to the details. Be there for her. There’s no better way for you to demonstrate your love than to listen to the challenges of her day and how it affected her. And don’t roll your eyes, look straight forward and think, I love you because of Jesus. I love you because. So here’s the point. We talk about giving our lives to Christ.
We’re not going to sing the last song. Just so you guys know, we’re getting way past. We talk about giving our lives to Christ. You can’t escape it without an attitude of serving. It’s a life that thinks outside of itself and asks God rather than what I want. What do you want? It’s a life that looks to Jesus and thinks about his sacrifice on the cross as our example when we look to ways to demonstrate his love to this world by also making sacrifices and loving those who were unlovable. Even causes us as people to think about our lives. When we walk out of here today, and we think about every area that God has called us to serve, which is every area of our lives. God, where can I do this better? God, how am I doing this well? Lord, where do I need to repent of failing to do this? And God, how can I bring you glory? My hope. I think Peter’s hope is that we be people that carry a burden for the sake of all in this world, knowing the significance of who you are as God has called you to demonstrate him to all people everywhere. Don’t underestimate what God has given you in this world. Don’t underestimate the opportunity to serve him for other people and the chances that you get to act in vengeance instead, just to show his grace. Let me close in a word of prayer.