Freedom to Serve

Father, we come before you as your children by grace, as resident aliens in Ottawa in 2024.

And yet, at the same time, Lord, we struggle to live lives worthy of our calling.

We find, at times, that it is much more appealing to be citizens, true citizens of Ottawa than true citizens of heaven.

And Lord, we need your help. We need your help to live the way that you have called us to live.

And Lord, thanks be to you that you know us.

You know how we are made up, and therefore you give us your Holy Spirit, and you give us direction in your word,

and you trust, so that we can trust you.

So Lord, help us to be people of faith this morning.

And even if that faith is just a mustard seed, Lord, we are reminded that that is still faith in you.

And not in our own ability, but in your ability, and what you have done, and in your character.

So Lord, we ask your blessing as we come under your word this morning.

We pray this as Christ's people. Amen.

Amen.

Freedom is an interesting concept.

It's something that we value here in the West, and rightfully so.

It's a bedrock of our society.

The very concept is seen universally as good.

But freedom is a bit difficult to define.

I mean, we can all affirm what freedom is not.

I mean, in general, I think it's easier to define things by what they're not than what they are.

But for freedom itself, freedom certainly means not being enslaved.

People ought to be free, not owned by another human.

But surely there's more to freedom than just not being owned by another individual.

In the 1980s, the slogan, Freedom 55 became a thing in Canada.

I don't know if it was in the States, but in Canada it was a big thing.

It was the retirement buzzword.

Freedom from work, as if a society was full of indentured slaves.

Work, evil, freedom, good.

But then what?

Freedom 55.

But what is freedom at 55?

Interesting, a lot of literature, and even today, there's a lot of depression that happens

once people hit the retirement age.

They're not sure what to do with themselves.

They have all this freedom.

But what's freedom?

Interestingly, there's a whole growing industry, maybe I shouldn't call it an industry, cottage

industry, of retirement coaches.

How do we retire?

How do we enjoy our freedom?

We have an idea of what freedom should be from, but not what freedom should be for.

And that difference is monumental.

It's huge.

In 1 Peter, in the previous section, Peter beautifully articulates to the Church the realities

of our salvation in Christ.

We are a chosen race, a holy priesthood.

We are a blessed people, recipients of God's mercy.

Whatever lineage we had before we were saved, whether it was great in the world's eyes or

not great, we now had a new lineage in Christ.

We are inheritors of all the promises and privileges that belong to the people of God.

We are united to Christ.

We looked at that last week.

We are truly free from the previous life of slavery to sin, slavery to shame, slavery to

futility.

But now Peter turns to what we are freed for.

What is our freedom for in Christ?

In short, we don't have a ton of time to define holiness, so I'll try to put just a couple sentences

together just to give us some grounding in it.

But we are freed for holiness.

And when I say holiness, I don't mean perfect, instantaneously glorified people, but people

that are set apart by God for God, growing to be like God.

When we come to freedom in Christ, we are bound to our calling in Christ.

And this is what holiness looks like, and this is what holiness is.

So when we are freed, we are not entitled to live any way that we please.

But Peter tells us we are to conduct our lives that are worthy of our call.

We are called to proclaim the gospel.

So we are freed only to become slaves, interestingly.

The Bible makes all sorts of, it seems like contradictions.

The call it for peace at the end of morning prayer, I think, summarizes this beautifully.

It says, service to you is perfect freedom.

Slavery to God is perfect freedom.

So we are freed only to become slaves.

But in our slavery to God and our call to holiness, we are free people.

And this is what Peter will explain to us from scripture this morning.

So our text is going to help us to understand that the only true freedom we have is found in Christ.

And it's always for Christ.

So we understand this teaching of Christian freedom as living honorably.

So I've broken this text up into four parts.

First part, living honorably.

The second is submitting willingly.

Suffering faithfully is the third.

And finally, following the example of the good shepherd, Christ himself.

So if you have a Bible, turn with me to verses 11 and 12.

I think we don't have any Bibles left, which is great.

In the back, maybe we should pick up a few more.

But follow along if you can.

And we're going to just jump right into it.

So let's look at verse 11.

Second, 1 Peter 2, starting in verse 11.

Peter is constantly reminding us in his letter that we are resident aliens.

You are sojourners.

You are citizens of heaven, even though you are citizens here on earth.

Our status is something like a permanent residence here, as we'd understand it in Canada.

I mean, not quite, but if that helps us understand that we're here in the land, but we're not really of the land.

The reminder of our status in the preceding section is critical as we enter into this section.

As Peter reminds us again in verse 11, because truly it's very difficult to swim against the flow of water, against the current.

It is very difficult to breathe in Roman air in the first century and not become Roman.

To breathe in Ottawa air in 2024 and not think and act as people from Ottawa.

And the reason is this.

Sin and evil have tarnished and made bent what God created and declared to be good.

This is what we understand as the fall or original sin.

And the pervasiveness of this sin, it has so permeated our human existence and all of the created order

that the interior of our human lives are bent and tarnished as well.

So our desires, our thoughts, our wills, they become corrupted.

But when Christ saved us, forgiving our sins, giving us the Holy Spirit, the power of sin's corruption was broken.

No longer are we now slaves to sin.

But do we transform overnight?

Tonight, I mean, some of us have come to faith as adults, others maybe as children.

Some, you don't really know when you've come to faith.

But for those of us that can remember like a day that you came to faith,

the next day you still drove the same car, you still ate the same food, you lived in the same house,

you had the same friends, you had the same hang-ups, the same quirks.

Everything about you was, in a sense, the same.

There was no instantaneous transformation.

You were the same.

Except you weren't, because your status has changed forever.

Your citizenship transferred to heaven, no longer as slaves.

And yet, you were free people.

And yet, all so easily we fall, you can remember this,

you know, you maybe have two, three weeks after you come to faith,

you are zealous, you are jacked up, my life is fantastic.

And then you find yourself going back into your previous life.

Or you've been a Christian for decades,

and you go back to habitual sin,

sin that you just can't shake time and again,

as if it was the slave owner.

And you can't, even though you're free,

and the cell door is open,

you find yourself in the cell.

That's why Peter is very honest and real with the church in Asia Minor that he's writing to.

He says you have to wage war against the flesh.

You have to.

This isn't like a situation where you get your citizenship transferred,

and things are hunky-dory.

It is a grind.

It is tough.

It is a battle.

It is a war that you have to wage against your passions,

because your passions are still bent.

They're still corrupted.

They're still tarnished.

Your propensity to sin is still there.

The difference is you have the Holy Spirit that helps you to say no.

So what Peter isn't saying here is that the Christian life is a life of pure austerity and deprivation

every minute of your life.

Food and drink are gifts from God.

Sorry, back up a bit.

He's not saying it's austerity and deprivation.

He's saying the abuse of good things,

that's the problem.

So food and drink, gifts from God.

When you abuse food and drink, it is called gluttony.

Sex within a monogamous, heterosexual, covenantal marriage is a beautiful gift from God.

When it's abused, when it's engaged in outside of that covenant marriage,

it ceases to be a beautiful thing.

It becomes tarnished.

When we have these God-given emotions that are wonderful,

but we are not in control of them anymore,

and we lash out, we're angry,

or we can give ourselves over to bouts of self-pity.

And I'm not talking about legitimate depression,

but self-pity.

Whatever it may be, emotions, if they are not controlled with self-control,

they become a problem.

You see, when Peter here is saying in verse 11 and 12,

to abstain from the passions of the flesh,

he is recognizing that when we come to faith,

it's not an instantaneous transition.

We don't transform into perfect people.

We need to, by God's help, wage war against our flesh.

St. Augustine will talk about this as disordered desires.

I think that's very helpful because

God has created everything good and everything perfect,

and because he is perfect,

God cannot create evil.

It's, say, nothing's impossible for God.

It's true, except evil.

God can't do evil.

There's, God has an inability to do evil.

So whenever we see evil in the world,

it is not God who has orchestrated it and created it

and let it loose on society.

We, through our own sinful nature,

through a real enemy in the devil

and in the spirit of the age,

it takes what is good and demends it

and bends it and tarnishes it.

And that includes our desires.

Peter is calling us to self-controlled and honorable living.

And to recognize that our desires are disordered.

But thanks be to God, by his spirit,

we do not have to be slaves to our disordered desires.

But it's not just for ourselves

that this call of living honorably is for.

If you look with me again at verse 12,

what does it say?

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable,

so that when they speak against you as evildoers,

they may see your good deeds and glorify God

on the day of visitation.

Growing up, I was told like multiple times a week,

maybe a day,

that every decision has a consequence.

Consequence, in my mind, was a bad word

because a lot of my decisions weren't great,

so they had bad consequences.

But it was hammered into my young life.

How much it sunk into 12-year-old Daniel is debatable.

But it's true.

Every decision has a consequence.

What we do has ramifications.

And what we do also is observed by others,

especially non-Christians,

for good or for ill.

Peter here is saying,

listen, your conduct needs to be honorable

because other people are watching you.

And you represent Christ.

So honor Christ in your lives for the sake of others.

Claiming Christ and living selfishly

and enslaved to our passions,

it's hypocrisy.

And we fall into it all the time.

So again, it might feel like this is heavy,

but this is beautiful truth

that helps us to live as free people.

But if we live hypocritical lives,

the people around us notice this.

The Christian ethic we are to live out

must be done authentically.

And it's wonderful that the scriptures

put such a high value on authentic living.

It matters what you do when nobody sees you do it.

Why?

I mean, because that's integral,

but also because what you do in secret

can't be contained in secret.

You can't put a mask on for very long.

What happens on the inside

will undoubtedly come to bear on the outside.

So the call is to live honorably.

For non-believers,

the Christian life can either seem

like the most beautiful way of life

or it looks hideous and self-righteous

and purely hypocritical.

I'm not saying that people

will either come to faith

or not come to faith

solely based on what we do.

But God draws people

through his church,

by his spirit.

So what we do matters.

Last year,

when I was overseas

for my father's memorial,

I was bombing around

the day before I left

with my cousin and her husband.

I have a man crush

on my cousin's husband.

He's, I don't know,

he's just a great guy.

He's huge,

like he is a brick house

and he's just a cool guy.

Anyways, we're driving around

and we're talking about faith

and a bit of a shock

that I'm a Christian,

but that's kind of worn off now.

So they asked me a lot of questions

when we talk.

And interestingly,

when we were driving around,

he said,

I like the Christian faith.

And then he went on

to talk about how

he loves home and garden shows

and how he loves

those home and garden shows

where the family is moved out

and a whole crew comes

and completely renovates their home,

paints it,

makes it beautiful.

Then they have that big wall

and they wheel it out

and the people are crying

and it's a giant gift.

And he,

in his mind,

that is Christianity.

That is a beautiful picture.

I was taken back

and I thought about it after.

I was like,

man, that is like

a wonderful picture

and it gets me a bit emotional

because I think my family

in some respects,

my faith is like,

maybe like that

when it comes to them

coming to faith.

But how wonderful it is

that good deeds,

honorable living,

testify to unbelievers

of what the grace of God looks like.

What we do matters.

Our behavior is being watched.

Much more than we know.

So the call is to live honorably

so that God is glorified

and that people come to faith.

And by the way,

if they don't come to faith,

interesting,

verse 12 here

has this little bit.

So that when they speak against you

as evildoers,

it's this slander,

false witness,

they may see your good deeds

and glorify God

on the day of visitation.

Our hope is that people

come to faith in this life.

But the day of visitation

in the Bible

is a picture of judgment.

And for those that are

God's children,

it is a glorious day

where Christ will return

and he will take

his bride with him.

But for those that don't know Christ,

it is a day of scary judgment.

No matter what side

in this life

unbelievers fall on,

either when they die

or when the Lord returns,

the scriptures say

that every knee will bow.

Everybody will take a knee to Christ,

whether it's in this life

or the next.

So God's judgment is real,

but our good behavior

may help people

to avoid God's judgment now

in this life.

So Peter continues

to expand on

our call

to live honorably

by calling the church

to submit

to the authority structures

and be law-abiding citizens

willingly.

So if you can turn with me,

starting in verse 13,

we're going to read

13 to 17.

Be subject,

for the Lord's sake,

to every human institution,

whether it be

to the emperor

as supreme

or to governors

as sent by him

to punish those

who do evil

and to praise those

who do good.

For this is the will of God,

that by doing good

you should put to silence

the ignorance

of foolish people.

Live as people

who are free,

not using your freedom

as a cover-up

for evil,

but living as servants

of God.

Honor everyone,

love the brotherhood,

fear God,

honor the emperor.

God,

in his kindness

and grace,

has instituted

authorities

to curb evil

and reward goodness.

This is a,

this verse,

these verses,

these five verses,

they're key

in political theology.

We're not going to get

into political theology

this morning,

but an ongoing question

that is asked

throughout the ages,

especially when there

is ungodly authority

and ungodly magistrate,

is how are we

to respond

as God's people?

Are we to resist

and fight

or tolerate

and live within?

I'm not going

to relitigate

government lockdowns

that we had,

not a chance.

However,

we need to consider

that Peter is telling

the early church

in Asia Minor

to use their

eternal freedom

that they have

in Christ,

which was bought

by the precious

blood of Christ,

to submit

to the Roman Empire.

in the first century,

Rome was no

right-winger's paradise

like Texas.

It wasn't

a left-winger's

dream state

like a Scandinavian

country.

It was the Roman Empire

under Nero,

where dissent was crushed,

where slavery

was the norm.

And if you were

a Christian,

waves of persecution

were state-sponsored.

Submit

to

temporal

or earthly authorities.

Indeed,

Peter does not

imply that Christians

must submit

to that authority

as above all.

Peter says,

but Peter says

that it is God's will

that they do submit

to such authority.

And we must be careful

here not to see

this passage

as some kind of

exhaustive commentary

on how to

interact with the state.

That's not the case

at all.

I think there is

a fine case to be made

in other parts of Scripture

that talk about

resistance to tyranny.

We are not

Anabaptists here.

We are not

pacifists here.

But in this text today,

it's remarkable.

It's remarkable

that Peter

is saying

to submit

to the authorities

of the land

when Nero

is that authority.

He continues

to instruct

the church

to use

their freedom

to serve

and to do good,

to evangelize

and bring glory

to God,

Father,

Son,

and Holy Spirit.

He says,

again,

this is God's will

for us

to seek the good

of the cities

we live in.

And it's important

that we remember

that,

that our call

isn't just to live here

and gripe

if we don't like something.

But I'm submitting,

I'm not pushing back,

but I don't like it,

but I'm griping a whole lot.

The call is to work

for the good

of the city,

the good of the country,

the good of the empire,

the good of wherever

you find yourself in.

It's very important

also to remember

that that good

is defined

by God himself

and not by us.

The good

that is defined

by scripture

oftentimes

can be counter

to the good

defined by

the cultural

ideas of good,

defined

by

different generations

that change,

that are fleeting.

The good

that God

commands us

to do

is eternal.

So,

this text

does not call

for the overthrow

of the government,

the empire,

but the submission

to its

heavy-handedness.

But it's important

here that we recognize

that it's no less

subversive.

For one,

it recognizes

that the ultimate

authority is not Nero,

that it is God.

It is his will

that we submit.

It does not say

that we submit

to the emperor

who is the ultimate

authority.

It says as supreme,

but that's just to say

that he is the head

over the empire.

God is supreme.

God is the commander

in chief

of everything.

So,

we recognize

that God

is the supreme leader

and not Nero.

It means also

not engaging

in,

like I mentioned,

what society

calls good.

In the first century,

pederasty was good.

The church is called

not to engage

in that.

It meant

to fight

against the practice

of child killing

by exposure.

The church

is not called

to submit

to that.

It meant

writing

against barbaric

gladiatorial events

while at the same

time being sent

to them.

It meant

considering

as equal

brothers and sisters

who are slaves

and have no standing

when they stand

beside you

singing God's praises

on the Lord's day.

We're called

to work

for the good

of the city

and to submit

to the authorities,

but that does not

mean a blind

submission.

It meant

living external lives

consistent

with our internal

lives.

In short,

these five verses

would eventually

transform

the Roman Empire

from pagan

to Christian.

I know

that there is

a lot of

controversy,

at least in the

evangelical world,

if that was a good thing,

but let me ask you

a question.

Is it better

that Rome

continue on

in pagan

idolatry

or embrace

Christianity?

I would say

it's the latter.

Friends,

it took less

than 300 years

for the church

to so influence

the entirety

of the Roman Empire

that it was

adopted

as its

state religion.

Once again,

we are

freed

not

from

service,

but for

service.

And this is not

incoherent,

but it's deeply

coherent because

Jesus himself

will see later on

in the text

that this is what

he did.

Completely free.

And what does he do?

He lays down

his life.

He serves.

He seeks

the good,

the true good.

He seeks to

lead people

to the light.

So although

the Roman Empire

eventually would

become Christian,

it wasn't without

persecution and

martyrdom.

And Peter

continues to help

us live as

holy servants

of Christ

by instructing

us how to

suffer well

and faithfully.

So if you look

with me,

verses 18 to 20.

Servants,

and really

this is slaves,

but it's not

the same as

the generic

term for

slave.

This is more

like a

household slave.

I think that

matters,

but I actually

don't think it

matters.

I'll just

continue on.

Servants,

be subject

to your

masters with

all respect,

not only to

the good and

gentle,

but also to

the unjust.

For this is

a gracious

thing.

When mindful

of God,

one endures

sorrows while

suffering unjustly.

For what

credit is it

if when you

sin you are

beaten for it

and you

endure?

What if when

you do good

and suffer for

it you

endure?

Sorry,

but if when

you do good

and suffer for

it you

endure?

This is a

gracious thing

in the sight

of God.

The slave

was the most

vulnerable

individual in

the Roman

world.

They were

not citizens,

they could

be used in

any which

way that

their master

saw fit,

they did

not stand

trial for

crimes,

they could

be killed,

they did

not enjoy

the same

dignity as

free people.

And in

the ancient

world,

slavery wasn't

a small

matter.

In fact,

it would be

unthinkable not

to have

slaves.

Some

estimates in

the Roman

world had

15 to 20

percent of

the population

as slaves.

It's a huge

amount.

different.

But this

is not,

and this

is why it

matters,

this is not

chattel,

man-stealing

slavery that

we see,

that we saw

rather in the

transatlantic

slave trade.

Slaves could

be doctors and

managers and

tutors.

They could own

slaves themselves

and purchase

their freedom.

The slavery of

the Roman

Empire was not

based on

ethnicity,

complexion,

regional

background.

So it

does matter

that it's

different than

the transatlantic

slave trade.

But why it

actually doesn't

matter in some

ways, because

you're not

your own,

you're still

owned by

somebody.

Having a

good as a

slave is

still,

it's not as

good as being

free.

Slavery still

meant being

owned by

another human.

It meant

that you were

property.

So why doesn't

Peter call for

the abolition of

slavery altogether?

Is Peter missing

a huge opportunity?

I'll briefly

touch on this.

The New Testament

actually never

calls for the

outright ban of

slavery.

It's there in

Scripture.

But what it does

do is it tills

the soil to

allow for the

planting of the

seeds that would

flourish, that

would grow, that

would be the

abolition of

slavery.

And slavery

that was

abolished was

influenced

completely by

the gospel of

Christ in the

1800s.

No other

faith or

ideology has

done that in

human history.

Slavery is

ubiquitous in

the human

experience.

It is a

thing across

different faiths

and ideologies.

So in

Islam, for

instance,

slavery is

commended.

Hinduism, the

caste system,

is enshrined.

It is almost a

type of

slavery.

It is at

the very

least a

dehumanizing

of human

beings to

something other

than image

bearers.

In communism,

we see in the

Soviet Union

tens of

millions sent

to forced

labor camps.

And here in

the West, we

have this

ability to

turn a blind

eye to

labor shops

in the

developing

world.

Slavery was

and still is

a universal

human problem.

So what

Peter is

doing here,

number one,

I think it

would be

unfair then

to say the

Bible condones

slavery.

I don't

think so.

It certainly

doesn't.

But what

Peter here is

doing is

applying the

gospel within

the existing

framework of

society, of

Greco-Roman

society.

He understands

that it's

slaves that are

coming to

faith and he

is working

and teaching

and instructing

and exhorting

those people

to live as

free people

within the

existing norms.

He is

claiming that

even Christian

slaves, the

very lowest of

low in Roman

society, are

actually the

truly free.

In fact, the

most free, for

they are in

Christ.

And Christ is

subject neither to

sin nor to

death.

He is sitting at

the right hand of

God the Father.

And if he is

there, slave, you

are there with

him.

You are free.

Peter is using

slavery here as a

paradigm to

proclaim the

incredible, deep

working power of

the cross that

provides true,

eternal, and

forever deep

freedom, even to

the Roman slave.

But this freedom

was not to be

used to throw

off their

shackles.

Instead, they

are to now be

like Christ.

Again, freedom

not from, but

freedom for.

In this case,

holy living.

And it was

inevitable as

slaves to

suffer unjust

suffering.

This bit about

being beaten,

this isn't,

again, I don't

think Peter

giving approval

to masters

beating their

slaves, but

just to describe

what happens.

Listen, if you

do bad, if your

conduct is bad,

and you suffer

the consequences

for that, that

is not suffering

unjustly.

When you do

good and suffer,

that is unjust

suffering, and

he's making this

distinction here.

So the freedom

is a freedom

not from, but

for.

They are to be

like Christ in

their holy living.

They are not to

give in to the

humiliation, but

rather proclaim

the goodness and

grace of

Christian service

to the undeserving.

is that not

what Christ has

done?

He has laid

his life down

for the

undeserving.

He has taken

upon him the

very life of a

slave, dying a

slave's death, and

extending his

grace and

kindness as a

result.

By bearing

under unjust

evil patiently,

with this

eternal celestial

dignity that is

ours in Christ,

the Spirit of

God, what does

he do?

He bears witness

to Christ in

our lives.

And that

breaks the

bonds of

slavery.

It is not

enough to just

buy your

freedom, but

what happens if

slavery itself is

seen as so

ugly and

wrong because

the gospel of

grace has

transformed not

just an

individual or a

family or a

region, but an

entire empire?

That's how you

break the bonds

of slavery.

And this is

what Peter is

commending the

slaves to do.

It proclaims

also that the

earthly authority

that claims

them as

slaves can

only claim

their flesh and

not their soul.

God and God

alone owns our

souls.

So the person

whose soul is

free in Christ

can never be

humiliated and

truly enslaved.

It is the

application of

Jesus' words in

John 8.

What does he

say?

So if the

Son sets you

free, you are

free indeed.

Many of these

spiritually free

slaves would be

martyrs.

In fact, many

Christians, slave

or not, would be

martyrs.

Their freedom

would be used in

service of Christ

even in their

death, suffering

unjustly.

The sufferings and

death would not

be to their shame

but would be to

the glory of God

and the growth of

his church.

So Tertullian

penned the famous

words regarding

martyrdom and this

is what he said.

We are not a new

philosophy.

He's talking about

Christianity in the

church.

We are not a new

philosophy but a

divine revelation.

That's why you

can't just exterminate

us.

The more you kill,

the more we are.

The blood of the

martyrs is the seed

of the church.

And so it was.

We are not slaves

here in Ottawa

but we live,

but if we live

faithful lives

under Christ

we will indeed

suffer unjustly.

Will you endure it?

Will you try to

vindicate yourselves?

Will you try to

maintain your own

dignity even though

the dignity of

Christ himself

rests upon you?

that you are in

Jesus?

Will you rely on

his strength to

endure or your

own?

Will you seek

vengeance and

revenge?

Or will you

entrust that to

the Lord who

sees and is

just?

Will you suffer

unjustly so that

God will be

glorified and

maybe, just

maybe, your

workplaces and

your homes and

your families and

your children

your friends.

They might see

your good works

and praise your

heavenly Father.

Maybe even come

to faith.

But this is an

impossible task

without the

empowerment and

example of Christ.

So it's very

important that we

don't end at

verse 20 but

continue on in

verse 21.

Look at verse

21 to 25.

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.

He committed no

sin, neither was

deceit found in

his mouth.

When he was

reviled, he did

not revile in

return.

When he suffered,

he did not

threaten, but

continued entrusting

himself to him

who judges

justly.

He himself bore

our sins in his

body on the tree

that we might die

to sin and live

to righteousness.

By his wounds you

have been healed

for you were

straying like

sheep, but have

now returned to

the shepherd and

overseer of your

soul.

We can't, I

guess here's a

question, why do

we have to

suffer?

Why can't we

just enjoy the

glories of

Christ?

I mean he's

suffered, why do

we have to

suffer?

He's suffered on

our behalf, so

we should enjoy

the fruits of

Christ's suffering.

suffering.

But to desire only

to share in the

glory of Christ

and not identify

with him in his

death, in his

suffering, is to

not be authentic

to our faith.

For we grip our

lives too tightly.

We forget that our

freedom means slavery

to Christ.

So the Apostle Paul,

he's speaking to the

Corinthian church on

the importance of

walking as Christ's

servants in purity

of heart and he

says this, this is

1 Corinthians 6

19.

Or do you not

know that your

body is a temple

of the Holy Spirit

within you, whom

you have from God?

Here it is.

You are not your

own, you were

bought with a

price.

So glorify God in

your body.

The call to

genuine, authentic

Christianity is to

suffer for Jesus.

It's to lay down

our lives, our own

prerogatives for his

glory, for his

renown.

And that's something

we need help with.

We need his spirit

empowering us to

live this way, but

also the example of

his life.

Here it talks about

he is our example

that the, it's a

picture of, it's

like there's Christ's

life and then there's

our life on top of

it and we stencil

our lives based on

Christ's example, on

what Christ's life

looks like.

It is a hard call,

but friends, it is

the only call.

We are called to

follow Christ, the

suffering servant who

gave his life as a

ransom for many.

So it's interesting

here that out of all

of the New Testament,

Peter is looking at

the suffering servant

of Isaiah 53 and

applying it to our

lives and explaining

it to us so that we

can mimic Christ more

than any other place

in the New Testament.

And Isaiah 53 is a

huge, huge theme

throughout the New

Testament.

It's a fulfillment of

prophecy.

It speaks to who

Christ is.

Jesus, and here Peter

is using it to help

us understand how

Christ suffered so

that we can then

imitate him.

You see, Peter, he

tried one time to

enjoy the glories of

Christ without the

suffering of Christ.

If you remember at

Caesarea Philippi, he

says, you are the

Christ, the son of the

living God.

He affirms who Jesus

is and then Jesus says,

I'm going to die for the

sins of the world.

And Peter says, no,

you're not.

He rebukes him.

He wanted the glory, but

he didn't want the

suffering.

And now we see a

different Peter, do we

not?

A Peter that is

embracing the true,

whole fulfillment of

what it means to live

as Christ's children.

He is saying that this

is freedom.

Friends, this is our

good shepherd.

This is the one who

gathers the wayward and

the lost.

It's the one who

left his glories and

majesties and divine

prerogatives to take

upon human flesh so

that we could, or so

that he could be beaten,

die and rise again.

Not so that we can live,

but first so that we can

die and then live unto

righteousness for him.

Friends, he did not seek

his own dignity.

He suffered humiliation,

but he was dignified above

all, rising from the grave,

defeating sin and death.

This is Christ Jesus,

our Lord, the good shepherd.

And when it says he is the

overseer of our souls,

that means he's going to

protect us and provide for

us and preserve us.

In light of what he has

done, who he is, and how

he continues to bless and

pour out his grace upon

his church, friends, let us

lean into our calling as

free people to be slaves to

Christ.

Let's pray.

Father in heaven, we thank

you for the beautiful example

of your blessed son who,

even though he was

completely free, took upon

himself the life of a slave

so that by dying the life of a

slave and rising again to new

life, us slaves to sin could

enjoy freedom in Christ.

Lord, help us to live lives

honorably in light of that.

We thank you so much that you

are always working and

growing and providing for your

church.

And Lord, we look to you afresh

this morning for that help,

because we need it to live the

lives that you've called us to

live.

We pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.