Have you a Confident smile? – pic
I don’t know if you’ve managed to see a dentist over lockdown as you can see I am still waiting to see one. Whenever you go to the dentist they encourage you of course to clean your teeth, which you should.
I don’t know if you’ve ever considered this but if you do the maths brushing your teeth for two minutes twice a day is roughly 2 hours a month which means 24 hours every year. Fancy spending a whole day cleaning your teeth? When you look at it in little bits it doesn’t seem much but add it up and you realise just what an investment of time you have been asked to make. Cleaning your teeth of course is a good investment of time isn’t it Mr Dix and Mr Davies.
My guess is that there are a myriad of things that we spend part of our days on that if we were to add them up would be quite startling and frightening to think that we have wasted so much of our life doing things that don’t really matter. This is how we feel the force of what Peter is saying in verse 3 of chapter 4 not in our reading for today but helps us to set the context.
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.
The more we gain an understanding of what God wants for our lives the more we realise how much of our lives we have wasted. How much we need to make the most of every moment ….
Being Confident in Community means making the most of every moment 4:7-11
Let me be clear, leisure time is important, down time is important, ‘goofing off’
Rest is important
What I am talking about is allowing stuff of no real consequence take up an inordinate amount of time in our lives.
There is another almost opposite problem of not being able to survive unless we are always busy and that is not right either
v7 – The end is nigh – look busy
This the point however, we are always to live in the light of the immanency of the end.
Time is short so make the most of it.
v8-11 gives us an indication of how to spend out time
Be Alert
Pray
Love each other
Offer hospitality
Don’t grumble
Use your gifts
Serve each other
Be faithful stewards
Speak the words of God
Rely on His strength
Praise God through following Jesus
Give him glory
there’s your homework, report back next week!!!!
In these verses we have some words that many people quote without even realising that from the Bible love covers a multitude of sins. Peter is actually quoting from Proverbs 10:12 he doesn’t mean, and Proverbs doesn’t mean, that love is what we call a cover-up operation hiding things we rather not face. Rather, this gift of love that we are invited to offer one another, minute by minute, day by day throughout our lives actually transform situations, so that the multitude of sins which were there before are taken out of the equation. They are forgiven! We can be reconciled!
Instead of doing so many things, not to mention squabbling and fighting, we can now live and work together! All sorts of things will no doubt go wrong in human relationships. That is how things are. But there is no need to despair. Abandon the old pagan ways, and learn the new habit of love. That will be the answer.
Not that we’ve Got to, rather we Get to!!!!
but that means we get to share in His sufferings to!
Being Confident in Community means sharing in Jesus’ suffering 4:12-19
Perhaps this is the overwhelming point of the letter
Confidence in a complex world
Confidence when appearances indicate that God is not on the throne, things are going horribly wrong, increasing persecution for them, increasing marginalisation for us.
They are suffering for their faith. Peter assures them that Jesus has already tuned things around even if they do not see it till judgement day. He is and will turn all things to blessing.
Bad things do turn for good but we will not always see it, either because we fail to see the whole picture or because it is hidden or because it won’t be fully dealt with until He comes again to bring in the new heaven and the new earth.
And so somehow we need to grasp this, somehow we need to find a way to celebrate suffering for the name of Christ, somehow we need to receive the comfort and strength that Jesus offers us. And therefore to keep going.
Many of you have Kept Going!!!!!
Peter addresses the Elders in the church ….
Being Confident in Community means humbling ourselves as Shepherds and Sheep 5:1-7
Elders – Is this to do with ‘office’ of the church or to do with age. If the latter then we have a lot of Elders serving in this church!!!!
And therefore I have a lot of people to submit to as I am the youngest one here!!!!
- Seniors in office or age
- certainly in wisdom
There can be no doubt, there is something about leadership here. Not the sort of leadership that is an overlord but the sort of leadership that leads into a closer relationship with God and therefore an all-round healthier life.
There is no doubt in my mind that leadership is a gift to the Christian community but there needs to be a mutuality and deep and humble respect moving between both. Leaders to those they lead and those being led to their leaders.
Peter uses the term shepherd which was a popular choice of image for a leader that probably went back at least as far as David, the shepherd-king but of course was taken up by Jesus, referring to himself as the Good Shepherd, which means of course there must be bad shepherds.
We are called to be a humble Shepherds. It is a call to the true strength in which one doesn’t have to shout or bully, because of the work of humble service has forged such a strong bond between Shepherd and sheep that the Shepherd only needs to walk towards the pasture and the sheep will follow.
Of course, it frequently doesn’t seem as easy as that. A Shepherd’s task remains challenging. Perhaps that is why Peter finishes this exhortation with a remarkable invitation to throw all your cares on God himself. The verb is a strong one: pick up everything that is bothering you, everything that is weighing you down, and fling them on God’s back. He will carry them he will be delighted to do so, He loves you after all.
The call is both to lead and to follow as we are called to do both by the Great Shepherd of the sheep.
As shepherds and sheep, as leaders and followers we are called finally to stand firm in this complex world ….
Being Confident in Community means standing Firm by God’s Power 5:8-11
We remember the essential context of this letter is that it is written to a church facing extreme and worsening persecution. Peter is not overdramatising when he uses the picture of a devouring lion quite literally – the word that he uses means to ‘gobble you up’. It’s a terrifying image and one which alerts us at once to the serious nature of the Christian life. Too many Christians soft-pedal the idea of actual spiritual warfare, or have a real confrontation with a real devil. CS Lewis said when writing about his famous book the Screwtape letters consisting of letters from senior devil to a junior one on how to tempt people, “some people dismiss the idea of a devil by thinking of a ridiculous little person with horns and hooves wearing red tights.” They can’t believe in a creature like that so they decide they can’t believe in the devil. Others become so fascinated with the devil that they can think of little else and suppose that every problem in life or difficulty in someone else’s personality is due to direct devilish intervention.
Lewis shows us how to steer a wise path between the two extremes. We mustn’t ignore this tempter neither must we overdramatise him.
There is a problem if we do not recognising the existence and power of the devil. We will have difficulties if we do not learn how he works.
This is why Peter writes clearly to these early Christians who were being persecution and were suffering greatly. The Devil was at work.
For us in terms of temptation and every problem that we face we need to learn to recognise where and how the devil is at work.
The way that this argument works out is that we are now far more advanced, we’ve grown up we don’t believe such Fables and we know how things work and we know how to run things.
We have democracy, elected leaders and laws and regulations for doing things therefore we don’t need God and if we can get rid of God then of course we get rid of the devil too. Then of course we take the role of God and people like us and our party and our country and our way of doing things whereas our enemies, those who offend us, those who are not like us, well, they play the part of the devil and therefore can be treated with enmity.
No wonder we find it hard to do what this letter tells us to do because it is completely inconsistent with our way of life. Remember again this letter is written to those people facing extreme persecution unfair, unwarranted, verbal physical social legal opposition.
The way to respond to these attacks says Peter is with a firm but gentle faith, treating non-Christians with respect, living within the law, behaving with humility and patient in all circumstances.
The point is this. The actual human opponents, even your fiercest persecutors, are not in fact the real enemy. There is a real enemy, and the devil will be using them. But if you resist him, staying resolute in faith and remembering that you are holding your bit of the line while your Christian brothers and sisters across the world are holding theirs, you will find that courteous and civil behaviour, done with respect and gentleness, will again and again win respect from people, even if they still don’t understand what makes you tick.
Make no mistake the devil is out to get you but ‘he that is in you is greater than he who is in the world’. This is not a clever saying or a mere cliche but reality, reality that is more real than the way that most of us live our lives.
References to lions and devils set within a life situation that is so different from ours risks our ignoring of all this.
Right at the end of this letter we have the indications of the real and actual circumstances of the writing we have names people that we’ve heard of elsewhere in scripture Sylvanus who could be the same Silas one of Paul’s companions John Mark almost certainly John mark we will meet in Acts.
Make no mistake this is real were used for real people in a real-life situation a tough hard situation and Peter says
Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does. MSG
that’s the way Eugene Peterson translates Peter’s words and as always, brilliantly
except, well except he misses one vitally important word
Grace
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. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
Grace – I am planning series on Grace in the new year but for now
“Grace is free, sovereign favour to the ill-deserving.”
“Grace is love that cares and stoops and rescues.”
“Grace is God reaching downward to people who are in rebellion against him.”
“Grace is unconditional love toward a person who does not deserve it.”
“Grace is the unmerited favour of God to sinful people.”
HIS GRACE GIVES US CONFIDENCE IN A COMPLEX WORLD AND ENABLES US TO BE HIS COMMUNITY OF GRACE
Group Notes
First Thoughts
Confident in Community 1 Peter 4:7 – 5:14
Being a professional boxer, there’s a tough job. For three whole minutes, it’s just you and your opponent, and nobody can help you. And, unless one of you gets KO’d or the fight gets stopped, you have to do those three minutes up to twelve times. Sticking to the game plan is one of the hardest things. As Mike Tyson famously said: ‘Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ The good news for boxers is that in between each three-minute round, they can return to their corner. Here, their team can refresh them and patch up their cuts. They give them feedback on the round that just went, advice for the round ahead and, perhaps most importantly, encouragement. As Christians step out into the world each week, they expend energy, they are focused on fighting the good fight, and they may take a few hits too. Then the bell rings, the church community gathers together to be refreshed, patched up, reminded of the game plan, and encouraged to keep going.
Read – 1 Peter 4:7–11 and 5:1–11 Focus on the Theme
1. Think of a skill that you have, e.g. playing an instrument, a sport, cooking, etc. Who helped you develop this ability, and how? Think of those who helped you directly (e.g. a coach or teacher) and indirectly (e.g. a book author or YouTube creator).
What Does the Bible Say?
2. Skim the section between the passages here, 1 Peter 4:12–19, in your Bible. What challenges were these Christians facing?
3. In light of these, what actions and values does Peter call Christians to embrace in 4:8–11? In what sense could the Christian community act as a ‘boxer’s corner’?
4. As you look at 4:7–11 and 5:1–5, how is God involved in the way Christians relate to one another?
5. In what way do 5:6–11 add to the picture of Christian community that Peter has painted?
Going Deeper
6. The society these Christians were living in had a strict hierarchy. The ‘important’ people expected to be served and honoured by those ‘below’ them in the social pecking order. In what ways was this hierarchy broken down within the church?
7. Thinking about the letter as a whole, how does Peter draw on the big story the Bible tells to encourage these Christians to stand firm in their faith in a complex world?
Living it Out
8. How does being a community of disciples help you be confident in your Monday to Saturday life?
Has this study suggested ways you could grow in this?
9. Take a look at some of the challenges and opportunities you noted at the beginning of this study series. In what ways have you seen God at work?
10. What’s the ‘one thing’ that you want to take away from this study on 1 Peter?
The author’s main message
‘With the help of Silas, 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.’
Often ancient letters were dictated by the author to a scribe (or amanuensis). To confirm it really was a letter from them, authors sometimes wrote a personal note at the end with their own hand. This personal note often revealed what was really on the author’s mind. In signing off his letter, Peter states his primary purpose in writing: ‘encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it’ (5:12). Despite what they were going through, Peter did not expect his audience to limp to the finish line, but to stand strong, to be confident in the gospel.
Prayer Time
Give thanks to God for whatever ways he has encouraged, taught, or challenged you through the study.
Pray for the ‘one thing’ for one another.
Close by praying these words together:
We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, not because of anything we have done, but because of God’s grace to us in Christ Jesus.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, let us live our whole lives in a way that points others to Jesus, for the glory of God.
Amen.
Epilogue
At the end of this study of 1 Peter, try to find a time when you can review the whole study prayerfully before God.
What was the most significant insight for you from the book?
What did you learn about reading biblical letters?
Looking back on what was happening on your frontline when you started, how have you seen God at work?
Theme and Questions from LICC booklet
– 1 Peter ‘Confidence in a Complex World’ by Joe Warton