Reading:
1 Peter 2:19-25
Devotional:
What do we do now that we’re living from resurrection instead of for resurrection? How do we move through our world that is redeemed, but still has the remnants of the former way clinging to it? How do we respond when leadership coerces or forces us or when our cultures still disenfranchise or discredit our neighbors or communities? It’s questions like these that our early Christians in Asia Minor are facing.
As you remember, Peter has been encouraging these Christians in their inheritance as children, grounded in the assurance of Christ. Now in chapter 2, Peter begins to explain what to expect as they try to live their lives learning what is pleasing to the Father.
Asia Minor at this point is a collection of prosperous provinces and city-states, governed by Rome and local leaders and filled with Greek and Latin cultural influences. And if we go back a few verses to verse 13, we can infer that the Christians are navigating life, free or enslaved, under these authorities and leaders and the cultural norms they reinforce.
So Peter summarizes the attitudes and behaviors to have simply: Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor. This sounds natural and obvious to us, but hear it in the context of the Kingdom as opposed to the Roman empire: honor all people, love the brotherhood (brothers and sisters of the faith–the very status offered to everyone through Christ), respect God, then honor the emperor. Rome at the least would have listed “honor the emperor” first, and it seems doubtful the other three would have made the list. But in the Kingdom, we’re honoring all first, we are demonstrating our faith in our fervent love for fellow believers, we are respectful of God whom we address as Father, and we are still honoring the emperor.
That alone would have felt like a mental shift. There’s not a class system or a government pecking order dictating who we esteem. It’s an approach that is not competitive with one another or fearful of capricious gods. It must have seemed odd to those around them: why would they talk to that person? Or why would they decline to participate in something everyone else does? Today, why would we show compassion and offer our time to the weird neighbor or coworker? Why wouldn’t we fight for status and position in our offices and among our peers?
But then Peter takes it a step further and says to take this attitude when those above you don’t deserve it and mistreat you because it finds favor (or is commendable) with God. For us, it’s the exact opposite of everything social media would tell us about creating boundaries and cutting off toxic people and demanding reciprocity in our relationships. No, Peter is saying that we’re not meant to abandon people who mistreat us or to initiate harsh interventions and confrontations, but instead to respect the good, gentle and unreasonable alike. Speak well of the people who gossip about us or take credit for our work. Cover the multitude of sins with love. After all, if we were never going to experience irritation or meanness or difficulties, we would not need to note that love is patient and kind, enduring all things.
So now it’s more than mental, it’s got a tangible, practical discomfort. Peter says we are to endure the unjust suffering and respond with the same honor and love, and that doing so is commendable to God.
And then he makes the curious statement in verse 21: “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.” Peter is not only saying change your mindset and endure the suffering, but also that we’re called to suffering. Expect it. Plan on it. It’s part of the path laid before us.
But wait—what about life being more abundant? Suffering doesn’t feel like abundant life. It feels like powerlessness, and it’s painful and exhausting. We can resolve to endure suffering when it happens, but are we prepared to expect it?
And yet this is the example Christ gives us. He doesn’t return hatred for hatred, doesn’t threaten, doesn’t revile. He shows us the pattern of selflessness and trust in the Father that we might “live to righteousness” and “be healed.” Just like in chapter 1, we are being reminded that we suffer trials for a little while, but that it yields something else in us because we are seeing beyond the present moment. When Jesus led the way through suffering, when He lived rightly but received injustice, the enduring outcome was righteousness and healing. It doesn’t mean that the spear hurt any less, that the whip didn’t cut as deeply. But for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.
We have the same opportunity then when we follow His leadership: life characterized by righteousness and healing, free from sin. It makes sense that following Him is going to be met with resistance. Jesus is the Way that surrenders power, that refuses manipulation, that prefers servant-like actions, that relinquishes significance. When the surrounding culture has experienced prosperity and success, why would they want to give up those ways? Or when they see someone living the way that Christ models, perhaps they see an easy target to grab more power or to extend their significance. And so perhaps instead of seeing the two (suffering and abundant life) as opposed, we could reframe the unjust suffering as one assurance of following Him, a signature of the abundant life unfolding.
And be confident that we really can say abundant life is unfolding. Following Christ’s example isn’t a prolonged agreement for pain. He comes out of the grave. The new creation is set in motion. We know that this won’t last, and Peter reaffirms it. He says living rightly—inclusive of honoring all, loving the brotherhood, respecting God, honoring the emperor—pays off because it dispels ignorance and overcomes what we can’t see.
The author of Romans puts it this way: “We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that suffering brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
The love of God being poured out is powerful. How often have we experienced the joy that comes from love being shown to us again and again and being changed? We see the care and honor someone takes with us, and it softens us. We spend time together, sharing meals or working in the same space, and we find ourselves with a new perspective. Honoring all people, loving one another, respecting God, honoring our leaders—it doesn’t disappoint, even when the effort or pain is great.
But even further is the hope that Peter concludes the passage with. Before, we were wandering and straying, before we were entangled with old ways and old structures, before we had so many voices over us making demands about right living. But now, now, we are returned to our Shepherd and Guardian. We hear his gentle voice, free of manipulation or violence, leading us where He has already been, just like a Shepherd would. And we are cared for. The word Guardian carries both the authority of leadership and the love of a caretaker. He lovingly leads and cares for us, having fully experienced struggles and suffering, and having a full vision of all that is being revealed in creation.
So, we are encouraged that whatever the circumstances, He is leading us from resurrection. As we face trials, as we try to do what is pleasing to the Father, as we practice honoring and loving each other, we are never outside of the care of our Shepherd.
A Prayer for Each Moment
God Our Shepherd,
You gently lead us to rest and safety without any trace of force or manipulation. Help us to hear Your voice calling us by name, that we may trust You will lead us to abundant life through Jesus Christ our Lord. To Him, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever.
Amen
A Prayer for Each Other
Our Father,
Guide us as we care for each other, following your example to take on suffering, to seek the lost to bring back the scattered, to mend the broken and strengthen the sick. Let us entrust ourselves to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.
Amen
Blessing
May we keep our eyes ahead, fixed on our caring Savior, as He leads us through our struggles and into the rich presence of the Father.
Photo by Andrey Grinkevich on Unsplash
1 Peter 2:19-25
Devotional:
What do we do now that we’re living from resurrection instead of for resurrection? How do we move through our world that is redeemed, but still has the remnants of the former way clinging to it? How do we respond when leadership coerces or forces us or when our cultures still disenfranchise or discredit our neighbors or communities? It’s questions like these that our early Christians in Asia Minor are facing.
As you remember, Peter has been encouraging these Christians in their inheritance as children, grounded in the assurance of Christ. Now in chapter 2, Peter begins to explain what to expect as they try to live their lives learning what is pleasing to the Father.
Asia Minor at this point is a collection of prosperous provinces and city-states, governed by Rome and local leaders and filled with Greek and Latin cultural influences. And if we go back a few verses to verse 13, we can infer that the Christians are navigating life, free or enslaved, under these authorities and leaders and the cultural norms they reinforce.
So Peter summarizes the attitudes and behaviors to have simply: Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the emperor. This sounds natural and obvious to us, but hear it in the context of the Kingdom as opposed to the Roman empire: honor all people, love the brotherhood (brothers and sisters of the faith–the very status offered to everyone through Christ), respect God, then honor the emperor. Rome at the least would have listed “honor the emperor” first, and it seems doubtful the other three would have made the list. But in the Kingdom, we’re honoring all first, we are demonstrating our faith in our fervent love for fellow believers, we are respectful of God whom we address as Father, and we are still honoring the emperor.
That alone would have felt like a mental shift. There’s not a class system or a government pecking order dictating who we esteem. It’s an approach that is not competitive with one another or fearful of capricious gods. It must have seemed odd to those around them: why would they talk to that person? Or why would they decline to participate in something everyone else does? Today, why would we show compassion and offer our time to the weird neighbor or coworker? Why wouldn’t we fight for status and position in our offices and among our peers?
But then Peter takes it a step further and says to take this attitude when those above you don’t deserve it and mistreat you because it finds favor (or is commendable) with God. For us, it’s the exact opposite of everything social media would tell us about creating boundaries and cutting off toxic people and demanding reciprocity in our relationships. No, Peter is saying that we’re not meant to abandon people who mistreat us or to initiate harsh interventions and confrontations, but instead to respect the good, gentle and unreasonable alike. Speak well of the people who gossip about us or take credit for our work. Cover the multitude of sins with love. After all, if we were never going to experience irritation or meanness or difficulties, we would not need to note that love is patient and kind, enduring all things.
So now it’s more than mental, it’s got a tangible, practical discomfort. Peter says we are to endure the unjust suffering and respond with the same honor and love, and that doing so is commendable to God.
And then he makes the curious statement in verse 21: “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.” Peter is not only saying change your mindset and endure the suffering, but also that we’re called to suffering. Expect it. Plan on it. It’s part of the path laid before us.
But wait—what about life being more abundant? Suffering doesn’t feel like abundant life. It feels like powerlessness, and it’s painful and exhausting. We can resolve to endure suffering when it happens, but are we prepared to expect it?
And yet this is the example Christ gives us. He doesn’t return hatred for hatred, doesn’t threaten, doesn’t revile. He shows us the pattern of selflessness and trust in the Father that we might “live to righteousness” and “be healed.” Just like in chapter 1, we are being reminded that we suffer trials for a little while, but that it yields something else in us because we are seeing beyond the present moment. When Jesus led the way through suffering, when He lived rightly but received injustice, the enduring outcome was righteousness and healing. It doesn’t mean that the spear hurt any less, that the whip didn’t cut as deeply. But for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross.
We have the same opportunity then when we follow His leadership: life characterized by righteousness and healing, free from sin. It makes sense that following Him is going to be met with resistance. Jesus is the Way that surrenders power, that refuses manipulation, that prefers servant-like actions, that relinquishes significance. When the surrounding culture has experienced prosperity and success, why would they want to give up those ways? Or when they see someone living the way that Christ models, perhaps they see an easy target to grab more power or to extend their significance. And so perhaps instead of seeing the two (suffering and abundant life) as opposed, we could reframe the unjust suffering as one assurance of following Him, a signature of the abundant life unfolding.
And be confident that we really can say abundant life is unfolding. Following Christ’s example isn’t a prolonged agreement for pain. He comes out of the grave. The new creation is set in motion. We know that this won’t last, and Peter reaffirms it. He says living rightly—inclusive of honoring all, loving the brotherhood, respecting God, honoring the emperor—pays off because it dispels ignorance and overcomes what we can’t see.
The author of Romans puts it this way: “We also exult in our tribulations, knowing that suffering brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
The love of God being poured out is powerful. How often have we experienced the joy that comes from love being shown to us again and again and being changed? We see the care and honor someone takes with us, and it softens us. We spend time together, sharing meals or working in the same space, and we find ourselves with a new perspective. Honoring all people, loving one another, respecting God, honoring our leaders—it doesn’t disappoint, even when the effort or pain is great.
But even further is the hope that Peter concludes the passage with. Before, we were wandering and straying, before we were entangled with old ways and old structures, before we had so many voices over us making demands about right living. But now, now, we are returned to our Shepherd and Guardian. We hear his gentle voice, free of manipulation or violence, leading us where He has already been, just like a Shepherd would. And we are cared for. The word Guardian carries both the authority of leadership and the love of a caretaker. He lovingly leads and cares for us, having fully experienced struggles and suffering, and having a full vision of all that is being revealed in creation.
So, we are encouraged that whatever the circumstances, He is leading us from resurrection. As we face trials, as we try to do what is pleasing to the Father, as we practice honoring and loving each other, we are never outside of the care of our Shepherd.
A Prayer for Each Moment
God Our Shepherd,
You gently lead us to rest and safety without any trace of force or manipulation. Help us to hear Your voice calling us by name, that we may trust You will lead us to abundant life through Jesus Christ our Lord. To Him, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and forever.
Amen
A Prayer for Each Other
Our Father,
Guide us as we care for each other, following your example to take on suffering, to seek the lost to bring back the scattered, to mend the broken and strengthen the sick. Let us entrust ourselves to the Shepherd and Guardian of our souls.
Amen
Blessing
May we keep our eyes ahead, fixed on our caring Savior, as He leads us through our struggles and into the rich presence of the Father.
Photo by Andrey Grinkevich on Unsplash
Posted in Weekly Resources