1 Peter 3:8-12 Submission as Saints
Good morning! We are back in 1 Peter this morning, so you can turn to chapter 3, verses 8-12, page 1015 in the pew Bibles.
When you think of the Apostle Peter, what are some words that come to your mind? Disciple, fisherman, impetuous, impulsive… How about: expositor? Bible teacher?
Here in these verses this morning that is exactly what Peter is doing, he is expositing the text of Psalm 34:12-16. In his exposition of the text he shows us five key words that are to characterize the Lord’s church family, five essentials for Christian living.
Let’s read it together.
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. 9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. 10 For “Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Let’s pray
Psalm 34 is a Psalm of David, a wonderful hymn that acted as a sort of discipleship manual in the early church. Don’t forget that Psalms are songs and the words and tune would have been familiar to Peter’s original audience of Jewish believers scattered throughout Asia Minor.
“Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; 11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. 12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
So Peter, as an expositor, as a good Bible teacher, avoids the trap of a three point sermon and goes for five points instead. So let’s look at Peter’s five points.
First in verse 8: 8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind,
He has been speaking to specific people in specific roles and their responsibilities of submission, but now he widens his focus on the whole church and their responsibilities of submission to one another.
Unity of mind is not possible without submission to one another out of reverence for Christ. Unity of mind can also be translated, “harmonious, or, in harmony.” This harmonious, unity of mind, is the description of everyone pursuing one end, the same goal.
As a musician, I can appreciate the idea of being harmonious. Harmonies in music are powerful and beautiful. Singing in unison can be powerful, but there’s nothing like good harmony.
Life in the church family is just like that, we may not all sing the same part, or play the same instrument, but we should all be playing the same song with the Holy Spirit as the conductor and God’s Word as our sheet music.
Jesus prayed for exactly this for the church in John 17:10-11,
10 All mine are yours, and yours are mine, and I am glorified in them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
How unified should our minds be? That unified. One.
“Making and maturing disciples of Jesus Christ together as a family,” that’s our unifying thought that we can all pursue together in harmony.
The next word Peter uses is, “sympathy.”
As one body with many members, being united in mind, when one part suffers we all suffer. When we stub our toe, our brains feel it, our eyes may tear up, our mouths may fire something off. That’s how a body works.
Romans 12:15 says, rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
This is not just simply feeling bad when someone else is struggling, this following Jesus’ command to love your neighbor as you love yourself. In the church family, everyone cares not only for themselves but looks out for the benefit of the others. In the church family we are to bear one another’s burdens.
Sometimes the loudest sermon is just a hug, whether it’s for comfort, encouragement, or celebration.
This is a strong reminder that we are not in this alone, we are designed to do life together.
Peter’s next word is, “brotherly love.”
JP Lange wrote that brotherly love is: “A radical sweetness in the temper of the mind that spreads itself into a man’s words and actions, and this is not merely natural but spiritual.”
If you consider Peter’s source text from Psalm 34, where it says, “Let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit…”
What does that have to do with brotherly love? Brotherly love does not use its tongue to harm or deceive its brothers and sisters. It does not slander or gossip or insult or curse at or scold, it does not lie or swindle or gloss over the truth.
Brotherly love turns away from evil and does good, it seeks peace and pursues it. It chases after peace when it won’t be granted to it, it follows after it when peace seems to flee, it strives towards peace with intense effort.
Brotherly love is not content with discord, it does not simply shrug its shoulders at conflict but does the hard work of seeking to resolve it.
Matthew 18 gives us great instruction on conflict resolution and pursuing peace.
15 “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.
Peter’s next word is, “a tender heart.”
A tender heart is a heart that is merciful, affectionate, and compassionate. A tender heart doesn’t just say, “I love you,” but proves it with action. A tender heart helps its family in their miseries and bears with their infirmities. This is the beautiful combination of feelings and action, it is a “hearty compassion.”
Paul used this same word in Ephesians 4:32, Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
That’s exactly what tenderheartedness requires, kindness, compassion, and if necessary, forgiveness.
Peter’s fourth word is, “a humble mind.”
None of these thoughts are possible without this one. In truth, all of these thoughts are dependent upon each other and build upon each other, but a humble mind makes them all possible.
A humble mind is a stronger word than just humility. The idea is that of a conscious effort to pursue an attitude of humility. Being humbled can come from the outside, playing the game of baseball is a great way to do this. The game will humble you in an instant.
But pursuing an attitude of humility is different, it removes the necessity of humbling because you’re already there.
Again, Paul echoes this pursuit of humility in Philippians 4:3-4,
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
John Calvin wrote, “Nothing produces more discord than when we think too highly of ourselves.”
CS Lewis said, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.”
Putting the needs of others before ourselves, treating others the way we would like to be treated, any of this sounding familiar?
Peter’s final word is, “blessing.”
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
I think the words, “evil,” and “reviling,” bear close examination.
In this context, “evil,” means to do harm, not just random wickedness, but consciously harming another.
Reviling is not that much different, where “evil,” could be considered physical harm, reviling is insult and slander, harming someone’s feelings or reputation.
In either case, Peter reminds us that we are not to seek revenge, Paul does too in Romans 12:19, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
Peter had addressed Jesus’ example in this way back in chapter 2 of 1 Peter,
21 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. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 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.
But instead of just leaving us with a negative: don’t do this, Peter gives us a positive, what we are to do instead: bless.
9 Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
Evils are to be overcome with acts of kindness, specifically, in this instance, with prayers for blessing.
Jesus said in Luke 6:27-36,
27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you, and from one who takes away your goods do not demand them back. 31 And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
32 “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. 33 And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. 34 And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. 35 But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. 36 Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.
When we are attacked we are to bless, to literally pray for God’s favor on those who did us harm. This is how to truly pursue peace.
John Chysostom, a fourth Century church father said, “Fire is not extinguished with fire, but with water; likewise wrong and hatred, not with retaliation, but with gentleness, humility and kindness.”
Peter’s word here is, if we submissively bear injuries, and answer with blessing, the Lord will bestow on us blessing, we will reap what we sow.
Now that leaves me with a question, what’s to be our motivation here, should we sow blessing in hopes of reaping blessing? Should we seek out being harmed or slandered so that we can pray for God’s favor on those who would injure us so that we can get blessed by God? Am I overthinking this?
Even if I am, we should not sow blessing in order to reap God’s blessing but because, as God’s children, we are sowers by nature! So sow!
Unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, a humble mind, praying for blessing in the face of evil and reviling… Sounds a lot like Jesus.
“Whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit; let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”
Amen.
