Pilgrim Living: Emotionally
Healthy Discipleship
I Peter 3:8,9
Introduction: In a Peanuts cartoon, Lucy demands that Linus change
TV channels and then threatens him with her fist if he doesn’t. Linus
asks,
"What
makes you think you can walk right in here and take over?"
"These
five fingers," says Lucy. "Individually they are nothing, but when I
curl them together like this into a single unit, they form a weapon that is
terrible to behold."
"What channel do you want?"
asks Linus. Then, turning away, he looks at his fingers and says,
"Why can’t you guys get organized like that?"
There is
power in coming together! Have you enjoyed watching the Olympics this year? The
individual events are great to watch, amazing abilities and accomplishments,
but there is something special about the team events and the relays. A couple of
nights ago the Japanese men, none of them a medal contender in the individual
events, took a silver medal in the 4x100 relay. They practiced precision in the
baton exchange for a full year before the Olympics. There is something special
about a cohesive team. Personally, I was
blessed by a few athletes who spoke out when they were in front of the cameras and
microphones about their faith in Christ, for them the world stage was an
opportunity to point to Him, to give God the glory (like the US women’s 4x100
relay team, and the US women who swept the 100 meter hurdles). What is our “focus” in the Christian life?
As we’ve been walking with Peter through this letter, I trust He is helping us
to gain (or regain) perspective. We are pilgrims living in a fallen world.
We were created for eternity and we are here “on assignment.” Our lives
will either be a light that draws people toward the Truth, or, God forbid, our
life may give them an excuse not to
believe. Peter said in 1 Peter 2:12 “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.”
Context: Finally, all of you… (citizens, workers, wives,
husbands)… All of the “pilgrims” to whom he has been writing, you are on a
mission, so live like this…
The Maine* Idea: The key to having a “heart” for people is to give
our heart to God, and to allow him to make us more like Jesus.
I. Live in
Harmony with one another: BE LIKE
MINDED (like Jesus prayed, and the early church showed [Jn 17; Acts 4:32; Rom
12; I Cor 1:10; Eph 4:13]).
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender
heart, and a humble mind.
The idea of unity is fundamental to God’s design for
the church. We are one body. The
problem is we don’t always act like it. We know it is God’s desire for the
church to experience practical unity, to be of one mind. Jesus prayed that
would be our experience. In fact the model for the unity of the church is the
unity between the Father and the Son,
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… (John 17:11).
We also read
in John 17:22,23…
22 The glory that you have given me I have given to
them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you
in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you
sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
Notice the result of the unity that Jesus is praying
for here, “…so that the world may know…”
That fits right in with Peter’s thesis in this context. We should have the mind
of a servant so that we don’t give people an excuse for unbelief, rather we
show them that something real, something supernatural, is happening our
life. God gets the glory. The key to
having a “heart” for people is to give our heart to God, and to allow him to
make us more like Jesus.
II. Have… sympathy: Empathize with the suffering, have compassion on the perishing. We feel for the people around us. We care!
8 Finally, all
of you, have unity of mind, sympathy,
brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
These next three words seem to be
closely related: sympathy, brotherly love, and a tender heart. “Sympathy” is
basically a transliteration from Greek. The root idea is to be “with” someone
in their feelings or emotions. If “one mind” denotes trying to understand each
other’s thinking and being focused on the same goal, then “sympathy” means we
seek to share in their feelings, “…rejoice
with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep…” It is related to #IV below, “a tender heart,” I have a hard time
separating the ideas. It seems this word might emphasize more the idea of
empathy, identifying with others in their pain and struggle, perhaps the other
is more about being “moved to compassion,” focusing on our heart attitude
toward those in need, having a “tender heart.” When I think of “sympathy” the
biblical picture that first comes to mind are Job’s friends who came to him in
the midst of horrible loss, his children, his business, finally his health. We
read in Job 2:11-13,
11 Now when Job's three friends
heard of all this evil that had come upon him, they came each from his own
place, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite.
They made an appointment together to come to show him sympathy and comfort
him. 12 And when they saw him
from a distance, they did not recognize him. And they raised their voices and
wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward
heaven. 13 And they sat with
him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him,
for they saw that his suffering was very great.
They
sat with him for a week before they said anything, “for they saw his suffering.” Do we sympathize with the hurting
people around us? In the body, if one
part hurts, we suffer together, if one part rejoices, we rejoice together. The
key to having a “heart” for people is to give our heart to God, and to allow
him to make us more like Jesus.
III. Have... love: What is the defining and identifying characteristic of authentic
Christianity? Love. Love for God, and “…brotherly
love…”
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart,
and a humble mind.
We’ve
seen a form of this word “brotherly love”
(“Philadelphia” comes from the same root) already in this letter. We read in 1
Peter 1:22 “Having purified your
souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one
another earnestly from a pure heart…” The same idea was reflected with a
different word in 1 Peter 2:17 “…love the brotherhood…” The idea is that
we are a family, and like a family, as brothers and sisters, we are committed
to our relationships. Remember, Jesus told us to love one another, and that by
our love “they will know you are my disciples.” Is God’s glory your top
priority? Peter says, choose love. The key to having a “heart” for people is to
give our heart to God, and to allow him to make us more like Jesus.
IV. Have a… tender heart: Guard your heart!
8 Finally, all
of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
Paul uses the same word in Ephesians
4:32 when he exhorts, “Be kind to one
another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
The same root word is used of Jesus in Matthew 9:36, “When he saw
the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and
helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” The noun form of the word used
here refers to the “bowels” or intestines. Most often it is used to describe
the emotions, much as we use the word “heart” in modern English. Jesus saw the multitudes and was “moved to
compassion.” We need to see the people around us in the same way. What things
keep us from having a tender heart? Why is it so easy for our heart to get
“hard”?
I think
that we need to be intentional about “guarding our heart,” as the Proverb says,
“Everything else depends on it…”
(Prov 4:23). The key to having a “heart” for people is to give our heart to
God, and to allow him to make us more like Jesus.
V. Have... humility: “…a humble mind…”
(When we see God rightly, we see ourselves more clearly).
8 Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy,
brotherly love, a tender heart, and a
humble mind.
Philip Brooks said “The true way to be humble is not to stoop until you are smaller than
yourself, but to stand at your real height against some higher nature that will
show what the real smallness of your greatness is.” If we focus on God’s
holiness, if we think about His majesty, if we reflect on the depths and
perfection of His love, we’ll see ourselves a little more clearly, we all fall
dreadfully short. False humility is
talking down about ourselves (secretly hoping someone will speak up and say how
great we are!). Humility is to know the truth about ourselves, and being so
overwhelmed by the grace that God has shown us, that we desire His glory above
all.
Corrie
ten Boom was once asked if it was difficult for her to remain humble. Her reply
was simple…
“When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on the
back of a donkey, and everyone was waving palm branches throwing garments on
the road, and singing praises, do you think that for one moment it every entered
into the head of that donkey that any of it was for him? If I can be the donkey
on which Jesus Christ rides... I give Him all the praise and all the honor.”
Andrew Murray gave a beautiful definition of biblical
humility:
“Humility is perfect quietness of heart. It
is to expect nothing, to wonder at nothing that is done to me, to feel nothing
done against me. It is to be at rest when nobody praises me, and when I am
blamed or despised. It is to have a blessed home in the Lord, where I can go in
and shut the door, and kneel to my Father in secret, and am at peace as in a
deep sea of calmness, when all around and above is trouble. The humble person is not one who thinks
meanly of himself, he simply does not think of himself at all.”
The idea of humility is reflected by putting
into practice the elements in the acrostic for the word J.O.Y… Jesus
first, Others second, Yourself last. God gets the glory, and He is glorfied when we
put others before ourselves. The key to
having a “heart” for people is to give our heart to God, and to allow him to
make us more like Jesus.
VI. Be... forgiving: Not insisting on “justice” and our personal rights, it is all about
Jesus. So, as a people forgiven, having experienced God’s grace,
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… (9).
Remember, Peter is writing about having the attitude
of a servant, putting our mission and God’s glory above our preferences or our
rights. Peter says don’t strike back. Jesus didn’t (cf. I Pet 2:23)! Instead, we should be quick to forgive, we
should be quick to extend grace. C.S.
Lewis said: “Everyone thinks forgiveness
is a lovely idea, until they have something to forgive.” Isn’t that the
truth? We embrace our right to be offended. We want justice!
This week
I read in a devotional the story of two writers collaborating on a book…
There was
only one problem when Tara Barthel and Judy Dabler set out to write their book Peacemaking Women: No sooner had they
started than they weren't speaking to each other. [How is that for irony! SN.]
Judy had
been Tara's first choice as co-author for a book about resolving conflicts.
Everything from her conciliation expertise to her Christian experience made her
the ideal partner.
Tara was
pregnant with her first child when the writing process began, and in her
task-oriented mind, it was imperative that the manuscript be completed before
the baby came. Judy, however, was blindsided by a series of major setbacks,
including personal health issues, her husband's hospitalization after a
lawn-mowing accident, her mother's hip replacement, her father-in-law's bout
with lung cancer, the loss of two employees in her counseling ministry and an
unusually taxing caseload.
But Judy isn't one to make excuses. And
though Tara would have probably understood why Judy's work wasn't coming in on
time if she had known what her friend was up against, all she could see was a
colleague who wasn't making good on a promise.
Everything at this point became email
driven—the kind of communication that strips itself of personality and voice
inflection, leaving the real meanings obscured by cold keyboard strokes. And
every time the other's name would appear in the in-box, stomachs would churn.
This wasn't going well. Not at all. Two
peacemaking professionals in a standoff. In need of peace.
You'll be glad to know that both of them
finally applied the truth of their book. The hurt came out, understanding
occurred, and forgiveness was expressed and granted. And their book had an
extra chapter about very up-close-and-personal conflict.
Their story teaches a lesson. When people
disappoint you, be patient. There may be more going on underneath the surface
than you realize.
Isn’t that a great picture of the danger of
unforgiveness? These ladies were collaborating on a book... about peacemaking! If they could fall into the trap of harboring
a grudge or becoming bitter, it can happen to any of us. You see how these
ideas fit together? If we love we will be forgiving, “Love keeps no record of
wrongs.”
A Texas
businessman and philanthropist, Robert L. Thornton, told the story of his
parents having an “energetic” disagreement…
…my father jumped up from the table, grabbed two
pieces of paper, and said to my mother, “Let’s make a list of everything we
don’t like about each other” Mom started writing. Dad glowered at her for a few
minutes, and then wrote on his paper. She wrote again. He watched her, and
every time she stopped, he would start writing again. They finally finished.
“Let’s exchange complaints,” Dad said. They gave each other the lists. “Give
mine back,” Mom pleaded when she glanced at his sheet. All down the page, Dad
had written, “I love you, I love you, I love you.”
Love covers a multitude of sins! Love keeps no record of wrongs. Love chooses
to forgive. The apostle Paul said, “Be kind to one another, tender-hearted,
forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you…” (Eph 4:32). We are forgiven, we must be
forgiving! We have been shown such
grace, we should be gracious!
What is God saying to me in this
passage? The key to having a “heart”
for people is to give our heart to God, and to allow him to make us more like
Jesus.
What
would God have me to do in response to this passage? Individually we’re not much. But when we come
together we can form an awesome weapon in the hands of God. God has us in this
world for a purpose. And he has each one of us in this church for a purpose.
It’s not just to take up space. This is GOD’S Church. And He says, we have two
primary areas of responsibility. One, to use our gifts for the encouragement
and building up of other believers. Two,
to be a witness in the place where God has put us. We’ve talked quite a bit
over the last six months or so about the “Oikos” model for outreach. This is not a man-made ministry model.
It is God’s plan for building His church. It is a simple fact of history, that
since the beginning of the church age, 95% of the people who have come to faith
in Jesus come through a person or persons that they already know. A friend, a relative, a co-worker, or maybe a
neighbor. It makes sense. For a meaningful conversation to happen it always
requires the permission of at least two people. Most people are more willing to
hear what someone they know has to say about God rather than hearing from a
complete stranger.
Consider this: God has intentionally,
supernaturally, placed a small group of people (experts tell us on average it’s
between 8 and 15 people) on the “front burner” of your life. You are their
personal missionary! I don’t want to
put any pressure on you, but think about this: you may be the only one that God has assigned to bring
them to Christ. Will you trust God and
embrace your mission? God has placed us here, on this peninsula, in this Body,
for a purpose. He is building His church, and you are a part of His team, handpicked
by the Creator himself! Individually we’re not much, but together, we can be a
fearsome weapon in the hands of our mighty God! Will you allow Him to use you? Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment