Living the Good Life
Notes
Transcript
## Introduction
## Introduction
> Perhaps, one of the oldest questions humans haver asked is this: "What is the good life?"
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> The question of what the best possible human life looks like
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> is one that has hand men with beards scratching the their balding headings for thousands of years.
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> The two most famous ancient philosophers, Plato and Aristotle,
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> both had very different pictures of what 'the good life' involved.
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> **For Plato**, the good life was up there
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> in a spiritual world of ideas and concepts.
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> **For Aristotle**, the good life was out there in the world of action and purpose.
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> But it is not just dead men from Greece who were concerned about the good life,
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> our society is obsessed with it too.
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> **For majority British culture**, the good life is found in here.
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> It is found in my own quest to expirence personal freedom.
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> Freedom to be who I want to be, live how I want to live,
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> feel what I want to feel,
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> and to define truth, morality, and reality the way I want to define it.
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> There is one more group, intertested in working out what the good life looks like.
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> And that us, Chrtistian.
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> We might never use those words, but is what we are seeking, when we ask "what is God's plan for my life?"
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> "What company should I work for? Who should I marry?
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> What church should I attend?" The list goes on...
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> **For us**, the good life is found in living the life God has for us,
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> in doing his will.
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> Yet So often the challenge is working out what that looks like, right?
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> Well that's where God's word, the Bible comes to our rescue.
**1 Peter 2:11-12**, words we heard last week, say:
_"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul._
_Live such **good lives** among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."_
> Peter is deeply concerned about his readers living the good life God has for them -
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> Whether they are living in 1st Century Turkey, or 21st Century Ashford.
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> And it's that good life which Peter begins to map out for us in these verses.
So please keep the passage open and the outline in front of you, were are going to tackle the passage like this:
1. Live as Good Citizens (v13-17)
2. Live as Good Employees (v18-20)
3. Live as Imitators of Jesus (v21-25)
## 1. Live as Good Citizens
Firstly, living the good life means living as good citizens.
Peter tells us verse 13-14 to
> "sumbit {ourselves} for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men:\_
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> whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right."\_
**The first thing Peter wants to us see is that being a good citizen means being a law abiding citizen.**
And Peter wants us to understand that we are to be law abinding regardless of which civil authority sets, makes or enforces the law.
You see, you will by using the two extremes:
the king (or emperor) on the national level and the governor on the local level
Peter is telling us that are not to pick at choose whose laws we obey.
Rather we are to submit to the civil authority of every lawmaker at all levels of government.
And, all things being equal, we are to submit to those civil authorities
regardless of whether those laws are intended for our good or for our ill.
Again by using the two extremes Peter is also covering everything in between.
So the first thing we learn is that the good life means
submitting to all people in civil authority and, all things being equal, all the laws that are made by them.
**The second thing Peter wants us to understand is _why_ we are to submit to civil authorities in this way.**
He he tells us in v13 that we are to submit to civil authorities _"for the Lord's sake_"
In other words, Peter wants us to understand that that we are not to be good citizens out of some sense of patriotism, or national identity
he's already told us in v11 that we are to see ourselves as aliens and strangers in this world
no we are to pursue Good citizenly conduct out of concern for Jesus honour.
In otherwords, our desire to be good citizen has nothing to do with whether we voted
- leave or remain;
- labour, conservative, other, or none of the above.
It has nothing to do with our politics
- whether we are on the right, the left or anywhere in between;
- royalist or republic,
- conservative or liberal,
- capitalist or socialist.
The single and most important reason we seek be good citizens of Ashford and the UK, Peter says is this:
**So that the name of Jesus would be held in high honour.** {Repeat}
Peter makes this explicitly clear in verses 15-16:
> "For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
Here, Peter says that living as good citizens is also a living defence of the gospel.
He says that If we live for God's good life, rather than our sinful desires,
our way of life will silence the accusations of those who object to Christianity
not because of genuine questions or concerns
but out of irrational hatred of Christ, his word, and his people.
Its not that a good character is a substitute for speaking of Jesus,
More that by being a good citizen we can bring down some of peoples barriars to gospel before we even open our mouths.
Peter then wraps up this section in v17, with three practical commands that illustrate what he has in mind
when we tell us to be good citizens.
Let's look at each on briefly.
Firstly, he commands _"us to show proper respect to everyone"_
It is a fundamental Christian beleif that all people regardless of race, age, religion, gender, or sexuality
deserve to be treated with kindness and respect for no other reason that they are made in the image of God.
We can still disagree with a persons beliefs or lifestyle. But even then we are respectful
we make sure we understand their position before we promote ours.
And we do so in a way that we seek to win the person, even if that means loosing the conversation.
It also means that we live as such good citizens of social media that even the way we tweet, texts, email, snapchat, and post on Facebook
silences the ignorant talk of foolish opponents.
Not give them more ammunition for their cause.
Next Peter tells that we must love _"the brotherhood of Believers"_, the church family.
> My favourite theologian, John Frame, describes love as being made up of allegiance, action, and affection {Repeat}.
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> Personally I find that helpful way of examine the satte of my love for God peoples.
Think about it:
- **Allegiance**: I am lovingly committed to God's people physically (by showing up), mentally (by thinking of them before myself), financially (by giving my time, my money) and spirtually (through prayer)?
- **Action**: do I show my love for God's people in the way I speak to them, care for them, spend time with them, serve them? Am I guilty of gossip and favouritism?
- **Affection**: Do I love God's people with all my heart. Do I desire the God's best for them, desire to meet with them. Do I desire to get to know them, and think well of them - even those who might not think well of me?
Finally, Peter ends how he begins by telling us that we should _"fear God and honour the king"_, which we now know from v13 is short hand for all civil authorities.
Fearing God means that we approach him with reverence and respect.
In his love and goodness, he holds ultimate authority over our lives, not the statee not even ourselves.
God alone gets our unflinching loyalty; the states gets honoured obedience.
That means that when a government representative asks us to do something which is against our biblical conviction.
We are to respectfully reply with Peters own words from Acts 5:29: _“We must obey God rather than men!"_
For the Christians, When the State and Jesus pull us in different directions, we always follow Jesus.
## 2. Live as Good Employees
Having explained what it looks like to live the good life in the public square,
next, Peter wants us to think about the work place.
v18-20, describe what it looks like to live as good employees.
> Now at this point you might think.
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> Hang on Liam, v18 says nothing about employees, but it does say a whole lot about slavery!
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> Well the honest truth it that we are both right.
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> Let me try to exaplin:
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> > **First off**, when we hear the word 'slaves' we often think of people tied up in basements or slave ships leaving africa.
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> > But Slavery in the Roman empire wasn't racially or finacially motivated like in 17th & 18th Centuries and its forms today.
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> > IN the first century it was nearly impossible to tell if someone was a slave just by looking at them.
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> > Anyone could become a slave, and they did, usually willingly, and for all kinds of reasons.
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> > Second, Slaves in the Roman empire had _some_ rights.
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> > True they had no ultimate independence,
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> > but they were paid, could own property
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> > and those born as slaves were often able to buy their freedom by the age of 30.
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> > Also, in the Roman world slaves would have done the jobs of most of the people in this room
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> > - occupations like doctors, nurses, midwives, teachers, managers, musicians, builders, craftsman, financiers, and engineers
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> > These were all professions done by slaves.
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> **None of that excuses slavery,**
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> but it does show that slaves in the first century had more similarities with those of us in employment today than those enslaved the 17th & 18th century or those in modern slavery.
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> **Even so, if you still have questions, do see me at the end. I'd love to chat more**.
But given that background, Let's go back to our question:
**what does it look like to live the good life in the work place?**
v18 answers that question. Take a look.
> _"Employees, submit yourselves to your employeers with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh."_
Interestingly, the word Peter uses for 'respect' here, is the same word he uses when he tells us, in v17, to fear God.
So Peter is saying that we are not simply to obey our employers out of respect for them,
but ultimately out of reverence for God.
**For the Christian, living as a good employee means that we obey our employers - even the bad ones - because we love and obey our God.**
And I think Peters instructions here only makes sense, if we first treat God as our ultimate employer and a good one at that.
If you act like God is a bad employer, begrudging your every concern or complaint.
Then you might outwardly be obey in the workplace, but you'll still rage and rebel when things go bad.
But if we remember that our Heavenly employer is the one who, out of love, redirected the flow of history;
giving up his son to rescue us from sin and hell forever.
Well, that's going to have a big effect on how we live and feel when we head into workeach day.
And that's what Peter wants us to understand next.
That, how we view God effects how we view our work... especially when things get hard.
> Let me tell you a little story:
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> I remember my first job out of uni.
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> A good Christian friend and I began working for a debt support company in Bournemouth.
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> For a time, there was one women on our time called Suzie.
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> Suzie was always complaining that she was being unfairly treated by our manager and their director.
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> It was unfair that her probation was extended when mine wasn't,
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> it was unfair that she was always missing out weekly bonuses,
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> it was unfair that she was never considered for over time,
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> and it was unfair that her timesheet were questioned more than anyone elses.
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> What Suzie couldn't seem to grasp was that her probation was extended because she took a £200 payment without a clients permission.
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> She was missing out on bonus, because bonus was tied to our call quality scores, and she was consistently rude to callers.
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> And her timesheets were checked more thoroughly than anyone elses because she would fudge her timesheets to cover her lateness.
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> Suzie was convinced that she was being mistreated by her employer,
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> in relaity she was simply a bad emloyee.
Peter asks in v19 _"how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?"_
Drumroll > It isn't! There is no prize for sticking at your job if you are a bad employee.
Worse, if you are bad _Christian_ employee the name of Jesus is dishonoured by your actions too.
_'But'_ Peter says, _"if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God."_ This amazing, do you see it? Peter says thst God rewards in the next life,
those hard working christisns who suffer in the workplace for refusing to go against God's word, his will, or their own conscious. That's staggering compassion!
**But then, God _is_ a compassionate employer.**
He understands the financial and employment struggles his people face when our kingdom values come into conflict our culture's worldly values.
That means God cares when you are overlooked for a promotion because you were humble in the interview.
God cares when you face a backlash for putting church and family before work or overtime.
And God cares when you are mocked for not joining in on sexual appraisals of other staff members
or drunken revalry at the Christmas party.
**Better still, God is a just employer too**. And has promised to compensate generously in the next life for every lost of penny and missed opportunity for those who have worked as his good and faithful servants in this life.
Whatever you have facing you at 9am tomorrow morning.
Work hard, with integrity, with a pleasant attitude, a servants heart.
knowing that we obey our employers and endure hardship in the work place because we're living for the weekend, or even payslip.
But because we are in the employ of the CEO of CEOs, the Lord God Almighty.
And he has promised to genrously compensate those who suffer for their godliness whilst in his employ.
## 3. Live as Imitators of Jesus
Finally, Peter tells us in v21-25 that Living the good life, means living as an Imitator of Jesus.
> It was the morning of the 5th June, the year was 1989.
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> Jeff Widerner, a photographer with the associated press, was sat on the balcony of his Beijing Hotel documentmenting the the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
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> The pro-demoracy protests had been steadly building since the 15th April
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> and reached a violent peak when the chinese army was sent into the end the protest by any means necessary.
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> It was as Jeff sat there snapping shots of aftermath, that he capture the shot of a lifetime.
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> A man ran out in front of a column of tanks a refused to move. **{ShowImageOnScreen}**
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> Not only did the man survive.
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> His image, know only as "Tank Man" still inspires political activities and grass roots movements today, nearly thirty years on.
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> This nameless individual has become a global symbol of an ordinary citizen standing up to the might of a totalitarian regime.
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> And winning...
It seems to me that Peter understands the power of inspirational imagery too.
he knew that when crunch time came, we'd need more than commands and rules to williny endure suffering in pursuit of the good life.
We'd need someone to look to for inspiration and encouragement. But before he paints that picture with the language of Isaiah 53, he first wants us to understand why are to suffer in Jesus footsteps.
**Firstly, v21, Jesus is our example to imitate**. He says:
> _"To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps."_
He is THE suffering servant, and we are too are follow in his example as servants who suffer.
Peters idea of an _'example to follow'_ carries with it the image of a child learning their letters by tracying them over and over again.
Peter wants us to see that Jesus sufferings are an example of how to endure unjust suffering ourselves.
A pattern to conform ourselves to over and over again, just a like a child copying out their letters until each one is perfect.
**Secondly Jesus is our divine protector.** Look at v25:
> _"For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."_
Drawing on Isaiah 53:6, the first part of the verse describes what we were like, past tense.
We like sheep each wondering of on our own sinful and rebellious paths.
But now we have come under the care of the Good Shepherd, Jesus Christ.
And whilst we might suffer a little while in this life,
Jesus, our good Shepherd will care for us and protect us from eternal harm every step of the way.
**So Peter tells us to imitate Jesus because his both our pattern and our protector.**
But it is in the middle verses, v22-24, were he paints the provocate picture to stir us up and move us to action.
Peter gives us three snapshots of Jesus sufferings leading up to the cross which show us how to pursue the good life in times of oppositon.
These snapshots us that:
- We suffer for what is right (v22)
- We suffer with our eyes on the ressurection (v23)
- We suffer for a reason (v24)
**Firstly, We suffer for what is right.**
Peter says that Jesus suffered under the might of sinful authorities even though _“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.”_
In other words, Jesus suffered as an innocent man.
By reminding us that Jesus suffered even though he was totally sinless in word and action,
Peter wants to ensure that if we are going to endure suffering in public or the workplace.
That, like Jesus, we are doing so as those who endure with a clear conscience.
Following in Jesus footsteps by suffering for what is right.
**Second, We suffer with your eyes on the resurrection (v23)**
Alluding to Iaiah 53:7, Peter remind us that though Jesus was falsely arrested,
falsely accused, falsely tried, mocked, beaten, and left to die
he did not lash out at his abusers... neither physically nor verbal.
Instead, Peter says that Jesus _"he entrusted himself to him who judges justly."_
Jesus knew that his vidictation wouldn't be in a legal status or defence,
but in his resurrection from the dead and so his placed his hope in his Father's hands.
This is not to say that we should just stoic endure injustice even if their opportunities to put it right.
On several occasions, in the Book of Acts, Paul appealed to his Roman citizenship to avoid or escape state sponsored persecution.
But it does remind us that are not to put our ultimate hope for justice is not in this life but the next.
And when we refuse to return violence for violence and insult for insult
we display a christlike hope in a final and future justice in a perfect etneral courtroom. God's courtroom.
**Finally, We suffer for a reason (v24)**
Here Peter writes that Jesus _"bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed."_
Jesus suffering and death might have been an earth shattering injustice but it was also God's plan.
His suffering had meaning, it was for a reason:
Jesus endured the injustice of the cross so that through His death we might die to the sinful desire of our old life
so that through the power of his resurrection we would live for righteousness.
Now when Peter uses the word 'righteousness' here, he is not saying that we live God's way to become right with him -
No no, praise God, that's already happened through Jesus finished work on the cross.
Instead Peter is saying because we are right with God through Christ, we are live to do what considers right in response.
Amazingly, Peter is saying, that like Jesus, our unjust suffering has meaning and purpose too:
In God mysterious and loving plan, even persecution and opposition have become part of the good life he has for us, his dearly loved children. It has become a way to conform our character to the pattern of his son.
## Living the Good life
> As Christians, God's idea of the good life looks radically different from both the ideas of history and the culture around us.
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> It requires us to live as Good citizen of earthly kingdoms, so that our heavenly king, King Jesus, would receive the honour he deserves.
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> And it requires us to live as good employees out of loving and reverant fear of the our compassion and just employer in heaven, the Lord God Almighty.
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> But sometimes God's picture of what it means to be a good citizen and a good employee will clash with what our culture thinkgs it should mean.
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> In those times times Jesus becomes our pattern for how to live the good life in times of oppostion and persecution.
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> Reminding us that we suffer for what is right; we suffering with our eyes on the resurrection, and we suffer for a reason.
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> I'm not saying it is easy, clearly it is not.
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> But remember our saviour has died and risen for us.
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> And since Jesus died, heaven's storehouse of grace is ready to meet our even need as we live the good life God has for us.
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> And because Jesus is alive forever, his resurrection power is at work in us through The Holy SPirit.
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> Let's make use of the blessings that are ours through Christ and let' u's relentlessly pursue the good life God has for us.
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> So that one day we might hear Jesus speak the words of **Matthew 25:23** to us:
_"Well done, good and faithful servant!... Come and share your master’s happiness!"_
Ler's pray.