Sermons

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Is Authority a Bad Word?
June 23, 2002
Fourth in a sermon series on Peter and his letters
Pastor Dan Baumgartner
1 Peter 2:13-3:9

We continue on in our look at the book of I Peter today, and I’d invite you to read with me at the end of our section, I Peter 3:8-9. I also invite you to keep your Bibles open, as we’ll be looking into other passages as we go.

I remember as a boy, taking a glass jar out in the backyard where the clover was growing and carefully capturing a couple of bees by quickly sliding the lid onto the jar. I was thankful that the lid was solid, and that the other end of the jar had no holes, because boy was there a lot of buzzing going on in the middle!

I felt that a little bit this week as I sorted out our passage for today. The passage that Lynne read earlier starts our section, and the one we just read together ends it. Together, they make a nice set of bookends, instruction on how Christians were to live in a culture antagonistic to their faith. Lynne’s passage talked about Christians conducting themselves “honorably,” so that the people around them would ultimately glorify God.

My passage talks about having “not repaying evil for evil or abuse for abuse,” but giving a blessing instead. Nice bookends. But in between … my, what a busy, buzzy section…thanks to this one word: “Authority,” that is used repeatedly: People are to accept the authority of the government, slaves the authority of their masters, wives the authority of their husbands. Other translations of the Bible use different words where this one uses “accept the authority…” They use “subject yourself to, subordinate yourself, defer to”…I looked them all up. All of them mean essentially the same thing, and are equally uncomfortable.

Authority is a power word. “Having power to influence behavior,” is one definition for authority. And the necessary corollary to someone having authority…is to have another who gives authority, or submits. These are words we don’t like very much in America in the 21st century. In fact, we haven’t liked them since at least the 1960s when one of the popular radical slogans was “Question All Authority.”

This is a difficult passage. I thought about skipping it. I thought about giving it to Lynne or Jeff! However, as you ought to know by now, I’m not much of one to look at scripture and say “throw that part out, it’s obviously a relic from first century culture.” So let’s plunge into this. I want to ask: “How is this the Word of God for us today?” And to answer that, I want to first know: “How was this God’s Word…for the people who first read it?”

As far as we know, Peter didn’t think he was writing a document for the ages. He is writing to Christians who are far away in Asia Minor, surrounded by an unbelieving and sometimes antagonistic culture. What he writes here is part of a “household code,” or rules to live by in such a setting. Peter advises these Christians to “conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that, though they malign you as evildoers, they may see your honorable deeds and glorify God,” and then addresses three particular groups of people on the specific conduct he has in mind. Let’s look at the three, and then come back to how these words might speak to us today.

FIRST, to all the Christians he says “For the Lord’s sake accept the authority of every human institution, whether of the emperor as supreme, or of governors, as sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right.”

The first century AD was a rough time, where chaos seemed to lurk around each corner. In some ways, human life was worth very little. Battles and armies and plots rampaged around the Middle East. Rome was the ruling power of the day, and most of the Roman emperors fell far short of being just or compassionate rulers. Often they demanded worship from the people as gods. Over-taxation was rampant, the rich aristocracy was in firm control of the masses, injustices were routine, and thieves ravaged the highways. Peter is well aware of these things. Yet, he writes “accept the authority…of the emperor…or the governors he appoints.”

Why would he even write this? Probably because there was an issue, and it seems that the issue must have been with Christians who WEREN”T doing this. Perhaps he had heard that there were Christians who were misinterpreting their freedom in Christ. Perhaps people felt they were now above the civil law. But that was not to be the case. Christians needed to be busy “doing the right thing.” “As servants of God, live as free people, yet do not use your freedom as a pretext for evil.” We so often goof up what Christian FREEDOM is about. Jesus’ death and resurrection had FREED people…from their sin…not for their independence, but so they could choose to serve God. This is Peter’s first hint that serving God could involve submitting to people. And WILLING submission…would carry radical consequences.

SECOND GROUP: “Slaves, accept the authority of your masters with all deference, not only those who are kind and gentle but also those who are harsh.”

Slavery was a giant part of the socioeconomic system of virtually the Roman world at this period of time. There were MILLIONS of slaves and indentured servants. Rome tended to enslave the people they conquered militarily rather than kill them. Many parts of the Mediterranean had slave populations as high as 35% of the total number of people! It was not along lines of race, positions of responsibility were held, some people sold themselves into slavery to better themselves, education…so it looked very different from the slavery that plagued the new world, and this country.

But one thing was the same: Slaves were not even considered people. Their only identity was tied to their master. And guess what? Some of them were in the church. And guess what else? The Apostle Peter addresses them directly in this letter. By addressing slaves as people, by indeed giving them responsibility for the living out of their faith…Peter is calling them out as people. They are not what society has told them they are. They are God’s people. Just last week, Jeff read to us in chapter 2, “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people.” That’s what’s happening here. And what’s more, when the church of Christ lived this out, it made a huge statement to the culture…that though the message still needed to go to the whole society…at least within the church of Jesus Christ…there were to be no social distinctions. “For here there cannot be Greek and Jew, slave and free, male and female…but you are one in Christ Jesus.” This was a radical step.

That’s one reason it is so sad that many parts of Christ’s own church in America actually used a passage like this to support the perpetuation of slavery…and the segregation of the church on racial/social grounds… when in reality it was radically countercultural…

THE THIRD GROUP, Married Women, particularly those with unbelieving husbands: “Wives, in the same way, accept the authority of your husbands, so that, even if some of them do not obey the word, they may be won over without a word by their wives’ conduct.”

To women whose husbands remained outside the faith, Peter says, “Win them.” Win them by the inner beauty, by a gentle and quiet spirit, by the way you care for them. Cultivate the inner beauty, rather than pay great attention to the clothes and baubles of the outer person. It is again SO significant that Peter even addresses women in that historical setting. Women were barely recognized as people. In matters of faith, it was assumed that women would merely follow the religion (or lack) of their husband. Peter says, “Oh, no, you are definitely part of God’s people. And you have an important responsibility: win your husbands to Christ.”

And finally, as though Peter is cognizant that he has spoken only to women, he adds a word to Husbands: “In the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honor to the woman as the weaker sex (obviously a statement of physical stature because of what follows): since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life -- so that nothing may hinder your prayers.” What would hinder the prayers? A man lacking respect or honor in his relationship with his wife.

This was the word of God for Peter’s readers. They all have to do with social relationships. And in a nutshell, the word is: Be willing to give away power and authority. Submit. And if his readers had said, “Why, Peter, why? We’re free in Christ! We don’t need to submit to that crummy, no-good emperor. We don’t need to submit to people who don’t even recognize us as people. We don’t need to waste our time on spouses who don’t believe. Why should we? We’re free!” Peter would have said, “Wait. You’ve got it mixed up. It’s because you are free from sin. It’s because there is no male or female or slave or free in Christ…that you can choose to submit…and change the world.”

What gives Peter the right to say this? At every point, Peter points his readers back to what God has done, is doing, and wants to do. The foundation here is NOT “do all you can for your own happiness, write your story the way you want it to be” but “now you are a part of something bigger…part of a story God is writing.” And so at every opportunity, Peter goes back to what God is doing: “For the Lord’s sake,” accept the authority. Be a “servant of God.” “Be aware of God.” “Impact your culture.” “Bring people to faith who are not there.” God is working in the world, and God wants to work through these people.

And the model and means to see what God has done…is acted in Christ. Not in a way of worldly power, but in servanthood and even suffering. Because Christ suffered on the cross, he knows what you feel if you are wrongly persecuted. Because Christ chose you over himself…you are freed from sin. Because Christ died, you live. You were bought with a price…that drew you from a long way off… ”

That’s the word of God for Peter’s day. What is it in this day?

I don’t believe we are to go back and recreate life in the first century. And at the same time, our issues are not so very different. America is the land of diversity, of openness, of inclusiveness. People in our society are encouraged to accumulate power, to protect themselves, to set boundaries. We are also living in a non-Christian culture…things have greatly changed in the last 50 or 60 years. I’m not sure that’s all bad. Because those who choose to live for Jesus Christ…more and more will stand out from the culture.

But how will we stand out? The first question: Will we submit to Christ’s authority? Will we truly give control to him? If we don’t in our lives, then what follows is meaningless.

a) The way to stand out is NOT to carelessly draw the wrath and ridicule of the culture. We live in a less than perfect world with a less than perfect government. It is not utopia, there is corruption and graft and greed and injustice in our system. Do we withdraw from it, barricade ourselves? No, Peter would say “live rightly. Do right.” And as you do that… influence the people around you. Now of course, Peter himself will acknowledge in Acts 3, there may come times we have to decide whether we will listen to humans or listen to God. But normally, we’re not pushed to those edges. Are Christians so “free in Christ” that they can avoid taxes, break traffic laws, bicker with their neighbors, do unethical things at work? If so, then we are living by no different standard than anyone else, and what Peter says is “Live differently.” If you are going to stand out…stand out for your faith. Don’t get bogged down with things that don’t matter.

b) In our day, thanks be to God, the institution of slavery is gone… though we have a long way to go in dealing with the vestiges of it. But the word of God still calls us to recognize all people as people. I talked to one friend who had moved here a couple years ago from the Middle East. He told me that when he went to work on September 12, he was so scared about how he would be treated, or that he would lose his job. And he told me about his boss at work who called him into his office that day and said, “I will watch out for you. Your job is not in danger, and if you find yourself in danger of any kind, I will protect you.” In a few sentences from his boss…this person who was in danger of not being a person…is now a person. The same thing Peter was doing in this passage. How will we participate in this work?

This word of Peter’s should challenge us in our work, both those with people in authority above them and below them. How will you treat your boss? I remember in my business years, the pull was to disdain, to gossip, to undermine our boss. But they can get that anywhere. What would it look like for us to support? To accept their authority? And how will we treat people who work for us? How will we wield authority?

c) The same question challenges our marriages, which is Peter’s last category. Will we give up authority in our marriages? The marriages in
our culture now tend to start with negotiating sessions, prenuptial agreements, scorekeeping and contracts. What I talk with couples about in premarital counseling is Paul’s words from Ephesians 5: “Submit, therefore…to one another.” It’s almost always an interesting conversation, just because of this word submission. That mutual submission and respect in a marriage draws people towards Christ. It models for our kids. How will our children know to submit to God’s authority if we have never shown them how to accept any authority of any kind?

The last passage, that we read at the beginning…is perhaps the most intriguing of all to me. “Finally,” Peter says… “ EVERYBODY…have unity of spirit, sympathy, love, tender hearts, humble minds towards each other. DO NOT REPAY EVIL FOR EVIL or ABUSE FOR ABUSE…but on the contrary, repay with a blessing.”

Frankly, I wanted to ask…is this reality? I look around most people’s lives, including mine, and I see people by and large, treating other people the way they are treated. So can this even work? Is it even possible?

As I looked for an example, I couldn’t get out of my mind Desmond Tutu’s book on the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. It was in 1994, when the white apartheid government fell in South Africa, democratic elections were held, and Nelson Mandela was voted in. This new government had to decide how to deal with the horrific crimes that had gone on for years. Tribunals, wreaking havoc, turning tables and new shedding of blood...were all talked about. They thought about extracting justice…and then they thought of their country lying once again in ashes…just a different color. Or was there was a different way? Agonizing discussions.

They finally decided to institute the Truth and Reconciliation Commission proceedings. Bringing into same room former policeman and families…police who had dragged sons and husbands out of homes and burned them in the streets…THESE were the gatherings that took place. It gave people a way and a place to confess, admit, grieve, and in some cases forgive. Those who came forward and confessed…received amnesty for disclosing and facing the crimes of the past. It was an amazing attempt to do something unheard of. To, in essence, give up power and authority which could have rightfully have been wielded…and look for ways to allow healing to occur.

It wasn’t perfect. But it seems to me, this yielding of power…is part of the way of the kingdom. It’s what Peter talks about here. It’s what we are invited into, part of God’s story. Let’s pray.