You’re lucky because I have a flight to catch this afternoon, and I haven’t packed yet and I have to take my dogs to their babysitter. Turn with me to 1 Peter 4: 1-2. I’m probably going to skip the first part of this very quickly, because much of this relates with what Anton shared with us last week. I don’t want to repeat thinks but I do want to build on some of this. We’re using the book of 1 Peter, to give us a foundation on being Light. And you’ve probably seen already that Peter has a lot to say about lifestyle, and he is going to re-enforce that in what we go through today.
But I’m going to go ahead and give you the title of my theme right from the beginning. Because I think it is important for believers in this day and age, everyday and age but certainly it applies to us today. And because you’re going to hear quite a lot today, what almost sounds like negative language. Peter is one of those guys you can read and a lot of it sounds like, don’t, don’t, don’t. So, I’m going to tell you my theme today, it only works in English, I’m sorry, I think, but I’ve titled this ‘Be a do-er not a don’t-er.’ Be somebody who does things and not somebody who does not do things.
We all know there are things we’re not supposed to do. We know, and we’re going to hear some of it again. But stick with me to the end, and we’ll get to the point – ‘Be a do-er not a don’t-er.’
4 Peter 4:1-4, “Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin. As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you. But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is the reason the Gospel was preached even to those who are now dead, so that they might be judged according to human standards in regard to the body, but live according to God in regard to the spirit.” You may want to somehow highlight that statement. I think it is difficult to understand, “Is done with sin.” 1.
So, there’s the “Don’ts” 1-3. And here’s the important point, “They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living, and they heap abuse on you.” V. 4.
I understand that we live in a sinful day. First thing that stands out to me is that this is nothing new. I don’t remember a time I ever stood in front of a church to preach and said, “Stop living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry.” But evidently Peter had this need to address this publicly, which meant that there must have been something quite public about it. But what Peter is centering on here, is not that behavior, but what it means to you, to not live like that. In fact, he tells us, “Since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude”. In other words, Christ suffered for the choices He made, get ready yourself for that also.
Sometimes as a Christian you have to be aware, that it’s not always a safe belief system. Now that may sometimes, in some places mean bodily suffering, but we certainly know that it means often mental and emotional suffering, as we serve a Savior, who was willing to suffer all of that to the point of the cross. Have you ever wondered what might have hurt Jesus more? Being nailed to the cross or being abandoned by His friends. I’m sure one hurt Him more physically, but I wonder in the depths of His heart what He really suffered more. And Peter says, ‘That’s your Lord,’ get yourself ready, because if that’s your Lord, if that’s your treasure, that’s your Savior, that’s your best friend, that’s everything you’ve hoped for, for eternal life, and even He suffered horrific torture, He suffered huge emotional turmoil, I don’t know about you, but I’ve prayed hard enough for anything to sweat blood.
But the Bible tells us, that’s what Jesus did. And Peter is saying, ‘If you’re really going to serve a Lord like this,’ Get yourselves ready, to suffer for your faith. And then he says, ‘You’ll be done with sin.’ I don’t believe, this is him saying, you’ll never struggle again with sin in your life, but it’s him saying, you’ll be done with the focus of those things. Have you ever said, ‘No, I’m done with that?’ I used to watch a lot of Formula 1; I’m done with that. It’s talking about a focus of life. It’s what Anton talked to us about dying to sin and being resurrected in a new life. The Apostle Paul said, “Consider yourself dead to sin, and alive to Christ.” (Romans 6:11) Let your focus be changed o that these things are not necessary to you. And here comes the suffering part. Because you choose a life that rejects certain things, because people will think that you’re trying to be better than them, because people won’t like when you won’t do the things they do, because they might feel your resistance, they will mock you, they will discuss you, you know what I mean by that don’t you, they will get with other people and talk about you, some of them will hurt you directly, because you are making choices that are focused for God, not focused for the world.
This was the problem with preaching a Gospel that only told people, ‘Come to Jesus and all things will be good.’ Eventually it will, but not today and probably not in this life. There is a challenge to appearing different. Peter 3,4 says, “For you have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. They are surprised that you do not join them in their reckless, wild living…” The Scripture tells us that once we were not a people, but now we are a people. That means that once you didn’t have that identity, but that now you do. And people will be surprised.
I asked Cecilia if I could use this example from her testimony. The gentleman who owns this organization has allowed them to use these apartments, I won’t give any specifics, but I guarantee you his lifestyle would not look a lot like ours. And we had a conversation on Zoom one time, and he was asking us some questions about the style of our church and our own organization, and in the beginning, he was very, very friendly because he was hearing what he wanted to hear. We were talking a lot about loving people and accepting people, and then at the end of the conversation, he got into some specific issues, and he began to ask, ‘Do you tell them that they must change? Do you preach that?’ And we said, ‘No, we don’t preach that. We preach that they can change. We preach that there’s a God who loves them, who has a better option. But we don’t stop serving them if they don’t make that choice.’ And the tone of the conversation changed. The short end of it, we thought the apartments were gone. Thankfully, he came back later and re-established that because I think he couldn’t find something else to do. But at the moment that he felt some small rejection of his opinion, you could tell he didn’t want to like you. And I imagine that when he got off that call, and talked with other people in his group, he didn’t have nice things to say.
But this least me well to my last point. I think what repaired the situation, when he saw that we were people that would not just reject others, but that’s only part of it, he saw that Cecilia and her team, continued to do good to them. And this is where we get to be a ‘do-er’ part. There are a lot of Christians today, who feel like the way to win culture is to come into it and be like it. And there are perhaps some ways that that’s true, we don’t just get saved and die and go to heaven. We’re here. I once thought of the idea of terrorist evangelism. Just threaten somebody to repent, they do and you just send them to God. Sometimes you may think that that’s the merciful thing. There are some ways that we will always reflect the things around us. But there are other ways, where we know that we must sound and look and be different. And when we make those choices, we must be prepared to suffer the consequences.
So, the second part of that story, the part about continuing to do good, this is the good and convincing part. Peter did not list those sins, and just say, if you don’t do those, you’ll convince other people of your faith. Listen to me carefully, you won’t win anybody over, ever by what you don’t do. I grew up with a lot of things not to do. Don’t go to movies; don’t go to parties; don’t go to basket ball games; and for sure as you get older don’t start doing the really bad stuff. But nobody has ever come to the Lord because you don’t commit adultery, or you don’t watch pornography. They couldn’t care less what you don’t do. They might care, but not in that way. It’s no going to convince them of anything. But we’ve already seen in the Book of Peter, doing good, is proactively being involved in peoples’ lives.
We started this series with the statement in Scripture, “Do good, so that they can see your deeds, and glorify your Father in heaven.” So, parents with teenagers, you drive by some poor encampment, where there are homeless people or destitute people. One of the kids makes a terrible smart statement, it’s not just teaching them, ‘Don’t do that!’ Put him in the car and take him to a soup kitchen and let them serve somebody that they don’t understand. That’s a silly example, but for every for every ‘Don’t’ we can come up with, there is a ‘Do’ that is better. Be a ‘Do-er, not a Don’t-er.’
And then here is where it ends. Trust God. Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t try to take vengeance into your own hands. Now, that doesn’t mean that there should be no justice in this life. There should. We fight for justice; we vote for justice; we establish governments for justice; we pray for justice. But how do we pray? Pastor Gail talks sometimes about how she loves the prayers of David – ‘Smite them, Lord! Cut their heads off’. And we feel that way sometimes too, come on! But there is a New Testament response to that. And it started with our big Brother. “Forgive them Lord; they don’t know what they’re doing.”
That person that hurts you; that situation that wrongs you so terribly; that place where you were taken advantage of. You can try your own vengeance. You can try to judge back. You can try to spend your time in hurt and disappointment. It doesn’t work. And as Peter would say, “You’re done with that. You’re not like the unbelievers, the pagans anymore. You’re dead to that.” Do you know how dead things respond? They don’t, unless you’re Lazarus. You’re dead to it. And again, that doesn’t mean, if somebody cheats you in business, you don’t have to try to make it right, that’s not what we’re saying. But we are saying that the direction of your heart, has changed. You’re not in it for vengeance; you’re not in it just to get yours; you’re not in it to be like them. You make choices at times, that can make bad situations for you. Because your example is different. The One you follow is different. So, don’t be afraid to be different. Because, sometimes your faith is a dangerous faith, and sometimes it’s just harder to be a ‘Do-er’ than a ‘Don’t-er’.
Is everybody with me in this. We’re talking about ‘Being Light.’ To be light you’ve got to turn on the switch, and let it shine. Let your good things shine before men, that they may glorify Him.
That’s the word for today. Bow your heads. ‘Lord, I just commit this word to You…