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1 Peter 4 "Suffering"
Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. for we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles-- when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to Him who is ready to judge the living and the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (1Peter4:1-6)
I believe that the main root of sin in our lives is not
evil intention. I hardly ever look at another person and purposely wish
ill upon them. I don’t look for ways to bring other people down.
Instead most sins are careless, inadvertant, thoughtless actions that
hurt others, take my mind off of God, and damage myself. The well that
most of these things spring up from is that of self and selfishness.
By nature we are trapped in this body of flesh. And it is unrelenting
in its demands. “I am hungry”, “I am cold”,
“I am sick”, “I am tired”. It is extremely difficult
for us to shut these demands out. You could sit right in front of the
loudspeaker at a rock concert. The music could be so loud that you cannot
even hear what your friend is yelling in your ear, but you will still
hear perfectly your body saying to you, “I’m thirsty”
And not just our bodies, but our minds and emotions as well. Our own
thoughts take priority over anything else we hear. Our own emotions
come first, and every other thing that wants our attention must wait
in line.
Let’s explore this idea of waiting in line for a second, because
that is what is happening. For example, let’s say that I come
home after a long day of work to my wife and son. My son wants to play
with me and show me what he made at school. My wife wants to talk and
fill me in on her day. But between me and my family there is already
a line forming. My feet are first in that line. They are screaming at
me, “Sit down, give us a rest” My throat is second in line.
It is saying in a hoarse whisper. “Please give me something to
drink, I have been breathing that Tokyo smog all day.” Third in
line is my fear of missing something that reminds me, “You had
better check the e-mail and the answering machine.” Fourth in
line is my stomach, he says, “Ask Rie what is for dinner, ask!
ask! You know I can’t wait.” And this is where sin comes
in. Because Keita and Rie should not be at the end of that line, they
should be at the front. And when I put them at the end, they are hurt.
They feel as if they are not important to me.
This is just a small example, but the line forms between me and other
people all day long. Continually the needs of self push to the front
and the needs of others are shoved to the back. And even when others
have been patiently waiting, our own needs can rudely cut right into
the front of the line again.
Jesus gives us a sword to protect ourselves from sin. Peter says that
we must arm ourselves with the same mind as Christ, for he who has suffered
in the flesh has ceased from sin. This suffering simply means telling
the self to go to the back of the line. It means that before I sit down,
before I get a drink, before I check the e-mail and answering machine,
before I ask what is for dinner, I will give my full attention to my
son and my wife.
This is a strange weapon, because instead of using it to cut others,
we use it to drive back the demands of self. The Bible says that one
of the fruits of the spirit is self-control. And if self-control is
a fruit, then it goes without saying that normally the self is not very
controlled at all. In fact for most people, the self is practically
their master. They are enslaved by that never ending line of demands.
They are never able to look past themselves at all to see the world
beyond.
The weapon is this, do not look at suffering as bad, but like the athlete,
consider pain as the means to your end. “No pain, no gain”.
There is nothing that the self, the body, hates more than pain. In fact,
even the mere suggestion of pain is enough to get the body screaming
messages up to the brain. “Oh! It hurts!!! It hurts so bad we
(feet) are going to fall off!” “Oh!! If you don’t
drink something quick we are going to die!!!” But instead of listening
to these messages that would coerce you back into blindly following
the demands of self, just ignore them. And you know what? Your feet
don’t fall off. You don’t die of thirst. Instead you realise
that you have been fooled into following after a bunch of nerve cells
and hormones and that instead of serving self, you can be its master.
Use suffering, use pain to subdue self and get the upper hand. And then
when you find the line between you and the rest of the world getting
long, you can just casually mention, “Hmm, ok self, I think we
will go on a 3-day fast next week.” Self will run scared.
But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and the dominion forever. Amen. (1Peter4:7-11)
Peter says here, love will cover a multitude of sins.
He is speaking about loving each other fervently in the church. Now
this is very insightful for us because it lets us know that sin is a
normal thing in the church. Peter did not say “love one another
fervently because your fellow Christians are so loveable.” No,
Peter knew all about the church. He was the churches very first pastor.
He knew just how much sin and self is in the church. Don’t be
discouraged from coming to church because of the flaws that you see
in other Christians, or the flaws that you see in the pastor. Every
church has sin, no pastor is perfect. We all operate under the covering
of grace and the covering of love.
I like to go camping with my family. When we set up the tent we are
usually quite careful to check the ground for sharp rocks, but sometimes
we miss one and don’t discover it until we lay down in our sleeping
bags for the night. And then as I lay down I find that there is this
sharp pointy rock right in the middle of my back. And no matter how
I try to turn my body I can’t get to sleep because of that darn
rock. A couple years ago my wife had a great idea. She got us a king-size
airmattress that just fits inside our tent. Now we just pump that baby
up and there could be a rock the size of a baseball under there and
we would never know the difference. This is what love does with sin
as well. It covers it up. You might say, “But hold on a minute,
isn’t that bad? Shouldn’t we expose sin to the light of
truth? Isn’t a cover-up just as bad as the sin itself?”
Ok, lets go back to the text, “Have fervent love for one another,
for “love will cover a multitude of sins”. The key word
is “one another”, this is not a covering up of your own
sins. It is a covering up of those sins that have nothing to do with
you, or that might even have been against you. You might say, love is
like walking around with a permanent airmattress stuck to your back,
so wherever you lie down, you don’t feel a thing. Love means that
we are insensitive to actions taken against us and sensitive to our
actions toward others. Love means being insensitive to self and sensitive
to others.
The mass-media is obsessed with exposing faults, they dig and dig until
they find something, but the church is one place where that should never
happen. What should happen instead is that as we shine the light of
God’s truth on people, through the conviction of the Holy Spirit,
people expose themselves. People willingly confess their sins and receive
forgiveness from God. When someone comes to me and tells me about the
sin of another person, do you know what I think. I think, “Wow,
this person has really been hurt.” And I start working on getting
their love-cushion pumped up. I don’t go digging for the sharp
rock. Because if I do, I will find so many rocks that I couldn’t
possibly deal with them all. A “multitude”, the same word
as that used for the crowds that Jesus used to teach; we are talking
thousands, but love will cover them all and we can sleep in perfect
peace.
Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their parts He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified. But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now, “If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?” Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator. (1Peter4:12-19)
We have been talking about suffering. Using it as a weapon
to subdue the false tyrrany of self. Also there is a certain amount
of suffering involved in becoming insensitive to the sins committed
against us. Both of these can be included in suffering for Christ. But
there is another more direct suffering that we must endure. You see,
Christ ended His ministry with profound rejection. He was rejected by
His own people, rejected by the Gentiles, deserted by His disciples,
and finally at the very end as He took the sins of the world upon Himself,
He was even rejected by God. As we identify ourselves with Christ, we
also identify with this rejection. People will reject us along with
Jesus. People will hate us along with Jesus. Peter says, do not be surprised
by this. Do not think it strange, but rejoice. Because through this
you can glorify Jesus Christ.
But please don’t go to the other extreme and assume that all suffering
is good. Indeed, Peter says, “let none of you suffer as a murderer,
a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters.”
I think it is telling that he includes being a busybody in the same
list as murderers and thieves, but that is a different teaching. What
Peter is saying is that some suffering is the consequences of our own
sin, and this doesn’t give glory to God at all.
But as you face the rejection of this world because you are a Christian,
do not be ashamed. If you suffer with Christ you will also partake of
His joy when His glory is revealed.
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