Freedom

Scripture: 1^st Peter 2:13-17

Structure:

• Introduction
• Submission
• Freedom
• Conclusion

Introduction:

Good morning everyone.

Some things do not go well together. For example, forks and power sockets are not a good combination. Orange juice and toothpaste don’t mix very well either. (Just try drinking an OJ after brushing your teeth.) Hair driers and bath tubs should also be avoided, along with late nights and early mornings or ice-cream and sensitive teeth. These sorts of things are simply not compatible. 

By the same token there are some things that naturally work well together. For example, bread and butter, shoes and socks, darkness and sleep, soap and water, macaroni and cheese and salty chips dipped in melted chocolate. It took me over 40 years to discover that last combination. Chips and chocolate go surprisingly well together. The salt accentuates the flavour of the chocolate. It tastes great.     

Today we continue our series in 1^st Peter. Last week we heard how we need to get the foundation of our inner life right so that we can be a winsome witness to the world. This morning’s passage continues the theme of the believers’ relationship to the world, with a particular focus on our relationship with the government. From 1^st Peter, chapter 2, verses 13-17 to read…

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴ or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. ¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live as free people,but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil;live as God’s slaves. ¹⁷ Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers,fear God, honour the emperor.

May the Spirit of Jesus illuminate God’s word for us.

In this reading we find two ideas which, at first, sound incompatible: submission and freedom. Hearing these two words together we might be inclined to think orange juice and toothpaste. But actually, on closer examination, we find submission and freedom are more like salty chips and melted chocolate – an unexpected match made in heaven.

First let us consider what Peter has to say about submission.

Submission:

To submit means to accept, or yield to, the will of another person. Obedience goes hand in hand with submission. When we submit to someone we put ourselves under that person’s authority. Submission does not diminish our worth or our value as human beings. It is simply a way of saying, ‘you first’.

One of my earliest memories, as a child, is of my grandfather putting me on his shoulders and carrying me around his house. I was quite young at that stage and still learning to talk. But I found that when I turned my grandfather’s head he would go in the direction I had indicated, without a word being spoken.   

My grandfather did not need to play this game and did not need to follow my directions. Nevertheless, he freely chose to submit to me when I was on his shoulders. His submission did not make him any less of a person. To the contrary it opened a door in our relationship and was an expression of his love.

Submission is not always an expression of love. When submission is forced it feels more like violence but when submission is freely given it creates a connection, a bridge, between people.

Now in sharing this story I don’t mean to suggest parents and grandparents should always submit to their children and grandchildren. This was just a game my grandfather played with me and was the exception rather than the rule. Generally speaking, it is more helpful for small children if they feel like caring and responsible adults are in charge.

But, at the same time, a child needs to know the adults in their life trust them. And that’s what my grandfather was doing in playing a game of submitting to me – he was creating trust.    

Peter instructs his readers to Submit yourselves… to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, ¹⁴ or to governors, who are sent by him…

Peter is talking about the Christian believers’ relationship to the government. Generally speaking, we are to submit to the government. Now we need to remember here that the governing authority of Peter’s day was very different from the government we know. In the first century the Romans were in charge and it was essentially a pagan dictatorship, not a democracy.

The ‘emperor’ refers to Caesar and the governors were those men appointed by Caesar to manage certain geographical areas within the empire. Most likely Peter wrote his letter when Nero was emperor – sometime near the beginning of Nero’s reign. Nero was a bad egg. He was not a benevolent dictator. By the end of his reign he was openly persecuting Christians. He used Christians as a scapegoat for whatever suited his purpose.

Peter’s instruction to submit was probably given a couple of years prior to Nero’s full on persecution of the church. In any case, the Christian community was a marginalized minority and in no position to influence or leverage the political powers that be.

Given the political context of that time Peter’s instruction to submit to a pagan government may seem strange to us, like putting a fork into a power socket. The Roman authorities could be violent.

However, Peter’s advice was wise. The church at that time was perceived by society at large to be a relatively new religion and therefore a threat to the peace of the empire. The most sensible strategy in that situation was for the church to try and foster trust by submitting to the authorities and demonstrating they were not a threat.

Indeed, the Christian church posed no threat at all. Jesus made it very clear that his kingdom is not of this world and so Caesar had no reason to fear the church. Unfortunately, Nero was a bit bonkers and reason did not really feature that much in his leadership.       

Nevertheless, Peter tells his readers to submit to the government. This is in keeping with Jesus’ teaching. Earlier in the service we read a passage from Mark 12, where Jesus was asked whether it was right to pay taxes to Caesar? After all, the tax money was supporting a pagan power and being spent in all sorts of ways that were disagreeable to Jewish religion.

The question was a trick, designed to trap Jesus, but the Lord saw through it and called his opponents out for their pretense. Jesus said, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s.”

In other words, ‘Submit to the government by paying your taxes, but save your worship for God’.

In Christian thought the government is actually God’s servant, even if the government is not aware of it. God uses governments (of all varieties) to maintain law and order. This does not mean that God is micro-managing every law change and policy decision. To the contrary, governments do a fair bit that I expect God does not agree with. But, looking at the bigger picture of history, God is sovereign. He plants governments and uproots them as he determines.    

This is how Jesus saw it. The people in political power are only there because God has allowed it. When Jesus stood trial before Pilate, the Roman governor said to Jesus, “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you realise I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” [1]

And Jesus replied, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.”

In that situation Jesus knew it was God’s will for him to die on the cross. Jesus submitted to the Roman government because he understood that, as ungodly as the Romans were, they were still appointed by God. Pilate was, unwittingly, serving God’s purpose.

Interestingly, the reason Peter gives why Christians should submit to the authorities is:  for the Lord’s sake …¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

The idea here is that submission provides a winsome witness. People can argue with the words you say but they cannot argue with their experience of you. Humble submission speaks volumes. Jesus’ quiet submission certainly spoke volumes to Pilate. It helped to convince Pilate that the accusations against Jesus were false. From then on Pilate tried to set Jesus free.

While submitting to the governing authorities is a good strategy for fostering trust between the church and the government, there is no guarantee it will save us. Ultimately, we submit for the Lord’s sake. In other words, our submission to the government is really an act of loving obedience to God.

As I said earlier, submitting does not makes us less valuable in any way. If anything it demonstrates our worth.

So, should we always submit to the government then? What if the government ask us to do something that is clearly wrong? Well, no. We should not blindly do whatever the government tells us. There are exceptions to the rule. We need to exercise some discernment. The key is obedience to God. Jesus submitted to death on a cross, at the hands of the Roman government, because that was God’s will for him. But if Pilate had told Jesus to bow down to Caesar we know Jesus would have refused.

The point is, our ultimate submission is to God. If the government wants us to do something that is clearly offensive to God, then we must give priority to what God wants.

For example, in Exodus 1 when the people of Israel were being oppressed in Egypt, Pharaoh told the Jewish midwives to kill all the baby boys, as they were born, but to let the girls live. In that situation the mid wives, Shiphrah and Puah, disobeyed the government and lied to Pharaoh because they feared God.

In Daniel 6, king Darius issued an edict that anyone who prayed to any god or man during a set 30-day period, except king Darius, should be thrown into a den of lions. The prophet Daniel, who was a leading servant of the king and normally did submit to the government, disobeyed the edict. Daniel carried on praying to Yahweh, the God of Israel, three times a day as he always did.     

Likewise, in Acts 4 when the Sanhedrin told the apostles Peter & John to stop healing and preaching in the name of Jesus, Peter & John replied: “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”      

We submit to the government for the sake of the Lord. Faithful obedience to God is the key to discerning when civil disobedience is called for.

The past several months have been an interesting time. Because of the COVID pandemic the government has, when necessary, put bans on large gatherings with the result that we have missed 18 Sundays of gathered worship so far this year. (12 weeks the first time and 6 weeks the second time.) We have submitted to the government’s requirements and have not overstepped the mark.

We submitted for the sake of the Lord and for the well-being of the wider community. Although we stopped gathering physically for 18 weeks, we did not stop worshipping God. We believe submitting to the government in this context is the right thing to do. It is an act of obedience to God.

Okay, so we are to submit to the government, in accordance with God’s will.

Freedom:

The other word Peter puts alongside submission, in this passage, is freedom.

In verse 16 of chapter 2, in the same breath as telling his readers to submit to the governing authorities, Peter says:  Live as free people,but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil;live as God’s slaves.

As I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon, submission and freedom do not seem like they go together at first. But actually, like salty chips dipped in melted chocolate they are an unexpectedly good match.

Freedom empowers submission. Freedom lends dignity to submission. Freedom is to submission what electricity is to a lightbulb – freedom fulfills the purpose of submission (which is to foster trust and express love).

To understand how freedom relates to submission we need to ensure we have a right understanding of freedom. Most people in contemporary western society think of freedom as the ability to do whatever one wants, so long as it does not harm anyone else. So, in popular culture at least, freedom has to do with self-determination.

But this is not what the Bible means by freedom. In a Christian understanding, freedom is not about an escape from responsibility and service. No. Freedom is about a change of master. Without Christ, our master is sin and death. But with Christ our master is the Living God. And the Lord God Almighty is a far kinder master than any other we could have.

To help us understand this concept of freedom, think of a fish. A fish is free so long as it remains in water. But if the fish decides to go walk about on land it loses its freedom and in fact loses its life. In the same way we human beings are free so long as we remain in God’s will for us. If we reject God as our master, if we remove ourselves from the water of God’s will, then we lose our freedom and our life.

Let me tell you a story to further illustrate what Christians mean by freedom. Once there was a quiver of arrows straight and true. One day one of the arrows, we’ll call him Aaron (Aaron the arrow), decided he was sick and tired of being cooped up in the quiver with all the other arrows. Aaron wanted to be free. As chance would have it Aaron’s wish was granted and he fell out of the quiver onto the ground.

At first he thought, this is great. Out in the fresh air and sunshine. Not jammed in with the other arrows. But before long some children found Aaron and started playing with him. They used his head to draw in the dirt and his shaft in a pretend sword fight. Aaron’s feathers got seriously ruffled. He did not like this at all. After a while the children got bored playing with Aaron and dropped him in the mud.

By and by a dog came along and sniffed at Aaron. The dog picked the arrow up in her mouth and carried it for a while before burying it in the ground under a tree. Aaron disliked this even more than the children playing with him. If this was freedom, then he did not want a bar of it.

As Aaron lay in the damp earth he realized the only way he could be truly free was in his master’s hand. He was an arrow and his purpose was to fly through the air in obedience to his master’s aim. Aaron longed to return to the quiver.  

After a few days lying in his shallow grave, another dog sniffed him out and dug him up. Aaron the arrow was in luck. This was his master’s dog. The dog returned Aaron to his master who cleaned the arrow up and put Aaron in the quiver. Aaron was pleased to be back where he belonged. Now his life had meaning again. Now he was free to fulfill his purpose.

Freedom is about a change of master.

You see freedom is not about being able to do whatever we want. Like Aaron, we are only truly free when we submit to God as our master. We are only truly free in God’s hand, in his will. Christian freedom means being free to serve God.

Joel Green sees the connection between submission and freedom. Joel writes: ‘Submission is best understood as finding and occupying responsibly one’s place in society… In Biblical thought submission is an expression of freedom, not coercion.’ [2]  

The point is, we freely choose to submit to the government in accordance with God’s will for us. We are not to use our freedom as a cover up for evil. We are not to use our religion as a cloak for avoiding our civic responsibility. We are to abide by the laws of the land because in doing this we are really obeying God; swimming in the water of his will.  

Alan Stibbs observes a connection between submission to the governing authorities and freedom in Matthew 5:41. In this verse Jesus is giving an example of what it means to do good to one’s enemies. Under Roman law, a soldier could lawfully require a civilian to carry their load for one mile. But Jesus said, if an occupation soldier forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two. (Go the extra mile.)

The idea here is that when you are compelled to submit you should openly show that you are still free by engaging in more of the same service, willingly and of your own initiative. [3]     

Our submission to the government, therefore, is to be free – it is to be voluntary and willing. In this way, freedom empowers submission. Freedom lends dignity to acts of submission and fulfills the purpose of submission.  

In verse 17 of chapter 2 Peter summarises (in general terms) what it means to live as slaves (or servants) of God, when he says: Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers,fear God, honour the emperor.

That phrase translated as show proper respect is literally honour everyone, in the original Greek. It is the same word translated as honour the emperor. This implies that all human beings (whether they are a slave or Caesar himself) are valuable in God’s sight and deserving of honour and respect, for we are all made in the image of God.

Peter’s message to respect everyone, regardless of gender, race, religion or socio-economic standing, still speaks to our society today. The Me Too movement has highlighted the need to show sexual respect, just as the Black Lives Matter movement has highlighted the need to show racial respect.

We are to respect everyone but we are to love the family of believers. The sort of love in view here is agape love, deeply devoted love, divine love. We are to love other Christians in the same way that God loves us in Christ.

Notice too how we are to honour the emperor but we are to fear God. Fear, in this context, does not mean terror or anxiety. Rather, fear means awe and reverence. It is only when God is given his proper place in the center of things that all other things take their proper place. [4] 

The implication here is that we do not need to fear the emperor (or the government). We need to honour our political leaders, yes, but we do not need to hold them in the same reverence and awe reserved for God. The emperor, the President, the Prime Minister, the Queen; these people are people, they are not God.

Conclusion:

This morning we have heard how submission to the governing authorities and freedom to serve God go together.

We submit to the government, partly because that fosters trust, but mostly as an expression of obedience to God.

Our submission is not forced though. Our submission is freely given and that makes all the difference.

Let us pray…

We thank you Father God for your Son Jesus who show us what it looks like to freely submit to the governing authorities out of obedience to you. Give us wisdom to use our freedom well, for your glory. Help us to know when to submit and when to resist. Give us grace, Almighty God, to respect all people, to love our fellow believers and to fear you, with reverence and awe, above all else. Through Jesus we pray. Amen.

Questions for discussion or reflection:

What stands out for you in reading this Scripture and/or in listening to the sermon? Why do you think this stood out to you?

• Have you ever tasted salty chips dipped in melted chocolate? Did you enjoy this combination of flavours? What other unexpected flavour combinations have you tried that work well together? (A note for group leaders: you might want to bring an assortment of tasty culinary combinations for the people in your group to try. E.g. blue cheese and honey, regular cheese and Krispy biscuits, apple and peanut butter, chips and chocolate, etc.) 

• Why does Peter instruct his readers to submit to the governing authorities?

• What do you think Jesus meant when he said: “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s”? (in Mark 12)

• When is it not appropriate to submit to the government? Can you think of any examples from the Scriptures, or from human history, when civil disobedience was called for?

• What does the Bible mean by freedom? How is this different from a contemporary secular understanding of freedom?

• Discuss / reflect on the dynamic between submission and freedom, particularly with respect to the church’s relationship with the government. How might we (today) apply Jesus’ instruction to ‘go the extra mile’ in our relationship with the governing authorities?

• In 1^st Peter 2:17 we are told to ‘respect everyone, love the family of believers, fear God and honour the emperor’. Which of these four things do you find most difficult? Why is this do you think? What do you need to be able to carry out Peter’s instruction here?  

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[1] John 19:10-11

[2] Refer Joel Green’s commentary on 1^st Peter, pages 73 & 75.

[3] Refer Alan Stibbs’ commentary on 1^st Peter, page 112.

[4] Refer William Barclay’s commentary on 1^st Peter, page 248.