The timing could not have been more serendipitous if it had been orchestrated. Just three days before the GARBC’s 2015 annual conference, the United States Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage nationwide. The Bible book study slated for the conference sessions was the first epistle of Peter, a letter written to first-century believers on the cusp of experiencing severe persecution from the governmental authorities of the day. Since conservative American Christians are presently on edge wondering when the legal fallout from the SCOTUS decision will begin and what form it will take, to call these messages timely would be to utter an understatement of cosmic proportions.
The connection did not escape the notice of Tim Jordan, keynote speaker for Tuesday evening’s session. “We are about to be thrown into one of the greatest opportunities we’ve imagined to speak truth into the darkness,” he said. “Peter was used of God to prepare believers to deal with difficulty well. Because difficulty is sometimes our very best opportunity for advancing the gospel.”
According to Jordan, the primary message of 1 Peter 2 is twofold: believers must remember who we are, and remember who they are. We are the children and temple of God, “a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, [God’s] own special people” (1 Pet. 2:9), “sojourners and pilgrims” (1 Pet. 2:11). By contrast, they are the human authority structures here on earth, and we are citizens of another country. And this realization bears striking implications for how we should go about living our lives. “When I visit China, I’m not really worried about the local elections and I’m not worried about the price of housing,” Jordan says. “I’m just visiting!” By contrast, Christians are altogether too prone to getting caught up in the affairs of the world. “We don’t even have green cards!” Jordan insists. “We’re just here as aliens for a while. And we don’t own this place; it doesn’t belong to us. Our citizenship is in Heaven. And as far as I know, God’s still running it.”
In relation to the human authority structures, believers are expected to “honor all people,” “love the brotherhood,” and “honor the king” (1 Pet. 2:16). That can be difficult, particularly in times of political adversity. But it is our calling nonetheless.
In relation to God, believers are called upon to proclaim His excellencies (1 Pet. 2:9, 10), a noble injunction tinged by a slightly foreboding undertone: “If our lives are going to be the platform for God to step in and do heroic deeds, what is that going to mean is going on in our lives?” The answer is trouble. And none of us likes trouble. But Jesus, Peter writes, provides the pattern for submission to God in perilous times: “When He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously” (1 Pet. 2:23). “We are to continue to entrust the safekeeping of our lives to God,” Jordan explains. “If He is for us, who can be against us? If God wants me alive, who can take my life? If God wants me to have a job, who can take it from me? If God wants it gone, how can I keep it? If God wants me in Heaven, who’s going to keep me here?”
Time and again God has shown Himself to be unfailingly trustworthy. So the question is, why don’t we trust Him more? “My security is not guaranteed me by our government or by some super-duper corporation,” Jordan reminds the conference attendees as Tuesday night’s session draws to a close. “My security—my safety—is guaranteed me by Jesus. And He looks at us as His prized possession. He paid an awfully high price for us. He is deeply invested in us. So as this world gets crazier, we need to entrust the safekeeping of our souls, our ministries, and our families, to Him.”
Tim Jordan is pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in Lansdale, Pennsylvania.
Hear the sermon audio below:
