Sermon for MHBC (3 July 2022). You can watch on our website or on Facebook or YouTube. Live at 11:00am on Sundays.
Christians live in tension. On one hand, we find ourselves part of nations and kingdoms of the world and interacting with governments and authorities.
On the other hand, we read passages in Scripture such as Philippians 3:20 where we are told: For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Christians are caught between two kingdoms. We are residents of an earthly kingdom—in our case here the USA. We are part of the city of man. But as Christians our ultimate citizenship likes in another Kingdom—the Kingdom of God. We are part of the city of God.
Our task this morning is to talk about how we understand our “dual citizenship.” And I propose the following: Our commitment to the Kingdom of God is the basis on which we interact with our country. Put another way, it is our citizenship in God’s Kingdom that informs how we relate to the culture around us.
There are a lot of passages of Scripture that address these issues, but 1 Peter 2 gives us plenty to think about. Let’s start in v. 11. First Peter 2:11: Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.
Notice the language of sojourners and pilgrims. You’ll find various translations such as “sojourners and exiles,” “aliens and strangers,” “temporary residents.” All of this gets at the temporary nature of our time in this world and it also means we are representing a foreign Kingdom—one not of this world.
And with this language of sojourners and pilgrims, Peter is tapping into a theme that is all over the NT. Peter is doing something he does throughout the letter. He is picking up an OT theme and applying it to the church.
It starts with God’s choice of a man named Abram. The Lord tells Abram to go from his country to a new land, thus Abram became a sojourner, a pilgrim, an exile. When Israel is delivered from Egypt, they spend 40 years wondering in the wilderness. Later, after the kingdoms crumble, Israel finds herself in exile in foreign countries. That’s the imagery Peter is tapping into.
And he’s tapping into it because the church is the continuation of God’s people.[1] Modern nations are not in covenant with God. The church is. No earthly nation represents God’s people.
So Christians are exiles and sojourners. In other words, no country, state, or city can be our ultimate home. One early letter outside the NT puts it this way, using one of the same words as Peter: “[Christians] dwell in their own countries, but as sojourners.”[2] The significance of this is to point out that our hearts go astray whenever we make any earthly good our hope. In fact, we are setting ourselves up for failure.
But rather than making us apathetic toward our homelands, our identity as God’s people compels us to actively work for the good and benefit of our country. We do this as an expression of our love for God. Notice what Peter says in 1 Peter 2:13: Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.
We do it for the Lord’s sake. All of our service, all of our life, is meant to be directed toward God. That means that, for the Christian, our love for God fuels our love for our country. Let me put it another way. Learning to love our country best means loving it for God’s sake. The difference is not a clever switch in words. The difference is whether our worship is directed at the Creator or the creature.
It’s our love for the Lord that drives us to serve, honor, and love our country. Consider the fifth commandment: “Honor your father and your mother.” The thrust of the command goes beyond our biological parents. It also includes what we call our fatherland or motherland.
And that commandment like all the commandments is rooted in the very first one: “You shall have no other gods before Me..” In other words, nothing else can be our ultimate good. This is an important point on biblical gratitude. We should resist the tendency to make our gratitude, our thanksgiving, our celebration, about the gift rather than the Giver.
Again, it is out of our love for God that we serve our country best. Let me draw your attention to our second reading from Jeremiah 29. Israel is in exile. She longs to return to her own land and her own government. But look at the Lord’s instruction in Jeremiah 29:4–7:
Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all who were carried away captive, whom I have caused to be carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters—that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.
The Lord intends for his people to be a source of grace and blessing wherever they are. Remember this is precisely the promise given to Abram in Genesis 12—“in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Several early Christians argued that they were the best servants of the country. For example, the early Church Father, Origen, said that Christians serve their country best due to their prayers and their conduct.[3] Likewise, the Church Father, Tertullian, said that while Christians would never worship their nation, they prayed to the one true God on its behalf and that was the best gift any king could hope for.[4]
A more practical example of working for the good comes from our own Baptist tradition. Baptists are the champions of the freedom of religion. Virginia Baptists, in particular, labored for freedom of religion. Even though they disagreed with other groups, they desired freedom because they believed freedom of religion was a benefit for their country. They believed it was a benefit to others to “own” their faith freely.
So what does our posture toward our country look like? Peter gives us some concrete directions. I want to pick back up in vv. 11–12 and walk you through this passage, making a few general observations.
First Observation: The uniqueness of our conduct prepares us to be productive citizens.
Look at vv. 11–12: Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Notice that this conduct should mark Christians out as sojourners and pilgrims. There is a way of living that suggests we are not of this world.
And this has two aspects. There is an individual aspect. These fleshly lusts or desires will destroy my soul. We aren’t just talking about breaking rules. We are talking about the corrosion of our soul. We are talking about warfare. Entertaining desires is destructive. Embracing gossip is like an artillery shell hitting our soul. Allowing pride to take root is like allowing enemy troops to encamp in our heart. These things may feel good, but they are actually strategically destroying the good parts of our soul.
And it is not only a private affair. Our conduct represents our God to the world. We are witness to who God is by our conduct. If our conduct is compelling, then God will be glorified.
All of this, then, flows out of an intent to please God. So, for us to honor our country best, we must fix our intent on pleasing and glorifying God. Or in Jesus’s words: Seek first the kingdom of God, the rest will follow.[5]
Second Observation: Our default position toward government should be willing obedience and respect. [6]
Look at vv. 13–14: Therefore submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.
If we can obey without violating clear instructions from the Lord, then we do so. This basic position of obedience and respect is rooted in the Christian view of God. Governments are under the authority of God. In Romans 13:1 Paul gives the same instruction, and he gives us a reason: Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Paul goes on to explain that God has instituted human governments for the purpose of restraining evil. So governments who function for the general welfare of the people should not only be obeyed and respected, but they should also be part of our gratefulness to the Lord.
Third Observation: We are doing the will of God when our lives are compelling.
Look at vv. 15–16: For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God. Notice the reason for a compelling life is our commitment to pleasing the Lord. Compelling lives silence critics, not because the critics stop being critical, but because their criticism has no basis in reality. This is rooted in our citizenship in God’s Kingdom. Peter says we do this as bondservants of God.
Fourth Observation: Christian relations are to be exemplary in every area of life.
Verse 17 is short but very interesting. Look at it with me: Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Four phrases. There are a lot of theories on this verse, but here’s what I think is going on. Notice the first phrase and the fourth phrase have the same verb—honor. Those are our bookends, and they draw our attention to the middle two phrases: love the brotherhood; fear God.[7] Our general posture toward our fellow people (or in Jesus’s language “our neighbors”) should be honor and respect. We treat them with dignity because they, too, are made in the image of God. Our general posture toward our leaders and rulers should be honor and respect. We treat them with dignity because they are part of God’s plan for the world.
But the central task of our lives as Christians is to have deep communion with God and to be in community with God’s people. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Love the brotherhood refers to the church. Fear God is the central command of the whole of Scripture. The biblical word fear can carry the sense of terror, reverence, obedience, love, and faith. But it all comes down to giving God everything.
In this one verse, we are given general direction for every area of our lives. One of my favorite commentators on 1 Peter says that this verse is“a comprehensive reference to all contexts in which a Christian lives: social, ecclesial, spiritual, and political.”[8] Christians are to live exemplary lives in every area.
It is our citizenship in God’s Kingdom that informs how we relate to the culture around us. As we take up the values and habits and practices of God’s Kingdom, we increasingly become the type of people we see here in 1 Peter and in Jeremiah 29. And it’s through our respect and obedience that we draw attention to God’s Kingdom—a Kingdom not like the ones in this world.[9] So we work and labor and pray for our country all while praying “thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
[1] See Frederick W. Danker, “1 Peter 1:24, 2:17: A Consolatory Pericope.” ZNW 58. (1967): 99.
[2] To Diognetus 5.5: πατρίδας οἰκοῡσιν ἰδίας, ἀλλ’ ὡς πάροικοι.
[3] Contra Celsus, 73–74 https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/04168.htm
[4] https://earlychurchtexts.com/public/tertullian_on_loyalty_to_emperor.htm
[5] Matt 6:33
[6] The connection to the preceding verses is explained by J. Ramsey Michaels as an answer to the unstated
question of how Christians should respond to enemies. The answer: “with submission or deference (however defined) and the doing of good” (1 Peter, WBC 49, p. 123).
[7] Elliott, 1 Peter, pp. 497–501.
[8] Karen Jobes, 1 Peter, p. 171.
[9] John 18:36.