Living a Blessed Life Through Every Situation--1 Peter 3:8-17 (1 Peter Series)

            What comes to your mind when you think about the idea of being blessed? What sort of events or circumstances might make you think, “Wow! I really feel blessed!” I wanted to get a bit of a sense of what our culture thinks about this idea, so I decided to go to the most accurate source of information about our culture – which is Facebook, of course. I did a search on posts that used the hashtag “blessed,” and by and large, the posts confirmed my suspicion that in our culture, we tend to think of ourselves as being blessed when we have nice stuff.

            On one post, I found a world-class athlete posting that he felt blessed as he was traveling in his private jet. I also found a celebrity who used that hashtag for a selfie as she was laying on a beautiful beach somewhere. But the post that really took the cake was a picture of a man literally lying in a pile of cash!

            But what does it mean to be blessed according to the Bible? How do we pursue a blessed life? In our study of 1 Peter today, the Apostle is going to turn our culture’s idea of being blessed on its head and show us that as Christians, we should measure the blessed life by very different standards, and we pursue it by pursuing godliness at all times and in all situations.

1. Cultivate a culture of blessedness in the Church through connected hearts

            In the first part of our passage for today, Peter once again addresses the entire congregation of the churches who received this letter. He had just given some individual instruction to servants, wives, and husbands, but now he addresses all believers once again in v. 8, where he gives us a summary of how to cultivate a family atmosphere within the Church—which is especially important in light of the opposition to our faith that we encounter from society at large [READ v. 8].

            Please note that when Peter calls us to have “unity of mind,” he’s not talking so much about our opinions – as in, we all have to have the same opinions about absolutely everything – but rather, he’s talking more so about our attitude toward one another. When another believer is involved, my default attitude should be one of pursuing unity. Our common faith in Christ places us on very significant common ground, and so I should seek to live in unity and harmony with my fellow believers.

            Notice also the emphasis that Peter places upon our internal faculties in this verse. We see words like “mind,” “heart,” and “mind” again, and of course sympathy and brotherly love involve our affections and emotions. We might say that Peter is calling for heartfelt connections with each other that form deep bonds.

            It’s not very difficult in a church setting to learn how to exchange small talk with each other or even pal around with each other and share a few laughs when we’re together. But Peter is clearly calling for our bonds to go much deeper. We should have an emotional connection with each other that unites us and leads us to feel each other’s joys and sorrows.

            One key for building these kinds of bonds is to remember that our love for each other really and truly is brotherly (or, we could say sisterly as well!). We really are spiritual siblings because of our shared adoption in the family of God. We are more than just neighbors, more than even just friends. We have a true family bond through Christ, and remembering that is one key for building relationships that touch our hearts.

2. Seek blessedness with others by acting in godly ways at all times

            In verse nine, Peter seems to turn his attention from the church toward society at large. What he’s about to say certainly applies to our relationships with other believers, but it seems that his focus is on our relationships with unbelievers. He gives us the basic command to bless them – even if they don’t do the same to us! [READ v. 9a, through “called”].

            a. “Bless others…” (v. 9a)

            In this verse, we see again the basic principle of Christian ethics that I am not supposed to allow your behavior toward me to dictate my behavior toward you. Peter states that even if someone does evil to us or insults us, we are not supposed to respond in kind. Rather, we are supposed to bless others, and Peter reminds us that God has called us to have this kind of response. It is not just Peter’s own opinion; rather, it is a calling from God.

            Now, what does it mean to bless someone else? In verse 11, will see that it certainly does involve our actions, but the term “bless” itself focuses on what we say. When someone does evil to you or insults you, you can easily cause that conflict to escalate by what you choose to say in response. Peter tells us not to respond with insults of our own, but with language that is still respectful and kind – language that reflects goodwill toward that person rather than hatred or evil.

            As Peter reminded us back in chapter 2, that is exactly how Jesus responded. Verses 22-23 say, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.” Since we are called to imitate Jesus, we should choose to respond like he did when we are insulted or slandered.

            b. “…that you may obtain a blessing” (v. 9b-13)

            Notice that part of the purpose behind this kind of response is mentioned here in the last part of verse nine: “that you may obtain a blessing.” Apparently, this kind of response sets us up to receive a blessing. And what is that blessing? We get a sense of it in this quotation from Psalm 34 that Peter includes in the next few verses [READ vv. 10-13].

            What is the blessing according to these verses? It is a lovable (or pleasant or enjoyable) life that is characterized by a sense of approval from God and peaceful living with others. Peter sums up this blessing with his rhetorical question in verse 13: “who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?”             Generally speaking, people will respond well if you pursue peace with them through the way that you act. This principle seems to be especially true in your personal relationships, like your relationships with your neighbors, coworkers, friends, and family members. Again, generally speaking, you can enjoy the blessing of a living at peace with others if you will treat them in godly ways. Peter may have had a verse like Proverbs 16:7 in the back of his mind here: “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.”

            Obviously, if you treat people in evil ways, you are just asking for trouble – you are bringing it upon yourself. And that’s not just because other people will turn against you, but because the Lord himself will be against your behavior, as it says at the end of verse 12. It’s important for us to remember that just because we are children of God through our faith in Jesus Christ, we don’t get some kind of free pass on sin.

            As with your own children, their tantrums are not somehow less offensive to you just because they’re coming from your own children. In fact, they’re probably more upsetting and embarrassing to you because they are coming from your own children! In the same way that you would oppose that kind of behavior in your kids, God opposes evil behavior in us when we choose to go that route.

            So once again, in general, when we treat other people in godly ways, they will likely respond well to that. At the very least, our behavior is laying the foundation on which peaceful relationships can be built, and those relationships obviously lead to a more lovable or enjoyable life and days that are characterized by good rather than evil coming at us from every side.

Now Peter is also a realist, so he recognizes that there may be times when people do evil to you despite the fact that you are living in a godly way. So he goes on now to deal with that reality and remind us that even in that situation, we can and will find blessing.

            c. “even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed” (vv. 14-17)

            In the first part of verse 14, Peter writes [READ v. 14a]. As Peter wrote this, I imagine that he had the words of Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount ringing in his ears: “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Matthew 5:11-12).”

            Notice in this scenario of suffering for righteousness’ sake that the fullness of the blessing only comes in the future. Jesus said, “your reward is great in heaven.” The persecution itself might be very unpleasant and difficult, and even though you could find satisfaction in your soul from knowing that God was pleased with you, the fullness of the blessing in store for you would come later.

            Peter himself had already experienced persecution for his faith, and in Acts chapters 4-5, he gives us an example of the kind of response he now calls for here – not to be afraid in those moments, but to view them as an opportunity to share your faith in Christ.

            [READ v. 14b-15a] What Peter means here is that in our hearts and minds, we have to continue to keep Jesus in a class by himself. In our thinking, we have to keep Jesus exalted above those who are persecuting us so that we won’t allow fear of our persecutors to lead us to be unfaithful to Christ. So, for example, we have to remember that disappointing Jesus is far worse than disappointing other people. If they want us to walk away from our faith in Christ, we have to remember that such betrayal would be far worse than letting them down.

            Also, we have to remember that Jesus is still truly the one in charge of our lives even if our persecutors may seem to be in control of the situation. So we can’t let any fear of other people force our opinion of them to grow out of proportion. Christ is still the Lord over all, and we must honor him as such with our obedience.

            When we keep Jesus in a class by himself, then we are prepared to respond as Peter calls us to in the rest of verse 15 [READ v. 15b]. We should look at these moments as opportunities to share our faith! When people treat you poorly and cause you to suffer, it can be shocking to them when you don’t respond the same way. When you respond to them with kindness and love and confidence in your faith, it can lead them to say, “Why are you doing this?”

            Notice that Peter calls us to explain our hope in Christ “with gentleness and respect.” Apparently we’re not supposed to say, “I’m doing this because one of these days, God is going to crush you under his feet, you filthy pagan!” No – rather we should speak with kindness, even with compassion for this person who obviously needs to hear and understand the gospel.

            Even the next part of Peter’s instructions is not motivated by a sense of personal triumph, but the notion that guilt and shame might bring our persecutors to repentance and faith in God [READ v. 16]. Like the Philippian jailer or the thief on the cross, godly behavior in the midst of suffering can be a powerful tool that God can use to bring people under the conviction of the Holy Spirit to lead them to repent of their sins. That should be our desire even for those who cause us to suffer for our godly behavior! If God was merciful and gracious enough to forgive us, how can we not forgive those who do us wrong and show them compassion by sharing the Gospel with them so they can find the same hope in Christ that we have?

            Peter sums up his teaching in verse 17 by saying [READ v. 17]. If we are going to suffer because of our own personal conduct, it’s far better than our conduct was good rather than evil. If we suffer because of evil that we had done, we’ve brought that suffering on ourselves. There won’t be a blessing that comes from it, and it certainly won’t create an opportunity for us to have a powerful testimony to other people. But if we suffer for doing good, we will be blessed by God, and what’s more, we could be used by God in a mighty way to bring other people to faith in him.

            So no matter our situation, we can obtain a blessing through godly behavior. Most of the time, that blessing will be the peace that we enjoy with other people in the pleasant enjoyment that comes from a life that’s characterized by peace rather than turmoil. And even if it should come about that our godly behavior leads to persecution, we can gain the blessing of a reward from God in Heaven, and the opportunity to shine as a bright light for Christ in the midst of darkness.