Ok…so it’s going to be one of those weeks again. This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Peter 3:18-22. It goes something like this:
Let me hear all the theories you’ve heard or you have concerning what this text is supposed to be saying. You’ll hear my take (or lack of one) on Sunday!
Have a good weekend…try to stay dry.
Have you ever been misunderstood? Like, where you intended one thing but it was misinterpreted and represented as something else. How did you feel in that experience? Frustrated, angry? What did you want to do? Get even, fight for your reputation, argue to set the record straight?
All of those would be natural responses – but if you’re in a situation where the mechanisms of power are geared against you and your arguments are disregarded – then what?
That was the plight of the early church in Asia Minor to whom Peter was writing. This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Peter 3:13-17 and Peter will be calling his fellow believers to action in the face of unfair treatment and misrepresentation. The call to action is very distinct, yet it carries a host of implications for us to this very day.
As you read the passage, v13 provides the 1st call to action. How would you define “being zealous for what is good“? How would that have any bearing on people misrepresenting you?
The second call to action is found in v15. What preparation do you think is necessary for making a defense for the hope we have? How does Peter say we should present that defense?
The third call to action in v16 is more internalized. Do you think this is calling for sinless perfection? If not, how can we have a good conscience – what is the most obvious way to prevent the label of hypocrite from sticking?
This should be an interesting study this Sunday! See you there!
Phew…made it through last week with nary a death threat.
This Sunday will provide a change in subject matter in examining 1 Peter 3:8-12.
If we were to call this The Apostle Peter’s Guide to Living a Happy and Fulfilled Life…what would be the main thrust of his guide?
When we consider how he encourages us to live, we may feel hard pressed to see how being so others-centered could result in blessing. How do you think we are blessed by blessing others? Have you ever intentionally treated someone nicely who was treating you badly? What did you feel at the time…and what did you feel later on, and was there a difference?
It should prove to be an enlightening, albeit challenging study!
Do you hear the bells of doom ringing? I do.
Why, you ask? Because this Sunday we are going to be reading 1 Peter 3:1-7.
If you’re a woman, how does this text make you feel? This passage has become, in our modern society, a bit of a pariah. We usually stumble around it, embarrassed that it’s there in the first place. But what if we squarely look at what Peter wrote, and what if there is something there that God is saying to us all about our walk of faith?
As you read this passage, I want you to remember the context this passage is found in. Peter began talking about how we relate to governments that can sometimes be unfair, then talked about how slaves should respond to masters who treat them unfairly, now he talks to wives of husbands who oppose the Christian faith. What is the theme of this whole section…the common denominator? When Paul is describing government leaders, do we think he’s trying to describe the best kind of rulers? When he’s describing a slave’s response to an unfair master, do we think he’s affirming slavery? When he’s talking to wives who are expected, in Roman society, to be submissive to their husbands, do we think he’s describing God’s intended role for women? What is Peter mostly addressing in all of these conditions?
The context that started in chapter 2:13 has not changed – and we must be careful not to read this passage in isolation from that theme.
When reading this text with the theme of a Christian response to societal disadvantages – does this text take on a different meaning than it does if read independently of that context? Do you believe Peter is defining roles, or encouraging a good response to less than ideal situations?
In the Roman world the family order was paramount. The family was structured as a patriarchy around the paterfamilias – the husband and father who was head of a household. When a woman married a man, she was expected to adopt his religious beliefs and worship only his household gods. A wife who comes to a faith in Jesus would, of course, stop worshiping any other god. Peter appears to want to minimize the danger that action may pose by encouraging her to be sure she follows all the other cultural norms so that her faith isn’t perceived as a threat to Roman order. He seems to be encouraging wives to express Christian values in a way that doesn’t violate cultural norms.
What are the ways our society sees Christianity and it’s treatment of women? If we were to apply Peter’s intent in this text to our modern setting, what would we encourage wives to do or be?
v7 sort of describes God’s intent for the order in marriage. In light of the theme of societal disadvantages, how would you interpret the description of wives as a “weaker vessel”? “Heirs with you” could also be worded “co-heirs” – what does this indicate to you about God’s intended roles in marriage?
I think it will be a good study. I may be considered a heretic by some when it’s done…but I think this passage deserves a more thorough examination.
This Sunday we’ll be finishing up chapter 2 of 1 Peter – reading 1Peter 2:24-25. To go along with this study, it would be a good idea to become familiar with Isaiah 53. We actually taught on that chapter on Wednesday night a few weeks ago – if you’re interested, you can listen to it here: Isa 53
Peter wants to be sure that we don’t see Christ’s death on the cross just as a good example for us…it’s far more than that. When he says that “He (Jesus) Himself bore our sins” … I’m one who believes that this is talking about the substitutionary atonement provided by Christ’s sacrificial death – though I’m not hard and fast on calling it a Penal Substitution – I do see the early church representing substitution even in the Christus Victor model of atonement. If you don’t agree with this position…well…ok. If you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about…well…ok, too. It’s probably not that important. Sometimes we get pretty caught up in the mechanics of atonement when we should be focused on the implications of atonement. Right?
That’s what we’ll be looking at this Sunday. Jesus bore our sins…think of what that implies. Yes…it means he paid for them and we won’t face the consequences in eternity. But what else does it mean, in the here and now? If Jesus bore them, should we be trying to make up for them? Should be be living in regret over them? What do you think?
By his wounds we are healed. I know that some people think this means that physical healing is guaranteed in the atonement – but I see this as a poetic contrast about life in general. He got hurt, I got healed. I can make a clean break from a sin-centered life and begin brand new. What does this imply about the life we live right now?
Because of the cross, we are returned to the Shepherd, the Guardian of our souls (the life that is unique to each of us). What does the cross tell us about God’s attitude toward us? Is there anything you find encouraging about that – and if so, what?
Hope to see you this Sunday!
This Sunday we’ll be digging into 1 Peter 2:18-23.
Have you ever been treated unfairly – treated badly for no good reason? At work, school or even at home? How did you feel about that? What was your first reaction, and how does it sync with Peter’s description of suffering unfairly? What correlation can we find between unjust suffering and God, or specifically, Jesus?
What Peter describes here is bitter medicine that can produce good results. What can result in your life from applying Peter’s instructions to your life? How would you sum up the message behind these verses?
Should prove to be a challenging but hope-filled passage. See you Sunday!
Hope everyone had an awesome Christmas — I know I did.
This Sunday we’ll be returning to our study in 1 Peter, reading ch 2:11-12.
Peter is now going to be moving from a largely theological perspective to the practical ramifications of what he’s been saying up to now. This is very much like Paul’s approach. In v 11-12 Peter sets up the theme of what this pilgrim journey will look like when it’s lived out in real life.
In v 11, Peter encourages us to redirect our human appetites for two different reasons. What is the first reason, and how do you think that mindset would help you redirect your passions? What is the second reason? Do you think this is Peter telling us to deny that we have appetites and desires that seem unruly at times? Does this sound like Peter condemning us because we experience these passions of the flesh? How does the war imagery help us to find a stable motivation for change in our lives?
In v12 Peter tells us what our loudest testimony is – what is it? How has someone’s behavior effected your view of them, positively or negatively? When we think about our calling to take the GOOD NEWS to the world around us – when the world looks at the behavior of the (21st century American) church (or at least, those who seem to represent it most in the media), do you think our behavior translates as good news? What steps can we take to rightly represent the GOOD NEWS in our lifestyle?
Should prove to be interesting fodder for thought. Hope to see you then!
What a difficult day – how broken this world is. It’s not easy to concentrate and do our necessary tasks in light of the great tragedy this day brought to an unsuspecting town in Connecticut.
Dear God,
we sing songs about a savior coming,
about peace on earth and goodwill toward men,
while in the background we hear the rattle of gunfire
and the sounds of children screaming.
Oh, we slump down to moan.
May your kingdom come,
your will be done on earth,
like it’s done in heaven.
God of all comfort, be with us yet.
This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Peter 2:4-10.
I’ve talked a lot about how the church is not a building – and yet, the church IS something God is building, as Peter so aptly describes it in this passage. All of the things that Peter uses to describe us are taken from the Old Testament descriptions of temple worship under the Mosaic law. What do you think he’s telling us about the nature of the church in the gospel age?
A cornerstone was used in ancient times as the spot the rest of a building would be sited and measured from. If Jesus is that to the church, what does that mean concerning our mission, practice and values?
Note that Peter says that we are a PEOPLE who once were not a people. He doesn’t say person, singular. Does that stir any thoughts about the church – it’s nature and it’s importance? What thoughts have been stirred?
We’ll see you Sunday. Hug your children if you have them. Pray for this broken world — overcome evil with good—-love with all your might.
This Sunday we’ll be reading 1 Peter 1:22-2:3.
In this section Peter makes some strong statements about God’s truth and the word in relationship to our journey as Christ followers.
Now, it’s important to acknowledge that what we mean by the word of God and what Peter meant are not totally the same thing. Peter didn’t have a canonized New Testament, nor did he have immediate access to the Old Testament on a whim. For writers of the New Testament, the concept of the word of God meant the writings they were familiarized with from the Old Testament, and the kerygma – the apostolic proclaimation of the good news about Jesus. Now…I’m someone who believes that we don’t do damage to the original intent by inserting our present, canonized Bible into the meaning of the original writers, because I accept (by faith) that the Old Testament and the kerygma of the gospels developed into the bible we hold today. So…that’ s just my apology for extrapolation in the passage we’re going to read.
Reading about how this truth purified our lives for the purpose of showing love – what does that tell us about the priorities of the biblical revelation? What should the truth of the bible be producing in our lives…and is it?
Peter says that the word of God is living and abiding in and with us – what does that tell us about the nature of God’s word?
In chapter 2, he compares our need and intended longing to a baby craving milk (of the word…or maybe, the word lived out). What effect does Peter believe the word will have on our Christian journey?
How has the word affected you…or has it? In what ways is your life impacted by the story God reveals in Scripture?
Some stuff to ponder…hope to see you on Sunday!
WONDERWHAT 