Mining Grace

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme,  or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good.  For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people.  Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.  Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor… For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.  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.  He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.  For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

-1 Peter 2:13-17, 21-25

Peter was infatuated with the cross.  That holy wooden pier and cross bar where Jesus destroyed the power of death was for Peter a consuming location.  His letters are saturated with talk of Jesus’s atoning grace and the subsequent implications for Christians as they live out their lives.  The passage quoted above is Peter’s teaching on submissions.  He talks about submission to the government, to your boss, to your spouse, and generally in the family of God.  But what stands out about this discourse on submission is the pause in the middle.  Peter takes verses 21-25 to exalt the power of the cross with a paraphrase of Isaiah 53.  He shows quite literally that the cross is at the center of all submission, especially submission to the government.

That leads me to ask you, “Does Barak Obama lead you to the cross?”

Peter wants you to submit to him and his incoming administration.  But this is not an empty submission.  This is not murmur ridden submission.  Nor does this submission deny your right to civil disobedience.  What this submission should do, however, is lead you to the cross.  Jesus left us an example (v 21).  Jesus submitted to earthy rulers.  Jesus submitted to death.  He entrusted himself to his father who judges justly while corrupt judges condemned him to death.  He asked his Father to forgive his enemies as they spit, beat, and killed him.  He submitted well when he had the full right to just and complete retaliation.  And in his submission he left us an example of how to submit to our government: submission with the cross front and center.  It is a submission that costs us something.  It is submission that shows we care more about Jesus and other people than ourselves.  It is submission that shows by example the power of the cross.

So I ask you, “Does Barak Obama lead you to the cross?”  He should.

For Further Reading

Living the Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing, by CJ Mahaney