High Class in Subordinate Position
Pervasive
1 Peter 2:18-21
February 22, 2015
Problem #1: Why doesn’t Peter address the ____________________
of institutional slavery?
1) The institution of slavery was too ____________________.
2) The institution of slavery was too ____________________.
3) Christianity would ____________________ slavery by being “itself”.
“It is clear…that some men are by nature free, and others slaves, and
that for these latter slavery is both expedient and right.” – Aristotle
“[Christianity] brings us into an atmosphere in which the institution [of
slavery] could only wilt and die.” – F.F. Bruce
On being brought from Africa to America (1773)
’T WAS mercy brought me from my pagan land,
Taught my benighted soul to understand
That there’s a God – that there’s a Saviour too;
Once I redemption neither sought nor knew.
Some view our sable race with scornful eye –
‘Their colour is a diabolic dye.’
Remember, Christians, Negroes, black as Cain,
May be refined, and join the angelic train.
~ Phillis Wheatley
per·va·sive: adj. existing in or spreading through every part of something
Problem #2: Since slavery has been abolished, how is Peter’s
message to 1st Century Christian slaves ____________________ to
me?
1) It recognizes that there are differing ____________________ in society.
2) It recognizes that it is all too common for us to find ourselves under authority
of those who use their power void of ____________________ and
____________________.
3) It reminds us that ____________________ has the final word and takes a
personal interest in our situation.
Problem #3: Even if it is, what can ____________________ a godly
response to behave better than you are treated in such a difficult
setting?
1) Work is ____________________.
“How can any one remain interested in a religion which seems to have
no concern with nine-tenths of his life?”
“Whenever man is made the center of things, he becomes the storm
center of trouble….”
“If work is to find its right place in the world, it is the duty of the
Church to see to it that the work serves God, and that the worker
serves the work.”
~ Dorothy Sayers in the Essay, “Why Work?”
2) God ____________________ the righteous representation of His Son,
particularly where there is opposition to it.
3) Others may be ____________________.
per·va·sive: adj. existing in or spreading through every part of something