"Duty
of Man"
I
Peter 2:17, "Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the
king."
This
morning, people spend tremendous sums of money for professional help to answer
basic questions like "Who am I?" and "Why am I here?" There are doubtless cases
when people are truly confused about the meaning of basic things in life as
psychiatric depression is as real an illness to the mind as diabetes or cancer
is to the body. However, many today look for an "out" for not doing something
they know they should do, and some want to smooth over and cover their
laziness. Society today almost fetes laziness sometimes hiding behind the
curtains of "I just didn't know." Sadly, God's children can fall victim to this
mindset as well. True story: a minister visited a couple on an occasion to talk
to them about some behavior in their decorum that could bring a reproach upon
the church. After laying out the problem, the minister was accosted verbally by
the wife with, "Preacher, if you would just preach on this, we wouldn't do it."
While softly trying to express that these concepts were declared and expounded
regularly from the pulpit, the woman got madder and madder as her "cover" for
their slackness was falling to pieces. Our duty is not a hard concept to
understand, but regrettably, we fail to accept and follow it a lot of the time.
Our
study verse is structured as 4 simple sentences, and when collectively
considered, the whole of our decorum can be vividly seen. While each sentence
is a subject unto itself, the collection defines our duty easily and
succinctly. Before we consider these individual parts, we first need to
understand that Peter's main course through this portion of his epistle is to
show that our example - Jesus Christ - is supreme in all aspects of decorum.
Verses 21-24 declare our Example's conduct as clearly as our study verse shows
the duties of our conduct. Therefore, we will frame these individual parts
against the backdrop of Him in all things.
"Honour all men." Peter's first
declaration is to give all men the respect befitting of our graciousness in the
Lord. The word "honour" here literally means to give value or estimation to
something or someone. Now, it is plain from Scripture that there are people in
the world that are not part of God's family that will spend an eternity in shame
and contempt through punishment. Matthew 25 describes these people as goats
that the King will tell to depart from Him. These people have no goodness in
them, and faith is an alien concept, action, or thing to them. (II Thessalonians
3:2) So, if there are people in this world that are not good at all, how could
we fix any estimation or value to someone (honour them) as is our duty to do?
Excellent question! Consider the steps and conduct of the Master. Though He
will one day judge them in righteousness and banish them from His glory and
blessings to utter ruin, He still gives them "types" of honour here.
One
example would be found in Matthew 5:45. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ
encourages His disciples to do good to others, particularly emphasizing those
that are evil. Why? Even our Father sends natural blessings and honours unto
the unjust as well as the just. They get sunlight every day, rain in due
season, and can live in nations that are blessed by the providence of Almighty
God. No doubt there have been goats a plenty living in America since her
founding a couple hundred years ago. Yet, they have enjoyed the liberties and
privileges that we as God's faithful believe come to us by God's blessing. If
God can so give natural honour and goodness to these men, so can we. If in need
or having lack, we should be ready and willing to provide the blessings we can
should the opportunity arise.
"Love the brotherhood." Though we
should be faithful and honourable to all people and live in peace as much as
possible with them (Romans 12:18), there should be something special about
certain people in this world. Peter here calls it the brotherhood, and the term
is synonymous with Scripture's reference of "brethren" or "brother." These are
considered our kin, and in respect to Christ, the kinship goes beyond and
further than natural ties and bonds. The brotherhood should be the most special
people on earth. Paul showed this contrast in Galatians 6:10 when he exhorted
the brethren to do good to all men but especially the household of faith. While
we should be willing to distribute and help our fellowman when he is in need,
how much moreso should we do with the brethren?
To
put it in the form of a natural illustration, I love children, and though people
probably think I have lost my marbles from time to time, I like talking to the
babies, toddlers, and young children particularly at church. Sometimes they
laugh at me, sometimes they draw up at my ugly countenance, but I still enjoy
it. However, with other people's children, I am more reactive in my approach to
them. If they want to ignore me, that is fine. If they want to interact, that
is fine too. I try not to press it. However, with my own children, I take a
very proactive approach. If I call them, I expect them to answer. If I talk to
them or ask them something, I expect a response. Why? They are my children
while the others are not. When we honour all men, the approach may be a
reactive one (if we see something or a need that we can help), but with our own
brethren of the kindred in Christ, we should be proactive to them and with
them. Love does not wait to be asked to do something, but rather, it seeks
objects of that love. When I met the woman that would become my wife, I did not
wait to talk to her or see if anything came up. I went after her! When it
comes to Christ's kindred in this world, our love should go after them to
sacrifice ourselves for them as we can.
"Fear God." Many times we can get in
trouble when we read a word as the same thing every time. People confuse
themselves terribly when they read "saved" or "salvation" the same way in
Scripture every time. While saving is a deliverance, there are many types and
situations, which must be drawn from the context. The word "fear" in Scripture
is that way. Oftentimes, Scripture declares fear as something good that we
should do (like this verse, Psalm 111:10, Ecclesiastes 12:13, and others) while
it is a bad thing at other times (I John 4:18, II Timothy 1:7). How do we
reconcile this? Bad fear is literally a mortal dread and anxiety that can grip
and paralyze us. Such a fear we should seek to avoid, knowing that we have a
merciful God in heaven that takes care of us. The good fear in the Bible
literally means respect, reverence, and obedience.
The
fear of God that we should exhibit as our duty on earth does not mean cowering
in the corner hoping He does not kick us on His way by. That is what Adam and
Eve did in the Garden of Eden after the fall. The fear of Him that gives
wisdom, knowledge, understanding, and instruction indicates that we have such
respect for Him and His ways that we desire to please Him in all things. If He
commands it, so be it. If He forbids it, so be it. This is the same kind of
fear that children should learn and show for their parents since the parents are
charged with their care and upbringing. That kind of responsibility deserves
and demands respect, and how much more for our Father in heaven for all the care
and responsibility that He has taken for us! Surely one that has done so much
and held us so dear deserves all the respect and reverence that our being can
display!
"Honour the king." One might wonder
why this commandment is included as it would seem to be understood in the first
command in the verse of "Honour all men." Though honouring the king is a subset
but included in honouring all men, the Bible will from time to time emphasize
something for our benefit. As fallen, broken creatures, we need reminding about
different things and some things more than others. We could be told to honour
all men, but by emphasizing the king, Scripture gives us reason to think that
honouring the king might be more difficult from time to time than the general
command. Hence, the emphasis. Consider that bad rulers have plagued human
history, and will likely continue to do in the future. It would be far easier
to help someone in need that you had never seen act poorly than it would be to
honour an earthly ruler or magistrate whose sins had been evident for all to
see. We have a tendency to hold and harbor ill feelings to those that we feel
personally wronged by. Ruling over people is difficult in this way even for
those that try to rule well. Your shortcomings are more manifest than others,
making you the repeated target of grudges, abuse, etc.
When
considering Paul's openings to his epistles, there is a slight variation between
"church epistles" and "minister epistles." In all the church epistles, Paul
includes "grace and peace be unto you" within the opening greeting. In the
minister epistles, he says, "grace, mercy, and peace be unto you" as Paul well
understood that the minister needed a dose of mercy as he tried to lead and
guide the sheep of God's heritage. In that sense by watching over their souls
(Hebrews 13:17), Paul knew that they would come under fire and criticism.
Hence, he begged mercy for them as well as grace and peace. Whether someone is
under the rule of a wicked or righteous magistrate, honour is still the
command. In the last few years, I have heard upset but misguided people say
comments like "he is not my president" and "I'll pray for the office but not the
man." Whether someone likes their rulers or not, they are still the rulers, and
here we are commanded to honour the king not the kingship (man not just the
office). Scripture may emphasize this command for the office's sake, but the
man is to be prayed for.
Friends, much more could be said about each of these commands, as we have
mentioned them being whole subjects to themselves. However, we have tried to
skim the high points to line out the fullness of the bounds that Peter here
considers. Against the backdrop of Christ, we see where He honours all men,
even those that rose up against Him. He was willing to heal the ear of Malchus
in the Garden of Gethsemane after Peter struck it off even though Malchus was
part of the mob coming to arrest Him. He chose Judas as one of the 12 though He
knew that Judas was a devil that would betray Him. Christ showed the highest
order of love to His brethren by laying down His life for them and also by
displaying it in every step while He walked this low ground. Christ showed His
Father respect at every turn always doing those things that please Him, and
praying to His Father often while doing His Father's business. Finally, Christ
abode as a good citizen even to the point of avoiding a revolt that would have
made Him an earthly king. He also paid taxes to avoid offending others, while
also not assailing the high priest even when the high priest was wrong for
trying Him in the kangaroo court brought against Him. His conduct was pristine,
even when those around Him were handling Him wrongfully. Friends, why should we
seek for less? Let us be up and about in the Master's good way.
In
Hope,
Bro
Philip |