Presence Weekly 11/10/2024, "The Paradox of Obedience, Part 3"

We have been walking through 1 Peter, and it is at just this point that Peter explains why we obey, or the motivation of obedience when he writes, 

¹⁷ And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourself with fear (read: reverent awe) throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The Motivations of the World

The motivation for our obedience, like the foundation and the practice of obedience is presented as an imperative – “conduct yourself with reverent awe!” Due to how we use language today, the use of the word fear here may prove distracting, confusing, and even unhelpful. The public square has a way of punishing those who do not “get with the program.” In some instances, PACs can pull funding, parties can withdraw support, agendas can be blocked, and primary challengers can be raised. 

As we have said, perhaps a better way of putting it is reverent awe. For many, the word fear conjures an image of an angry judge and brings an obedience based in avoiding punishment. Our Father who judges impartially, but out of love, is not like this. So for us, our motivation should not flow from fear of punishment. 

The motivation for our obedience also does not come from legalism: the kind of obedience that seeks to merit favor with God by devising special rules of righteousness. This kind of obedience was constantly rebuked by all the prophets right up to, and including, Jesus. Legalistic obedience is the kind of obedience that the Pharisees were pursuing in setting limits as to when people could be healed, who people could eat with, and their fostering of a religious caste system based on external obedience. Rather, our motivation for obedience comes from reverent awe of God– or, in other words, worship.

Again, those serving and leading in the public square can fall victim to this motivation for obedience. We can obey for the sake of garnering public support despite our true convictions. We can make our public square service and leadership all about convincing ourselves, and others, that we are good, because of what we did or promise to do (at least publicly). Obedience to earn merit is nothing more than legalistic righteousness - which is rejected by God 

Motivations of the Gospel

Christian obedience is fueled by our sense of our value. We should now understand the brilliance with which Peter has unfolded his message. Before getting to the idea of motivation, Peter has laid the foundation for this aspect of his message by starting with our identity and value. The reason for this is simple: in the still small corners, many of us sometimes struggle with self-worth! Some of us experience this in the boardrooms when we convince ourselves that we are the soon-to-be-discovered imposter.

Self-worth matters because when we have no self-worth we are susceptible to doing anything because we see ourselves as without value. Peter offers this remedy: we have been ransomed not with gold or silver but the precious blood of Christ. The most precious thing that has ever been paid for anything was paid for us.

The motivation for obedience also comes from a sense of purpose. Notice what Peter says, we were ransomed from our futile ways. In other words, before becoming Christians, our lives were futile. Not that our lives were meaningless, but that they did not get us anywhere with God. Our lives were directed at whatever vain and temporary pleasure we were pursuing. Now, as followers of Christ, we have been rescued from that futility and given lives of purpose. We have been called into mission with Christ to make disciples of all nations. This sense of purpose, like our sense of value, fuels worship that becomes the motivation for our obedience. This is the kind of motivation that we need if we are going to endure throughout our time in exile. Otherwise, we will eventually give up and go back to our vain pursuits. 

I heard this quote this past week during a conversation in Washington, “When we believe the truth of Scripture we will understand that the ‘cost of discipleship’ [whatever we have to give up now] is outweighed by the value and purpose we gain in obedience to Christ.” 

Motivation through Worship

As Christians we are given a motivation for obedience that flows from the fact that we are given value and purpose. These two components combine to fuel worship! Rather than contextually or culturally developed motivations based in avoiding punishment or garnering favor, our motivation for obedience becomes a worship that endures the many obstacles of life.

We obey the will of God because we are thankful that we “were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Pe 1:18–19)” and, we “have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for 

“All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. 
The grass withers, and the flower falls, 
²⁵ but the word of the Lord remains forever.” 1 Pe 1:23–25.

We might paraphrase that to say, 

“All flesh is like legislative agenda, 
The platform withers, the party falls, 
but the Word of the Lord stands forever.” 

Next week, we will look at the final aspect that makes up the paradox of our obedience - blessing! 

Application Questions

What motivations do you typically see in your workplace? Do coworkers strive to gain favor, avoid punishment, establish self-worth or confirm an identity? How can you model a more beautiful, gospel approach?

What usually motivates your obedience to God’s Word? Do you obey to avoid punishment, do you fall into the trap of legalism, or is there another motivation for you?

In your current circumstances, what are the costs of discipleship? If you are struggling to obey and to endure these costs, ask God to help you trust that there is value and purpose in your obedience.

• Monday: Morning: Joel 1:1-13, Revelation 18:15-24, Luke 14:12-24, Psalm 80 // Evening: Psalm 77
• Tuesday: Morning: Joel 1:15-2:2, Revelation 19:1-10, Luke 14:25-35, Psalm 78:1-39 // Evening: Psalm Psalm 78:40-72
• Wednesday: Morning: Joel 2:12-19, Revelation 19:11-21, Luke 15:1-10, Psalm 119:97-120// Evening: Psalm 81,82
• Thursday: Morning: Joel 2:21-27, James 1:1-15, Luke 15:1-2, 11-32, Psalm 83 // Evening: Psalm 85,86
• Friday: Morning: Joel 2:28-3:8, James 2:1-13, Luke 16:1-9, Psalm 88 // Evening: Psalm 91,92
• Saturday: Morning: Joel 3:9-17, James 1:16-27, Luke 16:10-17, Psalm 87,90 // Evening: Psalm 136
• Sunday: Morning: Habakkuk 1:1-4, Philippians 3:13-4:1,
  Matthew 23:13-24, Psalm 66,67 // Evening: Psalm 19,46

• Cabinet Agency: The Veterans Health Administration, which is America’s largest integrated health care system, providing care at 1,380 health care facilities, including 170 medical centers and 1,193 outpatient sites of care of varying complexity (VHA outpatient clinics), serving 9.1 million enrolled Veterans each year (including the father of our founder and President).
• Think Tank, Lobby group, NGO: The staff of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) which advocates for justice for our nation's veterans, service members and military families on an array of issues and continues to be the voice for veterans everywhere. 
• Weekly delegation: The Congressional delegation from the state of Michigan. 
• News: For the many veterans currently serving and leading in the public square. For numerous individuals working on transition planning for the incoming administration, and the agency officials working on an efficient transfer of power. 
• Personal requests: For multiple individuals interviewing for positions in the incoming administration. For two individuals transitioning out of their appointed positions within the Executive Branch. For a couple who are trying to conceive a child. For a couple working on improving communication within their marriage. For a couple dealing with a miscarriage.

• Read this first → Comment Magazine has an ESSENTIAL article from Daniel Hummel, Meaning in Decline: The surprising influence of premillennial eschatology on American culture.
• Watch this → AEI has posted the full video from last week’s, AEI Election Watch 2024: What Happened, and What’s Next?. Their panel provides an excellent overview of the election demographics. 
• First Things has an important essay by Alec Ryrie detailing his take on our cultural moment, The End of the Age of Hitler. 
• The Rabbit Room has a beautiful and recalibrating piece on corporate worship, which is the Foreword to Rabbit Room Press's New Scripture Hymnal.

• Monday is Veterans Day. Please thank a vet!
• Tuesday, November 12, 10:00 - 11:00 am, the Hudson Institute will host an IN-PERSON event, “The Myth of American Inequality.” Senator Gramm and Hudson President and CEO John P. Walters will discuss how economic statistics suggest cohesion rather than divergence among Americans
• Tuesday, November 12, 1:00 - 2:00 pm ET, the Hoover Institution will host an ONLINE event, “Polling: What Is on the Minds of Americans” with David Brady, Doug Rivers, Daron Shaw, Lynn Vavreck, and Brandice Canes-Wrone. 
• Friday, November 15, 10:30 am - 11:45 am, the Brookings Institution will host an ONLINE event “Reproductive rights and justice: The post-election landscape.”
• Friday, November 15, 12:00 - 1:00 pm, Faith & Law’s Friday Forum, in partnership with Grove City College will feature, “Where Are We Now? Faith in the Public Square.”
• Friday - Sunday, you can take in the FREE Umbrella Art Fair. “A vibrant celebration of art in all its forms comes to DC for one weekend only, creating opportunities for artists and creative entrepreneurs to showcase their craft. Check out the online schedule and take your pick of happy hours, art and music showcases, film screenings and a record fair.”

The public square, and life everywhere, is filled with voices speaking to us and opportunities for us to speak. As we have all just experienced during election season, not only can the voices we hear come without ceasing, they can come with a volume that cannot be quieted.

It’s for these reasons that we recommend Dallas Willard’s classic work, Hearing God: Developing a Conversational Relationship with God. In addition to the constant, diverse, and loud voices of the public square, we also live in an age where having conversations with Someone who we cannot see is equated with some form of mental illness. It is against this backdrop that Willard encourages us to engage with God in the way exemplified in Scripture: through expecting God to speak to us, directly. That doesn’t necessarily mean an audible voice, but Willard is careful to explain that it might include just that. His overview of the history, theology, and blessing of conversing with God is much needed today. The opportunities for us to hear from God have not changed in millennia: his Word, prayer, others, the “still small voice,” our Spirit to spirit, and, yes, even audible voice. While also laying out some protocols of discernment, Willard grounds everything he says in a deeply robust and orthodox theology and leaves the details of the conversation to the participants.