the slave Savior

I am not the right person to write this. I'm from the slave owner class, the employer caste. When it comes to this section of scripture I want to take a pass. Half of the people in Paul's world were slaves, real actual slaves. Someone else owned them. How many of the helpers working in Hong Kong are "debt slaves"?  It's not the master/slave, boss/worker class distinction that bothers me, but rather the instructions to be a "good slave". I run an employment agency for Filipino domestic helpers and every week I hear stories of them living in poor conditions, working long hours, suffering verbal abuse, not receiving enough food. We know one helper who went from 50 to 37 kilos in 6 months. Who am I to tell them "submit to your masters with all respect"?

But these are not my words. They are God's words to us.

1 Peter 2.18-25 

You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

• Peter is not condoning slavery, nor is he condoning beating of workers who do wrong. That is the world he lived in, and he addresses the issues they faced.  In another letter Paul tells slaves to "get free if you can".
  
• Peter's focus in this passage is on suffering. We need a theology of suffering. American Christians like the gospel of wealth, health and happiness, but run from suffering. Suffering is an integral part of Christian discipleship. Jesus and his apostles taught their disciples to expect and embrace suffering. Where is the lesson on suffering in most discipleship materials you buy in the West?
  
•  1 Pet 2:24-25 contain some of the NT's richest teaching about the Savior and salvation. This teaching was given in a section of the letter addressed to slaves who often sufered daily at the hands of unjust masters. 

Here is a summary of Peter's instructions to slaves/employees:

• Submit to your bosses and show respect to them:  "Submit" means to do what they ask you to do. Follow their instructions. "show respect" addresses our attitude. A good servant carries out the wishes of their boss and does so with a good, respectful attitude. 
• Submitting and showing respect is an act of obedience to God and pleases God. 
• Suffering for wrongdoing (doing the wrong thing or doing things wrongly) is to be expected. Suffering for doing the right things and doing them rightly is what happened to Jesus, so if it happens to us, we should not complain but trust God who will someday right all wrongs.
• God calls us to do good, even if it means suffering, so we cannot stop obeying him. Following in the footsteps of Christ will involve suffering. 
• Jesus' showed us how to suffer: "He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly."
• Jesus bodily took on our sins on the cross. He physically died for our sins.
• He died for our sins so we can be dead to sin and live for what is right.
• His wounds, his physical dying on the cross heals us. Primarily he is speaking about healing us from the effects of sin, NOT physical healing. In fact, physical healing in a paragraph dedicated to suffering would be somewhat of a contradiction. The death of Christ does includ the eventual healing of all creation including new physical bodies (1Cor 15), but scripture does not promise physical healing in this life and those brothers and sisters who die from cancer, heart disease, etc. are not less spiritual because they didn't as some preachers would say "receive their healing". 
• The focus of healing here is the healing of our wandering heart and soul. "By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls."

Jesus, Thank you for taking my sin, every bit of it, in your body on the cross. All my filth, my lust, my hate, my brokenness was nailed to the cross, laid on you. And not just my sin, but the sin of billions of people. That must have been far harder to bear than crucifixion. What is crucifixion compared to the blackness of our sin and then God's wrath against that sin? Horrible physical suffering and death, and terrible spiritual death. You endured this so that I could be healed from wandering, from the brokenness of my sin. You are my Shepherd, the Guardian of my soul. "All we like sheep have wandered away", but now my wandering heart has been healed. I am able, even keen to obey. And I have a Shepherd who guards me. Thank you. Honestly, without you, I feel like I will wander away again. I don't want to do that. Guard my heart, guard my soul.   Amen

Ransomed

Kidnap and ransom are common in parts of Asia and Africa. Ransom is paid to rescue someone from the threat of death. Recently in HK the heiress of the Bossini fortune was kidnapped. The Bible says that God Almighty ransomed us. If you are God Almighty why would you pay a ransom? You can take what you want by force?

In the OT the idea of ransom seems to be similar to "rescue".

Psalms 25:22 (NLT)  O God, ransom Israel from all its troubles.
Psalms 44:26 (NLT) Rise up! Help us! Ransom us because of your unfailing love.

In the NT the rescue is effected by the payment of a ransom.

"For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake." 1P 1:18-20

"For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 (NLT) 

For some reason (to satisfy the demands of his righteousness and justice, or to pay a ransom to Satan under whose control we were) God decided in eternity past to ransom us. Before making us He already knew what it would cost him.

Imagine this! A couple with a teenage son are considering adopting a baby. Their son is an incredible young man, perfect in every way: creative, loving, obedient and the joy of the family. The family, the 3 of them all have the same dream that tells them: if they adopt this baby, he/she will grow up and make many wrong choices. He/she will fall in with the wrong people and eventually will need to be ransomed and rescued. The price of the ransom will be the death of the son they already have. What family would decide to go through with the adoption? God the father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit made this choice. Knowing everything I would do to screw up my life. Knowing how much ruin I would bring, they decided to rescue me by paying the ransom, the death of the Son.

The purpose of the ransom was to rescue us from the "empty way of life we inherited from our ancestors."

Jesus rescues us from slavery to sin. He rescues us from "empty living". He brings us into freedom and abundant meaningful living. We are brought/bought from the slave market and brought into the kingdom of his dear Son, where we become children of God.

Lord, this is too much. Before I was born, before the world was even created you decided to make me, to die for me, to ransom me, to rescue me. No more empty living. No more slave market. Kingdom living, freedom, LIFE - these are why you ransomed me. This is what you rescued me for.

Mary KNEW: maybe NOT everything, but she knew

Mary responded, “Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me. He shows mercy from generation to generation to all who fear him. His mighty arm has done tremendous things! He has scattered the proud and haughty ones. He has brought down princes from their thrones and exalted the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away with empty hands. He has helped his servant Israel and remembered to be merciful. For he made this promise to our ancestors, to Abraham and his children forever.”  Luke 1:46-55

Praise comes naturally to people who have their eyes on the big picture of what God is doing.  Mary responds to Elizabeth with "Oh how my soul praises... how my spirit rejoices". People rarely start sentences with "Oh" or "how". In my family it would be "Oh what a baby you are..." or "How sick is that?" When "Oh" and "how" are used positively it is really a big deal. "Oh, how" doesn't add to the meaning, it is totally unnecessary AND completely needed. It is pure emotion - a groan, a gasp of joy. And I am surprised.

I thought Mary would be caught up in her single mother angst, but not at all. She is like a person who just won the lottery, beside herself with excitement. Mary is a God centered person, so her response focuses on God:

• God my Savior - the mother of the Savior also needs a Savior
• he took notice - my grandson Ethan thinks the grown-ups in his life don't notice him. We do. When God "takes notice" or "remembers" it always implies "takes action". It is more than focusing attention, it is doing something to change the situation. 
• the Mighty One is holy - Can you imagine if the Mighty One were NOT holy or loving or just? It would be like having the head of ISIS in charge of the universe. 
• He has done great things for me - Mary has an eternal, long term perspective. It has been 1000's of years since the Lord made promises to Abraham, but Mary knows those promises and believes they are being fulfilled. She's not worried about the next 6 months or 5 years, she is part of God' unfolding plan of redemption. 
• He has scattered the proud... brought down princes, exalted the humble, filled the hungry, sent away the rich, helped his servant Israel. Mary sees all the promises of the ages coming together "in the fullness of time, God sent his Son, born of woman" (Galatians) 
• For He made this promise to our ancestors and to Abraham - The seed of Gen 12:3 has sprouted in Mary's womb. Destiny is unfolding before her eyes and she has a role to play. 

Lord, what is my role in this sacred plan? When did I last get so excited about what you're doing that I cried out "Oh God!"  You took notice of Mary. Do you take notice of me? remember me? It is incredible that the unfolding of your eternal plan of salvation included a lowly girl named Mary. It is even more incredible that it includes a flawed man named Allan. I have a role to play too. "Go and make disciples" Jesus said. Thank you Lord for giving my life meaning and significance. Amen