Journal: Priscilla Papers
Volume: PP 38:4 (Autumn 2024)
Article: Keeping God’s Big Picture In Mind When Power Threatens Relationships: A Sermon On 1 Peter 2:18–3:7
Author: Jeff David Miller

PP 38:4 (Autumn 2024) p. 20

Keeping God’s Big Picture In Mind When Power Threatens Relationships: A Sermon On 1 Peter 2:18–3:7

Jeff Miller

Jeff Miller Teaches biblical studies at Milligan University in eastern Tennesee.

When I visit this congregation with which I’ve had a long relationship,1 there are always two things in my mind—the big picture and the little picture. The big picture, for me, is my family’s fifty-plus-year relationship with this congregation. The little picture is what’s going on that particular day. For example, a few years ago I played the piano at their Christmas Eve services. That event, for me, was a snapshot within the big picture.

When I played for that Christmas Eve service, I wasn’t able to think about, let alone bask in, the big picture very much. Why? Because of the little picture—the task at hand. Because the songs had notes, chords, rhythm, and tempo. Imagine if I had played the wrong Christmas carol, in the wrong key, at the wrong tempo. And then, after the service, when people asked me what had happened, I simply said, “Hey, I was basking in the big picture, soaking in how cool it is to be here at my home church.”

This big-picture/little-picture scenario is an illustration for what we’re doing when we read and apply the Bible to our lives.

To put it plainly: In the Christian life we should try to be aware of the big trajectory that we’re on, and also aware of the small parts we play in it. And when we read the Bible, we read both to find out what their specific situation was, and also how they fit in with God’s big plan.

A Chosen People

The key to what 1 Peter means and how it applies to our lives is to figure out how it fits into the big picture.

So, let’s back up and find out a bit about that big picture. Then we’ll spend some time on the specifics of our 1 Peter text for today.

A couple weeks ago, the sermon text was 1 Peter 2:9, which begins, “You are a chosen people.” This “chosen” language helps us identify what parts of the Bible story Peter has in mind. It makes me think, first, of Abram and Sarai.

Back in Genesis 12, God spoke to Abram.

The Lord said to Abram, “Leave your land, your family, and your father’s household for the land that I will show you. I will make of you a great nation and will bless you. I will make your name respected, and you will be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you,
those who curse you I will curse;
all the families of t...