Obedience

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 26th of April, 2026.  If all went well, a recording of the service may be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams for the older services or https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch3115/streams for later services.]

One of the definitions of the word “obedience” is “the act or practice of obeying; dutiful or submissive compliance”.  And being obedient means “complying with or submissive to authority”.  Interestingly enough, “compliance” is defined as “the act of yielding”.  So we can say that being obedient is to be dutifully or submissively yielding to authority.

When we accept Jesus as our Lord, our Master, we should be obedient to Him.  We should dutifully, and submissively, yield to His authority, obeying His commands.  But do we?

Sometimes obedience can bring about hardship.  One example we can all relate to is paying taxes.  If we are obedient to the laws of the land, we will pay taxes imposed upon us by the various governmental entities, even though we’d rather not comply, and even though doing so may cause financial hardship.

The apostles certainly knew about hardships that can follow obedience, especially when they were still obedient to Jesus after He returned to heaven.  And of course, Jesus, being ever obedient to His Father God, suffered greatly at the hands of those He came to save.  Please listen and follow along to what the Apostle Peter wrote about obedience and hardship, in the 2nd chapter of his 1st letter to the early church, verses 13 through 25, and I’ll be reading from The Living Bible translation of our Holy Bible this morning…

13 For the Lord’s sake, obey every law of your government: those of the king as head of the state, 14 and those of the king’s officers, for he has sent them to punish all who do wrong, and to honor those who do right.

15 It is God’s will that your good lives should silence those who foolishly condemn the Gospel without knowing what it can do for them, having never experienced its power. 16 You are free from the law, but that doesn’t mean you are free to do wrong. Live as those who are free to do only God’s will at all times.

17 Show respect for everyone. Love Christians everywhere. Fear God and honor the government.

18 Servants, you must respect your masters and do whatever they tell you — not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are tough and cruel. 19 Praise the Lord if you are punished for doing right! 20 Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong; but if you do right and suffer for it, and are patient beneath the blows, God is well pleased.

21 This suffering is all part of the work God has given you. Christ, who suffered for you, is your example. Follow in His steps: 22 He never sinned, never told a lie, 23 never answered back when insulted; when He suffered He did not threaten to get even; He left His case in the hands of God who always judges fairly. 24 He personally carried the load of our sins in His own body when He died on the cross so that we can be finished with sin and live a good life from now on. For His wounds have healed ours! 25 Like sheep you wandered away from God, but now you have returned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls who keeps you safe from all attacks.

--1 Peter 2:13-25 (TLB)

Let us go to God in prayer…  Father, You handed down ten commandments through Your servant Moses, ten commandments – Your law - that mankind should follow to live good lives and be righteous in Your eyes.  But knowing that we are incapable of completely obeying Your law, You sent Your Son Jesus to fulfill Your law and to give us a new commandment: to love one another.  Sadly, Father, we seem to have trouble even doing that sometimes.  Please help us be more obedient, Father.  Remind us that Your Son gave His mortal life to redeem us of our sin, leaving us with a debt we can never repay.  Help us honor Jesus by doing as He commands.  Please help us be more like Him as we walk through this life.  This we pray in the beautiful name of our Lord Jesus.   Amen.

The popular Our Daily Bread periodical once printed this little story:

"Every conscientious parent recognizes how difficult it is to exercise his God-given authority over his children.  The delicate balance of being tough yet tender is not easy to maintain.  Many parents intensify a rebellious spirit by being dictatorial and harsh.  Others yield when their authority is tested.  When a strong-willed child resists, the pressure to give in for the sake of peace and harmony can become overpowering.  I am reminded of the mother who wanted to have the last word but couldn't handle the hassle that resulted whenever she said no to her young son.  After an especially trying day, she finally flung up her hands and shouted, 'All right, Billy, do whatever you want! Now let me see you disobey THAT!'"

I think most parents can relate to that kind of experience when dealing with a somewhat rebellious child.  And maybe this can give us just a small glimpse into what it must feel like for God, when we rebel a little against His authority, when we are disobedient children.

Perhaps more relevant to our spiritual condition is this quote from Christian monk and author Thomas a Kempis:

"Instant obedience is the only kind of obedience there is; delayed obedience is disobedience. Whoever strives to withdraw from obedience, withdraws from Grace."

Instant obedience – without hesitation, not taking time to think about it or consider alternatives.  This is the kind of obedience our military expects, but it is usually enforced by the threat of harsh punishment if not met.  And I’m not sure most folk are capable of it.

Jesus once told the parable of a father who asked his son to go work in the fields and the son said no, he would not go, but later on he did go and work as his father asked.  When the first son said no, the father asked his second son to go work in the fields, and this son said yes, I will go and work, but he did not follow through.  So Jesus asked, which son actually obeyed his father and did as he asked, and of course the answer is the first son, but he only did so after thinking about it for a little while.  I believe most of us are more like that first son, wanting time to think and consider alternatives.

Peter says be obedient to God, and to those He places in authority over us.  That last part might be tough to handle for many, especially in our society where we vote for some people in authority, or for those who appoint people in authority over us.  If it’s not someone we voted for or want to see in office, we might not be overly enthusiastic about obeying them or their proxies.

Peter also tells us to be obedient even when doing so might cause suffering or hardship, as I mentioned earlier, before the scripture reading.  Jesus warned us that following Him could indeed bring great hardship – just read the Book of Acts to see the truth of this.

And then Peter speaks of servants and master.  Contrary to what may be popular belief, we are all servants to some master, whether it is our employer or a government official or a law enforcement officer, for example.  All of us are under some human authority, some master that we serve in some capacity.  So we should obey that master, that authority, even if it hurts to do so.

Jesus also speaks to this.  In His Sermon on the Mount, recorded by the Apostle Matthew in the 5th chapter of his Gospel account, verses 10 through 12, Jesus said...

10 “Happy are those who are persecuted because they are good, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

11 “When you are reviled and persecuted and lied about because you are My followers - wonderful! 12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a tremendous reward awaits you up in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted too.”

--Matthew 5:10-12 (TLB)

We know these better as part of the Beatitudes, with all beginning "Blessed are you".  And indeed we are happy when we are blessed by God.  If we truly are Jesus’ followers, then we are following His commands, obeying Him, even if we have to suffer for it, being persecuted, reviled, lied about.  For we are promised that our rewards for obedience are being laid up in heaven, awaiting our arrival there.

Of course, the one most familiar with suffering because of obedience is Jesus Himself.  He obeyed God even at great personal, physical and emotional cost.

Long before His birth into flesh, Isaiah wrote of the coming of the Christ.  Please hear what the great prophet says about Jesus, in chapter 11, verses 2 through 5 of his book of prophecy…

2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, and might; the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. 3 His delight will be obedience to the Lord. He will not judge by appearance, false evidence, or hearsay, 4 but will defend the poor and the exploited. He will rule against the wicked who oppress them. 5 For he will be clothed with fairness and with truth.

--Isaiah 11:2-5 (TLB)

Jesus took delight in obeying His Father God, even though His obedience resulted in excruciating torture and execution, terrible pain and suffering.  He’s gone home to heaven now, and His own reward of glory, but someday   He will return, and we will be judged on how well we obeyed God.  Will we be seen as having delighted in our obedience?

Like I said, I’m not sure immediate obedience is in our nature, but we are given only two commands and we shouldn’t have to spend a lot of time thinking about it.  Jesus commands us to love one another, just as we love ourselves, and to go into the world making disciples of the nations, telling everyone all about Him, about what He taught and what He did.  Neither one of those should be that tough, they shouldn’t require a whole lot of thought, and yet we hesitate to carry them out.  We’re afraid, we’re worried, we’re shy… or maybe we just can’t be bothered to do it.

Each of us needs to look deep inside, at our will and our motivations, and see if we are truly being obedient to the one we call Lord.  Are we obeying our Master’s commands?  Are we kind of like the first son?  Even after a little hesitation, which is OK, are we going ahead and doing what He told us to do?  Let’s certainly not be like the second son, giving lip service but not doing as we’re told.

Obey God, obey His Son, and our reward will be great.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for inspiring the men and women who authored the books of our bible, and thank You especially for Your Son’s disciples who saved the Gospel accounts for us and who wrote letters to the early church.  The words they penned are critical in describing how we should live our lives to be seen as righteous by You.  They tell us of the great importance of being obedient to Your commandments and our Lord’s commands.  But sometimes, Father, we do things we know we shouldn’t do, and we don’t do things we know we should do.  Too often we ignore Your law.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  Please strengthen us to do as You will us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment so that each of us can speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your and our Lord’s commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, thank You for encouraging us to be obedient to our Father in heaven, telling us we are blessed for doing so, reminding us of the rewards that await us.  Thank You for setting the example of how we should live.  Please help us be more obedient to You and God.  Help us do as You command, reaching out to others as You did, sharing Your words and Your works, offering Your love.  Help us carry out the mission You gave us to bring others to You.

Holy Spirit, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this world might offer.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.