Sermon: Pay It Backward

Sermon preached for Easter 4 on May 11, 2025, by Pastor Julius Buelow at Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Lincoln, NE. (mtolivelincoln.org.)Theme: Pay It BackwardText: 1 Peter 2:11-2011Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and temporary residents in the world, to abstain from the desires of the sinful flesh, which war against your soul. 12Live an honorable life among the Gentiles so that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us. 13Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the king as the supreme authority 14or to governors as those who have been sent by him to punish those who do what is wrong and to praise those who do what is right. 15For this is God’s will: that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16Do this as free people, and do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but use it as servants of God. 17Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Slaves and Masters18Slaves, submit to your masters with total respect, not only to those who are good and kind but also to those who are harsh. 19For this is favorable: if a person endures sorrows while suffering unjustly because he is conscious of God. 20For what credit is it to you if you receive a beating for sinning and patiently endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and endure it, this is favorable with God. Holy Bible: Evangelical Heritage Version (Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House, 2019), 1 Pe 2:11–20.