Humble Ourselves
Notes
Transcript
Intro A
I wonder if Peter was here today
And we got to ask him, Peter, if there was one thing you’d want for Gateway Chapel, what would it be?
One virtue, one aspect of godliness that you would want for us as a church, what would it be?
Peter you don’t know us as a church but we’re a nice group of folks and we’re not in the same situation as the folks you were writing to in your letters.
We’re not suffering for Christ, we’re not being slandered for our faith, but we’re finding it increasingly odd and strange to follow Jesus in our own cities that unashamedly promote things that Jesus does not.
But like them we’re also chosen exiles and we’re a part of the family of God.
Peter if there was one thing you would want for us to live out today what would it be?
What do you think he’d say?
Perhaps he would say faith - trust in Jesus.
Perhaps he would say hope - that’s been a huge feature of this letter.
Perhaps he’d say love - that’s the greatest commandment and he’s said above all, love earlier in the letter.
It’s not that Peter wouldn’t say those things but I wonder if based on these last 11 verses, the concluding words the apostle and fellow elder gives to us - I wonder if he would say, “You know, when it comes down to it, the most important thing is humility.”
Humble yourselves.
Why does Peter want us to humble ourselves? Why is that so important when it comes to being the people of God?
Now, I want to preach one sermon this morning and not 8 sermons and I know there are more things going on here than just humility but I do think that there is a main emphasis in this passage and it is an encouragement from Peter to be humble, and isn’t that an interesting way to conclude this letter?
Peter tells us to humble ourselves now so that God himself will honor us then.
Humble yourselves now and God himself will honor you then.
He’s going to say this to church elders in verses 1-5, to all believers in verses 5-7, and to all believers as we resist the devil in verses 8-11.
Elders
Elders (vv. 1-5a)
1 Peter 5:1–5 (ESV)
1 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: 2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. 5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders.
We are in the closing words of Peter’s letter and he’s talking about suffering as a Christian.
These verses and last Sunday’s text 4:12-19 are full of encouragements and commands of how to live in suffering.
Don’t be surprised
Rejoice
Let no one suffer sinfully
Do not be ashamed in suffering
Glorify God
Entrust yourselves to God
Shepherd the flock
Submit yourselves
Humble yourselves
Be alert
Be sober minded
Resist
And here in verses 1-5a, Peter is addressing church elders.
Who were these elders?
He’s not just talking to the old folks, he’s talking to the formal leaders of the church.
Once Jesus dies, rises from the dead and ascends to the Father and then sends his spirit…the church is born. And in the New Testament where there are churches, there are elders.
23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
17 Now from Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called the elders of the church to come to him.
5 This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you—
Text after text shows us that churches have elders.
We are a church and we have elders.
I’m not elderly but I am one of the elders, we also have Mike Mathews, Doug Eash, Gene Poppino, and Sam Michel is an elder in training. So we’ve got a mix of incompelte beards and gray hairs.
These elders to whom Peter writes were suffering.
If the church is being slandered for their faith, the leadership is likely undergoing the same thing. Possibly greater for them.
Notice, Peter doesn’t pull rank as an apostle, but humbly identifies as an elder.
This shows humility. He says I’m with you.
But what sets Peter apart is he was a witness of the sufferings of Christ.
What does that mean?
It means that Peter saw Christ be humbled throughout his life.
The ultimate leader of the church - the chief Shepherd - was humbled…Peter watched as crowds of people canceled Jesus and left him.
Peter saw the Rabbi’s - the other men in Jesus’ industry - hate him and conspire to ruin him.
Peter watched Jesus sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane.
He watched Jesus get arrested like a common criminal.
He watched nails get driven through Jesus’ hands and feet and watched his master die a shameful death.
I am a witness of the humiliation and humbling of the Christ AND
I will also partake in his glory to come.
Humble yourself now and God himself will honor you then. Christ lived this for us! And now if we are in Christ and he lives in us then we walk the same road.
What does Peter exhort the elders to do?
Shepherd the flock of God
Care for, feed, guide, the people of God.
Jesus told Peter to do this…3 times in fact. In John 21 after Peter had witnessed the sufferings of Christ, Jesus tells him, Feed my sheep, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.
Shepherds guide, feed, protect and care for sheep.
How do elders Shepherd?
Three ways to do this
FIRST, Not under compulsion, but willingly as God would have you.
Picking elders is not, “Hey guys we really need someone.” “Okaaaay.” It’s a role where the men who step in are eager and willing to serve.
SECOND, Not for shameful gain, but eagerly.
Don’t elder for cash.
THIRD, Not domineering but being examples.
This is huge. Elders are authorities but not authoritarian.
Matthew 20 story.
We lead by saying, “We were wrong.” We don’t say, “The elders from on high have decided XYZ so do it.” We say, “Guys we’ve been praying about this for a while and we want you to consider following us in this…”
We want you to follow us because we’re following Jesus just like you.
Call us out if we don’t!
Peter is telling the elders to humble themselves now.
By the way…how would you define humility?
What is humility?
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
CS Lewis - Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less.
A humble person is someone who truly considers others and truly considers themself in light of God.
Why should elders humble themselves in their leadership?
The Chief shepherd himself is going to give you a crown of glory.
And then finally in verse 5 he says you who are younger be subject to the elders.
The elders ought to humble themselves in their leadership and those who are younger ought to humble themselves as they submit to their leadership.
Why? The Chief Shepherd - Jesus - is caring for you through the elders.
Humble yourselves now and God himself will honor you then.
To the elders of Gateway Chapel
We will suffer with Christ as we serve Gateway Chapel. We will take our lumps. And yet if we humbly care for the church there is an award ceremony coming that no Olympic Gold Medal can compare to. Let’s keep going.
First to elders and now all believers.
Believers
1 Peter 5:5–7 (ESV)
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
First he speaks to elders and now to all believers - young, old, even the middle aged folks.
Three commands to all of us
Clothe yourselves all of you with humility toward one another
This is imagery of slaves. Peter is quite literally saying put on the apron worn by a slave as you think about each other. Lower yourself for the sake of others.
Who does that sound like? Jesus! Before he died, Jesus humiliated himself and served his disciples as he washed their feet. Peter is saying, “Be like that!”
Why?
God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
This is a quote from Prov. 3:34
34 Toward the scorners he is scornful,
but to the humble he gives favor.
This is the message of the Bible. God helps those who cannot help themselves. And to those who look down on others and are scornful, God does not help them.
Humble yourselves
How? Under God’s mighty hand. His power and strength.
Why? At the right time he will exalt you.
Our job is to humble ourselves now but it is God’s job at the right time to personally honor us then.
Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you
It’s interesting that this part of the verse is usually quoted but not in the context of suffering and not in the context of humility.
I don’t know about you but I think often times my anxiety is a form of pride. Because it’s a habit of thought that says if I just stew on this more and worry about it enough, I am strong enough to make it better.
But humility says “I am weak. God is mighty. God I am going to throw all my junk at you because I know at the right time you’re going to make it right and you care about me.”
What are you anxious about?
Lower yourself, humble yourself so that God himself will honor you then.
Be humble now and be honored then.
First to elders, then all believers, and now in resisting the devil.
Devil
8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.
Be sober minded; be watchful.
Stay awake. Don’t let pride give you beer goggles where you think too highly of yourself.
Why?
You have an enemy.
An adversary.
The devil.
What’s interesting is this name for our enemy also means slanderer. And what has the church been enduring? Slander.
This devil is like a roaring lion, and he’s hungry.
But if the devil actually looked like a lion we’d know to run when he shows up.
But the devil is deceitful. The Bible says he also appears as an angel of light so I think if we saw him we wouldn’t be afraid. That’s why we need to be alert.
And do what?
Resist him, firm in your faith.
How do you resist the devil? Stand firm in the faith and what is faith if not humility? A trust that I can’t save myself.
That I’m not the hero of my story and other people are just as important as I am.
Humbly remember that the sufferings you experience are not unusual or strange.
So Peter is saying be humble now because you have an enemy who wants to devour you.
How? Often by tempting us with pride.
It’s what he did with Jesus, tempting Jesus to avoid humility and go straight to victory.
He did it with Adam and Eve telling them they knew better than God.
He does it with us…
Shame
Pride towards others
We resist him and stand firm in faith by humbling ourselves now because God himself will honor us then.
We see that in verses 10 and 11.
Hope
10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
You’re going to suffer, but it’s not that long in comparison with the eternal glory that is yours in Christ.
And you know who’s going to honor you?
The God of all grace.
Literally - the God of grace.
If you were to say what kind of God is our God, you’d be right to say he’s a God of grace.
He’s not a God of revenge or wrath or anger - he’s a God of grace.
All grace in the universe exists because of Him.
And this God of all grace will personally - himself - see to it that you sufferers are
Restored
Confirmed
Strengthened
Established
Think about it
The Christian slaves who never knew freedom like you or I, suffered under some good but many bad masters, perhaps beaten for their faith in Christ, died - and when they appeared before Jesus God himself restored them and honored them.
The women who trusted Jesus but paid for it because their husbands thought they were crazy. They died and when they met Jesus he confirmed their faith in him and gave them strength like they’d never experienced before.
The men who were slandered by their friends died and will one day when Jesus returns be established in the new heavens and the new earth.
And it’s the same for us because his is the power and glory and dominion forever and ever.
Humble yourself now and God himself will honor you then.
The world today is a mess because we refuse to humble ourselves and refuse to believe that God himself will honor us then.
We see it in churches as pastors and elders and leaders abuse their power.
We see it in churches as congregations refuse to be lead and don’t accept guidance.
We see it in every facet of life from marriage to parenting to businesses to politics that we refuse to clothe ourselves with humility but instead try and deck ourselves out in pride.
We are devoured by the devil as he seduces us with his lies.
And yet the good news is that there was one man who truly humbled himself, lowered himself, lead by example, clothed himself in humility towards others, and beat the devil.
Jesus is the reason we have hope that if we humble ourselves now God himself will honor us then because that is the story of Christ.
Jesus humbled himself to submit his will to the Father’s, he humbled himself and went to the cross for our sake, and even though this looked like the most humiliating fate, God vindicated him and gave him honor by resurrecting him from the dead.
And one day, the chief shepherd is going to come back and reward his people. He will honor his people who are being humbled now.
Humble yourself now
As someone who is prone to anxiety, I am humbled when I feel that worrisome dread come over me. It’s humbling because I feel weak. And the encouragement of the passage is that my job is not to overcome anxiety but to simply be humble. Stay low. Remember that I’m not that impressive. Other people matter just as much as I do. God is mighty and strong and cares for me, and at the right time, he will raise me up.
Accept with gratitude everything that God allows from within or without, from friend or enemy, in nature or in grace, to remind you of your need of humbling, and to help you to it. Believe humility to indeed be the mother-virtue, your very first duty before God, and the one perpetual safeguard of the soul. Set your heart upon it as the source of all blessing. The promise is divine and sure, “he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.” See that you do the one thing God asks: humble yourself. God will see that He does the one thing He has promised. He will give more grace; He will exalt in due time.
What in your life is humbling you right now? Maybe it’s a grace. Instead of rejecting it, accept it as a gift and humble yourself because God himself will honor you.
Have you humbled yourself before God?
Have you trusted the chief Shepherd knows what’s best for you? Have you trusted that he is strong and he cares for you and he died to save you and that you have an enemy who wants to devour your soul and there is a God of all grace who wants to protect you and restore you?
I wonder if Peter were here what he would tell us about humility.
Peter wants us to humble ourselves now because God himself will honor us then, and this is a road he himself traveled.
From Eugene Peterson’s intro to 1 Peter.
The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language 1 & 2 Peter
The two letters Peter wrote exhibit the qualities of Jesus that the Holy Spirit shaped in him: a readiness to embrace suffering rather than prestige, a wisdom developed from experience and not imposed from a book, a humility that lacked nothing in vigor or imagination. From what we know of the early stories of Peter, he had in him all the makings of a bully. That he didn’t become a bully (and religious bullies are the worst kind) but rather the boldly confident and humbly self-effacing servant of Jesus Christ that we discern in these letters, is a compelling witness to what he himself describes as “a brand-new life, with everything to live for.”
This is the life of Christ we are invited to live.
