Pastor Shepherds | 1 Peter 5:1–5
Notes
Transcript
Church good morning. If you have your Bibles please go ahead and open them to 1 Peter 5:1-5. A couple quick things…thanks for the birthday cards
As you’re headed there I wanted to make a few really quick comments about the election. We went to a dinner this week with a bunch of pastor friends and some of us talked about what we were doing at our churches. Some guys weren’t really doing anything different, and other guys were pausing their series and doing a mini series focused on what all is going on. Church, to be honest as Will and I have discussed and prayed about what God would have us do, and we don’t feel any need to change where we are in 1 Peter, so our plan is to keep our head down and work on wrapping up this book. However, with that being said we do recognize that every election season is important and has significant ramifications, but especially this one. So we don’t want to just pretend like nothing is happening.
We could certainly jump off into discussions on the Christians role and responsibility in politics and what the Scriptures have to say about that. A lot of that is not explicitly stated, but implied by a number of different texts. What is clear from the Scriptures is that the churches role is to pray for and “be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution” as we saw back in 1 Pet. 2:13. So, what we are going to do the next two Sundays at the end of our announcement time is have an extended and directed time of prayer. I know that some of you wish that we were doing more, and others might feel like even that is too much. But it’s where we feel like the Lord is leading us.
With that being said let’s go ahead and jump into 1 Peter 5:1-5. I’m going to go ahead and read verse 5 this morning, but I don’t know if we’ll really get into it much. Let’s read and then ask the Lord to help us understand what He would have for us this morning.
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: 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; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”
This is God’s Word. Thanks be to God. Let’s pray.
I did a little digging this week to see what the current state of pastoral ministry is and over the past several years the amount of pastors who have quit or have seriously considered quitting has increased significantly. In fact, only 52% of pastors were satisfied with their jobs. 10 years ago that number was 72%. There’s a number of reasons as to why that number has decreased so drastically over the past decade, but the point is pastoral ministry is hard. These first 5 verses of 1 Pet. 5 speak directly to that.
Remember the original readers of this letter. It’s churches, and the pastors in those churches, who as we have seen the past several weeks have undergone suffering, fiery trials, and as we looked at last week “the judgement of God” through all of this. They are not living in a world where ministry is easy because the people that they’re caring for are under some of the worst circumstances known in Christian history. So having addressed the whole church for 5 chapters now, some of Peter’s last words are specifically directed at the pastors and he tells them, “Pastors, continue to do the work God has entrusted to you, with the people He has entrusted to you, until He returns.” That’s our main point this morning.
Now, I know you look at that and go, well, I’m not a pastor, so this one isn’t for me. Hold on just a second. Don’t check out yet. While the overwhelming majority of this is for pastors, there is several points of application for you if you’re not a pastor. As a matter of fact, let’s just jump into my first point and you’ll see this is for all of us today. Here’s the first point Peter wants to make this morning:
Pastors, be encouraged.
Pastors, be encouraged.
Look back with me to 1 Pet. 5:1
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:
The words “among you” are really important. What Peter is doing is he’s looking at these churches and he’s been speaking broadly to them, but now he calls out the elders who are in their midst. He doesn’t do so in a separate letter. He doesn’t write to the pastors in these churches with separate instructions, or separate encouragement. He intentionally writes this so that those hearing can know what to expect. The words “among you” are actually a call for the church to listen in. You need to be aware of what to expect from your pastors because so often what causes disappointment and frustration is failed expectations.
But the fact that Peter is addressing pastors in the midst of their congregations doesn’t just equip you with knowledge of what to expect, but the implications of that are now you know how to help. If there are certain expectations of pastors then you can know what to do to enable them. I’ll shed more light on that at the end of this sermon, but for now if a church has right expectations and knows how to help their pastors, what do you think will be the disposition of that pastor in his role? He’ll be encouraged! He’ll be ready to go to work with and for the people he is called to pastor.
Now, all of this has another implication for the church. The church at this point in time is extremely new. Christianity on the very long end had only existed for 60 years, although this letter was probably written earlier than that. Even at this early of a stage in church history it is clear that some sense of church structure had existed and that God had given pastors to the church to care for the sheep. This means that, sheep should not walk alone. They need shepherds. This new church in the midst of all their suffering needed pastors.
Church, God shows his care for you by giving you pastors. So to have the idea that all you need is me and my Bible and the Holy Spirit and some worship music to grow in Christ is to entirely and completely dismiss not just church history, but the New Testament. God did not just save you and turn you out to pasture. He saved you and called you to sit under the care of a local shepherd. So church, don’t tune out. This is for you as much as it is for Will & I and any other man that God is calling into pastoral ministry here.
Now, to the pastors in the room we can be encouraged because God gave instructions for you in front of the whole church so that they know what to expect and how to help, but we can also be encouraged because we don’t walk alone. Peter is an apostle. He could’ve written this letter with commands, but instead he identifies as a fellow elder and writes with encouragement. He knows what it’s like to walk through and shepherd people who are suffering. He know’s what it’s like to watch the Chief Shepherd undergo suffering for the sake of His own people. Just like sheep need shepherds in the midst of hard times, so do shepherds. Peter is saying here, “hey, I can identify with you and offer encouragement to you in the midst of this. I know what this is like and I’m telling you it’s worth it.” Pastors need to be pastored and Peter is doing that with these words of encouragement.
I’m super thankful for the guys in the Redeemer Network and how they have cared for you by caring for Will & I. Those guys continue to regularly reach out and just check in. They’re continuing to pray for us, and by us I mean LBC. I’m grateful to know that we don’t walk alone and that there are people who can identify with us in the midst of what we’re called to do.
Now the last reason I think we can be encouraged from this is that Peter doesn’t call the elder, he calls the elderS. That word is plural. There is an expectation that the church be led and cared for by a plurality of elders. I am SO thankful that I don’t do this alone. I may do the majority of the preaching, but I can’t tell you how much Will helps me think clearly and accurately not just about sermons but about ministry in general. His real and deep care for you has benefitted our church in more ways than you’ll ever know.
While Will is a great encouragement and I’m so grateful we don’t do this alone, church one of our greatest desires is to see more pastors rise up. One of the commentaries I read talked about how in this dispersion it wasn’t necessarily that churches were all just exiled into the same communities. So imagine that all the Christians in the TX panhandle are sent over to the Middle East as an exile, but when you get there there isn’t anyone from your community. So you begin to find other Christians, but who’s going to lead them. In the midst of exile, suffering, and having lost everything, there would be a huge temptation for pastors to just sulk into the background and relinquish their calling. So Peter’s encouragement here is for them to step up and step forward, but I think it’s also a call for pastors.
We desire for there to be more pastors and I believe there are men in this room whom God is moving in that direction. So church I’d ask that you’d join us in praying for that. Pray that God would call men to become pastors. Pray that they would see the beauty and goodness of what of pastoral ministry is and then would respond to what God has called and equipped them to do.
Pastors should be encouraged because this instruction is given for the whole church to hear. They can be encouraged because the church will know what to expect and how help. They can be encouraged because they aren’t alone and God is in the process of calling more men into his work of caring for His sheep. Now, while all of this is true there’s one question left unanswered that’s pretty important for us: what is an elder? Peter says, “I exhort the elders among you.” Who exactly is he talking to?
We aren’t going to take the time this morning to do a word study of elder in the NT. We’ve walked through that a lot in the past here at Liberty and if you weren’t with us in that then I’d love to sit down and look at it with you. But for now, what we see in the NT is that the word elder, overseer, and pastor are used synonymously. In fact, here at LBC we use elder/pastor interchangeably as we don’t see a difference between the two words. So, first, when I say elder or pastor I mean the same thing, and second, as we see in 1 Tim. 3 and Titus 2 pastors are men who are called to lead and shepherd the church. And that brings us to our second point today.
Pastors, shepherd God’s flock
Pastors, shepherd God’s flock
Let’s look back at 1 Peter 5:2-3 and get more into the nitty gritty of what pastors are called to do.
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; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.
Now before we get into the what of pastoring we need to look at the who. Who are elders supposed to pastor? We see two things: (1) elders shepherd God’s flock (2) among them. They shepherd God’s flock. Acts 20:28 says this,
Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.
It’s people that have been purchased by the blood of Jesus. It’s the people who live for the King, because they’ve been adopted into His family. And since they belong to the King, since they belong to the Chief shepherd as we see in verse 4 this affects how pastors will treat their flock. The flock isn’t their own. It is entrusted to them, but they don’t own it. They’re accountable to the chief shepherd. Since we’re accountable to him, our whole perspective of you is affected. Now if you’re not a Christian, if Christ isn’t Lord over your life and you aren’t living in a relationship with him, then we are not responsible for you like we are the rest of those who are. That doesn’t mean we don’t care or don’t shepherd you to Jesus…we’re definitely going to try, but our focus is to be with those who are believers and followers of Jesus.
Not just any followers of Jesus though. Specifically, pastors are to shepherd the flock of God among them. I asked in small group who they think the “among you” is in this passage. In the Greek it’s just a prepositional word and there really isn’t any word studies that you can do that’ll provide clarity. However, we do know that Peter is writing to the churches throughout a lot of different areas and he’s telling them to shepherd the flock of God among you. So the pastors in Asia aren’t responsible for the churches in Bythnia. They’re only responsible for those who are among them. There’s obviously a network of churches here that relate to and support one another, but the pastors of each local church are not responsible for the flock at another church.
Now one of the questions that comes from this though is what about people who attend a church but aren’t members. I think what’s at least hinted towards here is a call for local church membership so that pastors would know with some sense of certainty those who are God’s flock among them. This is one of the reasons we encourage church membership so much. One of the prerequisites for becoming a member here is that you must be a Christian. We want to sit down with you and hear your testimony of how God saved you so that we know where you stand in relation to him. Your answer to that then gives us clarity for how to shepherd you. If you’re not a member here we are absolutely glad you are here and want you to know Jesus. IF you’re not a member here that doesn’t mean that we think you aren’t saved. I’m not making that accusation at all. I am saying, there is a purpose and a place for church membership. It helps enable the pastors to know the flock of God among them.
So this passage lends credence to church membership while at the same time I think it prohibits church hopping. If God places you into a flock and you bounce over to another one because that shepherd has a better hair-do, but after a few weeks you realize he’s got bad BO so you hop over to the next one because he’s got a better beard then how do those shepherd know how to care for you. Or how do those shepherds know that you’re truly sheep at all and not something disguised as a sheep? In order for a pastor to shepherd the flock of God among him then the sheep must be committed to the flock God has placed them in and the shepherd must be committed to knowing his sheep. This is why we take church membership seriously here.
Now if that’s the who, then let’s look at the how. How are pastors to shepherd God’s flock? What should you expect from your pastors. There’s 3 pretty plain what not to do and 3 pretty plain what to do. Let’s meditate on them for just a bit. First, not under compulsion, but willingly. If I was forced to do this, or if Will was forced to do this, how would we respond to you when you came to us? Or maybe you don’t come to us? Can you imagine the disposition we would show towards you? We’d be impatient, inconsiderate, annoyed. You would be an inconvenience to us. If that was our disposition, if we felt compelled to do this—I have to because no one else will or can—then we’ve got all sorts of problems. Our attitudes are terrible. You aren’t cared for well. But more than that, what does that say about our view of the flock? It says we see the flock as something beneath us and not worthy of our time, effort, and energy. If that’s what is says about the flock what does it say about the God who purchased the flock by His blood? It says we don’t value the blood of Jesus spilled to purchase your salvation.
So instead, because we’ve begun to understand what it cost to purchase us, we shepherd willingly. Because the good Shepherd has pursued us and offered us grace upon grace we move towards you wanting you to know and experience the goodness and mercy of God in Jesus. So we willingly move toward you and want to hear what your problems are and want to sit with you in the worst of times and celebrate with you in the best of times. Just like Jesus moved towards us we want to move towards you.
Church, if I’ve ever been too busy or seemed annoyed or like I didn’t want to be here I’m sorry. It certainly has not been my intent. It is a joy to serve you. You are not an inconvenience to me. You should expect your pastors to pastor willingly, and I want that to be true of me in word and deed.
Next, pastors are to shepherd not for shameful gain, but eagerly. I’ve heard it said before that the pastorate is a great place for a lazy man to hide. He can go in his study and “work on his sermon” for 45 hours a week and draw a good salary. He has access to church funds and can embezzle and manipulate it for his own personal gain. Unfortunately that happens today and has been happening since Peter’s day. If what motivates a pastor is money the King they serve is not Jesus, and the flock they care for is just a group to be manipulated.
But, when elders recognize that the God who lacked nothing came down and took on the form of a servant and died so that he could save a people unto himself, not because he needed something from them, but simply because loved them then they’re free to serve eagerly. Here’s why: God didn’t need anything, but gave everything to purchase the church. Now, through the blood of Jesus the church, the flock of God, those who are saved, have everything because they have God! If we have God as our Father, friend, savior and King, then there is nothing that we lack or ever will lack. Because of this, not only are pastors free to serve eagerly, they’re actually fueled to serve eagerly. They see that what this world needs is the same thing they need; not money. Not comfort, but grace and mercy and a savior who can satisfy every hearts desire. Pastors don’t exercise oversight for shameful gain, but eagerly because they desire for God’s flock to taste and see the goodness of the chief Shepherd.
So, not under compulsion, but willingly. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Finally pastors shepherd God’s flock not domineering, but by example. This actually is a reflection of the teachings of Jesus himself. Over in Matthew 20:25-27 we see this:
But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,
It could be really easy in the church world to take up a position of leadership and say, I’m the pastor, cleaning toilets is beneath me. I’m the pastor, making calls to guests is below me. But Jesus says, look that what the unsaved people do. They seek positions of power and authority and then when they get it their proud about it. Instead, my followers, especially the leaders of my followers are to be servants. They are to imitate me.
Isn’t this what Jesus himself did? We can look at the life of Jesus and see the gentle and compassionate heart he had toward people. He did domineer or lord over them. He didn’t pride himself in his position or even in his identity. He was gentle and caring. He met people where they were. He served them when He was exhausted. Ultimately he showed his care for his people by dying the death that they deserved to die.
Because the elders have been served by Christ and found all they need in Him, they now live out of what Christ has done for and in them. Elders then set an example by serving as he served. By loving as he loved, by giving as he gave, by teaching as he taught, by counseling as he counseled, by leading as he led, by suffering as he suffered because they willingly and eagerly want the flock of God among them, those in their charge, to know the Jesus who loved them and gave himself for them. Pastors are called to shepherd God’s flock “not under compulsion, but willingly; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”
The final observation from our text this morning is this:
Pastors, remember the promise.
Pastors, remember the promise.
Look back with me real quick to 1 Pet. 5:4
And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
There is two promises in this passage. The chief Shepherd will appear and elders will receive the unfading crown of glory, and pastors need to remember these promises because when you’re serving a suffering people you will feel what they feel. When you serve people who are hurt, there will be moments in which they hurt you. Pastoral ministry will be and is hard, and with out remembering these two promises despair, anxiety, worry, temptation can and will begin to set in. So the question then is how do these two promises fuel ministry? How do they help sustain a pastor?
The first, the chief Shepherd will appear to me is both terrifying and encouraging. It reminds me that I am accountable to someone besides you. That’s helpful because the person I’m accountable to is the one who spilled his blood for the church. He’s merciful and he’s gracious and he’s willing to die for these people. So I know him to be those things, but he’s also just and will judge us impartially.
This promise is encouraging because it reminds me that the flock isn’t truly mine, but belongs to Him. He isn’t going to set up the people He died for to fail. He will sustain His flock until He returns. He will give them what they need, when they need it, where they need it.
And since we serve under the chief Shepherd he will provide what His flock needs, then He will guide and direct the elders to care for the flock when they look to and trust in HIm. Yet, while that is true, he will guide and direct, he will be faithful, his return is most encouraging because it promises that our victory is sure, for it depends on the appearing of Christ, and not on our own efforts.
When he does return, what’s rewarded to pastors is the unfading crown of glory. What is the unfading crown of glory? We can get caught up on the what, but there seems to be an emphasis here on the fact that it’s unfading. This crown of glory will last forever. We saw that in 1 Peter 1:24–25“for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” Things of this earth are temporary, but the the work done by the elders has eternal impact and eternal rewards. We may not see the fruit of our labors on this side of eternity, but when the chief Shepherd returns what has been done will be made known.
Not only will the work of elders be made known, but Jesus will be glorified and the unfading crown of glory that elders will receive is that they contributed to the multiplication of the glory of God. This is what Paul says in 1 Th. 2:19
For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you?
Church, I believe our crown is you glorifying God. We remember the promise that the chief Shepherd will return and when he does His glory will be revealed and our hope and our aim is that you will be there glorifying and honoring him. That’s our desire.
So church, all of this this morning tells us that “Pastors, continue to do the work God has entrusted to you, with the people He has entrusted to you, until He returns.” We should be encouraged because these instructions were given to pastors in front of the flock. They can know what to expect and how to help their shepherds care for them. Pastors can step forward knowing that they aren’t alone ministering and that there are others, both near and far, who have walked the same path.
Pastors, we are to shepherd God’s flock willingly, eagerly, and by example because that’s how the chief Shepherd has cared for us, and when things get hard, because they will, Pastors we must remember the promise.
So what does this mean for those who aren’t in the room. I think there’s several points of application that I hope have become clear. The first is this, are you a part of the flock? I don’t necessarily mean LBC, although that’s part of it. More importantly than being a member of this church, are you a member of the family of God? Do you know personally the mercy and grace and goodness of the chief shepherd? Have you recognized that outside of his saving grace you are a lost and wandering sheep? Have you seen that your best efforts aren’t what get you into the flock of God, but rather His coming and redeeming you? If you aren’t a member of the household of God then there is no other application, or nothing more important for you today than to cry out to him and ask him to save you. I would love to meet with you today after the service to pray with you and walk you through that.
But if you are a member of the flock of God, then know, church, we want to pastor you. We want to be involved in your lives and point you to Jesus. We care for you and I don’t say this flippantly, church I truly love you and your family. You are not a burden to me—sometimes. I’m kidding. I desire nothing more for you to know that goodness of our chief Shepherd and to glorify Him with me.
Because we care for you then here’s specifically what you can do to help us. 1) Engage your pastors. We will do our best to caring for you and serving you, but I know we miss more than we should. So don’t be afraid to come to us. God has entrusted you to us and us to you. So don’t be afraid to engage.
2) This really builds off of that, but don’t walk alone. A wandering sheep is easy for a wolf to pick off. You were saved from your sins and into the family of God. That isn’t just the universal church but the local church as well. Plant your life in a community and seek to grow there.
3) Pray. Pray for your pastors as they seek to care for you. Pray that God would sustain and give them wisdom. And pray that God would raise up more pastors—both old and young. Pray that God would stir up men with the desire and ability to help care for God’s flock.
Pastoring is a wonderfully, good thing. I love it. I love to see you grow in your love of Jesus. Pray that would happen. Pray your pastors would help take you to the chief Shepherd because that’s our greatest desire—that He would be glorified by you and in you. Church, thank you for being a flock that is a joy to shepherd. You are loved and cared for and I’m hopeful for where the chief Shepherd is taking us. Let’s pray.
