Chosen to Serve in Love

1 Peter 5

so this is first peter chapter five. Would all those who are able stand with me for the reading of the word of god. 1Peter 5 - 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. 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. 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. 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.

12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. The word of the lord. You may be seated.

You know, I was reading this chapter and in doing my study for writing the sermon I realized that chapter five a first peter doesn't get a lot of attention. But I really think especially at this point in this body. Chapter five needs a lot of attention. I grew up in roman catholic setting as a kid, and I don't know if any of you know what happened in the nineties in the catholic church with the priests and other elders in the church, but let's just say it wasn't a good look. Especially since the abuse of those priests and elders was covered up. If the catholic church had been paying attention to chapter five of first peter and other places, it talks about requirements for eldership. Those things never would have happened. And if they did happen, they never would have been covered up. And I'm looking out to my fellow elders in the audience, and we really need to pay close attention to this, but it's not just for us either. This is for the whole body to pay attention to. Because it gives the description of how elders are supposed to act and where their motivation for serving, the body should come from. And exactly what should motivate them. With that let's dive in.1Peter 5:1-3 says. """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""" so the first verse is a bombshell. Peter says that he is a fellow elder a witness to the sufferings of christ and a partaker in his coming glory. Let's think about that for a minute, now, a lot of elders in the church, over the past two thousand years, have probably taken this verse to give themselves authority that they wield tyrannically, that they should never have had in the first place. You see, when I read this verse, I don't see it's saying that an elder has the same authority than an apostle but rather the same responsibility. I'm going to read you a passage that jesus spoke to peter After his reconciliation to christ from his betrayal. John21:15-17 """When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.""" You see, as an apostle of jesus peter was given immense responsibility and peter calling himself an elder is saying that we have the same responsibility as he did. Not the same power and authority so to speak. But the same responsibilities. So many people over the years have probably used this. And just hurt countless of christ sheep and lambs. So the first trait of an elder should be responsibility. Then he says Shepherd the flock. You know, while doing research for this, I looked up just what it is a shepherd is supposed to do to take care of the sheep. I'm going to list them all now. The first is to provide food and water. So make sure they're nourished. The second is to lead and guide them. pretty self explanatory. Then maintain their health. Then shear and treat. Then, we get into the safety part of things. Defend against predators. Defend against internal threats. Stay vigilant. Then we get to the guidance aspect. Know the flock. Guide the flock. Rescue lost sheep. Now this is all for regular sheep in the world like, you know, the animals, cute ones fluffy, so now I'm going to show you the list that corresponds to this. For in the church for elders, shepherds. The first is to preach and teach the word of god is true food, Nourishment. the second and third one is spiritual guidance. The fourth one is to pray with them and for them. Now to protection and safety. The first is protect against the world's influences. Second is to watch out for wolves and sheep's clothing . The third is to defend against false doctrine in the church. Now on to guidance. This one stays the same knowing the flock, knowing your fellow brothers and sisters in your church. Then is lead by example. And the last one, perhaps one of the most important, it stays the same. rescue The lost sheep. If we look at this list, that's a lot of responsibilities. And anybody who should be called an elder should consider these not just responsibilities but privileges as well. And they're not going to do it perfectly. By the way, there is only one perfect shepherd. I'm not gonna break down each one of these super in depth, though in private, I may have a three hour study with the fellow elders. Just so we can have a better understanding of our duties. The very first on the list 1 to preach and teach the word I'm hopefully doing right now. I hope this is successful. If not, you can come to me after and let me know. The reason I said that the 2nd and 3rd one is spiritual guidance is because there's two aspects to this. There's being able to point to the word of god to help someone in their struggles find gods will. And then also be able to explain to them what it means or help them find the right understanding. It's not that you're giving your advice to somebody out of your own opinion. That's not what an elder is supposed to do. The next one I want to comment on is knowing your fellow brothers and sisters in your church. Because a lot of these other ones you can't do unless you know the people and you actually, I'm not saying find out every aspect of what's going on in their personal lives, but to actually know them well enough to be able to guide them during their struggles. And during their good times too. The next 2 follow directly out of this, to watch out for wolves in sheep's clothing and to defend against false doctrine in the church.

Like I said, before, if you don't know the sheep, then you can't help them in this way. Now, it doesn't mean that you berate somebody, because they might be doing something slightly different than what the normal is, but it's making sure that as brothers and sisters. We're walking as close to christ as possible. Remember what it says in Galatians 6:1 """.Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.""" and if you think this doesn't apply to those outside the church, well, let me remind you of what's said in 2 Timothy 2:24-25 """.And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,""" The world would have us walk the opposite direction of christ, our job as elders is to help guide you back to the right path. And sometimes we need that guidance as well. I want to remind you guys of this. That we're also members of the flock ourselves, and sometimes we need protection and sometimes the very wolves that we were looking out for are among the elders. That's how wolves work they find their way into the middle of the flock. And then wreak havoc. lets look at Acts 20:29-30 """I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. """That kind of leads into the next one lead by example. When we're not leading by example, that's when we need to be guided back into line with following christ. But who are we to tell you anything If we're not striving to walk in that same manner? It's says In Titus 1:7-9 """For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.""" and 1 Timothy 3:2–7 “Therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church? He must not be a recent convert, or he may become puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a snare of the devil.” Now I'm also gonna ask that you would give us some grace, because we're not gonna do all of these perfectly. But at the same time, if we're not striving for this, then we have no right to tell you how you should follow christ better. And then the last two go together rescue The lost sheep and pray for your fellow brothers and sisters. As elders, when we see somebody moving away from Christ, we are to run after them. But there's only so much that man can do. We can't exactly drag someone kicking and screaming back into church. So The rest has to come from God and praying for and with your fellow brothers and sisters is probably one of the most powerful things. You can do as an elder

Prayer from a righteous man avails much. And remember jesus is the good shepherd who looks for the lost sheep. We just get to be blessed enough to take part in that process. Remember the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18:12-14 where jesus says. """What do you think? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of my Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.""" So Peter is actually asking the elders that he's speaking to in this letter to Do the exact same thing that he himself is doing in writing this letter. And he makes it a point to mention that it's not to be done under compulsion. A lot of the churches that exist nowadays, especially in the south, will vote someone into eldership. I've even heard stories of people being put into eldership because they're not serving enough in the church. That's the exact wrong reason to put someone as an elder. And then he mentions also not to do it for a shameful gain. If somebody has an issue with pride, or they hold money above other things, they definitely are not made for this type of position. He goes on later to talk about it. But being an elder in the church is a place of sacrifice and service not to get a plaque on the wall. Now, this doesn't mean that striving to be an elder is a bad thing. Remember what Paul says in 1 Timothy 3:1 ."""The saying is trustworthy: If anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task.""" It's not the seeking of the office that can be the problem. But the reasons behind why someone is seeking that office. Remember what it says in 1Timothy 6:9-10 ."""But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.""" You know, there's a lot of people. Especially in the south, not trying to pick on the south. It's just, there's a lot of baptist churches down there, but there's a lot of people, especially in the south who will choose being a pastor as an as an actual career. I think this is a big mistake. Because then it ties directly the desire to serve god with money. And I'm sure some people can handle this just fine, but I still think it poses a big danger for those who can't remember Paul saying them, people wandered away from the face due to their love for money. Because it's the root of all kinds of evil. Not to mention especially back then, the elders probably helped handle the money, and that can be a heck of a temptation. If you covet money. Now the next problem that I want to talk about if you're wanting to be an overseer, or an elder, is power. We hear the worldly term absolute power corrupts Absolutely. Well, I think god would agree with that. In verse 3 Peter says “” not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.”” now we see all too often. This specifically. power being abused by elders. In the church. And this in my eyes, is one of the things that hurts the most in a church because it doesn't just cause new believers to walk away from the faith. It causes people who have been in the church for years. A lot of time years and years to walk away because of the abuse of an elder who doesn't deserve that position at the time. Now again, we're not going to follow any of these perfectly. But I think this one is particularly egregious, if someone as an elder does this, then they need to come a long way before they could be considered for eldership again. We need to remember what jesus said to his apostles who peter says are elders. In Mark 10:42-45 """And Jesus called them to him and said to them, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But 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 slave of all. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”"" so right here, Jesus says we are not to act like the world. And we are not to Lord The authority given to us over one another, but rather, we are come with a heart of service. If you come to eldership with any other heart than a heart of service and love. Don't even bother, don't even bother. That's not what this position is. This position is one of sacrifice and love and let me just put it this way when I see somebody in this church going through a hard time. My heart breaks if they're struggling with faith. I want to reach out to them and remind them that they have no reason to doubt that they have no reason. To abandon God because God is not abandoned them. That's my heart when I think of serving as an elder or overseer. It's not a position of I have more authority than you, but rather

I have a responsibility to help keep you on the path that Christ has laid for both. You and I then we all have this responsibility. It's just we recognize that some people are called to that position more than others. And every position in the church is important. You know, when we go to heaven, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if the person with the biggest mansion is the little old man or lady who is sitting in the back, praying for everyone in the church. And never held some position of authority never stood up here on Sunday and preached, but truly had faith that could move mountains. Now we finally get to verse 4 “”And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”” now, when peter says this, the very first part, he's reminding them that we are not autocrats over the flock, but rather we ourselves' servants to the chief. Shepherd who is jesus christ. and that if we stay good servants to the very end, that christ will reward us, not because we, you know, we're above anybody else, but rather we put ourselves and humbled ourselves into a place of servitude to him. And to others, because remember, this is a position of service not of authority not in the way that we think of authority. Remember what jesus said in Matthew 25:14-21 """.For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. 16 He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. 17 So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. 18 But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. 20 And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, ‘Master, you delivered to me five talents; here, I have made five talents more.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ """ jesus rewarded the faithful servant who he said over little but I would argue as elders we are set over much so if we fail and hurt the flock I don't think the chief shepherd's gonna be too happy with us. Now let's look at verses 5-7 “””5 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.” 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. ””” now, only the first few words are to everyone else besides the elders and then right after that, everything else is to everyone. So he starts out by saying, likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders. Now this surprised me a bit but when i looked into this i found out he is actually talking about those who are younger. Because someone who is young is more likely to be independent and rebellious. But that doesn’t mean if you are older than an elder it’s a free pass to be like nah nah nah nah nah nah I don’t have to listen to you. Because if you or I acted like that then Peter would probably lump us in with the youngins. But if we're acting in the proper way as elders, no one should have a problem with humbling themselves and subjecting themselves to our advice or our guidance, because if we're doing it right, we're doing it from a place of love and actually wanting what's best for you. He then says “””Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”” i love how he puts this to clothe ourselves with humility. Toward one another, and this goes for everyone we talked about how jesus would serve humbly, and that we're to do the same.Well where to keep that humility with every interaction that we have, no matter what position we are in in the church. We are to be humble towards one another because god may be working through you or me, or anybody to bring us wisdom in sight or anything.We need. And he's quoting a Proverb here it's worded a bit different, but let's take a quick look at it. Proverbs 3:34 ""Toward the scorners he is scornful, but to the humble he gives favor."" I know the wording is a bit different, but it makes sense that the prod would be people who scorn or are scornful and grace literally means god's undeserved favor. And you know one of the things that I realized since coming to christ is what might be hard to do with people is easier to do with god when it comes to humility. Because we know through his word that god cares for us. Cares for us more than we care for ourselves. Because we can trust that he has our best intentions in mind. It's easy to humble ourselves before his mighty hand as peter puts it and he tells us to do that. So the proper time we may be exalted, because no matter what we're going through in life. We need to trust that god does have our best interests in mind. And he goes on to reinforce this by standing to cast all our anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Remember Matthew 6:25-34""“Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.””" I can't help but read this and realize that part of the reason I can be humble for god is because I know he's not going to abuse that humility. And when he gives people that same authority to care that we should humble ourselves when interacting with them because god is giving them the heart to care in that same way. Now, it doesn't mean to just ignore if someone does abuse that humility as I said before. If they do that, they shouldn't be in the position of that authority to care. He Now goes on to say in 8-11 “””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. 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.””” so there he goes telling us again to keep our minds on what matters a k a be.Sober minded, because the devil prows around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. We can see this directly in Job 1:6-7 ."""Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”"" and we know after what satan did to job, he literally went to and fro on the earth.Looking for someone to vow, and he found poor old job. But like job, we're asked to resist him stand firm in our faith, knowing that other brothers and sisters are going through the same thing.There's a lot of times where just knowing that somebody else is going through the same thing.I'm going through and they're holding on helps me hold on and of course we have the ultimate example of christ holding on when he was tempted by satan in the Wilderness which is a picture of suffering. In Matthew 4:8-11 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “ ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’ ” 11 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him""" this is part of what he meant when he said the spirit of god and glory will rest upon you.We will be able like christ was to reject and resist satan.No matter what he's throwing at us, because god himself is delivering us. That's what he means by restore.Confirm strengthen and establish. And then he will ultimately deliver us when he comes in Glory Amen. Now on to the last 2 verses “””12 By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it. 13 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. 14 Greet one another with the kiss of love. “”” no, these last two verses, similar to some other ones can be ignored sometimes, but I really don't think they should be. Because here peter is summing up the entire letter, he everything he said in the entire letter about the trials that we go through.And how we are to stand in christ he's saying that this is the true grace of god.The father's ability to walk us through trials and come out more like his son at the end of him.And he says, stand firm in it. It also serves to show that peter in humility gives credit to sylvania.A faithful brother, he calls him.He could have said that he wrote the letter or just not mention sylvania at all, but instead he humbly gives credit where credit is due. No doubt he remembers Proverbs 3:27” which says """Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.""" He then goes on to give greetings from mystery woman in babylon and from his son, he calls him mark. Letting the believers know that there are other believers out there who are thinking and praying for them. And the way he ends is one of the most beautiful and short verses of the letter greet.One another with the kiss of love. Now in our culture nowadays, if I was to just walk up to you.Randomly, and give you a kiss, you know, on the cheek.Forehead doesn't matter.I probably would get slapped, but what he's actually exhorting us to is to greet one another with affection and true love.And care 41 another.This sums up the whole of how we are to walk with our fellow brothers and sisters in christ. I'm going to quote you two verses to really seal this idea the first is 1 Corinthians 13:13 which says """So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.""" And the second is 1 John 4:8 """Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.""" As the title of this sermon says, we are chosen to serve in love. But love, above all other things. And if you're missing the love of God today, I invite you. Jesus invites you, Peter. Invites you into the love of God. So before we end in prayer, I'm going to ask if anyone wants to make that commitment right now. To raise your hand and we can pray together. And also, I'll ask all those who are already in Christ. If you want to recommit yourself to an attitude of service and love, raise your hand as well. Starting with those who are not in christ, who wish to be. And now, for those who wish to rededicate themselves in this attitude of service in love. Let's pray.