A Shepherd for His Glory

I was very comfortable as a farmer/rancher, especially in our early married years. I was content being a person of the soil and working with livestock. I was happy to be a child of God who enjoyed singing in the choir and various small groups. I enjoyed teaching Sunday School, VBS, preaching every now and again at church, being an integral part of a lake ministry during summer months, etc. However, many individuals continuously urged me to consider being a pastor. They felt that God was calling me to be a full-time pastor.

However, that meant being a shepherd to what the Bible refers to as sheep. And the Bible isn’t speaking about the four-legged kind. It’s people like you and me. I knew what a challenge I could be, much less thinking about other people like me. Now, realize that our family never raised sheep, though one of our neighbors did have a lot of sheep. I was often told that we didn’t mess with sheep because they were too much work with all the other stuff we had. Later on, I heard from a friend who owned sheep that there were basically two kinds of sheep; the ones who were healthy, active, and always wanting something; or the ones who were sick and dead.

W. Phillip Keller who wrote A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23, states: “It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep,” wrote W. Phillip Keller. “The behavior of sheep and human beings is similar in many ways.… Sheep do not ‘just take care of themselves’ as some might suppose. They require, more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care.” An example might be seen in several ways in which sheep are totally different from other livestock. Most animals, if they wander off, know exactly how to get back to where the feed and shelter is. However, sheep become completely lost and have to have someone go get them and guide them back home. Sheep are fairly lazy in that they can’t even clean themselves, nor defend themselves. They run away in panic and need something to protect them.

All that to say, that those who were reading Peter’s letter understood the imagery that was being shared when Peter talked about shepherds and sheep. Believers today are no different than in Peter’s time. We are still called sheep and in need of a shepherd. Guess what? I was being called to be a shepherd for a local group of sheep, serving under the Great Shepherd. But I fought this calling for several years.

Yet, today, I am grateful to the Lord for that calling upon my life. I continually recognize my own weakness as one of His sheep. At the same time, I realize that God has called and equipped me to serve as a shepherd to the wonderful local flock where I am currently.

Today’s sermon is a bit awkward to share, since I feel like I’m basically preaching to myself as to how I can be the shepherd which God wants me to be. Yet, I realize that there may be those listening to this message that are part of our church family or even simply listening or watching on the internet because God directed you here, who God may be calling you to ministry, or simply encouraging you or challenging you right where you are, to keep persevering.

As shepherds, under God’s guidance, we lead and serve for His glory.

Exhortation - 5:1

As Peter begins this section, it is helpful to understand that with the upcoming intensity of persecution, the local churches were going to need some strong leadership.

1 Peter 5:1 NASB95

Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,

Peter starts out by identifying with the other elders, by pointing out that he is a fellow elder. He did not present himself as an apostle (though he was one), nor did he try to pretend he wore a spiritual superhero cape. His readers would have known of his many failings in the earlier part of his life. It seems that this exhortation should have been received nicely since he wasn’t putting himself on a pedestal. Remember also, the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write in this way. Plus, everyone also knew of the tremendous growth that had occurred over the years.

As I think about this, I am encouraged that whatever I share with you needs to come from my own walk with God. If I am not growing in the Lord in my own life, I will not be able to effectively instruct or equip you for ministry. Therefore, I must be diligent in pursuing a deeper relationship with God and not be content with the things of the past. This is one of the reasons that I continually study, taking continuing education courses and seminars, trying to be fairly well read on the most recent trends and events in the church. Even with what we are doing now with technology and our worship teams, is partly as a result of the fact that I want to do what I can to keep our church on the cutting edge, in order to impact as many people for Christ, using whatever means we can in order to do so.

I see this shelter at home situation as one of the challenges that churches are having to face so they can grow deeper in the Lord. No longer can we mark off the checklist that we attended a meeting in a building, thus meeting our own requirement. Now we are recognizing that the church cannot be held hostage by a building. We are understanding that as followers of Christ, we are the church. We can still do ministry, but we have to be creative and find ways in which to do so. I have been forced to cancel or change some meetings and appointments, while looking for other avenues to make things happen. I have been spending a good deal of time looking, along with Amber, at ways through FaithLife, where groups can be formed in which studying and disciple-making can take place, even if we cannot meet face-to-face. The Women 2 Women group has been diligent in finding a way to still meet for Bible study on Monday nights via Zoom meetings. Other groups are using technology to make things happen. New opportunities are coming that might not have happened if we weren’t going through this trial, if you will. Though it’s certainly taken me, and many of you, out of our comfort zones, I want to be the type of shepherd who is willing to think outside the box so that the flock under my care can continue to grow.

So, as I pursue getting to know Jesus Christ in a deeper way, my desire is to grow so that I can enable you to grow, as well. And even though I can’t personally see all of you and shake your hands and hug you, as I wish, I can tell that there is growth happening within our flock. And by the way, if you desire to communicate or share your fears and frustrations, you can most certainly contact me. I am not hiding nor refusing to engage people for the Lord.

Exercising - 5:2-3

Maybe part of the reason this is so hard on many of us, as we realize how truly important that face-to-face interaction is with our brothers and sisters, is that sheep tend to flock together. Very seldom do you see a lone sheep. They like being around one another. My guess is that all of you, my brothers and sisters, look forward to the day when we can all be together.

1 Peter 5:2–3 NASB95

shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God; and not for sordid gain, but with eagerness; nor yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.

Jewish shepherds did not see sheep as expendable, but as having long term benefits. They weren’t shepherding sheep for the purpose of lamb chops. Rather, they were looking at the long term results and continuity of the sheep. These sheep were to provide wool, milk, and lambs for further production. Sounds a bit like what Jesus wants of us; to be disciples of His, who reproduce other disciples. We do that through witnessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the unsaved and then helping each other to grow in our faith. Of course, often sheep were used for sacrifices in the Old Testament for worship and for God’s glory. Again, we are called upon to be living sacrifices.

So, how does one shepherd the flock the way God wants us to do so? Peter says to shepherd the flock of God among you . . . Some translations use the English words care for, feed. This would certainly include protection for the flock from that which would try to separate them out or cause any sort of harm. My role in this area is to protect you good folks from anyone or anything that would try to create division, or cause poisonous thought or ideas to come in, or would simply want to elevate anything over and above Jesus Christ and His Word.

It includes making sure you have a healthy diet and are being fed spiritually nutritious food. A good shepherd would do his best to lead his sheep from location to location where there was good grass, a calm place to be, etc. You may have noticed that I said lead, instead of drive. We’ve heard of cattle drives; where you are literally driving the cattle in front of you. Almost always, one has to herd or drive cattle, for they will rarely follow. In fact, over the years, I was convinced that some cows were actually plotting against me.

However, I have actually experienced the difference with sheep when working with a friend of ours. Driving sheep would be almost like herding cats or intelligent, self-moving noodles. But if you walk ahead of them, they inevitably follow as a flock. Part of that is also because of the need for the shepherd to check the land ahead to make sure there is no danger for the sheep; such as poisonous snakes, excessive holes or pits in the ground, poisonous plants that could kill the sheep, etc.

There is also the need to sometimes deal with that one sheep that has some special needs. Unlike what some organizations try to do in making a one-size fits all mentality work, we know that every person is different and has unique needs. That is why I love visiting with each of you in different ways, so I know how to pray for you and how to try and prepare for you in order to feed your uniqueness in God’s Kingdom as I need to do as your shepherd. While I say that, please realize that I understand we all belong ultimately to the Great Shepherd. However, I also know that I have to give an account to God for how I have shepherded the flock under my care which belongs ultimately to Jesus Christ.

Verse 2 continues with exercising oversight. Here is a little bit of where some confusion can happen. Though I am a sheep, right alongside each one of you folks, I am also charged with oversight of all of you. You might say that it’s pastoring alongside preaching; they are different, but both must be done by the local shepherd. I must proclaim the authoritative Word of God as I lead you in my preaching. At the same time, I must be applying the Word of God to my life and to yours as I am your pastor (shepherd).

This requires that I not be under compulsion, but voluntarily. I must do this, not because I have to, but because my heart wants to in obedience to God and the love He has given me for you folks. I have had a few opportunities to move elsewhere in our ministry since we have been here in St. Albans. Jannita and I have had no desire or inclination to do so because of the love for you that God has given to us. Once, when we were compelled to seriously consider moving to another church, though we didn’t feel we were supposed to, after we told the other church that we felt God wanted us to stay here, at least 3 different things took place which confirmed that this shepherd needed to stay here with this flock. Interestingly, since this shelter in place has taken place, I find myself actually busier than before. However, I look forward to doing what I can do and am able to do so that I can be the shepherd that God has called me to be.

Which leads us to my being a shepherd not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. Making money and becoming financially independent is not why I was called to be a shepherd. That’s not the reason I serve as a pastor. Jannita & I have been extremely grateful by the blessing this church committed to from the very beginning in doing its best to make sure I could devote myself to shepherding this flock. I’ve also been thankful that God has caused me to have a very suspicious mind whenever some money-making opportunity is offered to me, so that I can immediately say no to it. Since my focus is not on accumulating wealth, I can have that eagerness to serve my Savior and this local church family.

Verse 3 shows the contrast between a dictator (lording it over) and a leader (example). Again, I am reminded that no amount of whooping and hollering and poking with a stick or whipping will get sheep to do anything but panic. I like what the apostle Paul stated: follow me even as I follow Christ. I remember early in ministry being told that you cannot take people where you yourself haven’t been. Thus, my need again to grow in my walk with the Lord so that I may lead by example and help each of you in your walk with the Lord.

Expectation - 5:4

I remember in one situation where I was told that I was hired by the local church and had no business ministering to those who were not part of our church or any church. Naturally, I was shocked and horrified at this comment. When I realized that this was indeed a vocal minority’s perspective, I realized that I was called to be a shepherd to please Jesus Christ first and foremost. It was at that moment that I realized that the praises of men or acceptance by men was of absolutely no value since I serve the Chief Shepherd.

1 Peter 5:4 NASB95

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

The time frame seems to be when Christ is revealed at His Second Coming. During that time period in which Peter wrote, the crown was equivalent to our modern day trophies.

I want to be that pastor, that shepherd, that can meet the Chief Shepherd and receive the unfading crown of glory. And, of course, you know that I will lay it right back at my Savior’s feet, just as the Bible describes.

I know that being called to shepherd a local flock is a serious and quite humbling responsibility. Yet, I cannot do it without the Chief Shepherd’s help and enablement. And like the younger version of me as a farmer/rancher, I know that what I’ve been called to do, I can do it with the same joy and zeal that I did back in the dirt, as it were. And I know that what I’ve been called to do is a precious privilege which I don’t take lightly.

For you see, As shepherds, under God’s guidance, we lead and serve for His glory.