The Humble Practice of Submission

Opening Comments

Please meet me in your copy of God’s word in 1 Peter 5:5-7 as we continue along in Peter’s closing section of his epistle to suffering christians. Today we will observe something that is very basic to spiritual maturity yet something that we as believers almost always bulks against, submission. Let’s look to the word of God together.

1 Peter 5:5–7 NKJV

5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Introduction

There is perhaps no clearer display on earth of God’s Kingdom that when believers walk in real genuine humility and submission. Yet, if we’re honest, we have a crisis of humility in the church today. Secular culture has crept in to the church toady and we exalt self, put us before the needs of others, and even force others into our mode with us and the result of that is a form of christianity that is foreign to the biblical concept of Humility. Yet practicing humility is one of the first duties of the believer.

This passage we’ve just read is one of the best on humility in the Bible. You see, to society, humility is a weakness, but to God, its a strength. In fact, it’s one of the most striking virtues a person can posses.

How do we display biblical humility?

How do we return to it when everything/everyone around us is contrary to living a life of humility and submission?

How does humility play itself out in the context of the local church?

Peter here gives us 3 steps for how to practice the Humble Art of Submission in the church. Let’s observe them together today.

1. Submit to your elders. (v.5a)

Submit- To place ones self under the authority and leadership of another.

The command here is for the younger people to submit to their elders. At face value, that phrase would appear to say that younger people should submit themselves to those who are their elders.

While it is true that the younger person should give respect and deference to someone who is his senior, that is not what Peter is commanding here.

Contextually the word “elder” does not mean older in age but is referring the leader or pastor in the church. Elder doesn't mean age but the office of an elder.

The word “younger” is referring to those who are believers in the church. It conveys the idea that the believers in the church are to sit at the feet of their pastor like a child does his parent as he is being fed, learning and growing.

Remember in v.3, Peter has already given direction to the pastor that he is to lead and exercise his authority by being an example, not by using authoritarian methods and mowing people over. The command of vs.5 is in light that the elder (pastor) is leading properly.

The flock of God is to be subject to the pastor who is doing his job properly.

The word picture here is that the believers (younger) are to subject themselves to the minister as the parent of the church, the parent who feeds them the word of God and who willingly takes the oversight of their well-fare.

Hebrews 13:17 NKJV

17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.

2. Be subject to one another and be clothed with humility. (v.5b)

Not only are we to subject ourselves to our pastoral elders, but we are to submit ourselves to one another.

Subjection is not easy, it takes a lot of effort and concentration. It is a deliberate decision to be made to subject yourself to someone other than yourself. Yet the command from the text is we are “all” supposed to submit to each other.

We are all unique and gifted by God to serve his body and all believers are to subject ourselves to one another’s unique gifting.

We are to respect, pay honor to and acknowledge one another because of who we are in Christ and the gifting God has given each one of us.

Notice though, we are not only to subject ourselves to each other but we are also to be “clothed with humility.”

Be clothed- to gird ones self with an apron.

Picture what the Lord Jesus did on the upper room the night he served the disciples the last supper. He girded himself with an apron and took on the role of the lowest servant to wash the feet of his disciples.

John 13:13–15 NKJV

13 You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. 14 If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. 15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.

Humility- To offer oneself as lowly and submissive; to walk in a spirit of lowliness; to present yourself as lowly; to act of low degree or rank.

It is the complete opposite of acting in pride like we’re better than every one else and demanding things be our way. The believer is to carry himself in a spirit of lowliness and submission. To deny ourselves for the sake of Christ in order to serve others.

“A rider on horseback, many years ago, came across a squad of soldiers who were trying to move a heavy piece of timber. A corporal stood by, giving lordly orders to ‘heave.’ But the piece of timber was a trifle too heavy for the squad. “

 ‘Why don’t you help them?’ asked the quiet man on the horse, addressing the important corporal. “

 ‘Me? Why, I’m a corporal, sir!’ Dismounting, the stranger carefully took his place with the soldiers. “ 

‘Now, all together, boys—heave!’ he said. And the big piece of timber slid into place. The stranger mounted his horse and addressed the corporal. “ 

‘The next time you have a piece of timber for your men to handle, corporal, send for your commander-in-chief.’

“The horseman was George Washington.”

Folks, it is a dangerous lie fed to us by the world and the devil that some position or title or standing in life excludes us from being in service to others.

Matthew 20:28 NKJV

28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

Why are we to subject ourselves to each other?

A. God resist the proud (Prov 3:34)

Resist- picture of a strong military force set against an enemy.

B. God gives grace to the humble.

Grace- the favor and blessing of God.

3. Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. (v.6-7)

God is to be feared- He resist and stands opposed to the proud. The only thing we can do to escape the judgment hand of God upon us because of pride is to humble ourselves under His mighty hand.

To the humble. God’s mighty hand means …

• strength and power

• sovereignty and control

• salvation and security

• care and protection

• assurance and confidence

To the proud. God’s mighty hand means …

• strength and power

• sovereignty and control

• warning and fear

• anger and wrath

• judgment and condemnation

2. God will exalt the humble- There will soon come a day when all who have humbled themselves at the foot of Christ will be exalted to rule and reign with him in glory forever.

3. Because He cares for us- Remember, the believers Peter was writing to were suffering under the weight of persecution. Imagine the emotions and anxiety that came with that, yet, God is there to help. He is available to them to carry their burden. So the exhortation to “cast all your care (anxiety) on Him.”

All we have to do is be humble enough turn our care over to the Lord. He is more than able to take care of anything you may face.

Author Max Lucado shares this touching story of a father’s willingness to care for his son.

“[Jim Redmond’s son] Derek, a twenty-six-year-old Briton, was favored to win the four-hundred-meter race in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Halfway into his semifinal heat, a fiery pain seared through his right leg. He crumpled to the track with a torn hamstring.

“As the medical attendants were approaching, Redmond fought to his feet. ‘It was animal instinct,’ he would later say. He set out hopping, pushing away the coaches in a crazed attempt to finish the race.

“When he reached the stretch, a big man pushed through the crowd. He was wearing a T-shirt that read ‘Have you hugged your child today?’ and a hat that challenged, ‘Just Do It.’ The man was Jim Redmond, Derek’s father.

“ ‘You don’t have to do this,’ he told his weeping son.

“ ‘Yes, I do,’ Derek declared.

“ ‘Well, then,’ said Jim, ‘we’re going to finish this together.’

“And they did. Jim wrapped Derek’s arm around his shoulder and helped him hobble to the finish line. Fighting off security men, the son’s head sometimes buried in the father’s shoulder, they stayed in Derek’s lane to the end.

“The crowd clapped, then stood, then cheered, and then wept as the father and son finished the race.

“What made the father do it? What made the father leave the stands to meet his son on the track? Was it the strength of his child? No, it was the pain of his child. His son was hurt and fighting to complete the race. So the father came to help him finish.

“God does the same. Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the one who hears it and not the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference.”

He Still Moves Stones pg. 101-102

Conclusion

Humility isn't natural. Our sinful nature opposes everything humility wants to do in us. Biblical humility is a choice that every believer must make everyday and every moment.

So, to answer the question from the introduction,

How can the believer be humble today?

Be subject to elders.

Be subject to each other and clothed in humility

Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God.