1 Peter: Shepherds & Sheep like Jesus

This sermon, or parts thereof, may be used with attribution.

Exegetical Point: To encourage & warn Elders and the congregation in their respective roles - copying Christ in every situation.

Homiletical Point:

Introduction

As a pastor, there are a few things that I find exceedingly awkward to talk to the congregation about - one is giving money to the church (because I stand to benefit directly from healthy church finances), but...

The other thing is the relationship between Pastors and the Flock, or more specifically, the flock to their pastors. It always feels a bit weird talking about following church leadership or submitting to Elders while being the one leading and overseeing.

But here’s the comfort, for me and you: this isn’t an opportunity for me to get up here and verbally carouse you to my own benefit, no, this is an opportunity for all of us to look into God’s word, delivered by the Apostle Peter, and to hear what God would have us do, whether we be Elders or those under the Elders.

We’re here to hear God speak, not Samuel. So if you hear something that doesn't sit right with you, check what the scriptures say and see if you’re uncomfortable because God’s Spirit is pricking your conscience and you need to change your perspective. If it turns out that I’m wrong, please come talk to me about it, because I’d like to know!

So, lets turn ourselves to the text. Where are we up to in Peter?

Peter is closing his letter - we’re going to be finishing up first peter next week God willing! Peter is winding things down after his relentless reminders to suffer well for Jesus ake.

Now, in this passage today, 1 Peter 5:1-7, addresses church leadership & congregation dynamics. It seems like it’s a little side track, but we must remember that earlier on in this letter from Peter to the churches, he spent a big chunk dealing with authority and submission structures in society - the government, salves & masters in the Roman empire, then in the family, how Wives & husbands relate, so it’s not all that surprising that Peter ends up including some comments on what authority and submission should look like in the church.

As per usual, the comments are annoyingly brief, but they are clear.

The Apostle Peter expects that there will be both leading Shepherds who mimic Jesus, and a flock who mimic Jesus.

Shepherds like Jesus & Sheep like Jesus.

And, in fleshing that out there are three groups addressed in this passage, and we will look at each group in turn:

1. Elders,

2. Young folk,

3. Whole church.

1. Elders,

2. Young folk,

3. Whole church.

The Elders is where the bulk of the attention goes, so we will spend a greater part of our time looking at them this morning.

Even though you may not fit into some of these groups, I encourage you to listen to what the Scriptures say to each group, because it is relevant to how we operate as a church together. And, as I shall talk about shortly, it is relevant to Flooding Creek in the near future.

1. Elders: Pastor well (v1-4)

Peter gets personal to make this appeal to the church leadership. Although Peter is an Apostle who lived with Jesus and witnessed his sufferings, he still occupies the same office as local church leaders: Elder.

1 Peter 5:1 NIV

To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed:

He identifies with those blokes on the ground doing the hard yards, and elevates them, noting that they too will share in the glory to be revealed. It’s no pyramid scheme where only a small few at the top will reap the reward, no, the local church leaders will be sharing in the same glory as the Apostles. The apostles may be more honored, sure, but it’s still great that Peter’s not reserved from some corporate box while the others just get general admission. We’re gonna be there together at the revelation of Jesus Christ when he returns in triumph!

Now, Peter turns, not as a finger-wagging superior officer, but as a fellow church leader, to lay out 4 characteristics of Eldership.

If you checked your junkmail this week, you would have seen that we’re planning at Flooding Creek to shift the way that we approach church leadership and create an Eldership that leads the church, just as we see in the New Testament. That means in the future we’re going to be ordaining Elders to lead us in the same way the Peter talks about here.

As we prepare to appoint elders, we should be ready to affirm (or deny) their calling to this weighty office. This is not something to be taken on lightly. We should be able to say “yes, this fellow fits the biblical picture of an elder and I will happily submit to his leadership!” or to say “no, this man is not suitable yet”. Either is good, it’s good to be able to discern who isn’t ready, so that they don’t harm themselves and others by being appointed, and it’s good to be able to affirm those who are suitable, so that they can have confidence in taking on the role.

So as we talk about these 4 characteristics of Elders, take careful note that this is what we’re looking for. If you’re open to the idea of being an elder yourself, even if it’s down the track, examine yourself in this light:

1 Peter 5:2–4 NIV

Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

Lets break that down into those 4 characteristics

a. Attentive Pastors

Peter tells Elders to shepherd, or pastor God’s flock. That’s where the word “pastor” comes from.

Pastors are Elders. Elders are Pastors.

Peter also tells Elders to “watch over” or oversee the flock they are to “bishop” the flock.

Elders are Bishops. Bishops are Elders.

Elder is the term used most clearly and often in the New Testament - but Pastor and Bishop are also apply interchangeably. This is not a hierarchy of church leadership, there is one group of men who do it all - Elder, Pastor, Bishop. (And they can appoint deacons to support them as needed.)

These men are to care for God’s flock. It’s not their own flock for their own benefit and purposes, they’re “hired hands” so to speak. They’re contract workers who can be disqualified if they don’t do the job well. They won’t loose their salvation, but they can sure be dismissed from leadership, and they have to give an account for how they used their authority.

Elders are to pastor well, and to do so they need to be paying attention, aware and active and involved. You can’t exercise oversight of people that you don’t know or care for. Pastors need to know the flock, to be present.

Like the Chief Shepherd himself, Elders need to guide the flock to “living water” and rich pasture.

Elders need to be able to lead well - both in the positive life-enabling sense to showing people Jesus, but also in the defensive sense of being able to protect the sheep, driving off wolves. They need to be able to defend sound doctrine and tell-off false teachers when they pop-up.

Shepherds have a rod and a staff, they’re used to guide the sheep, and protect the sheep, and sometimes to yank a sheep out of a bad spot. Sometimes elders need to come along side you and warn you, or encourage you to choose a different path. They do it because they love you and love the flock.

Before I go on, I have to mention: Pastors need to know who the flock is! We live in a world where people treat their churches like their phones, they get a new one every few years, or maybe sooner if there’s a new model and this one is annoying me. You choose it based on the number of features and how flashy it is. Now i’m not suggesting that any of you are so shallow, but there are some who are.

In the age of consumerist churches it is hard for Elders to shepherd the flock well because they’re not sure who their flock is! Who constitutes “among you”? - this fellow is here today, gone tomorrow. Those people only turn up once in a blue moon. This person alternates between churches on different weeks.

This approach to church is entirely foreign to the scriptures. Instead we see that there are people who are committed to a local body, serving there and submitting to that leadership. This is why, as much as I chafe against the formality of it, we have a membership system, where we officially recognize the faith of other believers and welcome them in to our midst. Now, I’m not going to withhold pastoral care from someone because they’re not official members, but i think that in our cultural context the mechanism of church membership is important as a way helping us fulfill the New Testament commands. It helps me as a leader know who I’m leading. Wanna hear more? Come to membership class tonight!!

b. Willing Pastors

So we have attentive Elders shepherding and overseeing the local church, but they must be willing.

Peter says do it “not because you must, but because you are willing as God wants you to be”

Who wants a leader who does it just because they feel duty-bound to lead?

God wants willing leaders, those who have a genuine care for the flock and the good attitude to go with it. Not because “if I don’t do it nobody else will” or out of some feeling of obligation as an older believer.

Paul says it well to Timothy:

1 Timothy 3:1 NIV

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task.

I want to see leaders who aspire to the noble task of Eldership. Yes, it is possible to have that desire misplaced, wanting power, prestige and control, but I’m not talking about that. We’re talking about those who desire to see God’s flock well cared for as an under-shepherd to Jesus. I want to see men who put their spiritual gifts to work in leadership, willingly, for the sake of Christ’s Church.

c. Selfless Pastors

Peter’s also looking for selfless pastors, as I alluded to a moment ago, who aren’t in it for what they can get out of it.

“not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve;”

Selfishness is not something we want to see in any Christian, but especially not in those who are charged with the care of souls. It is fundamentally a role of serving others, not one’s self. The Elder is out to please Jesus by caring for His Flock, not to line his own pockets or make a name for himself.

You may remember awful times in Church history, when Christianity was legalized in Rome, and became the state religion, it was now fashionable to be a Christian and so people tried to become church leaders to get honor and prestige. They would try and climb hierarchies and make friends in high places. What an affront to Jesus. To turn his church into a mechanism for gaining power and money and prestige!

We don’t have to worry so much about that kind of thing, but we can still fall into the trap of trying to set up our own little church kingdoms instead of being eager to serve Jesus by serving his people.

d. Exemplary Pastors

Last characteristic of elders, is that they are examples!

This seems pretty strait forward, but we need to be reminded of it!

“not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock”

The authority can go to your head, just ask your local dictator. Once in power, with no checks and balances, they ride roughshod over those around them to get what they want. They believe that as the leader, they are not beholden to the laws of the common man.

Our elders mustn’t be like that either - thinking that somehow Christ’s call to humility, patience and long-suffering doesn’t apply to them. Elders are meant to be models of Christian faith & practice. Leaders act as models for us to follow, intentionally or not, others will mimic them and see their bad attitudes validated by their leaders behavior.

So Elders must be blokes who are mature enough in faith that we can see a track record of faithfulness and such humility that they are examples to follow, even when they are given some authority over others.

One of the ways I have seen this particular characteristic fail is in church leaders who have disqualified themselves as leaders (so they are not examples to the flock) but then refuse to give up their position, using Jesus name in vain by claiming to have a calling or anointing that is somehow supposed to trump God’s previous words. Then to question them, or call them out is deemed an offence to God, casting the questioner as essentially a messenger of the devil.

Godly Elders must be servant-hearted, not big-noting themsleves but serving others. Jesus said:

Matthew 20:25–28 NIV

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

For those Elders, who fulfill their role well and embody those characteristics, there is a reward.

1 Peter 5:4 NIV

And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

Even if there is little honor and glory in the selfless, servant-leadership of Jesus local church on earth, there is eternal glory from Christ for that labor. It is an honorable and noble task that has a reward. It is a weighty task, a heavy burden that will give you “great sorrow and unceasing anguish in your heart for the sake of your people” (paraphrase Ro 9:2–3). But it is also a joy to be able to serve Jesus in that way.

1. Elders: Pastor well,

2. Young folk: Submit to Elders (v5a)

Having addressed the Elders, the leaders of the church, Peter the addresses the people who’re going to find it hardest to submit to church leadership - the young folk who think they know everything!

1 Peter 5:5 (NIV)

In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders.

Now, we need to deal here briefly with the language. Here in this verse 5 it is unclear if Peter is speaking to “young men” or “young people” of both genders.

Here’s the thing though, it doesn’t matter to us because other parts of the Bible show us that all are to submit anyway...

Hebrews 13:17 ESV

Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.

So it doesn’t matter whether you be young men, or men and women, both are to submit to church leadership anyway. And perhaps that’s why the NIV translation is happy to leave it as “young people”.

Getting back to young people, I think Peter knows it’s hard for young people to submit to “stuffy” “old” “traditional” leaders. After all, the rebelliousness of teenagers and young adults is well known.

It takes time for young people to realize they’re not “all that” and they really have no idea what they’re doing. In my experience, that tends to kick-in in your late 20s, but that’s just me.

Once you get a little older, you get a few years under your belt you can see...

....how leadership is harder than it looks,

....that leaders are sinners too,

....that you can respect someone, and the position they have, even if you don’t agree with them.

But that’s much harder to do as a young person, teenager/young adult, who’s starting to get a grip on the world and owning their identity. They have fresh perspectives and bulk-heaps of energy. You’re ready to get out there are set the world straight!

I love your energy! But it must be shaped and directed by the wisdom of your Elders - both those who are literally older than you, and those who are in spiritual leadership over you as this passage is talking about.

You may feel like you’re an exception, that you’re different and need to break away from the pattern of youth submitting to elders. There will be people like Timothy from the Bible, who should not be despised for their youth, leaders from a young age and their wisdom and righteousness will speak for themselves.

But we should not be so bold as to think we’re all Timothy. You may feel ready to get out there to fix the world or to fix the church. The temptation is to think you know better, or you could do a better job, or you won’t have all the same troubles as the people who went before you. But if you believe that thinking, you’re being foolish.

The New International Version Chapter 5

you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders.

It’s hard, I know. I’ve been there. You parents were there before you.

But, remember, in some sense we’re all in the same boat. All of us need to submit to higher wisdom and authority. We all submit to Christ, our Chief Shepherd who watches over us.

When submitting to a mere earthly Pastor/Elder is tough, remember that you’re ultimately trying to submit to Jesus. If the Elder is asking something that is not sinful, but you just don’t agree, then leave it up to Jesus to deal with and submit anyway.

If you’ve ever had a job, you will know this experience! Sometimes the boss, or the higher rank, will ask you to do something that you chafe against, as long as they’re asking something that isn’t wrong, then we have to go along with it and do what they ask. Sometimes, we will be vindicated, but sometimes it will turn out that the boss knew better. In either case, whether the boss made a good call or a bad call, if we’re submitting to them, its their responsibility not our own. They have to give an account for their leadership, but you will have to give an account of your submission.

If we pick and choose when it’s convenient to submit, we’re not really submitting are we?

“you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders.”

1. Elders: Pastor well,

2. Young folk: Submit to Elders

3. Whole Church: Be Humble (v5b-7)

Having briefly addressed the younger people specifically, Peter addresses everyone in the church together: “All of you”

1 Peter 5:5–6 (NIV)

All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud

but shows favor to the humble.”

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.

So, everyone in the church is to “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another”.

They are to take on humility as if it were an item of clothing to be worn. It is something that covers you and identifies you.

What is humility anyway?

It’s hard to give a solid definition. Even the word itself is humble!

You could say that it is the opposite of pride and arrogance.

Humility is a the way of submissiveness and lowliness.

You can recognize it when you see it, like when Jesus washed the feet of the disciples like a household servant.

But unlike Jesus, we truly are a lowly people, who usually think higher of ourselves than we ought. Given this tendency, we should here the Peter’s application of the ancient proverb:

“God opposes the proud

but shows favor to the humble.”

This will smooth out the way of our church relationships, whether we be Elders or young people or anyone else - humility will help us all to interact in such a way that honors others higher than ourselves and isn’t just out to get my own way.

We humble our selves ultimately to God, who will put us in our proper place.

....

Knowing that God will lift you up at the proper time:

1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Certain sense of pride in holing onto your anxieties - as if God were not able to deal with them and you were!

Find rest for your soul and cast off your anxieties, give them up to God and humble yourself to him.

What now?

Shepherds like Jesus & Sheep like Jesus.

In all cases - mimic Christ!

In Eldership, be a shepherd like Christ who is attentive, willing, selfless, exemplary.

In submission, submit like Christ who submitted to the Father, going to make atonement for our sins on the cross.

Humble yoursleves, like Jesus who humbled himself, even to death on a cross - throwing off the majesty and glory and rights that were due to him.

Philippians 2:5–11 NIV

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.