Talk: 1 Peter 5:1-14, HTF 29 August 2004
David Heath-Whyte
NB: this is what I meant to say!
Intro- Sheep!
the flock
How would you feel, if you were compared to a sheep?
It's not very flattering, is it?
But the Bible often does it -
Sometimes it's not supposed to be flattering: we're likened to wandering sheep who get lost all the time - we go our own way instead of God's, that's what sin is.
It's not flattering - but it's accurate, isn't it?
Jesus used the illustration to show us God's solution: John10:11 "[Jesus said] I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep."
We need a shepherd to get us back to God - and that's what Jesus does, by dying for us.
And if you're feeling lost, without God, then you need Jesus the Good Shepherd.
And if Jesus is your shepherd: then being like a sheep is great:: we're God's flock, and "The Lord is my shepherd" - as in psalm 23.
Here: Peter has this picture in mind: when we put our trust in Jesus, to be our Saviour, our Good Shepherd, we become sheep in a good way: we're members of his flock - he shepherds us.
the context
But this flock is in difficult circumstances: Peter was writing to small churches, in what we know as Northern Turkey. State-sponsored persecution hadn't started, yet, but things were getting tricky for them. They wanted to live for Jesus, in God's way, but that made them unpopular in their society.
It's quite a similar situation to us: as this country gets more and more secular, it is less and less tolerant of real Christian belief. It doesn't like the idea of only one Saviour - let's be frank, it doesn't like the idea of needing a Saviour at all. And that thinking even infects our denomination, the church of England.
Things are getting tricky for us. It's not easy to be a real Christian - that is, a disciple, someone who actually believes what the Bible says about Jesus and living for Jesus.
It doesn't matter how young or old you are: There's a lot of pressure on teenage Disciples - but then how many 80+ year olds are there who really trust in Jesus and live that out?
How will you survive, a sheep in this flock in this hostile environment?
1 Peter has been very helpful - calling us to trust in that sure hope that Jesus has won for us through his death and resurrection: the hope of heaven with him. And calling us to live our lives as strangers here in reverent fear - good lives, ready to speak about Jesus, ready to suffer for doing good.
And as he ends the letter, he encourages the flock to survive by following what I'm going to call two principles - the servant principle and the sovereignty principle.
Life in the flock is governed by these principles (and others) - the servant principle: that church life is about humble service; and the sovereignty principle: that life with God is about dependence on him, and and trust in him as sovereign.
Both principles are about Jesus: he is the servant, the suffering servant, who laid down life for sheep; and he is the sovereign - Lord who shepherds his sheep.
Both principles are about us: how we go about 'being a Christian'
Servant Principle (1-5)
humble service
So first of all, here's the Servant Principle, from v.1-5: life trusting in Jesus is about humble service. Within the flock, the church, we relate to each other with humility and with service (doing stuff for each other, getting our hands dirty)
Peter's main focus is on the church leaders: he says that as shepherds, they are to be eager and willing servants - examples to everyone, because everyone's called to have this humble, servant attitude. That's the servant principle.
hands dirty people
And it helps us to see what kind of person is going to be useful in leadership in a church.
They're going to be the kind of person who you see shifting chairs, or helping wash up the coffee cups after the service - because they're eager to serve
It'll be the kind of person who comes to the extra things we do here - they'll be at the Walk thru the Bible, they'll come to the "Disciple" sessions from 8th September on - because they're humble - they know they need to learn more about Jesus, more and more - otherwise how can they help other people?
And you won't see them pushing and pushing to be at the front, because they don't want 'glory' for themselves - they want growth for others, with all the glory for Jesus.
"elders"
Have a look at v.1 "To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers"
The "elders" were the leaders in the church - the word actually means 'older men' - but in the new Christian churches, it soon became a term to describe the appointed leaders:
Our church leadership is a little different in the church of England - but the obvious application of 'eldership' is first to ministers (curates and vicars) - and then also to churchwardens, PCC members and other leaders within the local church.
Peter says that such "elders" are to be (v.2) shepherds and overseers of God's flock.
leadership
He puts a lot of weight on this statement - look at his appeal, v.1 - "as a fellow-elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed" - this is brilliant example of the servant principle - he is their leader - he makes his apostolic authority clear: he is a witness of Christ's sufferings - he saw Jesus die on the cross - and he saw the glory of the resurrection. He is an apostle: but he's also humble - he calls himself a "fellow-elder", and he speaks about sharing the future glory with them - the future glory that Jesus secures for every believer.
Peter's emphasis must mean that this kind of leadership is important: yes we want every-member involved in ministry, but there are to be leaders in churches, leaders with authority who nurture and teach.
contrasts
And he makes three contrasts - v.2: not out of duty, but willingness; not out of greed, but eagerly serving; v.3 not puffed up and lording it over people, but humble examples.
You don't go into church leadership for status and advancement. There should be no career path for a church minister. People sometimes ask me if I'd like to become a Bishop, as if that was the obvious 'next step in my career'. But why would anyone give up being an airline pilot in order to become a bishop? It makes no sense! As far as I'm concerned God has called me to serve his church as a pastor-teacher, and that's it.
In the church we have to abandon the world's ideas of advancement, and follow the servant principle: we're to be willing, eagerly serving, humble examples.
The only reward we're to look to is the reward that Jesus has earnt for us, the reward of God's grace that every Christian is waiting for, the reward that is the greatest and the only reward that lasts: v.4 - the crown of glory, that is, heaven with Jesus when he returns.
And the servant principle isn't just for the elders - v.5 it's for young men as well (maybe young men have a particular problem of arrogance?), and not just them: "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." {Prov. 3:34}
Holy T?
Perhaps you are in some kind of eldership role here at Holy Trinity - a church warden, or leading one of our groups, or a PCC member?
Maybe you aren't, but you want to be more involved, to put your faith into practice more.
Think about those three contrasts - how can they help you grow in your discipleship: ask God to do his work in you, by his Holy Spirit - to be more willing perhaps, swapping a sense of duty for a joy in serving; to be more eager in what you do; to be an example in what you do.
Are you humble? humble enough to come and learn more at the "Disciple" course, humble enough to come and "walk through the OT" next week?
Are you a servant? ready to be one of the last to leave, because you're still clearing things away?
Wayne Rooney was the great footballing star of the European Championships, now he's likely to be sold by Everton for at least £20 million - and when he gets to Man Utd or wherever, you can guarantee he won't have to sweep floors, or check tickets.
But we're not like the football industry, or any other industry - in the church, God's flock, our stars are the ones with the humble, servant attitude - the servant principle.
Sovereignty Principle (6-end)
sovereign
That humility is towards God as well - because of the second principle here: the Sovereignty principle, v.6 to the end.
God is Sovereign: he's in control - and because God is Sovereign, we relate to Him (Father, Son & Holy Spirit) with dependence and trust
v.6: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time, casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."
in a hostile world...
Throughout 1 Peter we've heard about suffering, the suffering of believers that comes because they want to live for Christ in a hostile world.
It's the kind of suffering that's still around today - for a Christian teenager, ridicule because he or she wants to stay a virgin until they're married. A Christian in an office not getting the best work because they want time out to help on a Midweek Mission at church. An older believer finding it hard because none of the grandchildren are at all interested in Jesus.
At the time Peter wrote, it wasn't yet official and organised, but within 50 years, being a Christian was a capital offence.
What will happen to Christians in this country in the next 50 years? Some of you here will see it.
Whatever happens - and it may well be hard: it's under God's control.
This is another underlying theme throughout the letter: God's will, God's calling, God's oversight - in every circumstance.
1:15, It's God's will that we live holy lives in an unholy world, 2:20, it's commendable before him if we suffer because of that, because Jesus himself ran this race before us: he suffered, and he is now glorified.
And that future glory is just as certain for us as the suffering, and just as much under God's sovereign control.
So in v.6, we're to give ourselves over to this control: to "humble [ourselves] under God's mighty hand" - in OT times he brought Israel out of Egypt with his "mighty hand", and that same powerful sovereignty will bring us safely to his side.
We might not understand how that can be, but v.7, we are assured that he cares for us, so we can safely submit ourselves to his control.
But it's not "let go, and let God" - we don't just hand it over to God, sit back and let whatever happens happen! - no, we depend on God and his sovereign care, and we're active and determined in opposing evil: v.8 "Be self-controlled and alert." - or "sober and watchful" - it's a similar command to 1:13, and 4:7 - why this active alertness? Because we are sheep in danger: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith..."
We know we're alone in this, across the world Christians are suffering; and we know (v.10) that God is in control of this - and our future is assured in his hands, thanks to Jesus.
So: by his power, we can resist the devil - if we want to.
I wonder if you've got power-steering in your car? Or Power-assisted steering as the glossy brochures call it. If you have, you'll know that it doesn't steer the car for you. If you drive along with your hands off the wheel, you'll crash. It doesn't steer the car for you. But: when you steer, it helps you by providing assistance to move the wheels - making it all much easier.
And God's sovereign help by the Holy Spirit is something like that - only much more personal: he helps us, but we've got to steer:
we humble ourselves under his mighty hand.
We cast our anxieties on him, knowing he cares.
We resist the devil, fighting to be holy- we're active in all of this, we have to read about it in the Bible, think about it, pray about it, and act on it - and as we do, our Sovereign Lord Jesus assists us powerfully; the Holy Spirit who indwells us (thanks to Jesus) helps us.
Peter knows that we need two kinds of advice: some of us are fragile, we have many worries, things get on top of us, we can get depressed, trusting can be difficult: and we need to hear v.6-7: put yourself in God's hands, don't be arrogant before him, humble yourself, give those cares over to him, like you hand might hand a suit over to the dry cleaners, cast them on him - he cares for you.
Others amongst us are more robust, things worry us less, we just get on with it and cope, we're confident, determined. And we need to hear v.8-9: "be holy", "resist the devil", "stand firm in your faith" - live it out, don't get slack.
Two kinds of advice - Peter will have seen both from Jesus - gentle to the wounded, forthright to the arrogant.
I guess many of us need both kinds of advice. We need to depend on him as Sovereign: caring and in control of what we can't understand, and we need to keep trusting his Sovereign will, living out what he wants in our lives, and rejecting the devil's suggestions.
It's the sovereignty principle: God is in control, so we hand ourselves over to him, and we do what he wants: dependence and trust.
Conclusion
So Peter ends this letter with what I've called two principles, at work within God's flock, living in a hostile world, seeking to live out our new lives with Jesus
the servant principle: we're to be characterised by humility and service towards each other, with our leaders showing us the way as examples.
the sovereignty principle: we look to God with dependence and trust, actively giving ourselves to him, and resisting evil.
But the letter's not quite over yet - have a look at v.12: "With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it."
We've looked at this verse lots of times as we've been through the letter - it tells us Peter's purpose in writing: he wants to remind them of the true grace of God, he wants them to stand fast in it.
What is the true grace of God? well he's just summed it up perfectly in v.10 - have a look.
The Lord Jesus Christ has died on the cross, and risen from death, for people like you and me, who don't deserve anything from God.
He's forgiven our sin, he's given us new life with the Holy Spirit, and he's guaranteed a future for us in "eternal glory" - heaven, where he'll restore us, strengthen us, make us firm and steadfast.
We did nothing good, we couldn't, and God has given it all to us in Jesus as a loving gift.
This is the Grace of God.
And it's the grace of God that means we can throw the world's ideas of ambition and achievements and advancement to one side, and live by the servant principle, humbly serving each other.
And it's the grace of God that means that we can throw ourselves onto his mighty hand, and, knowing his care, seek to live his way in this hostile world.
"And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. 11 To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen."