Shepherding Exiles

Thank you for reading this sermon from Christ Fellowship. I hope and pray that this sermon will be a blessing of grace and truth to you. With that said, let me encourage you not to use this sermon as a replacement for your local church. Christ Jesus did not establish his Church simply for us to consume content. Instead, He calls us to be part of a real, covenant family.

Alright, we can go ahead and get started here. 1 Peter 5. For Peter 5, 1 through 5. Do you want to turn there? Enter in the final chapter, 1 Peter.

In the first five verses. Some of you know, some of you know me, you knew that I grew up on a farm in a shop in Missouri. I don’t know if I gave off like farm boys, but it’s probably not. But grew up on a farm. Um we had like every farm animal possible: goats, chickens, cows.

That was one horse for some reason. My brothers and I were full-time employees on the farm. We got paid with food and housing. Our parents just let us stay there. So a lot of farm work. Um we usually have two main jobs.

In the summer, and I mean it gets like it gets hot in Missouri just like it does here in the summers. Um we always had to go out and build sense, um, and then we had to work the animals, whatever we had. Um, so bring them in the corral, like get them shots, get them in the right pen. Uh it’s always dangerous words that animals didn’t like being in the corral, and you know, you gotta try not to get kicked or headbutted. My brother got head butted in the butt and broke his tailbone for one time when we were working, so um, yeah, always a fun job. But often, you know, in the midst of that, I was always like, why do we have to do this?

Not my favorite thing. Um, but looking back now, I can think of a couple of reasons. One was the animals can take care of themselves.

Like sheep can’t give themselves shots or build sense, and so the work was there and it needed to be done. Uh, and my dad got us to do that. Uh, the other reason was that was just a job that our dad gave to us, um, and we did it because we trusted him and we were his sons.

Uh we did it because we would get in trouble if we did it as well. Um, but mainly it just came out of hey, like, he’s our dad. Uh we want to make him proud. We want to obey him because we have this relationship with them. We we trust him. Um, he does provide for us, he cares for us, he loves us.

Um, and because of that, we we did the job that he asked. So in our text today, Peter, he’s talking to elders, he’s telling them to shepherd the flock of God that is among them. So we’re going to go into what that looks like for elders, what that looks like for the congregation. But the main thing we have to understand through this is that all of us are following the leadership of Christ. Uh, since Christ has shepherded us first, we can step into the role that he has given us.

So we know his care for us, we know his love as our shepherd. So that’s where we’re going. Let’s go ahead and get started in verse one. 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.

We’ll end there for a second. Peter, he act a lot in that first statement. So why, I mean, why is he addressing elders here in the first place? If you think about our text, um, from last week, Peter warns them that fiery trials are going to come upon the church. So do not be surprised when these trials come upon you. And now he turns to elders and he exhorts them.

Why? Because he’s saying the church needs to be led through this suffering that is coming. It needs leadership during this time as being pressed in by all sides. I figure they have a ship in the midst of a raging storm. Everyone’s on deck, everyone’s doing a job, rowing. But there still needs to be someone at the helm, keeping the ship straight, steering it through everything that’s coming. Um that’s why we have elders.

We have leadership. That’s why we have elders at Christ Fellowship. They’re here to lead us through trials to lead us towards Christ. So as we go through this text, know that Peter, he is talking to elders here, instructing them how to lead. And yeah, this is important for all of us because you’re either an elder here or you’re someone who is being led by the elders.

And it’s helpful and it’s important to know how our elders care for us as a congregation, how they lead us. So this is an important text for us to think through. And the way we’re going to do this, I don’t normally have a clear outline, so if you’re a note taker, this is your time to shine.

He’s our outline. We’re going to talk about what an elder does, how they do it, why they do it, and how we’re called to respond. So what ways they lead, how do they lead, why do they lead, and how do we respond to them? So here in verse 1, Peter starts with what an elder does to lead, the main big picture job of the elder. If you look at what he says, he says he’s a fellow elder, he’s a witness of Christ’s suffering, and he’s a partaker in the glory that’s going to be revealed.

So we’ll start with the witness to us to suffering. We don’t know for sure, but it’s likely that Peter didn’t fully witness the crucifixion of Christ, that he wasn’t actually there for it. The gospels say that Peter denied Jesus and then left.

And so it’s likely that he didn’t actually see the cross. So what did he mean here by he witnessed Christ’s sufferings, or he is a witness of Christ’s suffering? He’s saying that he testifies to the suffering of Christ.

So he proclaims that Christ suffered, he defends the suffering of Christ, and he testifies to the suffering with his own suffering. Jesus told Peter that he was going to die in a similar way to Jesus, that Peter is going to be crucified. So Peter is now living a life with his word, with his actions, and with his suffering that points to the suffering of Christ. Peter also says he’s a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. We’ve seen this over and over again throughout 1 Peter.

He’s been with us through this series. Peter like hammers this thing over and over again that if we participate in Christ’s suffering, then we will also participate in his glory. Over and over again. Suffering, glory, suffering, glory. Jesus’ suffering, his death, it was followed by his resurrection, his exaltation as team. So Jesus’ suffering led to his glory. And because we are in Christ, as his flock, as his sheep, our suffering now leads to sharing in his glory as well.

Peter even said this last week, or in our last text, he said, rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s suffering, that you may also rejoice when his glory is revealed. And so what does an elder do? What’s their main job is to witness to the sufferings of Christ and to point us to the hope that’s found in his glory. To point to the cross, to point to Jesus, to remind us that, hey, in your suffering, Jesus suffers with you, and he has suffered for you. And just as Jesus’ suffering isn’t in vain, neither is yours.

Your suffering leads to glory just as Jesus’ suffering led to his glory because we belong to him. So this is how our elders steer us through the storm. It’s what they do for us. They point us to Christ, they point us to his suffering, they point us to his glory.

That’s the word. How specifically do the elders do this? In what ways, on what manner do they lead us in this way? Let’s look at verse 2 and 3. Peter says, 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, not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And so how the elders lead us in this way, how do they point us to Christ to shepherd us? The main verb is shepherding. He says, Shepherd the flock is God that is among them.

He’s reminding them that out of the flock, we’re not, we don’t belong to the elders, we belong to God, and yet God has given the flock elders to lead us to him. And so it’s a position of leadership, a shepherding. That word for shepherd is actually where we get our English word, pastor, the Greek word for shepherd, where we get the English word for pastor.

It’s a word that means to care for, to tend to, to protect. And just think of the Think of the actual shepherd and what they do. They lead the flock, they’re among the flock, they care for him, to feed them. So concretely, this looks like elders protecting us by guarding the doctrine of the church, by maintaining sound doctrine, fighting against false teaching. It looks like them nourishing the church through God’s word through feeding us Christ, right? Pointing us back to the gospel.

It looks like them leading us in righteousness, being an example to us of what it looks like to follow Christ. So we look to them for this example. And because elders have this shepherding role, they also have this authority from God. They’re called to exercise oversight, as Peter says. So it’s an authoritative governing of the church. But notice how shepherding and overseeing go together here.

That they’re using their oversight for shepherding of the church. Sometimes it’s hard for us to accept authority to place ourselves under it willingly. Maybe you’ve been abused by authority, you’ve seen authority be abused, and it’s hard to submit yourself to it. But it’s a lot easier when you see and when you understand that all of this authority is used for your good. That authority is a lowly humble service for your flourishing, for your protection.

It’s an act of love, not act of dominance, Peter says. such a way, it’s a servant leadership because that’s the model that Christ left behind as the chief shepherd. Christ is this model of authority that is used for our good, of service. Jesus, he’s the good shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. This is how elders point us to Christ by walking in the same selfless service as Jesus did.

Edmund Clowney on this text, he’s a commentator on the text. He says, despise shepherds guarding their flocks in the field, not pompous churchmen is the model, the pastoral oversight. So it’s a lowly service office. By the way, our elders do a great job of this.

If you’re if you’re new to the church or you’re just unfamiliar with eldership, our elders really do care for you. I’ve seen it. They pray for you. If you’ve been in the church, you’ve experienced this, you’ve seen it. They do lead you in the way that Christ does. They’re here to love you. They’re here to shepherd you.

They’re not here to dominate you. Um they do a good job of that. So it’s important for us to know as a congregation that this leadership is here as for our good, for our flourishing and our protection. They use their authority to make me say that. I say that.

They’re a good example. Um, this is how our elders point us to Christ by walking and shepherding in the same way that he does. But it’s interesting here that Peter actually doesn’t spend a whole lot of time talking about what this specifically looks like. He just says, Hey, shepherd, exercise oversight. Um, after that, he more so goes to the heart motivations behind shepherding. He starts explaining why you should be an elder, why you should lead, why you should shepherd.

He goes to the heart of motivations here. You see this in verse 2 and 3. He says, Don’t do it under compulsion, but willingly, not for shameful gain, but eagerly, not domineering, but being an example. So saying you shouldn’t do this just because you have to, just because that’s a role that you’ve been given, just because it’s your job.

You shouldn’t do it for money or for other dishonest reasons. You shouldn’t dominate the flock and force them to do what you want. Instead, you should be this willing example. That word for willing willingly means a wholehearted desire. You should be eager to serve the flock, not for your gain, but for their gain. Be a humble example, not a dominating authority.

Those are the proper meditations for leaning. I’ll be honest. Sometimes it’s hard to keep those motivations in the right place. I’m not an elder, but my job here is to shepherd and to care for the congregation. Um, and in that role, sometimes I feel like I’m doing my job out of reluctance or out of compulsion. I’m just doing it because it’s my job. Sometimes I’m doing it for shameful gain, not financially, not like trying to sweet our youth group for money, but I have other dishonest reasons where I’m like trying to farther my own career, my own status. Sometimes I don’t want to be a humble example.

I just want I just want people to serve my purposes and my goals. Our elders are like, oh, it might be to protect a lot from this guy. I’m not perfect, and none of us are, and uh, we all need to have the proper motivation, Peter. He’s talking to elders, uh, but if we’re honest, all of us struggle with having our heart in the right place when we’re serving that times, no matter what your job is. Umbe you’re burnt out and you’re showing up because you have to. Your Maybe your suffering has broken you down into this reluctant, cynical service. Maybe you’re serving for reasons that aren’t honorable, that might be selfish at times.

Maybe you’re losing patience and you just want results from people instead of being a humble example to them. We’re all called to serve like Christ, we’re called a shepherd like him. Um before we do that, we need our hearts to be aligned with his heart. We have to have our hearts come in, come into accord with Christ and his love for the sheep for others. And so, how do we get this wholehearted desire that Peter speaks of?

How do we how do you get this motivation to go out and be eager to serve for the sake of others and not our end’s sake? Let’s read verse four together. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. So I mentioned this earlier that Peter over and over again mentions uh suffering and glory together. You suffer because you’re heading towards glory. And sometimes that’s a that’s a difficult concept for me to comprehend and to and to hold on to that we’re we’re serving because we’re sharing in the glory of Christ. I thought about this with my own motivations for for pastoral ministry and even for suffering in life.

Why? Why is it worth it to suffer for the sake of Jesus? Why heading towards this glory enable us to suffer now? First, we need to understand what Peter means by this glory. So the elders will receive the unfading crown of glory when Jesus returns.

So in Greco-Roman culture, whenever an athlete was competing, uh, whatever they won, whatever competition they were in, they would receive this floral moral wreath, like this this crown made of plants and leaves to honor their victory. And obviously, these plants would wither and they would decompose and their glory would fade. So it’s really this example that that earthly glory is not eternally satisfying. That the cheering of the crowd, that the celebration of this athlete’s accomplishment, eventually it’s going to mean nothing.

People are gonna, people are gonna forget what they’ve done. So Peter says the crown of glory from the chief shepherd is a crown that will never fade and never wither. So saying we have an everlasting crown of our shepherds’ approval for us. That we’re heading towards something so satisfying, so eternally fulfilling, and it enables us to pursue that now. That we’re gonna meet our chief shepherd, we’re gonna meet Christ, we’re gonna experience his love, his adoration for us.

That’s what gives us the motivation to pursue his calling now. Maybe you’ve seen the movie on the Odyssey that just came out. I’m about to spoil it, but it’s over 2,000 years old, so it shouldn’t be a big spoiler. Uh story follows, Odysseus is this uh king of a Greek Greek island Ithaca. Um he has to leave Ithaca, he has to leave his home, his family, his wife to go fight in the Trojan War.

Um he’s a hero of the war, and they win, and he begins his return back home, and that’s kind of the whole uh storyline with him, giving back home. Um but while he’s on this journey, his wife, Penelope, is still on Ippaca, and she has to send off all these suitors that are trying to take the crown of Ithaca because Odysseus is gone. They’re pressuring her, they’re trying to take her wealth, that belongs to Odysseus, they’re trying to pressure her into marrying her. And at this point, it’s been 20 years since Odysseus first left from Ithaca, and yet she still remains faithful. She resists, she sends off the suitor, she refuses to marry one of them.

Why? Because she trusts that her husband is going to come back home. She knows the relationship that she has with him.

She’s been married to him. She knows how much he loves her. And so she trusts that when he does come back, is going to make everything right again. He’s going to make everything right again. And Odysseus eventually does return.

and he destroys all the men that are trying to marry Penelope. They’re reunited, and her waiting’s proven to be worth it. That’s a similar dynamic after we’re waiting for Christ to return. We can wait, first of all, because we know the love of Christ. Because as our shepherd, he has already brought us into the flock. He’s already shown us his undying, unconditional love for us and the gospel.

And because we know his love already, we know that when he returns, being with him is going to be so much more satisfying than anything we’ve ever experienced on earth. We’re going to feel like his warm embrace. he’s going to make everything right that’s been wrong here. He’s going to validate every good effort that we’ve made in this life.

He’s going to give us a glory and adoration that far surpasses any praise we could have on earth. And that’s the promise that we have. That’s what enables us to serve.

That’s what enables elders to serve. It’s because they’ve first been loved by Christ. We can only shepherd people to the extent that we know we have been shepherded by Christ, that he is returning. This is what enables our elders to lead us in faithfulness. It’s that they are being led by Christ. They’re leading us towards him.

And so we can follow them. So what does this look like as we wait? Let’s read our box first here, verse 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. Peter singles out the younger members of the congregation here. Even though all are corrected to be younger, the oversight elders. I think he does this partly because younger members need more shepherding. They need the wisdom, they need the guidance of elders. I also think he’s probably speaking to young adults that are kind of rebellious and it’s hard for us to submit sometimes. We’re going to go out, take on the world, do what we want.

It requires a humility to subject subject herself to someone else’s leadership. I remember when I was a kid, we had just gotten this new team pong table. I was like, I played on it for a couple days. I’m going to be a ping pong player. I’m great at this. And then my grandpa came over one day. And he’s like, Hey, look, you teach me how to play ping pong.

Um, you came to the right guy, and I’ll show you exactly how to do everything. Um turns out my grandpa didn’t play in ping pong his whole life. I was pretty good at it. And he’s just messing with me, so he started playing, and he just destroys me in ping pong. He humbles me. Um that’s why we need elders to humble up at Ping Palm.

You know, we need elders who are experienced to know what it means to lead, who know what it means to suffer, who know the love of Christ, who can point us to him. We need to be humbled by that. We need to recognize our needs. Um we also need to trust that they’re leading us towards Christ.

They’re not leading for their own sake, going back to that humble servitude that we’re called to. And so it takes humility, it takes humility from us, it takes humility from the elders. That’s the main message of this last verse. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another. The literal image is wrapping a towel around your waist so that you can serve point back to Christ and his service.

And Peter gives a warning. He says, God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. He’s saying there are consequences when we allow our pride to get in the way when we either refuse to submit or exercise dominance as leadership.

There’s consequences to that. But God blesses this humble, gracious submission and service of one another. And so the call today is to go forward in that is to trust that Christ has lowered himself for you. He has shepherded you. He is shepherding you.

He’s coming back one day to give you this glory that awaits you that is yours in Christ. So as we wait, let us love one another with his love. Let us walk in his humility. And let us hope in his glory that is to come.

Let’s pray. Father, we praise you. We thank you for Christ as our chief shepherd who has lowered himself for us, who shepherds us now. We thank you for our elders and the way that they do lead us in a humble servitude and service of us that points towards Christ. I ask that you give all of us the humility to love one another, to point all of each other to Christ. Just lead us in this humility, lead us in your grace. Praise us in your Son’s name. Amen.