YouTube video sermon
1 Peter 5:1-4
Take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter 5. We got a little reprieve last week, hearing from Tuvya about the ministry he’s engaged in – sharing the gospel with Jews. I enjoyed not having to preach, and I’m sure that you enjoyed not hearing me preach. (It’s okay; we can be honest like that.) Today, however, we’re back in Peter’s first epistle to a scattered and persecuted church – believers in Jesus who find themselves as aliens and exiles living in Asia Minor. The finish line is in front of us. We’re that close to being done.
When you read the Bible, you often find that the shepherd is one of the most heartwarming pictures of the relationship that God has with His people. It’s a picture of care. It’s a picture of diligence. In fact, just like Amazing Grace is universally known and sung around the world by Christians and non-Christians alike, so too, Psalm 23 is almost universally known and loved. The image and idea of the Good Shepherd is the one that Jesus chose for Himself. It’s timeless. It’s encouraging. It’s comforting. It’s Jesus.
Sheep, on the other hand, are not always put in the greatest of light. For example, Mark’s gospel includes this statement, “When [Jesus] went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). Or how about Isaiah, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned – everyone – to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6). In fact, the only time that sheep are placed in favorable light is when they’re under the supervision of a good shepherd. And that’s what Peter turns to as he closes his first letter. Follow along with me, as we read the first 4 verses:
1 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: 2 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; 3 not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
“Father, as always, we gather acknowledging that You are with us. As we come to Your Word, we ask that the Holy Spirit convey truth to our hearts. We thank You, Lord, that we’ve been able to be encouraged and instructed by one of Your closest earthly friends. His letter to a struggling church, which is Your letter to a struggling church, fits us so perfectly. Lord, as we continue to look at it, I pray that You would give us grace to make application, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Peter has three main things to say to pastors, three main responsibilities or qualifications. The first is relationship. The second is calling. And the third is desire. Those three things: relationship, calling, desire. Pastors must have a personal relationship with Christ, a practical gifting to serve Christ, and a powerful desire to please Christ. So, let’s look at these three qualities.
By the way, some of you are thinking, “Hey, this passage is all about pastors and that ain’t me, so I’ll just scroll through my phone.” I know you. In many ways, I am one of you. And while it’s true that these verses are primarily directed at people like me, it’s also important for you to know what these verses say for at least three reasons:
- you may be called upon at some point to serve on a search committee, and these instructions will be beneficial
- you need to know what makes for a “good” pastor and what makes for a “bad” pastor besides figuring out how long he preaches, and
- because we’re never too old for God to use – who knows if someone in here today might be called to become a pastor (not typical, granted, but not impossible either)
So, I hope that you’ll engage with the text and not just let me preach to myself.
Personal Relationship with Jesus
In verses 1 and 2 there are three words that I want you to notice with me. The first is the word “elder.” Peter is specifically addressing the elders, and he counts himself among them. That word is the Greek word presbuteros. We get the term “Presbyterian” from it. It refers to somebody who is mature, often older, wiser. It’s a term that’s borrowed from the Old Testament and brought into the New Testament. You might recall the advice that Moses’ father-in-law Jethro provided shortly after the Israelites were safely across the Red Sea – how he suggested that Moses appoint judges and leaders to help attend to the needs and concerns of the people. Well, that’s the background of this word “elder.”
The second word is in verse 2. It’s the word “oversight.” It’s a different word, episkopos. We get the word “episcopal” from that – a bishop, an overseer. And the third word is the word “shepherd,” also found in verse 2. Although it’s used in its verb form here, it’s often used in a noun form and the word in Greek would be poimēn. Now, here’s what I want you to know: all three of those words describe one person.
Some of you come from church backgrounds where the organizational hierarchy was such that pastors/elders were on the bottom at the local church level and the bishops were above that on a regional or managerial level. Now, there’s nothing wrong with that (per se) but the New Testament church wasn’t developed enough, at the time, to justify having the levels of ministry that some of our churches have today. So, when Peter is writing and when Paul is establishing churches, they aren’t operating with this mindset. Thus, the presbuteros (elder), episkopos (bishop), and poimēn (shepherd) were all the same individual.
So, Peter speaks to the elders as a fellow elder. Peter doesn’t come off as somebody superior – although he could have. He doesn’t say, “I, Peter, the great apostle…,” he says, “I’m a fellow elder. I come to you as one of you.” Remember, this is the same Peter who, along with James and John, was among the inner circle of disciples. And yet, he doesn’t come as one of the three most intimate friends, but as a fellow elder, and one who had a personal relationship with the suffering and risen Christ.
Notice the wording. He says that he’s, “a fellow elder and a witness.” A witness is simply somebody who sees and hears
something and then tells others what they’ve seen and heard. That’s all a witness is. Peter was personally with Christ. That’s his past tense: “I was there when He suffered.” But now looking to the future he says, “And also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed.” So, “Unlike you, I was personally with Jesus and watched Him suffer; but like you, I’m waiting for Him to return.” What I want you to notice over all of this is that Peter writes as one who had a personal encounter, thus a personal relationship with Christ.
That’s the first mark of a good shepherd. It’s a man who personally walks with God and is growing in that walk with God. In fact, I’ll say it this way: As the shepherd goes, so go the sheep. As the shepherd grows, so grow the sheep. If the shepherd is growing, sheep are growing. If the shepherd is stagnating, the sheep will be stagnating. Which means that church leaders should always be growing in their personal lives, their spiritual walks, the gifts they use, their knowledge – all summed up in 2 Peter 3:18, “But grow in the grace and in the acknowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Practical Calling to Serve Jesus
Here’s the second thing: a practical calling to serve Jesus. Verses 2 and 3 say, “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.” It’s as if God says, “I will entrust you to take My flock and be a steward over them.”
Here’s the long and short of it: a shepherd must be called. There has to be a calling. I know that’s a mystical kind of thing. It’s hard to describe exactly what it means to “be called” as a minister. But I believe the late Fredrich Beuchner, who recently passed away in August of this year, described it best in a little red book that I have in my office called Wishful Thinking. Of calling, he writes:
There are all different kinds of voices calling you to all different kinds of work, and the problem is to find out which is the voice of God rather than of Society, say, or the Super-ego, or Self-Interest.
By and large a good rule for finding out is this. The kind of work God usually calls you to is the kind of work (a) that you need most to do, and (b) that the world most needs to have done. If you really get a kick out of your work, then you’ve presumably met requirement (a) but if your work is writing TV deodorant commercials, the chances are you’ve missed requirement (b). On the other hand, if your work is being a doctor in a leper colony, you have probably met requirement (b) but if most of the time you’re bored and depressed, then chances are you’ve not only bypassed (a) but probably aren’t helping your patients much either.
The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.
Pastors have to be called. They need a practical gifting to serve Christ. And Peter gives us two areas where that “calling” or “gifting” should be evident: feeding sheep and leading sheep. Look at the first one: feeding the sheep. That’s found in the phrase “Shepherd the flock of God.” The King James Version says, “Feed the flock of God.”
What’s interesting about this section of 1 Peter is the obvious connection that it has to Peter’s own life. You can’t read these 4 verses and not be reminded of Peter’s encounter with Jesus after the resurrection, where Jesus reconciles and restores Peter following his denial. You remember that? Jesus is on the shore cooking fish over a fire. The disciples come in from a night of fishing (not having caught a thing, which is the typical story for them), and Peter gets around the fire with Jesus, and Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” “Yes, Lord, I love you.” And Jesus said, “Feed my sheep,” (John 21:15-17) sometimes translated “tend” or “care for,” but, “feed my sheep.” It’s what shepherds do; they feed sheep. “The Lord is my Shepherd,” David said, “He leads me beside still waters.”
You’ve all heard the story of the man who wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. “I’ve gone for 30 years now, and in that time, I’ve heard something like 3,000 sermons, but for the life of me, I can’t remember a single one of them. So, I think I’m wasting my time and the preachers are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all.”
This started a real controversy in the ‘Letters to the Editor’ column. Much to the delight of the editor, it went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher: “I’ve been married for 30 years now. In that time my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals. But, for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this… They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would physically be dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today!”
I know that some of you would prefer that my preaching style would allow us to move around a little more, or that my sermon series were shorter and had “catchier” titles. I get it. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s just not my style. My philosophy (right or wrong) is that if you want strong sheep, then you need to preach through entire books of the Bible. Paul writes to Timothy and says, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3, NLT). I’m not suggesting that’s what every other pastor does, but there are many pastors out there who are feeding their sheep poison.
Second, he has to be gifted to lead the flock. You’ll notice in verse 2 it says, “exercising oversight”. I told you the word is episcopos, episcopal, meaning bishop. Literally it means somebody who “sees over;” hence, the word “overseer.” It’s somebody who looks over a group of people and sees what they need, looks over a flock of sheep and looks out for them. That’s the idea of an overseer. He’s gifted to lead them. And he does it in a few different ways.
Notice it says, “not by compulsion but willingly.” In other words, not because you have to, but because you want to. One Sunday morning, a wife says to her husband, “Come on, it’s time to get up and go to church.” “I’m not going to church this morning,” he said. “You gotta get up and go to church,” she replied. “No, I’m not.” “Oh, yes, you are!” “No, I’m not. They don’t like me and I don’t like them. Give me two good reasons why I have to go.” The wife replies, “Number one, you’re 55 years old. And number two, you’re the pastor!” Willingly, not by compulsion.
Peter also says that pastors ought not serve as shepherds “for shameful gain, but eagerly.” There were many false prophets that peppered the congregation in ancient times and were out just to get money out of people. Read Ezekiel 13 and Ezekiel 34. God had some stern words for shepherds that fed themselves and clothed themselves and were self-centered. (Now, I want to take just a second and say that you have always been good to me and my family, and to my knowledge, we’ve always been good to the other staff when it comes to salaries and compensation. And I’m not just saying that. It’s true.) Pastor and shepherd eagerly, not for shameful gain.
The final qualification is in verse 3, “not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.” The greatest sermon ever preached is one taught by example. John Maxwell is a pastor and an expert in organizational leadership. He said, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” Pastors lead by example with their personal relationship with Jesus, their practical calling to serve Jesus, and finally their powerful desire to please Jesus.
Powerful Desire to Please Jesus
Look at verse 4, “And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.” Remember, up to this point Peter is encouraging a suffering group of people, and one of the ways he encourages them is by saying, “Hold on. It’s tough now, but later on when Jesus comes back, you’re going to get a reward. The best is yet to come. Look toward the future. Look toward the goal of God’s glory.” That’s 1 Peter 4:13, “rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.” He says the same thing now to the pastors. Our motivation for ministry is to please Jesus Christ.
I’m reminded of the story of the shepherd the little boy and the donkey. They were walking from one village to another and as they got to the first village the people said, “He ought to be riding the donkey.” So, to please the people the shepherd rode on the donkey. When they got to the next village the people said the shepherd was cruel because he was letting the little boy walk while he was riding. So, to please the people, he got off the donkey and put the little boy on. When they got to the next village, the people said that both the boy and the shepherd ought to ride. After all, that’s what donkeys are for. So, to please the people, both the shepherd and the little boy rode. When they got to the next village, (a lot like America) the people all shouted, “Cruelty to donkeys! Poor little donkey is supporting the weight of two people. It’s horrible.” The last time they saw the shepherd he was walking down the road carrying the donkey.
Any kind of work, including ministry, should be done to please the Chief Shepherd. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.” Because, at the end of the day, we won’t stand before our peers; we’ll stand before the Chief Shepherd. And notice what He’ll do if we do it right: “You will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” We can labor for different kinds of crowns. Some will labor for a crown of fame and popularity, others will labor for a crown of personal empire building, others will labor for a crown of people’s applause. But the best way to labor is for God’s approval. The most common desire that people share with me – people that love Jesus – is to hear Him say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). That’s what we want to hear. That’s what we’re waiting for.
“Father, thank You, as our Chief Shepherd, the One that we look toward, that we serve, that we love, that we worship. You’re the One we do it for. Help me, O God, to shepherd Your flock well. And Lord, help us (all) to stay accountable with our hands to the plow and our feet marching ahead and our eyes always toward you, the Good Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd. As we come to Your table, may we remember Your example, may we follow Your example, and may we please You in all that we do. For we offer this prayer in the name of Christ Jesus, amen.”