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1 Peter 5:5-7

As always, let me invite you to take your copy of God’s Word and turn with me to 1 Peter 5. When we finish a sermon series, there’s one thing I know for sure: you don’t have any problem finding that particular book of the Bible. As is frequently the case, in the Pauline and Petrine epistles, when you get to the end of these letters, it seems as though they both speed up their delivery and begin peppering the discussion with lots of little imperatives. “Do this. And, oh, don’t forget to do this. Oh, and one more thing…” And so on.

In fact, when you pick up a commentary on most of the New Testament epistles, you find a great deal of material on the chapters that come before the final chapter, and when you get to the last chapter you get maybe a page or two. But there’s still so much to be learned in these short instructions. For example, this morning we’re going to learn that there’s a connection between humility and anxiety – at least in Peter’s mind. Strange bedfellows, indeed, but maybe not as strange as we initially thought. Follow along with me as I read these three verses, beginning with verse 5:

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.”

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.

“Our gracious God, and heavenly Father, in whom is the fullness of light and wisdom, enlighten our minds by the power of the Holy Spirit, and give us grace to receive your Word with reverence and humility, without which no one can understand your truth. For Christ’s sake, Amen.” (Adapted from a prayer by John Calvin)

Last week, we heard Peter address the shepherds, the pastors, the elders in the church and give them some instruction and encouragement in their role as leaders of the congregation: properly feed, protect, guard, and guide the sheep. And this week he extends that instruction to the next generation – those who are younger – and then to all of the people of God. I was tempted to ask Bob Larson if he wouldn’t mind preaching for me this morning, because last week as he and Geneva were leaving, he stopped at the door and said, “Pastors need sheep that will listen.” And he’s right. That’s essentially what Peter says here: sheep, you have a responsibility too.

And I want to give you the three principles. You know, sometimes you go, “Boy, he does things in threes a lot.” Two weeks ago, we had 6 points, but I just find that three is a good, biblical number and it’s generally not too much to remember. There are three verses and three major principles that I see, here. I’m going to give them to you in sentence form. Number one: Responding to authority helps leadership.

Responding to Authority Helps Leadership

Nothing is more helpful to those who are in authority than to find folks who will respond to that authority. Notice what he writes: “Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders” – now let’s pause right there. This isn’t an unfamiliar theme, is it not? Peter has written a lot about submission so far. Back in chapter 2, verse 13, he writes, “Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake.” In chapter 2, verse 18, “Servants, be submissive to your masters.” In chapter 3, verse 1, “Wives, submit to your husbands.” In chapter 3, verse 22, Peter writes about angelic beings being in subjection or submission to Christ. In other words, submission is a part of every single realm of life. Like it or not, submission is a foundational attitude for all of life.

You can’t be saved without submission. Did you know that? In order to be saved you have to repent, turn from what you know is wrong, your own selfishness, your own previous choices. And repent means to turn around and go in a new direction. And therefore, you are now in submission to an alien will. You cannot follow Christ unless you are willing to submit to Christ as Savior and as Lord.

All of society is built on submission. There are laws that you must keep. And if you don’t keep those laws, then there are policemen out there whose job it is to enforce those laws in order to help you remember. Not only is there government, but there’s also submission at home to parents. If you go to work, you have to submit to rules and regulations of the company or the vision and instruction of the boss. In virtually every part of life there is a structure, a chain of command for anything to work, and so it is in the church.

The writer of Hebrews puts it like this, “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” (13:17). Now, I’m not bringing this up in a self-serving way hoping that you will respond to my authority. It’s simply part of the biblical text. Peter addresses the elders, then he addresses those who are younger in response to those who are older. And then, he addresses all people in the congregation after that.

But here’s what I want you to know about submission: submission to any authority on earth is an act of faith. And I say it’s an act of faith, because when you submit to a person as a believer, you’re trusting that there is God behind them who is sovereign and in control, in spite of what boss you have, or what the issues are, or who the leaders are. It’s an act of faith.

I have a couple dogs at home. And they’re two different sizes, but the little one is very full of herself. And the big one could take her any time she wanted. But they tussle and they rumble, and they look like they’re fighting, but they’re just playing. You’ve seen this, when dogs play. There’s a signal that a dog gives when it submits. It’ll get on its back and expose its stomach and neck. And at any time, I think, “Man, that dog could just go keek and it’s over.” That position of submission could destroy that dog, but in reality, that signal is how the dog is spared. And in any organization and in any group, in any structure at all, people are spared, the unit is spared when there is submission. So, it is in the church, and Peter says: responding to authority helps leadership. Here’s the second principle: Living in humility enhances fellowship.

Living in Humility Enhances Fellowship

Continue in verse 5, second sentence. “Yes,” says Peter, “all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for” (and he quotes Proverbs) ‘God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble.’” Peter begins this chapter by addressing the elders, then moving to the younger – likely because they had more difficulty recognizing proper structures of authority. Linda Schaub has a magnet on her refrigerator that says, “Hurry! Hire a young person now before they forget everything.” One preacher put it like this, “Peter started out with the elders, then he addressed the younger, and finally he spoke to the y’all-ers.” He spoke about the action of submission, and now he speaks about the attitude of humility. This is the attitude that lubricates relationships. When the gears get tight, submission and humility are the oil that keep it flowing smoothly.

You know that I like to offer Greek and Hebrew terms when I preach, but trust me, I’m not even going to attempt this one. The word “humility” means to get low or low-lying. Sometimes it’s translated “lowliness of mind.” For example, Paul says, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4). So, a low-minded person. Clothe yourself with humility. I like the way the J.B. Phillips translation reads: “Indeed all of you should defer to one another and wear the ‘overalls’ of humility in serving each other.” Dwight Moody used to pray, “Lord, make me humble, but just don’t let me know it.” That’s the attitude.

And Peter tells us why by quoting Proverbs 3:4, “[F]or ‘God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’” Just chew on that for a minute. One of the quickest ways to pick a fight with God is to be proud. You want resistance from God, be proud. God hates pride. Just another little footnote, here. This proverb was quoted by James in his epistle, too. So, pride and humility were ideas that Peter, James, Paul, John, all of them talked about. And why not? Jesus said, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).

I’m reminded of the story of two brothers who grew up on a farm out in the middle of the country. As they grew up, one of the boys decided he would stay on the farm and take over for his dad as a simple farmer. The other one left the farm and went to school and became highly educated, got into politics, became very wealthy, grew in prominence and importance. One day, he came back and visited his brother on the farm.

After supper they took a walk out in the fields. And the educated, wealthy, politician brother put his arm around the farmer brother, and he said, “You know, you ought to think about leaving this farm. Make something of your life. You know, do something important where you could hold your up high. Get off this farm.” So, the farmer brother put his arm around his prominent brother and said, “Look out at that wheat field, brother. You know it well. Notice, only the empty heads stand up.” And he continued, “those that are filled always bow low.” Another way of saying that is, “The branch that bears the most fruit is the one that is bent lowest to the ground.”

Clothe yourself with the very virtue that people of this world despise, humility, lowliness of mind. Responding to authority helps leadership. Living in humility enhances fellowship. Here’s the third and final principle in these verses: Resting in sovereignty acknowledges lordship.

Resting In Sovereignty Acknowledges Lordship

Let me give you the flow of the passage. This is where we’ve come from. Peter says, “Whether you’re old or whether you’re young, whoever you are, all of you together must have the action of submission and the attitude of humility, because God graciously favors humble people, and he aggressively fights proud people. So, therefore humble yourself.” That’s the flow of thought. If pride is the barrier to God’s blessing, then humble yourself. Under what? Notice, he calls it “the mighty hand of God.” That’s a phrase that’s used frequently in the Old Testament to refer to God’s all-powerful ability to work in any and every situation and circumstance.

In Exodus 3:19 it’s called a “strong hand.” In Exodus 32:11 it’s called a “mighty hand.” In Deuteronomy 3:24 it’s referred to as “the right hand of power.” Job 30:21 calls it the “might of Your hand.” The idea is that we’re aware of God’s sovereignty. We’re resting in God’s ability, His Lordship. We’re acknowledging His Lordship in that act of submission. We’re recognizing that He’s capable, and so we willingly surrender.

When you go to the hospital for surgery, we often say that we’re “going under the knife.” They put you under anesthetic and you go to sleep. That’s an act of faith. You’re submitting yourself to the capable hands of a physician in hopes that in due time you will be raised back up. Right? In the same way, just as Jesus surrendered to the will of the Father and went to the death of the cross and God raised Him up, as we surrender to the will of God, we put our hope in God – the One who will raise us up. And that submission and that humility before God is what then allows us to “cast all our anxieties on Him, because He cares for us.”

Let’s chew on that verse as we close, shall we? Pastor and Bible teacher, Skip Heitzig calls this verse a “soft pillow for tired hearts.” Many of you have this verse underlined in your Bibles. Jesus said, “[D]o not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing” (Matthew 6:25)? Alright, I spared you from the Greek earlier, but not this time. The word “care” or “anxiety” or “worry” is the Greek word merimna. That’s the noun form. The verb form is the Greek word merimnaó. It comes from two words put together: one is merizó, which means “to tear or divide;” the second word is noós which means “the mind.” I always remember that because I associate it with “noodle.” So, literally the word means “to tear or divide the mind.” James said, “The double-minded man is unstable in all his ways” (1:8). That’s what stress does. Anxiety… Worry… Cares of this life take our minds in two different directions.

I went to the doctor on Thursday for my annual physical. I’m one of those hard-headed guys that only goes to the doctor when something isn’t feeling right. Anyway, in my initial check-in, the nurse was going through the usual battery of questions, and she asked if I had any depression or suicidal thoughts. Now, I recognize the seriousness of those questions, but it’s a sad situation when so many people – including Christians – are either unable, because they don’t know the Prince of Peace and the Wonderful Counselor, or worse still, unwilling, to cast their cares on Him, and instead try to carry the weight of all those things themselves.

The fact of the matter is that most of us are in the latter category. It’s not that we don’t know the One who can bring peace. It’s not that we’re unaware that He’s more than capable of handling all of the anxieties and cares of our day. Rather, it’s that we’re unwilling to give them to Him. And for that, we need to repent. We need to acknowledge the sin of idolatry, the sin of thinking we’re doing God a favor by not giving these concerns to Him. We need to acknowledge the sin of distrust and disobedience. We don’t trust God enough. And we’re not nearly as obedient as we should be.

I’m reminded of an exchange that the great British preacher G. Campbell Morgan said he had with a dear lady in Westminster Chapel in Londan. She asked Dr. Morgan, “Shall we pray about the little things in our lives or just the big things?” Morgan, in his witty British manner said, “Madam, do you think there’s anything in life that’s big to God?” See, it’s all small potatoes to God. Not that God doesn’t care. He cares about all of it. But it’s not like, “Oh my goodness, this is a big one!” So, “cast all your anxieties, all your cares, all your worries upon Him.” Why? Look at the last four words: “He cares for you.”

That’s the one message you need to walk away with today: God cares for you. And I guess you have to decide what kind of a God you believe in. Do you believe in a close God, a personal God, a caring God, or do you believe in a cold, aloof, passive God? The God of the Bible cares for you and me so much that He came to us – in spite of our sin, in the midst of our brokenness – Jesus came to live among us, to walk among us, to go to the cross and take upon Himself the punishment, the death, the suffering that we deserved because of our sin. That’s our God. That’s what Jesus did for us. Why? Because He cares for us.

“Father, we leave these things – the concerns of our hearts, the people we struggle with, the leaders in our lives – we leave them in Your capable hands, O Lord. Help us, O God, as an act of faith, to surrender to You and tie around ourselves the aprons of humility, put on the overalls of lowliness. The virtue that both ancient and modern worlds despise is the very virtue that You extol, because Jesus was humble. Lord, these are the compliant attributes that we desire to display in our lives. May You, by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives, make it so. For we pray these things in Jesus’ name, amen.”