(1 Peter 5)
Farewells like this are strange occasions – kind of like being present at your own funeral. I feel a little bit like Tom Sawyer this morning, if you know that story. And not only do I get to be present – I get to preach! Thankfully I have a text to expound, so rather than offer you a bit of homespun philosophy and a few funny stories, I thought I’d focus on expounding this last chapter of 1 Peter, and making Peter’s last words - in this letter at any rate – making Peter’s last words the basis for my own. So, here I go – six brief encouragements, based on what Peter says here in 1 Peter chapter 5.
“To the elders among you: Be shepherds of God’s flock…” (v.1-4)
First, a word in verses 1-4, “to the elders among you”. In the New Testament, “elders” is a word that gets used interchangeably with two other words, “overseers” and “pastors” (which can also be translated as “shepherds”). So this first word is a word to Tim and Tim, based on what Peter has to say to the pastors in the churches that he is writing to.
Peter writes: “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 — not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”
Tim and Tim, I want to say to you this morning: Continue to serve God’s people as shepherds. Continue to lead; continue to teach; continue to set an example by your lives; continue to serve; continue to be pastors and overseers for this church.
There will be times when it is very hard. There will be times when you really don’t want to give a lead; there will be times when you know that recommending a difficult decision will expose you to all kinds of criticism and hostility, public and private; there will be times when it will feel much easier to withdraw back from difficult relationships, to retreat from difficult conversations; to shrink back from difficult topics. But you know that this is God’s church, and he has put it under your care, and he has given you a responsible to shepherd this church – to lead by serving and to serve by leading. And do it not for praise (because you won’t always get that), not for status, certainly not for money, not so you can lord it over people and talk down to them, not out of a sense of mere obligation and duty, but willingly, because you do it for people you love, most of all because you do it for the Lord Jesus. Be shepherds of God’s flock.
And in saying that to Tim and Tim, I also want to say to everyone, uphold them and support them and pray for them and follow their lead, as the word of God commands you to; and thank God for giving them as a gift to this church.
“All of you, clothe yourselves with humility…” (v.5-6)
Secondly, verses 5-6, Peter turns first to the young men in particular and then to everyone, and he urges humility. Verse 5: “Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
There are at least two dimensions of humility that Peter urges on us here. First, verse 5, he says: “clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.” Be willing to serve, to do the menial jobs, to put yourself out for others, to give up your own preferences and rights and tastes. And then verse 6, he says: humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand. Keep bowing the knee before him; keep accepting his sovereign will in the events of your life and trusting in his wisdom; keep humbling yourself before his word and quietening yourself to listen and to change and to obey. Clothe yourselves with humility.
“Cast all your anxiety on him…” (v.7)
Thirdly, verse 7, cast all your anxiety on him. I love this verse because it assumes that even though the Bible tells me not to be anxious I will still get anxious, and it tells me what to do with my anxiety when I do. It tells me to take it, and to bundle it up, and to very deliberately pick it up and very deliberately cast it into God’s lap and leave it with him. And if it comes back, to bundle it up again, and to take it back to God again, and once again to cast it onto him. All my anxiety. Why, “because he cares for you”.
I remember how absolutely terrified with anxiety I was when we first started meeting with the search committee to talk about coming to Petersham Baptist. It was so unknown, and so uncertain, and so unfamiliar. And it was good for us. It forced us to trust God and to pray and to cast our anxieties onto him. I have no doubt that the next year or two here at Petersham – like all such transition years - the next year or two here at Petersham will contain their share of anxieties and uncertainties. And when you feel that anxiety, take it to God and cast it on him and remember that he cares about this church and he cares about you, and leave it in his hands.
“Your enemy the devil prowls: Resist him” (v.8-11)
Fourthly, verses 8-11, I want to borrow a line from Peter and say: Resist the devil. “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith.” Peter is obviously talking mainly here about the attacks of the devil that come through persecution and suffering, but his words apply just as much to all the attacks of the devil.
When the devil comes prowling around Petersham Baptist next year and in the years to come – when the devil comes prowling in opposition, in suffering, in temptations, in false teachings, in divisions and resentments and hostilities: resist him. Don’t give him even a toehold. Ephesians 4:26 – “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.” James 4:7 - “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
“This is the true grace of God: Stand fast in it” (v.12)
Fifthly, verse 12, stand fast in the grace of God. Verse 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.”
Where is the true grace of God to be found? The genuine, saving, undeserved kindness and goodness of God? The grace of God that doesn’t justify sin but forgives sinners and pays for that forgiveness in the blood of Jesus and gives people new birth into a living hope through his resurrection. Where is that grace to be found? It’s to be found in the message of the gospel – the gospel of Jesus, testified to by his apostles, written in the Scriptures.
That’s where the grace of God is to be found. Churches come and go; pastors come and go; friends and family come and go; none of those things is a stable foundation to build your life on. The true grace of God is in the gospel of Jesus, and it never goes and it never changes. Stand fast in it. Always continue to be a church that has a flavour of grace and a culture of grace, because deep in your heart you believe and hold onto the gospel of grace. Don’t take it for granted; don’t assume it and move onto something else. Continue in it, keep your roots going down into it; sing about it and talk about it and read about it in the Bible. Stand fast in the true grace of God.
“Greet one another with a kiss of love” (v.13-14)
Finally, verses 13-14, “Greet one another with a kiss of love”. Keep loving each other. Keep welcoming each other and valuing each other and enjoying being a family of God’s people together. And keep demonstrating that – with a kiss of love, if you feel up to it and if it would be appropriate in the relationship; and if not with a kiss of love, then with some other culturally applicable way of showing it – with words, with gestures, with acts of kindness, with meals rosters and cards and invitations to dinner – with all the things that say we are family together in the Lord Jesus and we love each other for his sake. Keep on greeting each other with a kiss of love.
Let’s pray.