Preached Sunday, September 29, 2013 from 1 Peter 5:1-4
Theme: It’s essential to God’s flock that God’s appointed shepherds fulfill their call.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
The passage of Scripture that I’ll be preaching from this morning seems like it should really be preached to the preacher! It’s from 1 Peter 5; and it contains the apostle Peter’s words of exhortation to those who serve in the pastoral leadership of a church family.
But even though it seems like it’s a passage that’s meant primarily for pastors, I believe that it’s a very important word of instruction for everyone in the church family. Let’s take a look at it together; and then I’ll explain why.
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In this New Testament letter, the apostle Peter has been writing to fellow Christians who had been suffering persecution for their faith. In much of this letter, and even in the passages we have been most recently studying, he had urged his brothers and sisters in Christ to remain faithful in their testimony of the Lord Jesus—even if it meant that they would have to suffer for their faith. In 1 Peter 4:19, he wrote, “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.”
And then, in what almost seems like an abrupt change of topic, he addresses the pastoral leaders of the church and—in the translation I’m using—writes;
The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away (1 Peter 5:1-4).
Now; it might seem that was through talking to believers about their faithful stand for Christ in times of suffering and persecution; but he really wasn’t. If you were following along in a different translation than the one I was reading from, you might have noticed that Peter began with the word “Therefore . . .” or “So . . .”—as if he were giving a summarizing comment that carried on from what he had said before. And that word “therefore” or “so” is truly there in the original language of Peter’s letter.
This means that Peter’s instructions to pastoral leaders in a church should be seen by us as a vital part of his instruction to all believers with regard to their faithfulness in times of trial and persecution. It would be as if Peter had been talking to his brothers and sisters about the very serious matter of their faithfulness to Jesus in times of hostility toward their faith; and then suddenly turned to the pastors and said, “Now; in the light of all this, I want to say a word to you, my dear brothers: Do your job faithfully! In order for God’s precious flock to be what it needs to be in difficult times, the shepherds that He has appointed over them must be what they are supposed to be! The strength and health and faithfulness of the church body in such times requires that you be faithful and diligent in your calling as pastors! Therefore, be faithful to your call and shepherd God’s people!”
I say all this, dear brothers and sisters, because I wouldn’t want you to feel like you can mentally ‘check-out’ as I preach this passage—as if I’m preaching something that’s just for myself and not for you. I want to encourage you to treat this passage as if it were meant for you as well as for me; because it is! It’s a part of God’s instruction to all of us! In fact, if you were to read ahead, you’d see that Peter has more instructions to give to the church as a whole that follow from what he says in these four verses.
This passage is telling us that it‘s essential to God’s flock that God’s appointed shepherds fulfill their call. And as I preach from it this morning, I ask that you do a couple of things with it. First, I ask that you pay careful attention to what it says is required of me and of the other members of the spiritual leadership of our church—so that you will know how it is that we are to fulfill our calling. And second, I ask that you pray for me, and for the other members of our leadership team—and even for the other pastors of other churches in our community—that we will do what God calls us to do for the good of His people.
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So; let’s begin by considering . . .
1. THE RECIPIENTS OF THE CALL (v. 1).
Peter writes, “The elders who are among you I exhort . . .” And we need to take a moment to consider who ‘the elders’ are.
Most of us grew up being told to ‘respect your elders’; and what was meant by that is that we are to show respect to folks that have a little more life experience than we do. And if you thought right away of ‘old folks’ when you heard ‘elders’, you weren’t really too far off the mark. The word that Peter uses—presbuteros—is one that certainly means ‘elders’ in the sense of men who are older and more mature in life. But it was also a word that was used to describe someone within a church assembly who—by virtue of a recognized measure of maturity, reverence, doctrinal understanding, experience and spiritual discernment—was appointed to an office of spiritual leadership within a church. The presbyterian style of church government gets its name from that Greek word presbuteros ; because it describes a form of church government that is led by a body of ‘elders’.
So; Peter is addressing the ‘elders’ of the church—those who have been officially recognized as the men who provide the spiritual leaders within a church family. But that’s not the only way that Peter describes them. You’ll notice that Peter goes on to tell these ‘elders’ to “shepherd” God’s flock, as those who serve as ‘under-shepherds’ in the service of the Chief Shepherd—the Lord Jesus. This, then, is speaking of the role of a pastor. And then, he also urges these ‘elders’—who he exhorts to ‘pastor’ God’s people—to do so as ‘overseers’. And the word that Peter uses for ‘overseers’ is the Greek word episkopeō; from which the word ‘episcopalian’ comes from; and from which the word ‘bishop’ is derived.
I’m telling you all this because churches and denominations throughout history have tended to divide these up into different offices—as if an elder is one thing, and a pastor is another, and a bishop is yet another—all of them with different roles with different positions of authority in relation to one another. But they really shouldn’t be divided up that way. Here, in the one passage that we’re studying together this morning, we find all three functions being applied to just one person holding just one office in the church—an office called ‘elder’. You also see all three functions being applied to ‘elders’ in Acts 20:28; where we’re told that the apostle Paul called all the ‘elders’ of Ephesus together and urged them to “take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God . . .” In Titus 1:5, Paul told Titus to “appoint elders in every city” from men within the churches that were of high moral character; telling him in verse 7, “for a bishop must be blameless . . .”
I don’t believe we should understand these different words to represent different offices within the church, but rather just one office with three different and very important aspects. When we speak of a man in the church as an “elder”, we’re highlighting the personal dimensions of his calling—his spiritual maturity, his wisdom in life experience, his knowledge of the Scriptures and his understanding of faithful biblical doctrine, and of the honorable example he sets of the Christian life. When we speak of him as “bishop”, we’re highlighting the functional dimensions of his work—his leadership, his vision-setting, and his watchfulness over the healthy operations of the church family. And when we speak of him as “pastor” or “shepherd”, we’re highlighting the relational dimensions of his work—his loving care for the needs of the individual church members, his ability to minister healing to those in need, his work as a counselor to those in need, his faithfulness to feed them from the word of truth and to defend them from error.
When you see the whole dimension of what was meant by Peter’s beginning words, “The elders who are among you I exhort . . .”, then you can appreciate what a vital role this is to the church—and especially at times when the church family bears witness to the world in times of trial.
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So; this is a call to ‘elders’—those who give the pastoral leadership and oversight to a church. Next, consider . . .
2. THE MANNER OF THE CALL (v. 1).
I love how the apostle Peter—the great Saint Peter himself!—gives this word of exhortation in such a humble way. He writes, ” I who am a fellow elder . . .” Isn’t that wonderful? I like how dear ol’ Dr. Harry Ironside put it; “If Peter was ever a Pope he never knew it!”1 He didn’t present himself as superior to the ones he was exhorting—even though, if any man could have, it would most certainly have been him! Instead, he presents himself simply as a fellow elder, a co-presbyter.
I have to tell you one of the highest compliments I ever received in our church, (Well, I think was a compliment, anyway.) Many years ago, I heard about some folks in our church who were on a road trip. As we were driving, they were talking about how precious the folks in our church have grown to be to all of us. And I was told that one of the leaders piped up and said, “And you know; we’ve had a lot of pastors along the way who came across as real spiritual. But the nice thing about Greg is that he’s no better than the rest of us.” I think I understood what he meant by that; and if I’m understanding it rightly, I really like it. It’s the way it ought to be. None of us in the household of God should ever think that we hold ‘superiority’ over any of the others. Not even Peter thought that way. He simply exhorted the elders of the church as a ‘fellow elder’—on the same level as they were.
But that’s not to say that Peter didn’t have some advantages that made his exhortation particularly significant. As an apostle of the Lord Jesus, he was able to add, “and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed . . .” And as an elder, those qualifications would make me want to pay particular attention to his exhortation!
When Peter said that he was a witness “of the sufferings of Christ”, I don’t take that to mean that he literally saw Jesus on the cross. After all, when Jesus was arrested, Peter departed from Him; and he later denied Him. But I think Peter knew much about what Jesus suffered. He certainly was there with our Lord during His time of agony in the garden. And he certainly went to the tomb. But Peter wasn’t just a witness to the sufferings of our Lord. He was also “a partaker of the glory that will be revealed”. Peter saw—with his own eyes, along with the apostles James and John—the glory of the Lord Jesus revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration. Peter spoke of it later on in his second letter; when he wrote,
For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain (2 Peter 1:16-18).
Peter said that he was not only a witness of the glory of Christ, but that he was a partaker of it! He urged us to be partakers of it too when he wrote, in 1 Peter 4:13,
. . . but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy (1 Peter 4:13).
So; there’s the manner of Peter’s call to pastors. It was given in a humble manner—not as someone superior, but simply as a fellow-elder. But it was also given with a sense of the majesty of the calling and of the seriousness of the task—given by someone who saw, with his own eyes, the sufferings of our Lord and the glory that would follow. By faith, Peter gave himself to be a someone who willingly shared in Christ’s sufferings so that he could share in His glory.
When I consider the manner in which this call was given, I consider it a serious call indeed!
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Peter goes on to say, “Shepherd the flock of God which is among you . . .” And this, then, leads us to . . .
3. THE TASK OF THE CALL (v. 2).
When Peter wrote those words, “Shepherd the flock of God”, I believe his mind went back to what were possibly the last words that the Lord Jesus spoke to him. After Jesus’ resurrection—when he and the other disciples met Him on the shores of the Sea of Galilee—Jesus turned to Peter and said,
“Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Feed My sheep” (John 21:15-17).
Peter had denied the Lord three times; and the Lord gave him three chances to reaffirm his love for Him. And in each case, Jesus’ call to Peter was, “Feed My sheep.” I take that to be a big part of what it means for the elder of the church to shepherd God’s flock. He must feed them. He must faithfully pass on to them the pure milk of the word. I hope you’ll pray for me that I’ll always do that.
And I have another example to follow. The Lord Jesus Himself said;
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep” (John 10:11-15).
I know that I could not lay down my life for God’s people in the way Jesus did. He is our Redeemer. His sacrifice on the cross is our salvation. But the example He sets for me teaches me that I must be willing to serve the precious people in my church family in a sacrificial way. I believe that a pastor ought to be willing to literally die for his church family. And just as Jesus did, I must also be ready to protect and defend the precious souls in my church—just as a shepherd would protect his sheep from wolves. I need to know the people in my church family and love them in a personal way—just as Jesus does for His sheep.
And Peter what’s more, Peter says that elders are to fulfill their call with true leadership; “serving as overseers . . .” I believe this means that a pastor should be present and involved—not merely locked away in a study. He should have a sanctified awareness of what’s going on.
I want to be that kind of a pastor; and I want the leaders in our church to exercise that kind of leadership. Please pray for us that that’s what we will be and do.
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Now; one of the reasons you need to pray for me and for our other leaders is because we’re human. We’re subject to the temptations that plague all men; and those temptations affect how we fulfill our call. So; note how Peter goes on to tells us . . .
4. THE MOTIVES OF THE CALL (vv. 2-3).
He tells us that pastors are to shepherd God’s flock and serve as overseers, “not by compulsion but willingly . . .” I have occasion to counsel other men who are preparing for the pastoral ministry; and I have learned that when I see a young man who is approaching that ministry as a ‘grudging duty’—something that he feels he must do, but doesn’t really want to do—I urge him not to seek to become a pastor. I’ve met some men who became pastors because their father was a pastor and it was expected of him that they become a pastor too. They were miserable; and so were the people they were serving! Some translations of this passage add that he is to serve “according to the will of God.” He shouldn’t do so “according to the will of family”! Or there are some men who became pastors under compulsion because the church was small and no one else was stepping up to take that role. There are some men who started off with excitement in the role of a pastor, but found the work to be very hard; and then they felt imprisoned in a role. I’ve even known of some of those men who actually sabotage their own lives and reputations morally in order to be fired—just so they could get out of a ministry they didn’t want to be in. Some men become pastors of a church that, after a while, they become disenchanted with; and start looking around for ‘another calling’ somewhere else.
One of the qualifications that the apostle Paul spoke of for an elder is that it’s something he ‘desires’. “This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work” (1 Timothy 3:1). I believe it causes great harm to God’s people when they’re under the ‘shepherding’ ministry of someone who doesn’t really want to be their shepherd. Please pray for me and for the other leaders in our church family; so that—even in hard times—we’ll never lose our love for the church family or for the work.
Peter goes on to also say that a pastor should shepherd the flock, “not for dishonest gain but eagerly . . .” Now I say this carefully; I don’t believe a church should ever ask a man to serve as their pastor without also promising to pay him for his labors. That, after all, is what the Bible teaches. “The laborer is worthy of his wages”, as it says in 1 Timothy 5:18. I have always been grateful for how generous our church has been to me and my family. It has made it possible for me to do my work without the distraction of having to seek a living elsewhere. This church has always been good to its pastors.
But I also believe that this should never be the motivation for the pastor’s work. I believe that a pastor ought to be willing to shepherd God’s people and fulfill his calling of preaching and teaching in his church whether he is sufficiently paid or not. He should be willing to serve “eagerly” or “cheerfully”. He should gladly spend and be spent. I don’t ever want to be a mere ‘hireling’ in the work of God. Please pray for me; that I will never be motivated by greed plagued by worldly discontent.
And finally, Peter says, “nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock . . .” A pastoral must, of course, exercise ‘oversight’. But a leader who is a high-controller, who loves to exercise power over people, and who demands that everything be done his way, is a terrible burden to a church. When I think of these words, I think of what the apostle John wrote in his third letter about a high-controller named Diotrephes;
I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God (3 John 9-11).
Being an ‘overseer’ is one thing; but ‘loving to have preeminence’ in the church is another. The pastor shouldn’t lead by coerciveness, but by example. He should be a shepherd who leads the sheep, not a cowboy who drives the herd. Pray for me and for our other leaders—that we will never seek to be ‘lords’ over those who God has entrusted to our care, but rather serve as godly examples to follow.
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Now; the role of ‘shepherd’ in a church is hard work. But it’s wonderful work. The ‘sheep’ are not mine. They are the Lord Jesus’ precious people—and I, as one of them, have been called by Jesus to serve. I work for the greatest Boss in the universe—the Chief Shepherd Himself!
And so, I love how Peter closes with . . .
5. THE REWARD OF THE CALL (v. 4).
To those who serve faithfully as our Lord’s ‘under-shepherds’, Peter writes, “and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” The crown that Peter speaks of is a wreath—much like the wreaths that champion athletes in the ancient games won at the end of their race. It’s a symbol of honor. But it’s not one that fades away, as those ancient wreaths did. This is a symbol of honor that will never fade away.
And dear brothers and sisters in Christ; I don’t believe that wreath is a blessing just to those who serve as shepherds in God’s household. I believe it involves the saints that the shepherd serves. I note that the apostle Paul wrote to his beloved brothers and sisters in Thessalonica—Christians who were suffering for their faith; and told them,
For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming? For you are our glory and joy (1 Thessalonians 2:19-20).
I believe that, for the true shepherd of God’s flock, the unfading crown of reward and honor is that of seeing the dear saints he served in heavenly glory—pleasing to the Lord Jesus! That means that we’re in this together!
Dear brothers and sisters; I humbly ask that you recognize my role and the role of the other church leaders in our church family to be vital. Hold us accountable to it! And pray for us that we will fulfill our calling in a way that pleases the Lord and blesses our church family.
H.A. Ironside, Hebrews, James, Peter (Neptune, NJ: Loizeaux Brothers, 1932, 1947), p. 56.