God's Shepherds For God's Flock

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"To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed" 1 Peter 5:1

Main Readings: John 21 & 1 Peter 5

Supporting Readings: Psalm 84 & Titus 1

On Tuesday I asked for prayer with regard to the beginning of Chapter 5 because Peter’s attention now turns to leaders in the church.

The reason I asked for prayer is that our church only has one leader right now and that’s me, and so it would be easy for you all to jump to an early conclusion this morning, that there’s nothing here for you.

But that’s not the case. And I wanted the Lord to show me, and ultimately you, where you figure in this passage this morning.

I really believe, that if you have eyes to see and ears to hear, you’ll find great promise and blessing contained in the first four verses of this final chapter.

The reason I can say that with some degree of confidence is that there are two actors in Peter’s mind, and we see them clearly in the first five words of verse 1.

They are elders. That means the church’s spiritual leaders. And they are you. That means the members who belong to the church.

And Peter has the elders situated among you. You can see that at the outset of the verse.

It’s not like the elders are in London, and the church members are in Horbury. That’s not it. I take Peter to mean that the elders are fromamong the people and they are within the body of the local church.

In the very opening verse of the whole letter, Peter made it clear he was writing to believers in five provinces of what is modern day Turkey.

But when he says, ‘the elders among you’, he has in mind the Cappadocian elders being among the Cappadocian believers. The Bithynian elders being amongst the Bithynian people.

And as we move through the passage, we’ll understand even more, why it’s necessary that elders be among their specific people and not remote from them.

Or, somehow, muscling in on other local churches who need their ownelders to do their job amongst their own people faithfully.

It shouldn’t surprise us that Peter turns to address the elders of these local churches. Afterall, we’ve heard Peter addressing the people directly about how they may be called to suffer for Jesus in their local settings.

He’s been stirring them up to remember who they belong to. Wheretheir real home is. What their purpose is. And what awaits them at the end of this short and often painful life.

Well, what about the leaders of these churches then? What should their attitude be?

Is it the case that they have graduated beyond the school of suffering and are now exempt from the teaching Peter has been giving?

In other words, like armchair generals, are they to spend their days motivating the people to go over the top, into the no man’s land of suffering, whilst they remain a comfortable and safe distance back, observing from the sidelines?

Peter’s emphatic answer to that question is ‘no’. He states it loud and clear here, that the elders are to be the first to get down in the nitty gritty with the people and practice what Peter has been exhorting us allto be like.

And as I’ve examined this passage, it’s become clear to me that there are ten attributes the elders of the church are to be, which are weighty, and challenging, and hard work, and exacting, but ultimately glorious and so absolutely necessary for your good - both for the present and for the future.

So, if you can track with me through these ten aspects of eldering, I think you’ll be blessed, knowing that God has set things up so abundantly for your good.

It’s going to seem like I’ve skipped verse 1, but don’t worry that’s where we’re going to finish up. But we’re heading to verse 2 to begin with.

The first thing Peter exhorts the elders to be, is at the beginning of verse 2, and it’s that they be shepherds. Can you see that?

The image of a shepherd is not hard to understand. Shepherds have charge of a flock of sheep. And the role is a multi-disciplinary one. It involves feeding, caring, managing, protecting, sometimes cajoling, guiding, and nurturing.

Everything that’s needed to make sure the sheep stay alive and well. It’s not a small task. All the sheep are a bit different, with various tendencies. But they all need looking after in these ways.

And the goal of the shepherd is that none be lost. That all the sheep make it safely into the fold.

Watching a bit of Clarkson’s farm this week, I noticed Jeremy got his fingers trapped whilst looking after sheep.

Caleb got electrocuted whilst tending to sheep. And Lisa had to clear up after a storm blew the sheep pen down. Lots of hard work looking after sheep.

That’s the image that we’ve got to have when Peter speaks of Shepherding.

And you’ll notice that it’s God’s flock that elder-shepherds are called to tend to. Be shepherds of God’s flock.

Think of that for a moment. ‘God’s flock’. The flock that belongs to God. The flock that God cares about. The flock that’s made up of people who were his enemies but are now called ‘his’ flock.

How are they his flock? The answer is, he has made them his flock - by translating them from enemies to the kind of people he regards as the people of his own pastures.

And that specifically came about by the death of Jesus on their behalf. They were like sheep going astray, but Jesus has returned to them to the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls. Who said that? Peter did. In chapter 2.

There couldn’t be a more precious group of people in all the world, to God, than his very own flock. And that’s you.

Peter, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit says to the likes of me, ‘Shepherd my very own blood-bought people!’ That’s massive!

I can’t think of a greater charge in the whole world. Maybe one. Go and make disciples of all nations. And when I come to think of it, there might not be too much difference in those two charges anyway.

This should give you an idea of how important you are as a group, to God. How important the local church is. And what an unbelievably high calling it is to lead a group of God’s sheep, just like you are.

The second is: the elder must be caring. Still in verse 2. Be shepherds of God’s flock ‘that is under your care’.

If I do a bad job, you can flounder. If I’m diligent, you can flourish. The charge to me - and to anybody who becomes an elder here in the future – is: look after these sheep diligently. Carefully. Don’t neglect them. Don’t forget them. Don’t check out of their lives. Attend to their needs.

Now, if we’ve learnt anything from Peter, it is that temporal plays second fiddle to spiritual.

He’s encouraged us not to allow suffering to discourage us from continuing to do good, or from making Christ known, or from operating openly as Christians in the world.

If Peter was supremely concerned with our physical wellbeing he would not have taught us that way of being.

His message is, ‘you can suffer because this is all temporary, but the benefits to come are eternal’.

Suffering before glory has been his mantra.

So, whilst the care that Peter is calling the elder to here will certainly include temporal things – it would be a strange kind of care if the elder didn’t ask after the health of his people, or their job security, or their family situations – but those enquiries are never an end in themselves. They are questions that serve to build a picture about the spiritual condition of God’s sheep which are under his care.

The elder’s primary concern is: how spiritually healthy are these sheep? Are they wandering off? Are they counting the cost of suffering for Christ? Are they growing cold? Do they have a strange disconnect developing, between their belonging to God on the one hand and the fact that they don’t readily talk about him on the other?

All kinds of concerns about their spiritual welfare, by which their chief aim is to care for every single one of them spiritually.

The third thing the elders are is watchmen. Peter says ‘watch over them’ in verse 2. And this implies protection. Sometimes the sheep wander close to the edge of the mountain, and they need a nudge in the right direction – a gentle exhortation.

Sometimes there are wolves looking to get in amongst them. And the watchful Shepherd needs to jump in and head off that wolf. Watchful protection is a key aspect of the elder’s role.

It’s an aspect that key be easily misconstrued because it can be perceived as criticism. But if it’s done as Peter instructs here, it can and should be received as the loving care of God for your soul through the means of Godly leaders that God has put in place to watch out for the church.

Fourthly, and still in verse 2, Peter says something about the heart-attitude of the elder.

It’s not like the elder has had his arm twisted behind his back to take on this role. If that were the case, how could he really care for the people? Wouldn’t he be always thinking, ‘this is so burdensome?’

No Peter says they need to do it because they are ‘willing’. The heart of this elder is desirous to be God’s instrument for preserving his people.

What quality will he need then? He’ll need to be so confident in Jesus that he doesn’t need the affirmation of people, or the benefits of ease to justify the time, the attention, and the love that he’ll need to invest.

In other words, he’s so settled and confident that Jesus is his ultimatereward, that it doesn’t feel like a burden but a privilege to adopt this role. And that frees him up to do it willingly.

And according to Peter this is how God wants it to be! God wants cheerful, willing candidates for this role. Not begrudging, reluctant types. Because that would be of no benefit to you!

Similar to willingness, the elder of the church should be eager too. That means they are on the front foot. They are excited by what God is doing, and will do, with and through, these people.

It means they have a vision for the way that the flock should be. And they are spiritually motivated by the prospect that God could be glorified in his church in this location.

That Christ could be seen through these people as precious and worthy of acceptance. That a fulness of joy and the proclamation of the word ‘well done good and faithful servant’ could be spoken by God over every one of these people when the time comes. The elder is driven by theserealities.

If the willing servant was assured in Jesus. This man is satisfied in Jesus. They are not eager about the things that the people of the world are eager about.

They are eager about the things of God. ‘Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, his kingdom is forever’. That’s how Martin Luther thought and it’s how the elder thinks too. Content with what God is for him in Jesus Christ.

He's eager, but he’s eager with a purpose also. Peter identifies thatpurpose as service. ‘Eager to serve’ he says at the end of verse 2.

This is the posture of the elder. He serves not himself, but the flockof God. He finds out what they need spiritually and he’s all about supplying those needs.

That doesn’t mean he does everything for them. The things they are called to do, he serves them, so that they are enabled to carry them through.

It’s a humble servant leadership that is best suited to the needs of God’s flock.

Peter says in verse 5, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble’.

A successful eldership is one that enjoys the favour of God because the leadership is lion-hearted in its service.

Think of Jesus at the last supper. Think of Jesus! Taking that towel and that bowl of water and washing the disciple’s feet. His example of lion-like leadership is characterised by humility, isn’t it? It’s not weak and flimsy. It’s firm and dependable; but always in a posture of humility.

Notice that Peter gives us the counter point to look out for too. ‘Eager to serve’ is the counter point to ‘pursuing dishonest gain’.

What he has in mind is a faulty motivation which amounts to a self-serving one not an other-serving one.

A faulty motivation that asks the question: ‘how can I use this role to further myself?’

There is literally no earthly benefit that, if shepherding the flock is done to that end, isn’t dishonest gain! At least I can’t think of one.

And I’m saying that because there is an unearthly benefit that Peter’s going to point us to in a minute - and point us to shepherd motivated by it - that simply can’t be dishonest.

So, we’ve got to know that all earthly motivations – self-worth, career advance, financial benefit, the praise of people, you name it – is alldishonest gain.

Eager to serve Christ. Eager to serve Christ’s kingdom. Eager to serve God’s church. These are the holy motivations God is after from his church leaders.

This is number 7. The church leader has to be trustworthy. The opposite of a servant-hearted leadership is an overbearing one. And it’s not becoming of Christ.

The elder is not to lord it over you. He’s not to emotionally coerce you into doing something.

He’s to gently prompt and direct, but not strong arm the flock.

And there’s a great trust that God has invested in his leaders when it comes to how they interact with his people. If they aren’t trustworthywith the charge they’ve been given, they can abuse the flock.

The elder, then, has to remember, these people are not his people first and foremost, they are God’s people first and foremost. And precious to him.

God is their Father, and he treats them tenderly and compassionately. And we must do likewise.

That doesn’t mean the elder withholds necessary warnings. But it does mean he conveys them in ways that the sheep know that he’s not mocking them; he’s not despising them. He’s loving them.

You know, wherever something is left in trust, the one with whom it is left in trust will have to give an account for that trust.

And so it is with church elders. They will give an account to God for the way they handled what God entrusted into their care. Which is a sobering thought.

Instead of lording it over the flock, the way the Godly elder leads, is by example Peter says.

Being an example implies you’re the first to go where the flock need to go. You set the pattern that they follow.

And for the example to be effective and good for the people, it has to be Godly, it has to be visible, and it has to be first.

All of that sound especially daunting. And potentially uncomfortable.

But that’s the point! The sheep won’t go where you call them to go, if you won’t go there first.

The tendency of leaders is to try to operate in this way at first, and then, when the flock don’t follow, doubt the Word which says, ‘this is the way you must do it’, and instead resort to coercion. That’s not right.

The call is not to produce in the people what God calls for from the people – that’s their responsibility and they will have to give their own account to God for that.

The elder is called to lead by example even when the flock don’t, for whatever reason, follow it.

We’re into verse 4 now and this is number 9. All shepherds are undershepherds. They are not the supreme shepherd. There’s only onechief shepherd and his name is Jesus Christ.

This is a controlling reality. No elder should be setting themselves up in the place of the chief shepherd.

There will be times when members of the flock sin, and the elder needs to help that person to recognise their sin, repent of it, and trust in Jesus again.

But there will be other times where a member of the flock has to make a wisdom call, and maybe it conflicts with the call the elder thinks they should make.

But in that moment, they stand or fall before their chief shepherd, who is Jesus. And it’s not for any elder to judge the conscience of another brother or sister in Christ where there is liberty.

Christ died for his church – who is his bride – and he will come back for her one day. We are entrusted as under shepherds only. Not as chiefshepherds with ultimate authority.

The last thing we see the elder as here, is a beneficiary. Peter says that when Christ appears the elder will receive a crown of glory that will never fade away.

What possible reason could Peter have for telling us this?

Except that he intends that this truth will function in the elder’s heart and mind to motivate him to good shepherding.

That’s why it’s here. And it’s what I alluded to earlier. The reason why being motivated by this promise is not a pursuit of dishonest gain is because pursuing anything for the sake of Christ can’t be dishonest.

And because, the very end for which the elder is serving you, the people, is that you too might share in the very thing that is motivating them do it. Namely, an unfading crown of glory, which you’ll alsoreceive when Jesus returns.

Revelation 3:11 says, ‘I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown’. James says, ‘Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life’.

These crowns are for all God’s people. They get them by making it to the end. The very thing elders are serving as shepherds to ensurecomes to pass.

So, elders are motivated by the same crown they want their people to get. That simply cannot be dishonest.

That is the most loving motivation anyone can possibly have – that they inherit God’s everlasting blessing! Listen, I’m very happy for any qualified shepherd to lead me who is motivated by that kind of pursuit on my behalf! What more could I ask for!

Think of it this way. The gifts, Peter said in chapter 4, verse 9 all of youhave; I am just one amongst you, whose particular gift happens to be leadership.

As you exercise your gifts faithfully before God, so I must also. And at the end we will both receive an unfading crown of glory. God will say to both of us ‘well done good and faithful servant’. So, we’re about the very same thing ultimately. Our roles are just different.

In short, it would be no good to you if you had an elder who was conformed to the evil desires of this world as Peter put it back in chapter 1.

Rather, God has called for you to have elders who are hearty, happy, and humble and ultimately hopeful in Christ.

Leaders like that make for healthy, joyful, active churches that know what their purpose is and how to go about it.

And if you find that any of those qualities are missing in me, yourshepherd leader, then please come and tell me. Point them out to me so that I can be a better leader. And pray for me. The more I lead like Peter exhorts here, the better off you will all be.

Now let me return to verse 1. Because it’s in verse 1 that I receive from Peter the reason why I should take everything he’s just said seriouslyand seek to fulfil that calling.

In verse 1 Peter is directly speaking to elders like me. And he says I appeal to you.

He doesn’t scold me, he exhorts me. He entreats me. He charms me with the things of God. That’s exactly what he’s just been telling me I should be like with you.

Then he reminds me that he’s a fellow elder. And yet I know he was an apostle – one encountered Jesus personally. He could lord it over me, but he reminds me that he’s basically like me.

Next, he says that he was a witness of Christ’s sufferings. I think he means that he both saw them and participated in them.

In other words, he’s led where now he wants me to follow. That’s what he just told me to do for you.

‘This type of leadership is going to be really hard, I’ve gone before you’.

But ultimately the chief shepherd went before both of us, leaving us an example that we should follow in his steps!

And finally, he has every confidence that he will share in the glory that is to be revealed.

The very glory he just told me will be mine if I strive to discharge my duty as he has exhorted me.

I can share in his confidence about that final glory to be experienced when Jesus returns if I do this job faithfully.

So, Peter really knows how to practice what he preaches. And he wants me to do the same for you.

I’m convinced, Peter writes all of this, not first a foremost for mybenefit as an elder, but for your benefit as God’s flock.

And so, you can be mightily blessed this morning as you behold God’s grace to you in the way that he’s set up the church with leaders - for your spiritual good and your perseverance in the face of suffering.