Worship The Chief Shepherd

Elders who shepherd and a flock who submits

Good morning, elect exiles. This morning we get to think about our relationships inside the church. If you're new with us, we've been walking through First Peter. First Peter addresses the church as elect exiles, which is why I greeted you all this way. And as we've seen the call first to trust Christ, there's a great assurance we've been given new life in Christ. There's a call as to what it means to be sojourners here waiting for Christ's return and the glory that is to come. We've seen different relationships. Now we've turned to this interrelationship within the church. We see elders specifically being addressed and we'll look at also what it means to be younger. I'm gonna give an argument for why that's church members. I'm a firm believer that clear expectations make for healthy relationships. Important for us to think through what this text says so that we understand what we should be expecting of one another. Something important as we think about this text, we're all coming together in Christ to be under him. He is the head of the church. He is the chief shepherd. And with humility, we come to one another to fulfill the different specific requirements that God has for us. If you're taking notes, the simple summary statement is, call to endure as elect exile as elders who shepherd and a flock who submits. We see a call to endure as elect exiles as elders who shepherd and a flock who submits. There are three different groups listed out in our text. There's elders and most of the text is focused on elders shepherding that's versus one to three, one to four rather, and then verse five has two different addressees, the younger, and then all of us, or all y'all. We see there, elder, shepherd, youngers, submit, all y'all, clothe yourselves in humility. The first point, which is our longest portion of the text, therefore, will be the longest point. Elders, shepherd, Peter writes,

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, shepherd the flock of God that is among you.

We see there who's writing. It's Peter, and he gives some qualifications as to who he is and why he's writing and how he's writing. And we see he's mainly writing to the elders here to shepherd God's sheep. First about Peter and these comments he makes, because he's writing to elders as a fellow elder. He's not writing in any way in terms of a higher form of an elder. The three words that we actually see in this text, elder, shepherd, oversight, those are three different words that we believe all refer to the same office. The elders, the pastors or shepherds, and the overseers, those are used interchangeably. We can also see those in Acts 20 verse 28. Jesus is the chief shepherd. the true shepherd, the good shepherd, God himself who has come to care for his sheep, to lay down his life for the sheep. And then Jesus appoints shepherds to continue that work by the power of the Holy Spirit. Notice Peter is saying as a fellow elder, he is not holding some kind of position above other elders. We are apostolic in this way. Not that we believe we have some line of popes, but we're apostolic in that we're all coming together devoted to the apostles' teaching, handed down to us as Jude 6 or Jude 4 tells us. Well, we're all committed to the same teaching that Jesus gave the disciples and the apostles, and we're seeking to come up underneath that same authority. Peter does refer to his being a witness to the sufferings of Christ. That is an apostolic claim, but it's one of 12. He's, he's one of many apostles. He's making sure we understand that there is the true Christ who suffered once for sin. And he was a witness of those things. And then he actually calls an equality with all believers in that as a partaker of the glory, that's going to be revealed. We're all waiting for the same glory, equally. The church has been described throughout Peter in a number of ways. Temple seems to be his preferred metaphor and picture. Christ, the living stone, the risen stone who gives life, were stones built upon him to gather to be a temple, a holy priesthood, accessing God, having come to God, making God known. There's a wonderful commonality, the priesthood of believers. And then there's different instructions for different works within the church. We saw just a couple of weeks ago, we all serve as of the Lord and some serve and some teach in that service. A specific exhortation to shepherds, to the elders. Well, as Ben mentioned, there's four of us. There's a lot more than four people here, praise the Lord. These instructions are especially weighty for us, but it's important that we all hear these instructions. One, I hope you know what to expect from your elders. The hope here is that you would see how we think about these exhortations and how we are seeking to fulfill them, and you can come talk to us about that. I think it's also helpful to see the job description. It's a different kind of job description there in verse two. There's not a checklist when it comes to willingly, eagerly, and being an example. There's a way in which you can understand the difficulties of the work of the elder. Third, there's also a way in which you're understanding what does it mean to submit to these elders? What does it mean to fulfill that function? And then I pray there's a lot of folks in the room who will one day be elders. And you can start looking and thinking about what kind of direction and aim you should have. Peter personally addresses these elders first as an equal. He doesn't claim to have some unique authority. I also want you to see he's addressing elders. We praise God for a plurality of elders. The church is meant to be led by a team, a group of elders. And we are thankful we have been given such. Let's just look at the work of the elders. There's verses two and three. Peter calls the elders among you. That is the churches

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.

Now, pastors serve God and the church by making disciples of Jesus Christ. That is a call of every member, every believer. Every disciple of Jesus is meant to be a faithful disciple of Jesus who denies themselves, carry their cross, follow Jesus, and make disciples. The goal of the elders is to help promote the disciple-making, to lead the way in disciple-making, to be part of the training and proclamation of that disciple-making, to promote that unity towards disciple-making. The unique aspect of the elder is taking on more responsibility to help all the members actually fulfill this duty. As we think about the title here, elder, which is the most common title in scripture, I want to think about the different qualifications, and we would have to go somewhere else for that. Titus 1, 1 Timothy 3. Elders, that represents a maturity. The idea of elder doesn't mean you have to be of a certain age. Paul tells Timothy not to let someone look down upon him because of his youth. It isn't just the older people. It's those who have matured. They've grown up in Christ. There's a maturity about them. And the significant word, if you're going to look at Titus 1 and 1 Timothy 3, it's really the word must. Because all those qualifications are really all characteristics and virtues that every Christian should seek to have. The whole idea of an elder is someone who, they must have this quality, the virtue, the character, and they must have it in order to steward what God has given them. They cannot hand it over if they do not have it. So the elders, we're gonna have more of a clear declaration here. Shepherd, the flock of God. This is the key charge. This is the key command in the text. Well, a shepherd is caring. Shepherd is watchful. A shepherd provides, makes sure there's food. A shepherd protects, makes sure there's not danger. And it's important to realize who the elders are shepherding. It's the flock of God. When you think about the qualifications of elder, a key phrase is above reproach. You think about the work, it's stewarding. The whole work of being an elder is a work of stewarding. Taking who belongs to God and who Christ has purchased with his own blood, as Acts 20, 28 tells us. It's seeking to care for God's flock in God's way. We heard earlier from John 10, Jesus is the good shepherd. He is the chief shepherd. He is the shepherd we've all believed in and the only one we really have life from. Elders, they're not hired hands, as John 10 makes the contrast. Elders aren't the chief shepherd, but we also can't be hired hands because hired hands run away when there's danger. No, the, the, the elders, the, these, these, these, these who are shepherding, they're, they're not hired hands. We're just here to gain something temporarily and, and we'll run away when there's danger. No, we're part of the flock. We're united with Christ. There's a certain important declaration we've made and a commitment we've made to, to take on the responsibility and care for others. As we saw a few weeks ago, the whole church has to be tender hearted. sympathetic, there's a certain care. The whole church is supposed to have a united mind and be humble in mind, and the elders are supposed to emphasize brotherly love towards that end. These are all expectations of us, but elders, I want to say, they're pace setters. One of the ways I often think about the church is really with a couple of rings, and the first is the center ring. See, the whole idea of the church is the elders, we're trying to push people to that center ring, the healthy part of the church where disciples are making disciples. The healthy center where members are coming and they're learning and they're growing and they're serving one another, they're loving one another, they're exercising all their different gifts for one another. That healthy center is where the elders train, encourage. I'm a Congregationalist and we're a Congregational church and the most basic level of that means The church is made up of disciples who are committed to making disciples, trying to pull the sheep into the center of the flock. Maybe sometimes push them towards the center of the flock so that they're able to grow healthy with the rest of the sheep. Well, one of the primary ways we as elders do this is teaching. If there's a unique responsibility, there's a teaching and there's all kinds of different teaching. There's preaching. There's instruction, there's correction, there's comfort. As we think about this, we can't fulfill all the commands of scripture in the one and a half to two to five hours we might be here this morning. It won't be five hours. This is why we have a Sunday morning service and a Wednesday night service. We have other groups where we try to fulfill the different ways in which Christ has commanded us. We think about Sunday morning and the imagery of what the church is. This is designed to be somewhat more of the temple. There's a liturgy, there's an order, there's a way in which we're being led. Well, Wednesday night, that's more the household, the family, where we're coming together and praying with one another and carrying burdens. And there's many other studies where we're hoping to train, equip, and evangelize. As we are seeking to shepherd the, our primary goal is to point you to Christ, to, to, to come there to gather. And well, that, that means we're seeking presence among what the church is doing. Elders also protect, and this is another ring. There's a, there's an internal ring where we're trying to push people into what's happening with the, with the focus of discipleship. But those are outternal external ring where we're trying to make sure, well, wolves don't come in. There's a danger that we're trying to protect people from. And sometimes that danger is wolves, sometimes the danger is just sheep believing the lies that live within, too. The most dangerous thing for the church is when our own sin creeps in. Our own sin, the old man full of deception and destruction. Some of the great dangers to the Christian church today are that self-isolation many are prone to. Sometimes it's because of depression and we want to know how to help you, but it means we need to be able to come together and talk. The self-isolation from pride or selfishness is a whole other problem. Another significant danger for the Christian church is sports and entertainment, just the commitments that draw our hearts away from worshiping God. And the third is busyness. We're all busy doing lots of good things. But are we doing what makes disciples? I say that because the way to stay immune from the kind of disease, the gangrene of false doctrine, false belief, false desire, is to constantly be healthy. The immunity is by growing up in Christ to be stronger elders. A specific charge I want us to consider for this passage is Jesus declares that his sheep know his voice. He knows his sheep and his sheep know his voice. We must know his sheep, but more important than that is knowing Jesus' own voice because we have to sound like him. And the reason we just sound like him is to one, train the sheep to know what Jesus' voice sounds like and to help them draw closer to him as we declare his truth in his way for his glory. If you're not a believer this morning, this probably sounds strange. Why all the different metaphors? I want you to hear one thing. Everybody in this room is described by Jesus as a sheep who went his own way and astray. We were designed to be near God, close to him. But all of us, because of sin, have veered away, gone away from Him, even against Him. Jesus came to lay down His life for the sheep who have run away from God. Because our running away from God, our sin is what creates a distance from God. Jesus comes to lay down His life so we can be forgiven and be brought back near to Him. The only way to be forgiven for our sin against God is by believing in Jesus Christ who alone died to forgive us and trusting him to bring us back. This morning, I don't want you to leave without talking to someone around you or me before discussing that question. What does it mean to believe in Jesus? So elders, we shepherd, we care, we provide, we protect. And notice exercising oversight is qualifying what it means to shepherd. Here, there's a clear way in which there's setting up some order. The shepherding, that oftentimes is pretty easy because we're taking the word of God and we're seeking to just apply it. The shepherding I find much more direct and clear because we're seeking to take God's truth and proclaim it and teach it and apply it sometimes specifically strategically or surgically. This order or oversight, that's a little more complicated. That's where wisdom comes in. What is it we're going to prioritize? What is it we think God is doing? How are we going to determine a budget, set a calendar, make priorities? But this is where the work of an elder is somewhat like being an orchestra conductor. See, God's given us the music. The work of an elder is to make sure the right person is playing the right instrument in the right chair. All right, the flattest always want to run back and hit the gong for some reason. And somebody's always trying to sneak in a tambourine. You see, the beauty of the church all coming together with all different gifts and abilities is if we're all in that proper place that God has designed and using the gifts God has given us, we're able to make a glorious noise, make a glorious sound before God, but the work of an elder is to make sure the right people are in the right place making the right instrument. And it's funny because it always seems like somebody likes somebody else's gifts more. Exercising oversight, that's determining the diet of the church. How are we going to try to fulfill all these different commandments? The exercising oversight is commissioning workers and protecting a calendar, saying no to some things so we can say yes to others. If we were to put these two together, the shepherding is tending the vine and the oversight is creating a trellis. If that vine's growing, it needs the proper support and order and organization. So we have to be able to do both. As we think about oversight, we actually think about shepherding, which is normally applied to kings in the Old Testament. We have to see there's an authority here, and we have to believe there's such a thing as good authority. It's really easy to find all the examples of bad authority. We have to first believe in good authority because God has all authority and he's perfectly good. There's not anyone who's been in a church longer than a year that hasn't experienced some kind of confusion over what authority might be and how it could be exercised. We have to believe in good authority. As we look to Jesus, who shows us what God's good authority means. And if you have any position of authority, you're a teacher, you're a parent, you're a husband, understand, if God has given you any authority, it's that you would use everything you have to bless somebody else. As we think about authority, there are authorities, and there's good authority. Jesus, the chief shepherd, is the example of what it means to exercise authority. The call is that we, the elders, would be examples of that good authority. All right. Let's ask a question. There's three different titles here. Elders, shepherds, pastors, overseers, bishops. What should you guys call us? It's kind of confusing because for some reason, more people tend to call Ben and I pastor and James and Brian elder, and that doesn't create any kind of confusion among us, but just make sure it doesn't create any confusion among you. We're all elders, pastors, overseers. We don't really care what you call us as long as it doesn't really get in the way of what we do and how we work as a team. We don't want you to lose any sleep over it. The names matter, the titles matter, the work is what matters most. Elders and men who would be elders Let me be very clear as we think about what this means. What the church needs most from her elders is their holiness. If we aren't first paying careful attention to ourselves, in our walk with God, in our knowing Christ, in our seeking him, we're not going to have anything to offer the church. The churches can be a confusing place because of how busy it can be, how much is going on. The church's health isn't in all the activities, it's in how we're growing up into maturity of Christ. If all we want to do is teach, or if all you want to do is teach and not love the sheep, all you want is a podcast. I hope, church, you don't want just a podcast where you're listening to something. No, the whole idea is that there's presence, there's involvement, there's being known and knowing. If you are an elder, if you're considering what that might look like, remember, Paul says that you desire a noble task. It's a high calling of servanthood for the glory of God. Now, what follows is a really unusual job description. He's giving not the specific task, but we must shepherd, exercising oversight, in three ways. And notice it's a negative and a positive pairing.