Pilgrim Living in a Fallen World: The
Freedom of Self-forgetfulness
I Peter 5:1-7
Introduction: Our study last week in I Peter was
entitled “Joy under Fire!” Joy in times of
trial can only be explained by a sure hope that goes beyond this world. We can live
as a pilgrim in this fallen world only if our hope is to be with God and to enjoy
Him forever. We believe that we were created for eternity, and that even now,
we are citizens of Heaven. The world
has sin problem. That means separation from God. But God made a way. He was, in
Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. If you believe that, you face suffering differently
than those who have no hope. You have a “peace that passes understanding.”
Our hope passes understanding because it makes no sense to the world, to those
who don’t have it. They want peace, they want hope, but they
don’t have it. Peter said our response to suffering can bring God glory and draw
others to Him. It testifies to the truth and power of the Gospel.
Peter has talked a lot about our “way of life” being a key part of our
witness. Can a “servant attitude” as described in today’s passage, also point
others to Him? We will see implicitly in these verses the idea that GOD is the
Lord of the church. He is the Architect and Designer. We are reminded that the
church is not optional, it is expressed in orderly local assemblies committed
to the authority of the Word, desiring the glory of God, and focused on
carrying out His mission in the world. We’ve been reminded by Peter that we are
here on assignment! Individually and corporately we need to be outwardly
focused. Faithful pilgrim living means not thinking more highly of ourselves
than we ought, but rather following Jesus’ example of selfless service. Tim
Keller wrote a little book entitled, The Freedom of Self-forgefulness: the
Path to True Christian Joy. That seems to be what Peter is calling us to
here, so I borrowed Dr. Keller’s title for this sermon…
The BIG Idea: Living faithfully as pilgrims in a
fallen world frees us to be forgetful of self while serving others.
Context:
Christians can have joy even when we suffer (review 4:12-19). Read v. 19, “…Therefore let those who suffer according to
God's will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good…”
(4:19). We can trust God in the midst of suffering. Peter has been writing to
believers during a time of persecution. He has reminded them that they are
pilgrims and exiles in this fallen world. Their citizenship is in heaven. As
Jesus had warned in the upper room (John 16:33) so Peter is urging the church
not to be surprised by suffering. He suffered, the world hated him, it will
turn against his people as well.
I. Jesus’ suffering should motivate leaders, and all of us, to be
forgetful of self as we humbly serve (5:1-4).
“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: 2 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; 3 not domineering over those in
your charge, but being examples to the flock.
4 And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the
unfading crown of glory.”
These first verses are directed at “elders,” those who have been
entrusted with shepherding and leadership of the church. We see in the book of
Acts the missionaries appointing elders in every local church. So,
leaders need to listen carefully to these verses, as do the people they lead — because
we need to hold leaders accountable from a biblical perspective. We’ll see soon
that the principles apply to us all. Notice that Peter, the apostle, the one
who was recognized as perhaps the primary apostle and leader of the Jerusalem
church, exhorts the leaders among the scattered churches of Asia minor first
from a position of humility, “…as a
fellow elder…” He could have immediately appealed to his authority as an
apostle, but he begins by identifying with the leaders in the scattered
churches. He is calling for humility and he is modeling it as well. Part of
that humility no doubt came from Peter’s experience. Recall that scene in John
21, after the resurrection, as Jesus is restoring and calling Peter…
15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,
"Simon, son of John, 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." 16 He
said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said
to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend
my sheep." 17 He
said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, 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 everything; you know that I
love you." Jesus said to him, "Feed my sheep.” (John 21:15-17).
The Lord had specifically and
personally called Peter to shepherd the
flock, which implies, leading, protecting, and feeding God’s people (see also
Eph 4:11-16). Now, as a fellow elder, he encourages the leaders of the
scattered churches to stay faithful in that same calling. Remember Jesus is the
Good Shepherd, the Chief Shepherd. Pastors and elders are his under-shepherds,
entrusted with responsibility to lead and shepherd a specific group of people.
Notice the positive admonition in verse 3, “…being examples of the flock…” Shepherds of God’s flock are not to “lord
it over” them, but to prove to be an example. There was an army recruitment
poster during WW II that illustrated the idea. It pictured a young corporal, in
the heat of combat moving ahead, his rifle in his left hand pointing forward,
looking back over his right shoulder giving a “come on ahead” motion as he
shouts “Follow me!” Back around that time Eisenhower would demonstrate the art
of leadership with a simple piece of string. He’d put it on the table and say,
“Pull it and it will follow you wherever you wish. Push it and it will go
nowhere at all. It’s just that way when it comes to leading people. They need
to follow a person who is leading by example.” At another time he said, “You do
not lead by hitting people over the head—that is assault, not leadership!”
Peter is calling the “elders,” the spiritual leaders in the local body,
to servant-leadership, to lead by example. Like the corporal charging
the enemy, he is saying “follow me into the battle!” Because of our fallen
state, because we are still affected by sin, we in leadership can easily get
prideful, and controlling. The church
isn’t designed, I don’t believe, to be a pure democracy, nor is it a dictatorship.
In truth it is a “theocracy” in that God is in the church, and Jesus is the
head of the church. And so, there
should be humility in leadership, not love of power or love of money, but love
of God and love for His people.
Peter starts these verses talking to the elders, but he soon extends the
principle to “all” the church. He is saying that living faithfully as pilgrims
in a fallen world frees us to be forgetful of self, while serving others.
II. Younger men, indeed all believers, need to humbly recognize their
dependence on Christ and have a heart to serve (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.”
It
is very clear that “elders” referred to the office by the reference to
shepherding and overseeing. But the fact
is that “elders” were probably, very often, older men. It’s not as clear who
these “young men” are to whom Peter refers. We do have a couple of
biblical examples, as in Acts 5 and the story of Ananias and Sapphira, where
the text refers to the “young men” who were at the door and carried away the
couple, one at a time, when they fell dead (Acts 5:6,10). It may be that it was
referring to something like “deacons” or other servant-leaders in the church. Perhaps Peter singles out “young men” simply
because they are more likely to charge ahead on their own without seeking, or
even stopping to listen to, some of the “gray-haired wisdom” that the elders
could offer. The exhortation to the elders was to lead by example, and the
admonition to the younger men is to respect their authority and
leadership.
Peter said “…clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one
another…” The word here has the idea of a servant putting on an apron as he
sets to work. There is intentionality, purposefulness, in adopting a humble
attitude. Augustine had some quotable
insights. He spoke of both the importance of humility, and of the difficulty
humans have in practicing it. Of its importance he said, “It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes
men as angels.” With respect to its difficulty he said, “There is something in humility that
strangely exalts the heart.” Think about that: We start to get proud
of how humble we are! Was it
Harry Ironside who told the story of having put on a sandwich board, and
walking the streets of Philadelphia calling on people to repent? He confessed thinking, when he got back to
his room that afternoon, “I am really something, who else would do such a humble
thing?” Mark Twain put it this way, “Humility
is like a watermelon seed, just when you think you have it under your thumb, it
slips away!” Here Peter talks to younger men, but none of us is immune to
getting a “puffed up” view of ourselves. I like the story Chan Gailey, a former
football coach, told on himself when he was coach of the Buffalo Bills. Years
earlier when he was coaching at Troy State University, he was only thirty-two
years old...
The fact that he
told that story on himself shows he had probably learned some humility in the
process! My sermon title today is taken
from a booklet by Tim Keller. In the introduction he asks,
“What are the
marks of a heart that has been radically changed by the grace of God? …It is
not simply a matter of morally virtuous behavior. It is quite possible to do
all sorts of morally virtuous things when our hearts are filled with fear, with
pride or with a desire for power. We are talking about hearts that have been
changed, at the root, by the grace of God – and what that looks like in real
life.”
It is the kind of
gospel-shaped humility that frees us to be forgetful of self. Our model, back in I Peter 5:1, is Christ.
He suffered, willingly, for us. Paul expressed
the same idea in his letter to the Philippians, in 2:3-8…
3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more
significant than yourselves. 4
Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests
of others. 5 Have this mind
among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form
of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing,
taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being
found in human form, 8 he
humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a
cross…
The mind of Christ means thinking of
others first, a humility that flows from being overwhelmed by the gospel, a servant
attitude. And that is the thinking that God blesses, for “God opposes the proud, and gives grace to the humble...” James said,
6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, "God opposes the proud,
but gives grace to the humble." 7
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you
[that idea will
come up in the next verses in I Peter]. 8
Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you
sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Be wretched and mourn and weep.
Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves before the
Lord, and he will exalt you... (James 4:6-10).
That final phrase is at the heart of
a pilgrim’s hope. It
reflects our assurance that Jesus is Lord, and the day will come when He
assumes the throne and every knee bows before Him and every tongue confesses
his Lordship. With Him, those who are
His, will ultimately be vindicated. Because we believe that, we can live
faithfully as pilgrims in a fallen world, we can be self-forgetful, not
thinking more highly of ourselves than we ought, and following Jesus’ example
of selfless service.
III. All who would follow Jesus should submit to His Lordship trusting in
His care and ultimate deliverance (6,7).
“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.”
What does it mean to “humble
yourselves... under the mighty hand of God”? It is Gospel-shaped thinking, gospel-humility.
It’s when we recognize our weakness, and we submit willingly to His lordship in
our lives. Jesus is Lord of the Universe, He is the Creator and Sustainer of it
all, and yet we humans resist Him! Every time we sin, we are choosing our will
over His. Pilgrims recognize who is in charge and submit to His authority.
In I Peter we’ve seen quite a bit about submitting to the authorities God has
allowed to be over us, in government, at work, God’s order in the family. Here
he talks about order in the church. But our ultimate submission is to God
himself (I Cor 4:3-4).
The last phrase in v.7 is a beautiful picture, “...casting all your anxieties on him, because He cares for you.” Why should you be discouraged? Why
should you bear your burdens alone? Jesus said, “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you
rest...” The invitation here is open: cast some of your anxieties on
Jesus... no, He said to cast all your anxieties on him! Why? Because He
cares for you. If God is for us, who can stand against us? We can trust Him
to take care of us, and we can focus on being aware of the needs of others, and
being available to serve others for Him.
What is God saying to me in this passage? Living faithfully as pilgrims in a
fallen world frees us to be Gospel-centered thinkers, forgetful of self, and so
free to serve others.
What would God have me to do in response to this passage? As we serve others, and think of
ourselves less, people will notice. Remember, we are witnesses every day.
Whether or not we say anything
about our faith today, someone close to us is watching. Someone in your oikos, and someone in mine, is observing
how we conduct ourselves.
Are we giving, or self-serving? Are we
prideful, or clothed in an authentic gospel-shaped humility? Praying consistently for God to work in the
lives of the people HE has put in our lives is foundational. It changes us, and amazingly, God works
through our prayers! When we pray, we
can, when it is appropriate, mention to our friends that we are praying for
them. When we have opportunity we can ask, “How are you doing spiritually? How
can I be praying for you?” People may
not take you up on it immediately, but in a time of crisis they just might
call. Remember the Cross, let it shape
your thinking, and stay faithful! AMEN.
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