The Shepherd and His Undershepherds

I invite you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of

First Peter. First Peter chapter 5.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

If you're not quite sure where that is, it's almost at the end

of the Bible. You can also find it on page

1016 in the red Bibles and the chairs around you.

First Peter chapter 5. We're going to be looking at the

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

1st 5 verses. As you likely know, if you are

one of our members or regular attenders, we are launching a

new elder LED shepherding program.

Each of the elders have a group of members of our church that he

has chosen to be in his shepherding group and I've

communicated with you a couple of times in recent months about

the logistics of the shepherding groups.

If you haven't been contacted by your shepherding elder yet, that

will happen very soon, and almost everybody has been

contacted, But if you haven't yet, that should happen within

the next week or two, I would imagine.

I'm not going to go back over all of the information that I've

shared in the past couple of months with regard to the

shepherding groups, but today and next Sunday, before we jump

back into the book of Isaiah, we're going to take some time to

reflect on this idea of shepherding today.

We're going to think about that from the point of view of the

elders, but there also be application for all of us.

The next Sunday, we're going to think about shepherding from the

point of view of the members of the church with some application

for the elders as well. Today, let's look at Peter's

words to elders in the church in the 1st century.

Listen, as I read to you from chapter 5, verse one down to

verse 5, 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, 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.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the

unfading crown of glory. 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.

Let's pray together. Father, we thank you for giving

us this portion of your word. And as we look at it today, as

we reflect on it, we pray that you would open our eyes and our

hearts and our minds, that we would see, that we would

understand, that we would believe what you want us to see

and understand and believe. And above all, Father, help us

to see the Chief Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, the Lord Jesus

Christ, for it's in his name we pray.

Amen. There is no such thing as a

perfect elder. Now, some of you may have even

experienced that, whether here at Trinity or in a previous

church experience. Some of you have come from other

church experiences where elders behaved badly and even an

unhealthy way. And some of you have even come

from other church experiences where you experience trauma from

elders. There is no such thing as a

perfect elder. That's always been the case.

As we look at the elders in the Old Testament and as we look at

the elders in the New Testament, there is no perfect elder.

I mean, after all, whose words have we just read?

Peter. Peter was an elder in the

church. He was an apostle.

He was a disciple of Jesus. He was one of the inner circle

of three around Jesus. And he's also the one that fell

asleep on Jesus in one of Jesus darkest moments when he asked

Peter to help him. Peter's also the one who denied

being a disciple or even knowing Jesus.

Not once, not twice, three times, Peter added to the

suffering of Jesus. And yet Jesus restored Peter and

had him serve as a fellow elder and apostle of the church, even

a contributor to the Word of God.

There is no such thing as a perfect elder, But God in his

Providence has chosen to organize his church with elders.

He raises up men to love and to serve his churches, his people,

and his flock. And so he's given us

instructions, instruction in his word for elders.

Let's look and see what Peter tells us about several things,

what elders are to do, to whom they are to do it, how they are

to do it, and then lastly, the motivation for doing it.

So first of all, what elders are to do.

Now you'll notice right at the beginning of verse one, it

starts with the word. So that's the the Greek word UN,

which can mean so or then or therefore.

And what it tells us is that what Peter is saying here to the

elders is connected with what he's been saying in chapters one

through 4. And Peter has been talking about

the fact that the people that he's writing to are experiencing

persecution, experiencing suffering because of their faith

in Jesus. The church was going through a

traumatic time and Peter knew that the leaders of the church

who might experience the greatest persecution and

suffering in this moment needed to lead well.

Notice Peter even connects himself with the elders of this

church. He calls himself a fellow elder,

says he's witnessed the sufferings of Jesus and that

along with them will partake in glory that will come when Jesus

returns. And then he gives them the

exhortation. He tells the elders what they

are supposed to be doing. And you can see at the beginning

of verse 2 he says shepherd, the flock of God that is among you.

Now our session has taken quite a bit of time to study and to

talk about shepherding over the last 8 or so months.

I'm not going to go back through all of that info today, but at

its foundation, most of us probably have a pretty good idea

of what it means to shepherd. It's a biblical image that is

all throughout the Scriptures. God is the chief shepherd and

his elders are the under shepherds, and their flock is

God's people. Every Christian is one of God's

flock. Every one of us is God's sheep,

including the elders. And what do we know about real

life sheep? If they don't have someone

looking out for them, guiding them, taking care of them,

showing them where to go, they will literally walk off a Cliff

to their death and 1 sheep after another will follow walking off

the Cliff. Real life sheep are not very

intuitive. They need help knowing where to

go. They can be mean.

They can bite. It's kind of a sobering thought

when we realize that sheep is one of the most common images

that God chose to use to talk about his people.

This is who we are. We are all sheep, and He is our

great, our good, our chief shepherd.

The Lord has set up elders and his local church to be his under

shepherd, shepherds under the call and the guidance of God to

shepherd the sheep among them in that local church.

That means looking after the sheep and caring for them and

leading them, guiding them and protecting them and serving them

and loving them. And our elders here at Trinity

have always sought to shepherd our church family, sought to

serve the church this way, our elders.

For our elders, shepherding isn't new.

But the new shepherding groups are simply a tool to help us to

do it better, to make sure that we are shepherding everyone as

best as we can, that no one is falling through the cracks.

This is what elders are supposed to do.

They are to shepherd the flock of God that is among them.

But then notice Peter says to whom they are to do it.

Notice at the beginning of verse 2 it's the they are to shepherd

who? The flock of God.

And notice at the beginning of verse 4, Jesus is the chief

shepherd. Now that tells us a couple of

important things. Jesus is the chief shepherd.

That means that elders are only shepherds under the authority of

the greater and ultimate shepherd, Jesus.

They aren't shepherds in and of themselves because of their own

stature or even their own desire.

They're shepherds because Jesus has set them apart.

He has given them their calling and his authority.

That's one of the reasons why Peter is going to speak about

being humble at the end of the passage that we're looking at

today. Elders, as shepherds in the

local church, have every reason to be and must be humble.

They are only under shepherds of the Greater Chief Great

Shepherd, Jesus, and secondly, elder shepherd, the flock of

God. It's God's flock, not the

elder's flock. It's God's sheep, not the

elder's sheep. The sheep don't belong to the

elders, they belong to the Lord. And elders are given the

incredible privilege and responsibility of watching over

God's sheep, His people. They are to care for and to love

and to serve the sheep like Jesus would, because they're his

elders are under shepherds. They are under the chief

shepherd, and the sheep they shepherd are the Lords and not

theirs. But then notice Peter goes on to

tell them how they are to shepherd.

The first thing he says to them is that the elders are to

exercise oversight in the middle of verse 2.

The Greek word that Peter uses there can mean to give attention

to, to look at, to care for, to accept the responsibility for

caring for another. That means that they need to

know the sheep that are under their care, to know them better

than just their names and faces, to know how they are doing, how

they need to be cared for, how best they can be served, how

best to love them. The rest of verse 2 and verse 3

Peter gives us 3 contrasts to help flesh out how the elders

are to shepherd. The first one He says they are

to shepherd not under compulsion but willingly.

Elders shouldn't be forced into being elders, whether that comes

internally or externally. They shouldn't sign up to be an

elder because they feel compelled to for some reason.

I heard a pastor friend of mine tell a story this past week of a

church where he served and he had an elder that wasn't a good

elder. It was a bad elder.

This elder had a bad attitude and he resisted serving and

didn't really want to care for the sheep.

And at one point my pastor friend stopped him and said why

did you become an elder? And he explained that he came

from a long line of his family who were elders and it was just

expected for him to be an elder. Elders shouldn't serve or

shepherd because they feel compelled to do so.

Peter says no, they should do it willingly.

They should want to shepherd and serve and care, care for and

love God's sheep. The second contrast he mentions

thereafter that says not for shameful gain, but eagerly.

It wasn't uncommon in the 1st century for the elders or maybe

a particular elder, a main elder, to be compensated for

their service in some way. In fact, as we look, especially

in the New Testament and indictment against the false

teachers, the false leaders in the church was that they

operated out of a love for money, a desire to get

compensated. And Peter says elders shouldn't

serve and shepherd because they think they're going to get

something in return. Shameful gain shouldn't be the

motivation for shepherding the sheep.

Instead, he says they should serve eagerly, willingly,

sacrificially. The third contrast he says,

excuse me? The third contrast he says, is

that they should shepherd, not in a domineering way over those

that are in their charge, but being examples to the flock, not

using the authority that has been given to them by Jesus to

then domineer and oppress and manipulate and abuse the sheep.

This is a particularly hot topic in the Christian world today.

We've all heard stories of well known pastors and elders who

have resigned or been been removed from their churches

because they were abusive, domineering, and oppressive and

manipulative. It actually happened to one of

my friends who I went to seminary with, removed from his

church because of his abusiveness of his staff and of

the sheep. Peter knew that that was a

temptation for elders because of the role that they play in the

life of the sheep. And he says rather elders are to

live as examples to the flock, live their lives and and serve

the sheep, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit.

The character qualities we find in first Timothy and Titus,

they're to shepherd the sheep the way Jesus wants the sheep to

be shepherded. And notice Peter mentions one

other thing about how elders are to shepherd the flock.

You can see it at the end of verse 5.

He says clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one

another. For God opposes the proud, but

gives grace to the humble. Elders are to shepherd with

humility. They are to in fact clothe

themselves with humility. That means all aspects of their

lives, especially in the ways that they shepherd the sheep.

And notice Paul or excuse me, Peter actually gives that

exhortation not just to the elders.

He says to everyone, all of you, he says be humble in the church.

Why? Well, it's because God opposes

the proud and gives grace to the humble.

Do you want to be proud and arrogant and be opposed by the

Lord God Almighty, or humble and be given and experience His

grace? One commentary I read this week

said that humility is the oil that allows relationships in the

church to run smoothly and lovingly.

This is how elders are to shepherd the sheep.

They are to exercise oversight. They are to do it not out of

compulsion, but willingly, Not for shameful gain, but eagerly,

not domineering the sheep, but being examples for them.

And all of it is to be clothed with humility.

But notice lastly, Peter speaks about the motivation for

shepherding the sheep. You can see it in verse 4.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the

unfading crown of glory. Now crowns like Peter's

referring to here are were common in Peter's day.

They were crowns made out of leaves and flowers and vines

that were formed and fashioned. They were given often to the

winners of various athletic competitions or a military

conquest. But those crowns faded away.

Peter contrasts and says, not this crown for elders who

shepherd the sheep well, faithfully, like Jesus wants

them shepherded. They will receive an unfading

crown of glory. Now, it's difficult to know for

sure exactly what Peter is referring to here.

Does he mean the faithful under shepherds will receive some sort

of reward or blessing in heaven? Or is he simply referring to

eternal life? In almost every other passage

that refers to crowns of glory, it refers to gaining eternal

life and getting into heaven. So maybe Peter is just saying

here that faithful shepherds can have an even greater assurance

and confidence of eternal life. Or maybe he's saying that

there's some sort of reward for being a faithful shepherd.

We ultimately don't know for sure.

But here's the thing, It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter because these will be crowns of glory, but not

glory of the shepherds. It will be the glory of the

Chief Shepherd, Jesus's glory, and for any of us to wear a

crown of glory, regardless of whether it is eternal life or

some reward in heaven. In order for us to wear any kind

of crown of glory, Jesus had to wear a crown of thorns.

Jesus had to come into this world and live a life of perfect

love and obedience to His Father and then offer His life in the

place of His sheep. The chief Shepherd had to lay

down his life for the sheep and on the cross that is exactly

what he did, taking our sin upon himself and paying it in full

with His blood, crediting His people, his sheep, with His

perfect righteousness, put to our account forever.

This has to be the greatest motivation for under shepherds.

Jesus has died. He has given his life for the

sheep, and not just for the sheep that they are serving, but

for the under shepherds as well. And now the under shepherds get

the privilege of loving and serving the sheep that Jesus has

died for. At the end of John, the Gospel

of John we read about when Jesus reinstated Peter after he had

failed so miserably 3 times Jesus asked Peter, Peter, do you

love me? Do you love me Peter?

Do you love me? And three times as Peter

answered yes, you know that I do.

Three times Jesus said go take care of my sheep.

If you love me, love my sheep. That has to be the greatest

motivation for the under shepherds.

Jesus has died and given his life for the sheep that Jesus

died. Jesus has died and given his

life for the sheep that now we have the privilege of serving

his cross. His grace must be the greatest

motivation for loving God's sheep, his people, and

shepherding them. Well.

Now as we end what? What are some application and

takeaways? Well, first of all, for the

elders, I think it's kind of obvious.

Pretty much everything, Peter said.

That's the application for our elders.

They are to shepherd the flock of God that is among us.

They are to exercise godly oversight.

They are not to do it out of compulsion, but they are to do

it willingly. They are not to do it for

shameful gain, but they are to do it eagerly.

They are not to be domineering over those that are in their

charge, but they are to be examples to the sheep.

And they are to clothe themselves with humility through

it all. And they are to be motivated by

a love for Jesus. Elders, do you love Jesus?

Take care of the sheep, the sheep that Jesus died for, that

gave his life for. But I think there's some

application for all of us here as well.

There'll be more of a focus on that next week when we get to a

different passage and we think about this whole idea of

shepherding from the point of view of of our members.

But I do think there's at least a couple applications that we

can take, excuse me, take away from.

And the first is the beginning of verse 5.

Likewise, Peter says you who are younger be subject to the

elders. Now there's some disagreement

among the commentators about who Peter's referring to here as you

who are younger. But I agree with most of the

good commentaries that Peter's referring here to all the other

sheep in the congregation. He's he's contrasting the

elders, or we could call them the olders with the youngers,

the rest of the sheep of the, of the flock of God.

The youngers are the lay people in the church.

And what does Peter say that they are to do to be subject to

the elders? Now, obviously Peter is saying

that when elders are doing their job biblically, when they're

doing their job in accord with God's word, we should be

subject, subject to them. Go along with their leading,

follow their teaching and their guidance, Listen to and heed

their instructions and even their admonishments when needed.

But if elders are being abusive, if they're using their authority

to oppress and to damage people, those are not elders that we

subject ourselves to. As long as elders are

shepherding the flock under the chief shepherd, following his

way and his calling, the sheep are to be subject to.

They're to follow and obey their under shepherds.

I think there is another take away here for lay people as we

hear Peter's words about elders. Hearing Peter's words here helps

us to know how we can pray for our elders to know their

callings and their responsibilities, to know what

they're supposed to be doing. To see what Peter says to these

elders should motivate us to pray for our elders, to pray for

the calling that God has given to them to serve our flock.

Hearing Peter's words also help us to have a better

understanding of what elders are called to do and so we can

empathize with them. And hopefully, hearing Peter's

words also helps you to be even more motivated to look for ways

to encourage your elders, to help them to be able to serve

with joy, which is what we'll look at more deeply next Sunday.

Let's pray together. Father, you love your church so

much that you sent the Great Shepherd to come and to

purchase, purchase eternal life for the sheep.

And you love your church and you raise up men who are serving as

under shepherds. And we thank you for the men

that you have raised up at Trinity, not just today, but

throughout the life and the history of this church.

We give you thanks for them, these men who in so many ways

exhibit already what Peter talks about in these verses.

We give you thanks for them, and we pray for them as they seek to

continue to shepherd the sheep. We pray that you would give them

the strength and motivation, the desire, and that they would have

discernment and wisdom, that they would be a great

encouragement to the sheep. And we pray, Father, for us all

as sheep, that we would respond well to their leading and

guidance as they are following you as we come to your table

now, we pray you would feed us and nourish us spiritually

because we need it, because we're sheep, we're prone to

wander, we're prone to go astray.

So strengthen our faith as we come to this table.

We pray it in Jesus name, Amen.