The Shepherd's Presence | Under the Chief Shepherd | 1 Peter 5:1–5 | Ep.1

Welcome to Preaching from Bryanston Bible Church, located in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, South Africa.

It is our prayer that this teaching would bless you, deepen your love for God's Word, and encourage you as you follow Jesus.

And if you're not a Christian, we pray that this message would encourage you as you explore the Christian faith.

Good morning, BBC.

What a joy and privilege it is for me to be here this morning.

Honey, thank you for that and thank the Lord for Westran Heritage.

I remember being out in the ocean one day with a group of friends.

It was a hot December's day, and we were just having a great time.

We were throwing the ball, catching the wave, and just yo, life life was just fun, you know.

And eventually, after some time, I closed my eyes, drifted in the sea, and just yeah, life was good.

Just enjoying being out in the hot sunshine.

After a while, however, I opened up my eyes and I realized I drifted uncomfortably far away from the shoreline.

I tried to put my foot down and realized I could no longer stand.

I was too deep.

I looked around for my friends who were all around me and they were all gone.

I was completely alone.

And for some strange reason, this soundtrack started playing in my head.

But you know exactly what I'm talking about.

Suddenly, every wave looks suspicious, every shad underneath the water looks like a great white shark.

Your imagination takes over, my heart rate doubled, and I thought, dear Lord, surely this isn't how my life is meant to end.

Then just as I was preparing to write my last willing testament mentally, something brushed past my leg and grabbed it.

Now at that point, you no longer pray, you scream.

A manly scream, of course.

I spun around to face the would-be shark, and I realized it was one of my friends pretending to be the shark.

Let me just say the friendship survived barely.

But here's what's strange.

The second I saw him, I completely relaxed.

Maybe it was because I knew he was a slower swimmer than me.

And had a shark appear, I could comfortably outswim him.

Or maybe perhaps it was just because he was a little bit more meatier than me.

And I thought, surely, if a shark looks at the menu, it'll choose the main cause first, which is my friend.

But either way, everything felt different.

In the circumstances, nothing actually changed.

I wasn't one step closer to the shoreline, the water hadn't become shallower, and a lifeguard hadn't come to rescue me.

But just because somebody was now with me, I was no longer alone, and it all felt different.

Church, presence changes everything.

We often realize the most through times of suffering.

For example, when we grieve a lost one, or if we're sitting in a hospital bed, and just the fact that somebody comes next to you and comes and sits next to you on that bed makes all the difference.

And I wonder if this could be true also in the church.

Before we need people to explain everything, to fix everything, and just organize everything, do we not just need people to come alongside us and to be present?

People are longing to be known, longing to be noticed, and somewhat just to say, Hey, I'm with you.

And this is what the BBC elders are here for.

Of course, as elders, we don't always get this right.

And there might have been times in your life where you felt that we weren't as present for you as you would have liked us to.

Guys, we're so sorry for that.

By God's grace, we want to grow in this.

Our heart is to know you, to love you, and to walk alongside you through every high and low, every valley and mountaintop in your life.

Today we begin a four-week series called Under the Chief Shepherd.

At BBC, we believe that elders aren't just a leadership team, but we're under shepherds, called to reflect the heart of Jesus, the chief shepherd.

So this series isn't all just about the elders and our responsibility to the church, but it's a responsible, it's a it's a series about Jesus.

Because it's only us reflecting him that really makes a difference.

And that market we're going to be considering today is the first one that my friend taught me about that day in the ocean.

Presence.

He has a simple definition.

Presence is a choice to be near somebody on purpose with your time, your attention, rather than merely being available to them from a distance.

And that's the idea we're going to be sitting with this morning.

Before any of us ascend to walk with others, we first need to receive his presence in our lives.

So please turn with me to 1 Peter chapter 5 as we walk through this passage this morning.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

Peter is writing to a church which is going through a period of severe suffering because of their faith.

In chapter 5, he turns specifically to the elders of the church and he says this.

As well as the partaker in the glory that's going to be revealed.

Notice how Peter begins.

He doesn't begin with possession.

He could have said, I'm one of the apostles, one of the original twelve disciples chosen by Jesus, or even my favorite.

I'm the only man who ever walked on water.

No.

That would have been a mic drop moment, right?

But he starts with relationship, describes himself as a fellow elder, one shepherd speaking to other shepherds.

Peter also knew something personally what it meant to be shepherded by Jesus.

Remember, Peter denied Jesus three times.

But love what happens in John 21.

Jesus alongside a fire along the banks of the Sea of Galilee, he appears, he gets to Peter and he says, Peter, do you love me?

Asked him three times.

Was it for the three times he denied?

He asked him three times, Peter, do you love me?

And Peter says, Yes, Lord.

And Peter says, Shepherd my flock, feed my sheep.

So before Peter was ever called to be shepherded, he knew a thing or two about shepherding from the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, like Peter, BBC elders are fellow sheep, loved by Christ, forgiven by Christ, restored by Christ, and wholly dependent upon him.

We do not stand above the flock as though one that no longer needs a shepherd, but we serve among the flock under the authority and the care of the chief shepherd.

So here's the big idea of this passage.

For an elder to shepherd the flock effectively, he must be present among them.

As we continue through the text, I want to make four observations about presence this morning.

Number one, presence requires proximity.

Listen to the heartbeat behind this whole passage.

Verse number two, shepherd the flock of God that is among you.

I love it.

Peter doesn't say manage the flock, build an impressive church.

He says, Shepherd the flock of God that is among you.

Why the picture of a shepherd, not a CEO, a general, or perhaps a king?

Because a shepherd does something that most of us, other leaders, won't do.

A shepherd stays.

I think we sometimes picture shepherding through our 21st century eyes as a man standing on a Karew hillside as we travel through Karew down to Cape Town with the sheep far away, almost like a hobby.

And that couldn't be further from a truth.

If we look at shepherding in the ancient world, it wasn't a job with set hours.

It was a way of life.

Shepherds stayed with the flock day and night.

In the day, they led them to pasture, and at night they stepped across the entrance of the sheepfold to protect them from predators.

The shepherds' responsibility was to feed, lead, love, and protect the fold by living among them.

Because they remained near the sheep, the shepherds knew their sheep.

They noticed when one was missing, when one was weak, when one is injured, and all in danger.

Proximity made that personal care possible.

One of the greatest gifts a shepherd gives a sheep is not his advice or his provision, it's his presence.

Jesus, the chief shepherd, didn't simply send help from a distance.

He didn't send a representative, but he came near.

And I love what Matthew 28 says, I am with you always to the end of the age.

That is the presence that's just so awesome.

And Peter is calling elders to imitate that kind of nearness.

There is a condition sheep can experience called being cast.

Now I never knew this, but it's something new to me as well.

Sheep are top heavy, especially when their coats are falling thick, and as they they graze in pastures, they sometimes lose their footing and can fall over and they can't find their feet again.

Nothing in their body may be broken, but without a shepherd coming to help them up back onto their feet, they can die within hours.

I've met people like that, not broken beyond repair, but simply cast, stuck, and exhausted from struggling alone.

What they need isn't a lecture.

They need someone to notice them, to come near them and to help them back onto their feet.

And to be honest, there was a time quite recently in my life where I felt a bit like that when my mom passed.

And thank God for people like Pastor Mark, some of the elders, and some dear family and friends who came alongside me through that difficult time to help me back onto my feet.

They couldn't remove the grief, but they helped me carry it.

And their presence helped me stand again.

That is what proximity makes possible.

You cannot lift a sheep, a car sheep, away from a distance.

You got to get near and help it.

Church, I'll admit, I never liked being compared to a sheep.

I'd much rather have been compared to a lion or a stallion.

I mean, think about it.

You'll never hear of a rugby franchise called the Vodacom Sheep.

But God isn't insulting us by calling us sheep, He's comparing us to sheep because we're dependent, we're vulnerable, we're prone to wonder, and most importantly, we're created to flourish under a shepherd.

God is reminding us that we're never created to live independently of Him.

Where we were never created to carry life alone, to fight temptation, to grieve, to suffer alone.

We need the chief shepherd.

And God places us within a flock like this, where we can reach each other and that that kind of care becomes possible.

Peter does not say shepherd the flock of God below you.

No, he says, Shepherd the flock of God among you.

Presence requires proximity.

So Peter has shown us where shepherds are called to minister among the flock.

Now he shows us how they are called to minister.

Number two, presence reflects the heart of the chief shepherd.

Look at verse 2 again.

Peter isn't only concerned that shepherds, that elder shepherd.

He's concerned about what's driving it.

We as elders can visit somebody because they're on our roster.

We can perhaps preach because it's our turn.

Everything outwardly looks fine, but inwardly the joy can disappear.

I remember something that happened to me about 25 years ago.

I was lying in ICU for about a week, not exactly the place you want to be spending your week, and I had a nurse looking after me.

Now let me just start by saying that I believe that nursing is one of the highest callings that I can imagine.

But it felt like this particular nurse was only there for a paycheck.

Every request was met with a sigh, every question an inconvenience.

And every time I asked her for help, it felt like I was interrupting her day.

Eventually, out of sheer frustration and for waiting what felt like an eternity, the younger, and let me just say, much less sanctified version of me, decided to speak up and I said, ma'am, you know, being a nurse is a calling before it's a career.

And maybe you shouldn't be a nurse.

I know.

What ja looking back, I know that wasn't the wisest thing to say, or perhaps even the kindest thing to say, especially to the person holding what appeared to be a 15-centimeter needle.

Let's just say I found repentance very quickly.

But the lesson stayed with me.

Some responsibilities cannot be reduced to a task.

And shepherding is one of them.

Imagine coming forward for prayer one Sunday and the elders are in front and they go, Oh dear Lord, not you again.

That's not shepherding, that's a task being endured.

Church, please hear my heart on this.

We as elders don't shepherd because we have to.

We don't get a discount on our tithes.

We don't even get a special parking spot.

No, we do it because we love you.

We desire to rejoice when God answers your prayers, grieve when you grieve, celebrate batteries and weddings, cry at funerals, sit in hospitals, not because it's on our checklist, but because God has entrusted you into our care.

Peter had something profoundly countercultural, and he says, not domineering over those in your charge, but by being examples to the flock.

The world says, lead through power.

Peter says, lead through example.

Biblical presence is not standing over people to control them, it's walking amongst them in a manner that reflects Christ.

That becomes even clearer when we turn to John chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

Jesus says, The thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

But I've come that you might have life and have it in abundance.

I love that scripture.

Then he says, The Good Shepherd, I am the Good Shepherd.

The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Then he introduces another character, the hired hand.

He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees.

Why?

Because the sheep were never his in the first place.

He was working for a wage, not because he loved the flock.

Do you see the contrast?

The hidehand protects himself.

The chief shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

The hidehand asks, What will this cost me?

The sheep shepherd says, What do my sheep need?

Likewise, the elders, in following the example of the good shepherd, should also be asking, What does this flock need?

That's exactly the contrast Peter is describing.

Not reluctantly, but willingly.

Not selfishly, but sacrificially.

Not domineering, but lovingly.

The chief shepherd did not protect himself at the expense of his sheep.

He gave himself for his sheep.

And presence reflects that heart because real love doesn't disappear when presence becomes costly.

Peter has shown us where shepherds minister, how they minister.

Now he lifts our eyes as to why they keep ministry in anticipation for that day.

Number three, presence anticipates the chief shepherds appearing.

Verse number four.

And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

I love that.

Peter doesn't motivate with guilt or recognition, he motivates us with a person, the chief shepherd.

Every faithful elder serves with one eye on today and one eye on that day when the chief shepherd appears.

Church, isn't that our greatest hope?

Not that simply suffering will end or that heaven is real, but that one day we will finally see the shepherd who has faithfully walked with us every step of our lives.

The one who has never left his sheep.

It's amazing.

Thank you, Lord.

Every act of faithful presence is an investment into eternity.

Much of what elders do will never make a report, never be celebrated publicly, and may even be forgotten by the very people that they served.

But nothing done for Christ is ever wasted.

Every unseen sacrifice, every act of obedience, and every moment of costly faithfulness is known by him.

That's what should keep us as elders going.

When presence feels costly and thankless, not the applause of people that might never come, but rather the approval of the chief shepherd, which is certain to come.

Brothers and sisters, that's what Peter is calling elders to reflect.

Faithfulness that isn't performed for an audience, because the only audience that ultimately matters is the one who is coming.

Peter isn't finished, he has one more move to make.

Number four, presence points people to the chief shepherd.

Look at what verse 5 says.

Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders, clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another.

So for four verses, Peter's been speaking about where shepherds minister, how they minister, and what motivates their shepherding.

Now he winds the circle, includes every one of us, every believer.

Did you notice those words, all of us?

The spotlight moves from the elders to the whole church.

This kind of presence Peter is describing was never meant to only belong to elders, but it should become a culture of the church.

Peter says, clothe yourself with humility.

I love that.

Not just be humble, clothe yourself with humility.

Because humility always moves towards people, pride keeps its distance.

Humility always crosses the room, rolls up its sleeve, draws near, and serves.

Isn't that exactly what Jesus did for us?

The chief shepherd humbled himself, came near, and laid down his life for his sheep.

And until that day he appears again.

He continues his shepherding through his people by using you and I as his hands and his feet.

What a privilege that is.

Every believer is called to reflect Christ, not just the elders.

Think about it, church.

Parents lovingly shepherd their children.

GC leaders shepherd those entrusted to them.

Mature believers shepherd new believers.

And sometimes friends just walk alongside friends.

Every one of us has somebody we can move closer to and reflect the heart of God towards them.

Church, that's what Peter's invited us to is to become living signposts.

Think about a signpost for a moment.

Nobody stops to admire the signpost.

A signpost never points to itself, doesn't draw attention to itself.

Its whole purpose is to point people to a destination.

Or something greater.

And in this case, it's to someone greater, the chief shepherd.

That's our calling.

Our role is never to make people dependent on us, their signposts, but is to point people to Jesus and to help people trust and depend on the chief shepherd.

Every act of humble presence should quietly point beyond ourselves to Jesus.

One day our voices will fall silent.

Our ministries will come to an end.

Our presence will be gone.

But his never will.

So let me bring it down to where we live this week.

If you're an elder, hear Peter clearly.

Don't let the busyness of leading this church pull you away from walking among the church.

May we never lose the smell of the sheep.

But if you're not an elder, the passage is still written for you, and verse 5 makes that unmistakable.

Leadership isn't a presence isn't the leadership skill, it's a whole church calling.

Somebody in this room is waiting for you to knock on their door.

Not the elders, but you.

Somebody needs you to visit.

Somebody needs your 15 minutes at their kitchen table this week.

And only you can give it because only you are near enough.

Church, who needs your presence this week?

Not your advice, not your solutions, but your presence.

Who's sitting in a hospital room wishing that somebody would visit?

Or who perhaps came to church last week and quietly slipped out thinking nobody even saw me?

Who needs a coffee date?

There might be people coming to mind right now as we speak about it.

Church, don't put it off.

Don't wait for a program to organize it.

Just do it.

Life is short.

Don't put it off.

Church, we as elders, we can't remove every valley.

We can't fix every diagnosis.

And we unfortunately can't prevent every funeral.

But by God's grace, we can walk with people into the valley.

Our desire is to pray and believe God with you for miracles, to sit with you, to weep, and to listen, and to remind you that the chief shepherd hasn't abandoned you.

And by God's grace, neither will we.

Church, please bow your heads with me this morning.

Perhaps you're walking through a valley that nobody knows about.

Grief, anxiety, fear, loneliness, holding it all alone.

If that's you, the shepherd has never left his sheep and he hasn't left you.

Ask him for the courage to let somebody walk with you.

Perhaps there are others who might say, I know Christ, but I want to become more like my shepherd.

I want to become a person of presence.

I want to love people more intentionally.

I want to notice when somebody is hurting.

I want my life to reflect the heart of Jesus.

If that's your prayer, make the commitment to the Lord.

Here I am, Lord, use me.

Let us pray.

Our gracious Heavenly Father, thank you that you refused to love us from a distance.

And when we wandered, you came looking for us.

Thank you, Jesus, our chief shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep.

Lord, for those who are weary today, remind them that you are with them.

For those of us who know you, make us people of presence, Lord.

May our homes, our friendships, our eldership, and our church become places where people experience the love of Christ.

And may every one of us leave here today knowing with greater confidence than ever before that the shepherd has never left his sheep and he never will.

Church, as you keep your heads bowed, perhaps if you're honest, you've drifted from the Lord and you've realized that you aren't as close to the shepherd as you once were.

Today the shepherd is calling you by name.

Come home.

Or perhaps you've never truly known the shepherd, never personally.

Jesus says, I am the good shepherd.

He laid down his life for his sheep, he rose again, and today he is calling you.

Will you come?

If that's you this morning, if you have realized I need to come back to the chief shepherd, or I need to come to the shepherd for the very first time, please follow me in this prayer.

And congregation, please join me as you pray.

Dear Heavenly Father, I come to you in the precious name of Jesus.

I admit that I've wanted from you.

I'm a sinner and I need you.

I believe Jesus died on the cross for my sins and rose again.

Right now, I turn from my sin and turn to you.

I ask you, Jesus, to come into my life as my Lord and my Savior.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Thanks for listening to this sermon from BBC.

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God bless you.