7.3.22 1 Peter 5:1-4
Therefore, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and as one who also shares in the glory that is about to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you: 2 Shepherd God’s flock that is among you, serving as overseers, not grudgingly but willingly, as God desires, not because you are greedy for money but because you are eager to do it. 3 Do not lord it over those entrusted to your care, but be examples for the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive an unfading crown of glory.
Shepherds and Sheep, What Do You Want?
When Peter wrote this he would have probably been in his 60s, and very near death. He was in Rome during the time of the persecutions under Nero. He is said to have been crucified around 64 A.D.. So put that in perspective. Peter, a somewhat old man for the day, was writing to his fellow elders, otherwise known as pastors. He doesn’t put himself above them and call himself their bishop. He just refers to himself as a “fellow elder.” Yet in his older age he has some wisdom under direction of the Holy Spirit to give them, and how to be a good pastor. This text is often used with installations of new pastors.
Today, God places you in the same room as Peter and his fellow pastors listening to a fireside chat on what it takes to be a pastor and what you can expect from your pastor. Maybe, as you listen to this, you can grow a special appreciation for what God calls these men to do, and maybe you can think about how you can help them fulfill their vocation in a God pleasing way.
Before he gives any directives, Peter starts out by mentioning that he was a “witness of the sufferings of Christ.” Peter was there in the Garden of Gethsemane and he saw Jesus get arrested. He was in the high priest’s courtyard and had Jesus look at him in sadness after Peter had denied him three times. The suffering and death of Jesus on the cross left an indelible mark on Peter’s heart and soul. Here was God in the flesh dying for the sins of the world. He fought for us. He died for us. But Peter also witnessed Jesus after the resurrection, who especially appeared to HIM. The fact that Peter was an eyewitness has some special credibility. It changed Peter. It turned him from an overconfident and reckless young man into a confident and humble follower of Christ. This also changed him into a bold professor of Christ, instead of a scared denier of Christ. By this time Peter had gone on his own mission trips, raised the dead, healed the sick, and chased the demons out. He had something he wanted to say to the younger pastors and his fellow pastors to encourage them in their ministry. It was all about Jesus. And that makes sense, because without Jesus we have no confidence and no anchor for our faith. Without the sufferings and resurrection of Jesus we would have no reason to have a church or pastor.
Peter told his fellow pastors to do two simple things. Shepherd and oversee. My mind immediately goes back to Psalm 23 in the picture of the Good Shepherd leading the sheep through pastures and beside waters through the valley of the shadow of death. His job is to feed the flock and protect it from danger. I also think of my father-in-law who would drive the feed truck out to the field and with a simple call the cows would come running for some feed to eat. Back in David’s day shepherding involved a lot more exercise and danger since there were no trucks or fences and there seemed to be more wild animals roaming around. So the shepherd had to be bold and he had to be alert in order to take care of the flock as they went looking for green grass and water. Peter, however, isn’t talking about sheep or cattle. He’s talking about humans with souls. Eternity is at stake here.
Before we go any further, think for a minute about the fact that Peter expects there to be overseers. There are some who would prefer just to belong to a church, but they don’t want a pastor “getting into my business.” But Peter insinuates that an integral part of belonging to a church is having a pastor look out for your soul. If you want to be a member of a church but don’t want the pastor to feed you or try to look out for you in the process, then you don’t understand God’s design.
Pastors are supposed to shepherd and oversee their sheep. That means they will have to know them, as a doctor needs to know his patients, looking over their charts and meeting with them to discuss their ailments. They’re supposed to look out for them and try to warn them of the dangers that they might be in. So God calls me to talk to our confirmands about how to establish a God pleasing relationship, what boundaries God sets and whom to seek in marriage. God has called me to reach out to the person who hasn’t been in church for quite some time with an encouragement to come back and listen to the word of God and receive the Supper. That might also involve a simple phone call or a visit to somebody who is going to have surgery or who has just lost a loved one. That’s all part of the call of being a pastor. It takes time and effort to try and make sure all of his members are properly being fed and cared for.
It’s not always easy. Imagine adopting 700 children to take care of who might call at any time of the day or night with any kind of problem, while trying to take care of your own family. It’s not always fun. Sometimes it is even dangerous. I think of Martin Luther when the Black Plague was going through Germany, he stayed behind in order to minister to God‘s people at great risk to himself and his family. I think of the missionaries who recently had to leave Russia just in the nick of time before they would be locked in. Think of Peter and Paul and the apostles who were all called to serve God's people and all of them were put to death.
It would be easy perhaps for a pastor to have a woe is me attitude when he was being attacked by his own people or by the hardened unbelievers in his society. It would be easy for him to say, “This isn’t worth it.” Maybe, from a sense of duty, he would feel like he has to do what he has to do because nobody else will do it, otherwise he would be quitting on God’s people. Maybe he feels like he couldn’t do anything else and wouldn’t want the disgrace of having resigned. Maybe he thinks to himself, “I could work a nine to five job with a lot less stress.” Peter warned against this mind set. He said that they should shepherd and oversee because they are “willing” and “eager”.
Where does eagerness and willing ultimately come from? It comes from faith in Jesus who promises to work all things out for our good. It comes from gratitude to Jesus who died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us forgiveness, hope and salvation free of charge. It comes from the belief that there is power in the Word of God and that the Holy Spirit can work through a minister’s preaching and teaching to save souls that Jesus died for. Pastors need to go back to the Word again and again, to feed their own souls, so that the Holy Spirit can give them a willing spirit, as David prayed in Psalm 51, “Grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”
Eagerness is an interesting verb. Was Jesus eager to go to the cross? The Bible says that he set his mind towards Jerusalem. He wanted to go there. He was determined to go there. I don’t know if I would use the word eager. Eager means you’re looking forward to it and I don’t think Jesus was necessarily looking forward to dying, but he was looking forward to seeing us forgiven. So when it comes to shepherding people, he wants pastors to be eager to use the word of the sacrament to help bring forgiveness and salvation to people. They may not be eager for the resistance that they get or the persecution they go through, but they can be eager for the results that might happen, life-changing results.
There can be other reasons why a pastor might lose his willingness. Perhaps his ministry has run its course and he is becoming predictable and old to his people. When I was back in Kansas I felt like I was spinning my wheels a bit at my old congregation, and losing a bit of my zeal. Everything was going fine, but I didn’t want to just go through the motions of being a pastor. They needed somebody with a fresh perspective and fresh energy to come in and try to serve them. I also needed a fresh start and I got one when I came here.
The opposite of this attitude would be only doing your job for a paycheck. Think of the popular preachers who have a cult of personality about them, who preach a prosperity gospel in order to make themselves rich. I could see it happening in older age when he has built trust among his people and a good support system so he can coast to a point. Peter says there is no room for that in the ministry, just biding your time until you retire or doing the bare minimum to get by.
Whereas this is a text primarily written for pastors, it does apply to you also. If God wants willingness and eagerness from His pastors, then He wants the same from you. Ask yourself, “Am I willing and eager to do these things in MY household?” It was delightful for me to see the cows come running for the feed at my father-in-law‘s house. It made me happy to see their eagerness to come and eat. Do you show the same eagerness to come and listen to God‘s word?
You can see an illustration of this in daily living. Let’s say you have a spouse who loves going out to eat or riding bike or watching a television series. They want you to experience it with them and go with them. They’re excited about it. You can make the experience miserable by going along and complaining the whole time. You can refuse to go, and make them go by themselves. Or you can go along and try to have fun with them, at least enjoying your time with them and seeing them happy. You can try to enjoy it as well.
If you apply this to yourself, and how you participate at church, what kind of an attitude do you have in coming to worship and Bible study? Are you only here as a sense of duty? Do you complain about it? Do you make any effort to come? Do you come to church but put no effort into listening or singing? Or do you sit slouched down in your pew and just look at your watch, waiting for it to end. Do you dive into the word, ask questions, and eagerly desire to know more? Who would you be easier to teach and preach to if you were the pastor?
If you notice that your pastor does not seem very willing or very eager then maybe you could pull him aside and ask him if he’s doing OK. Or perhaps you could ask yourself “What can I do to help hold up the prophet’s hands and encourage him and his ministry?” Or maybe your pastor has lost his will to Shepherd. It doesn’t mean he’s lost the faith. But maybe he’s just tired. Maybe he needs a sabbatical… these things have happened. If you notice that he seems worn out, maybe he needs a vacation. It wouldn’t hurt to ask. Maybe it would cause him to look at himself and do a double check.
This weekend we celebrate the Fourth of July, and we like to celebrate the freedoms that we have in America to do what we want to do. That doesn’t mean that we live without laws, but we do have more freedoms than some in other countries have in the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. Most of you will have a day off on Monday. You can do whatever you want within the confines of the law. Maybe you plan on ahead and get excited about having a grill out or going to the fireworks.
As Christians, we have a priceless freedom of knowing our sins are paid for by Jesus and we get it FREE, through faith, by grace. Every day is the 4th of July for us in Christ. What does that make you WANT to do? Willingness is one of the key factors in being a pastor. And really it is a key factor in being a Christian as well. If you’ve lost your will and desire to listen to Jesus and be with Jesus, what has gotten in the way? Is it time for you to do a double check on your heart and soul? Is it time for you to repent and let go of something that has taken your passion and will?
Peter had gone through plenty of ups and downs in his ministry. He was now entering into a terrible persecution under Nero. Yet his desire to serve never waned into his old age. He didn’t quit. He wanted to keep shepherding God’s people. What was it that motivated him? Look at the end of this text. The Chief Shepherd will appear. He reminded his fellow pastors, “You will receive a crown of glory.” Pastors need to remember this, and you need to remember this as well. We aren’t fighting for the faith, repenting of our sins, listening to the word of God, spreading the faith, receiving the sacrament, for nothing. The ultimate reward is not in the here and the now. Our reward is in heaven.
I think of a funny song in Mulan, where the men sang about a girl worth fighting for. They wanted to be heroes to the women. That would be their reward, if they came back from battle, to have the women welcome them home and want to marry them and feed them. They sang about and envisioned a successful mission and happy life as a result.
Jesus felt that our salvation was worth dying for and being damned for. He’s already opened heaven. He’s already brought us to faith. There is a great reward earned for us by Jesus in heaven. Life will have challenges here, but that doesn’t mean you should give up. I can’t emphasize it enough. There is a final reward. Peter didn’t face death under Nero for nothing. Jeremiah didn’t get persecuted and imprisoned because there was no reward. Moses didn’t lead the Israelites out of the Promised Land for nothing. He did it by faith in the promise of the resurrection from the dead. The consequences of losing this faith and falling from grace is eternal hell. But the reward of staying in the faith is eternal heaven.
Even here and now there are rewards. You have the freedom of being able to go to bed at night with a clear conscience in Jesus. You have hope in the midst of death. You have a spouse, parents, and children that know how to forgive and ask for forgiveness. You have direction and purpose in this life HERE and NOW.
So you have a reason to stay in the Word. You have a reason to keep clinging to Jesus and taking His Supper. Think about Jesus coming up to you and saying, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” Isn’t that what you want? It’s worth the wait. It’s worth the fight. God make you willing and eager to feed and be fed with Jesus, to keep being an eager and humble sheep under the Good Shepherd. Amen.
