WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.400 So on Friday an email went out to everybody that's a member, a regular 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:09.439 attender, and here in our church and it's announcing that we're now in a season 00:00:09.439 --> 00:00:14.480 where we're electing new elders. And so if you didn't get that I'll say more 00:00:14.480 --> 00:00:18.120 about how to make sure you do get that at the end of the service. But we wanted to 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:23.039 take a break from Mark this morning to think together about elders, about what 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:27.560 an elder is and what they do, especially as we all have the opportunity right now 00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:31.599 for the next couple of weeks to nominate and elect new elders. So it's 00:00:31.599 --> 00:00:35.600 important that we take a Sunday to look at this together. So we break from 00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:39.600 Mark today to look at one of the famous little sections about eldership which is 00:00:39.600 --> 00:00:43.879 in 1 Peter 5 and I want to look at two things this morning with you. First the 00:00:43.879 --> 00:00:49.000 fact of elder that there is such a thing and then secondly at the 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:54.239 revolutionary call that Peter gives here to the eldership, how Christ changes 00:00:54.240 --> 00:00:58.400 what it means to be a leader. So let's do that together first the fact of 00:00:58.400 --> 00:01:05.359 elder. Alright so first one Peter says I exhort the elders among you and if you 00:01:05.359 --> 00:01:10.320 look at chapter one Peter says that he's writing this letter to people in 00:01:10.320 --> 00:01:18.079 Pontus, Asia, Cappadocia, Galatia, Bithnia, a lot of places that covers a lot of 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:23.879 territory mostly what we would see today as turkey and that means Peter's 00:01:23.879 --> 00:01:29.159 talking to a ton of churches not just one this is a circular letter and the 00:01:29.159 --> 00:01:33.479 very first thing he does is when he gets to chapter five he assumes that there 00:01:33.479 --> 00:01:37.319 are elders in every one of these churches. So he says I'm talking to the 00:01:37.319 --> 00:01:40.799 elders among you meaning hundreds of churches that have been planted across 00:01:40.799 --> 00:01:45.039 Asia at this point I'm talking to all the elders meaning that everywhere the 00:01:45.039 --> 00:01:50.560 apostles went Peter knows they did the same thing every time they chose 00:01:50.560 --> 00:01:55.320 elders and that means that he's saying this is the model this is the model that 00:01:55.320 --> 00:01:58.760 the apostles carried forth into the world and he says I'm even one of these 00:01:58.760 --> 00:02:03.040 elders he says I'm both an apostle and an elder so he's saying I witnessed the 00:02:03.040 --> 00:02:07.000 resurrection of Jesus Christ I'm an apostle but he knew that the apostles 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:11.840 were not gonna last forever that there would come a day 30 40 50 years from 00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:17.319 this moment where the apostles will be gone and so his expectation is that the 00:02:17.319 --> 00:02:21.199 churches will be governed and led by elders and that was the norm all across 00:02:21.199 --> 00:02:26.799 the apostolic witness in the in the first century the word here for elder 00:02:26.799 --> 00:02:31.120 is the word presbyter in Greek and so it's where we get our word presbyterian 00:02:31.120 --> 00:02:35.519 so we talk about a presbyterian form of church government which is what we have 00:02:35.519 --> 00:02:40.240 which is just basically ruled by elders and we see here that the model from the 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:46.000 very beginning was to be presbyterian and if you flip over to Revelation chapter 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:50.599 4 verse 4 it says that when John's looking into heaven he sees this vision 00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:57.719 Jesus is there and around Jesus there's a council 24 seats with 24 elders and 00:02:57.719 --> 00:03:01.319 that means in the Bible we see that the church is presbyterian and that heaven's 00:03:01.319 --> 00:03:06.560 presbyterian and that that's the model in both places that we just model after 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:11.000 the picture that we see in heaven and let me let me give you two takeaways 00:03:11.000 --> 00:03:16.240 why this is important one is this simply to say again what we're doing we when we 00:03:16.240 --> 00:03:18.840 elect and nominate new elders is that we're simply trying to be biblical 00:03:18.840 --> 00:03:23.000 actually we're just trying to follow the model of Scripture the model that God's 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:27.000 given us and you can see this when you if you flip through the Old Testament and 00:03:27.000 --> 00:03:30.960 the New Testament and look for the concept of elder you can go all the way 00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:36.159 back to Deuteronomy 21 and 22 where anytime you have God's people being 00:03:36.159 --> 00:03:41.319 established as a community God says use elders and so Moses designated elders 00:03:41.319 --> 00:03:47.199 in Deuteronomy 21 and 22 or later King David had a council of elders that helped 00:03:47.199 --> 00:03:50.479 him rule the people of God and the Old Testament or even after that in the 00:03:50.479 --> 00:03:55.039 first century every single Jewish village was ruled run by elders every 00:03:55.039 --> 00:04:00.439 single synagogue before Jesus came was run and ruled by elders you get to about 00:04:00.439 --> 00:04:05.439 ten years after probably the last Apostles death John the very earliest 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:09.599 piece of writing we have extra biblical writing Christian piece of writing is a 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:13.520 letter from a guy named first from Clement first Clemens the letter and in 00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:18.399 it Clement talks about how and across the the Roman Empire the Apostles went 00:04:18.399 --> 00:04:23.839 appointing approved men elders with the consent of the church and so all the way 00:04:23.839 --> 00:04:26.959 from the Old Testament all the way through the first century after the 00:04:26.959 --> 00:04:29.800 Apostles die and through the book of Acts and everywhere else we see this 00:04:29.800 --> 00:04:33.680 happening over and over and over and over again and we see very clearly that 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:39.360 this is the model that God's given us now the second takeaway is this it's so 00:04:39.360 --> 00:04:44.079 important to say that this is the model the biblical model because lots of 00:04:44.079 --> 00:04:50.240 people have abandoned the idea of eldership and even of the institutional 00:04:50.240 --> 00:04:55.879 church altogether in recent years especially as of late one associate 00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:59.840 there's a sociologist in the States named Ryan Burge he's also a pastor and 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:04.639 he's done a lot of work trying to gather data on people leaving the church 00:05:04.639 --> 00:05:09.759 leaving the church in droves both in the UK and Europe earlier and then also 00:05:09.759 --> 00:05:14.560 currently the US and one of the things that he says over and over again is one 00:05:14.560 --> 00:05:18.559 of the peace reasons people are leaving churches is because of a high level of 00:05:18.559 --> 00:05:24.479 institutional suspicion that people are incredibly suspicious in the 21st century 00:05:24.479 --> 00:05:28.599 of institutions and that's the church that's the business that's banks that's 00:05:28.600 --> 00:05:31.760 everything people are institutionally suspicious and one of the reasons for 00:05:31.760 --> 00:05:36.600 that is because we're individuals we're individualists and so when you prize the 00:05:36.600 --> 00:05:40.720 individual over the community over the collective as we do and then you take the 00:05:40.720 --> 00:05:46.200 very good reason for leaving which is so much institutional corruption and you 00:05:46.200 --> 00:05:50.200 put those together and people are flocking running away from the from the 00:05:50.200 --> 00:05:55.200 old systems the old flocks and the there's good reason for that because you 00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:59.839 can turn on religious news all the time and see that in the church just like in 00:05:59.839 --> 00:06:04.839 the culture at large what you always see people abdicating leadership through 00:06:04.839 --> 00:06:10.519 great moral error or abusing their power and we have a new phrase to coin for 00:06:10.519 --> 00:06:14.039 this it's called spiritual abuse and it's very real it happens all the time and 00:06:14.039 --> 00:06:18.399 so people often are leaving the church and abandoning the eldership model the 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:23.519 leadership model because they say it corrupts power corrupts now the important 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:28.000 thing to see here is to come today and say it's always been that way this is 00:06:28.000 --> 00:06:31.639 nothing new and at the same time the Bible says nevertheless this is the 00:06:31.639 --> 00:06:36.279 model be biblical and so Peter's giving an incredible revolutionary call here 00:06:36.279 --> 00:06:40.560 that says the way we deal with this problem is by rethinking what an elder 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:47.560 is which is exactly what he's doing in this passage we have text from a pastor 00:06:47.560 --> 00:06:51.919 in the fourth century James name John Chrysostom and he talks about this 00:06:51.920 --> 00:06:56.800 problem in the late 300s he says he had a view of priests and bishops a little 00:06:56.800 --> 00:07:00.360 different from us but this is what he says he says the priests are all 00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:06.040 infected with greed their power hungry they don't care for anybody and I don't 00:07:06.040 --> 00:07:09.800 think the many bishops will ever be saved he says I don't think I'll see too 00:07:09.800 --> 00:07:13.879 many of the bishops in heaven all right so we say this is such a problem in the 00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:18.080 21st century but it's always because we're talking about humans and so whether 00:07:18.080 --> 00:07:21.600 you're in the church or outside of the church we tend to abuse institutional 00:07:21.600 --> 00:07:25.840 power and that's exactly actually what Peter's coming to deal with right here 00:07:25.840 --> 00:07:31.760 Peter says revolutionary call on the one hand don't abdicate the office don't 00:07:31.760 --> 00:07:35.200 don't give up on the model because this is the model God's given and at the 00:07:35.200 --> 00:07:39.480 other hand on the other hand he says to the elders to you elders and you 00:07:39.480 --> 00:07:44.480 candidates listen to the revolutionary call that I'm about to give you now let 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:48.400 me summarize it for you in just one word before we dig into it a little more 00:07:48.399 --> 00:07:55.519 if you look at Paul's list for eldership 1st Timothy 3 Titus 1 he gives you these 00:07:55.519 --> 00:08:00.319 lists of characteristics what do you have to be to qualify how should an 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:04.799 elder live and here's some of the ones he lists in both places he says above 00:08:04.799 --> 00:08:11.039 reproach sober-minded self-controlled respectable hospitable not a drunkard 00:08:11.039 --> 00:08:16.039 not violent gentle not coralsome not addicted to money well thought of by 00:08:16.040 --> 00:08:22.480 non-christians only one category one qualifying qualification that Paul 00:08:22.480 --> 00:08:28.840 goes has to do with talent or gift only one and it's the ability to teach or the 00:08:28.840 --> 00:08:34.279 ability to communicate the Apostles teaching to other people at a 12 to 1 00:08:34.279 --> 00:08:40.680 ratio overwhelmingly all that he talks about is character he says you know you 00:08:40.680 --> 00:08:44.120 need to be able to teach God's word to some degree but the big thing is 00:08:44.120 --> 00:08:48.279 character character character 12 times he says it versus the one time where he 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:53.000 talks about one gift and that's it he says eldership is the model character is 00:08:53.000 --> 00:08:57.759 the aspiration it's what protects the office and keeps it from falling apart 00:08:57.759 --> 00:09:04.279 right so Peter here is going to give us a revolutionary call to eldership and 00:09:04.279 --> 00:09:08.279 let's look at it secondly it comes to us in three ways three ways three 00:09:08.279 --> 00:09:12.560 revolution revolutionary calls if you will and the first one is this he says 00:09:12.559 --> 00:09:20.759 in verse three that elders are to be examples and that's revolutionary why you 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:26.599 see it in verse three he says elders are to be not domineering but instead 00:09:26.599 --> 00:09:31.919 examples and the reason it's revolutionary is because he's addressing 00:09:31.919 --> 00:09:35.839 something very specific very common in the first century leaders often 00:09:35.839 --> 00:09:42.039 dominated and the word domineering or to dominate here has the the sense of a 00:09:42.039 --> 00:09:47.559 master-slave type relationship so leaders often took up power and became 00:09:47.559 --> 00:09:51.879 masterlike in the midst of subordinates the young as he puts it in verse five 00:09:51.879 --> 00:09:55.919 and treated them like servants like like slaves in the midst of all kinds of 00:09:55.919 --> 00:10:01.599 forms of leadership c.s. Lewis commenting on this says of all the bad men 00:10:01.599 --> 00:10:06.959 religious bad men are the worst and that's exactly actually what what Peter's 00:10:06.960 --> 00:10:12.320 saying as well you don't have to leave the Bible to know that because Jesus 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:16.720 Jesus talked about this he talked about the condition of religious leaders who 00:10:16.720 --> 00:10:21.360 dominate who oppress and he said in Matthew 23 verse 4 he said the religious 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:25.960 leaders put heavy burdens on the people's shoulders and they won't do the 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:30.360 stuff themselves so he says one one of the ways is that religious leaders tend 00:10:30.360 --> 00:10:34.639 to dominate by trying to put burdens on people in other words creating new forms 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:40.960 of sin and saying that if you don't obey me if you don't follow me to the letter 00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:46.879 then you're not truly following God so in other words they create new ideas new 00:10:46.879 --> 00:10:51.039 theology different ways of sinning that aren't actually even in the scriptures 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:56.919 and they use it to lord it over people in other words the word for dominate here 00:10:56.919 --> 00:11:01.200 is basically this whenever an elder a leader a pastor a minister a Pharisee 00:11:01.200 --> 00:11:06.680 whoever it might be in any religious community says ultimately follow me 00:11:06.680 --> 00:11:10.440 that's why this is such a revolution you see he says elders aren't called to ever 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:15.879 say follow me they're called to be examples and that's the heart of the 00:11:15.879 --> 00:11:20.720 revolution see domineering or domination is when a leader says do like me 00:11:20.720 --> 00:11:26.560 follow me in other words do what I say or you're not truly following God so a 00:11:26.559 --> 00:11:31.199 dominating elder a dominating leader takes the focus away from Jesus Christ 00:11:31.199 --> 00:11:36.479 ultimately and puts it on him on themselves and Jesus says it that it's 00:11:36.479 --> 00:11:39.759 not only a problem in the church in the religious community but he talks about 00:11:39.759 --> 00:11:45.439 it outside too he says in Matthew 25 Gentile rulers dominate their people he 00:11:45.439 --> 00:11:50.199 says Gentile rulers lord over their people but not so with you and he's 00:11:50.199 --> 00:11:53.439 talking there to the Apostles he's saying do not look at the model of the 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:57.280 Pharisees do not look at the model of the common ruler he says that's not it at 00:11:57.280 --> 00:12:02.040 all in the church both tend to dominate their people but you can't do that you 00:12:02.040 --> 00:12:06.000 have to and then he says you have to be the servant of all which in the the 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.480 Greek word there is slave you have to actually be the one that goes low if you 00:12:10.480 --> 00:12:14.960 want to seek a high office you've got to go and become the lowest in the midst of 00:12:14.960 --> 00:12:21.800 the people and so he's saying there's no no no reward in this life ultimately no 00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:28.599 power no prestige as you can see how he puts it in verse 2 part b he says don't 00:12:28.599 --> 00:12:32.399 do it under compulsion but willingly as God would have you nor for shameful 00:12:32.399 --> 00:12:36.639 gain but eagerly and he's saying there that there's plenty of leaders all around 00:12:36.639 --> 00:12:41.000 you that are leaders because they want shameful gain so he's talking about 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:45.919 actual first century stuff where an elder of a synagogue an elder of a city 00:12:45.919 --> 00:12:51.439 was paid really handsomely and they were in charge of building they owned the 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:54.200 properties ultimately it was given over to them they were in charge of the 00:12:54.200 --> 00:12:58.120 educational system the elders in the synagogue were typically over the 00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:02.480 hospitals some type of system of health care they were in charge of things like 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:08.200 that they had access to the buildings health care education money they gathered 00:13:08.200 --> 00:13:12.080 the temple tax they gathered the synagogue tax and he's saying oh boy that 00:13:12.080 --> 00:13:17.880 is a hotbed of temptation and people pursue eldership in that context for 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:22.279 shameful gain so he's he's addressing something very real and very direct and 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:28.320 he's saying the church can never be like that elder can never pursue it because 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:33.559 they want power prestige or money and I can promise you that no elder in this 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:36.679 church ever pursues eldership for money that's one thing that we can guarantee 00:13:36.679 --> 00:13:41.200 they don't get paid and the ministers don't pursue it for money either you 00:13:41.200 --> 00:13:45.320 can't that's not how it works at all but he's saying but neither power nor 00:13:45.320 --> 00:13:49.680 prestige it can't be I've been here for 25 years therefore I should be a count it 00:13:49.680 --> 00:13:55.600 can't be biological bloodline financial none of it he's saying that that none of 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:58.960 that can be the way and instead he says the eldership is meant for 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:05.440 example now here's how that's such a revolution domination says follow me be 00:14:05.440 --> 00:14:11.720 like me and tries to control whereas example in says I am here to help you 00:14:11.720 --> 00:14:17.639 follow somebody else the only thing I exist for is not to ever say follow me 00:14:17.639 --> 00:14:24.040 but to say follow him follow Jesus Christ and I and I only come as a model as a 00:14:24.040 --> 00:14:28.879 as a person who stands next to somebody the elder I'm saying and says let me help 00:14:28.879 --> 00:14:33.200 you follow Jesus don't listen to me I just want to help you follow Jesus that's 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.200 what he's saying that's the revolution he's saying to all the leaders in the 00:14:36.200 --> 00:14:40.279 first century you're you only exist to lead people to the green grass and 00:14:40.279 --> 00:14:46.000 that's Jesus Christ that's all you exist for ultimately the implication is this 00:14:46.000 --> 00:14:51.360 and we'll move on and this is very important if the eldership is an office 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:56.120 of example trying to help people see what it means to follow Christ then that 00:14:56.120 --> 00:15:00.839 means that the ministry is actually just the same for everybody you see if an 00:15:00.839 --> 00:15:03.519 elder is nothing but an example if leadership is nothing but 00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:07.480 example following Jesus then that means we're all just called to the same thing 00:15:07.480 --> 00:15:12.399 following Jesus and the elder exists to do nothing else but help people 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:15.960 ultimately do that in the end the revolution is that they're not there 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:20.759 for power or prestige or money none of that it's it's simply the service of 00:15:20.759 --> 00:15:27.200 saying I'll get into the mess with you and walk beside you as you try to follow 00:15:27.200 --> 00:15:31.440 Christ we'll just do it together that's the revolution here now the second 00:15:31.440 --> 00:15:37.279 revolutionary call of three is not only that the elder is called to be an example 00:15:37.279 --> 00:15:42.839 but then he tells us more specifically what that looks like and he says it in 00:15:42.839 --> 00:15:48.199 verse 2 that they're meant to be shepherds so the way they're to example is 00:15:48.199 --> 00:15:52.559 very specifically to be shepherds and that's a of course a metaphor the 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:57.600 metaphor that Peter chooses here he says shepherd the flock of God exercising 00:15:57.600 --> 00:16:04.879 oversight now Scotland is one of the few places where this metaphor works if you 00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:09.120 preach on shepherd the image of the shepherd in most places throughout the 00:16:09.120 --> 00:16:14.879 entire world in 2023 people can't actually get a good picture of what's 00:16:14.879 --> 00:16:19.159 being said but here in Scotland of course we can and many of you know 00:16:19.159 --> 00:16:24.759 shepherding and sheep way better than I do but the reason is because you can 00:16:24.759 --> 00:16:29.840 drive through the Highlands and you know you can see a flock of sheep that have 00:16:29.840 --> 00:16:34.920 come out into the road single track road and you desperately need them to move 00:16:34.920 --> 00:16:39.960 and half the time what do they do they just sit there and it's because you 00:16:39.960 --> 00:16:43.120 realize it I'm not a shepherd but I realized very quickly driving through 00:16:43.120 --> 00:16:47.280 the Highlands sheep or dumb that's the principal message actually sheep or 00:16:47.280 --> 00:16:52.200 dumb and you know throughout the Old Testament and New Testament over and 00:16:52.200 --> 00:16:57.040 over and over again the Bible keeps using the image that God is the shepherd 00:16:57.039 --> 00:17:02.199 and we're the sheep and this is to put it a little crudely I admit but it's 00:17:02.199 --> 00:17:07.359 really to try to get across the emphasis that we are spiritually dumb a better 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:11.399 way to say it we're helpless and you know if you're around sheep at all which 00:17:11.399 --> 00:17:14.399 haven't been that much but a little bit you realize sheep are incredibly 00:17:14.399 --> 00:17:18.759 helpless they're they're help they're they're so dependent on the shepherd and 00:17:18.759 --> 00:17:23.319 so here Peter comes and says well that's actually the image is that God has 00:17:23.319 --> 00:17:27.919 given shepherds now what he's not saying is that the elders among you are the 00:17:27.919 --> 00:17:31.399 smart spiritual people and you're the dumb spiritual people not at all 00:17:31.399 --> 00:17:37.480 actually he's saying here the elders are the first sheep so in verse 4 he says 00:17:37.480 --> 00:17:41.919 they they all understand that they have a chief shepherd that's what he says in 00:17:41.919 --> 00:17:47.079 verse 4 meaning every single elder qualifies first by being best above all 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:52.599 and knowing how much of a sheep they really are being willing to sing to him 00:17:52.599 --> 00:17:56.879 come thou fount of every blessing and you get to the line prone to wander Lord I 00:17:56.879 --> 00:18:01.719 feel it meaning written about sheep prone to wander away sheep wander and 00:18:01.719 --> 00:18:06.399 that's what the elder sings and says first they know I'm I'm a sheep of the 00:18:06.399 --> 00:18:10.679 cheap chief shepherd and in that I'm able to be what many have called an 00:18:10.679 --> 00:18:15.559 under shepherd that's the image we're being given here think about who's 00:18:15.559 --> 00:18:23.159 writing this Peter knows that he's not smear spiritually smart he Peter abandoned 00:18:23.159 --> 00:18:27.519 Jesus Christ Peter committed treason against Jesus Christ he rejected Jesus 00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:30.599 he told Jesus that he wouldn't let the plan go forward and it's Peter writing 00:18:30.599 --> 00:18:35.119 this he knows what he's really like and yet he's a shepherd of the sheep an 00:18:35.119 --> 00:18:40.599 under shepherd now Harold sink bile a writer who wrote a book called the the 00:18:40.599 --> 00:18:44.799 care of souls about eldership and pastoring he is really helpful because 00:18:44.799 --> 00:18:49.960 he says that maybe an even more helpful metaphor than shepherd and under 00:18:49.960 --> 00:18:54.519 shepherds chief shepherd Jesus under shepherd is the shepherd Jesus and the 00:18:54.519 --> 00:19:01.119 sheep dog so elders are like sheep dogs and if you've ever seen a sheep dog 00:19:01.119 --> 00:19:07.440 operate you know that they do they do two things they sink by alright he says 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:12.079 they give their both ears to the master so whenever they're running around 00:19:12.079 --> 00:19:16.399 hurting and corralling the sheep both ears are attuned to the master but their 00:19:16.399 --> 00:19:20.919 eyes are on the sheep and that's the image of the elder that their ears are 00:19:20.919 --> 00:19:25.679 attuned to the master servants and their eyes are on the sheep trying to help the 00:19:25.679 --> 00:19:30.559 sheep and one writer Evelyn Underhill she wrote a book called the teacher's 00:19:30.559 --> 00:19:35.199 vocation where she observed sheep dogs in action and this is what she says about 00:19:35.199 --> 00:19:40.919 it the dog was a docile and faithful agent of another's mind he used his 00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:45.600 intelligence but he always did it in obedience to the master's will the 00:19:45.600 --> 00:19:50.039 little mountain sheep he had to deal with were exceedingly tiresome experts and 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:53.880 going the wrong way even so the dog went steadily on with it the dog's 00:19:53.880 --> 00:19:57.480 relation to the shepherd was the center of his life and because of that he 00:19:57.480 --> 00:20:02.519 enjoyed doing his job for the sheep he was working for something not his of 00:20:02.519 --> 00:20:07.759 his own not not his own the whole of which he could understand or grasp but 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:12.079 that was exactly the source of his delight so she's saying the dog works 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:16.279 for the master tire tirelessly not even understanding what was happening 00:20:16.279 --> 00:20:20.440 couldn't even quite what are we actually doing with these sheep he didn't even 00:20:20.440 --> 00:20:24.480 quite understand the big picture not at all and yet that was exactly his joy 00:20:24.480 --> 00:20:29.000 the dog's joy just to shepherd the sheep as the will of the master not knowing 00:20:29.000 --> 00:20:31.759 the big picture not knowing how it would go not knowing what would happen in 00:20:31.759 --> 00:20:37.039 other words he's saying the elder's job the minister's job is to tire tirelessly 00:20:37.039 --> 00:20:41.240 care for the sheep and not really know the big picture not really know what's 00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:45.519 happening it really is one of the sheep himself and that gives us such an 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:50.759 helpful a helpful image because it tells you the two classical things people 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:55.599 have said century after century about what an elder does the sheepdog is a 00:20:55.599 --> 00:20:59.359 great image because the elder first we've always said this in Christian 00:20:59.359 --> 00:21:05.039 history first the elder's job is to guard and protect the image of the sheepdog 00:21:05.039 --> 00:21:09.480 or the shepherd with the staff to guard and protect you can scan your eyes down 00:21:09.480 --> 00:21:15.599 just quickly at verse 8 and Peter just a few verses later says be sober minded 00:21:15.599 --> 00:21:20.319 be watchful he's talking to the elders be watchful because your adversary the 00:21:20.319 --> 00:21:25.759 devil prowls around like a roaring lion so he extends this image of shepherd and 00:21:25.759 --> 00:21:31.319 says Satan is prowling around God's people like a roaring lion and you're he 00:21:31.319 --> 00:21:35.759 says the first thing is you are to guard and protect you're a sheepdog and when 00:21:35.759 --> 00:21:40.839 the lion the bear the wolf whatever metaphor comes along your job is to 00:21:40.839 --> 00:21:44.919 actually protect the people and so Christian theologians have talked about 00:21:44.919 --> 00:21:49.159 it in a couple ways they've said that the job of the elder is first to guard or 00:21:49.159 --> 00:21:55.439 protect the deposit of the apostles which is the gospel itself and so the 00:21:55.439 --> 00:21:59.000 first way that they beat away the lion that the tempter is they protect the 00:21:59.000 --> 00:22:03.480 gospel and so they're first to be actually theologians they're to care 00:22:03.480 --> 00:22:07.440 about true teaching and false teaching they're to protect the people because 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:11.319 they protect the gospel but then secondly the other aspect of this is that 00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:16.160 they then use that gospel to protect the hearts of the people the church whenever 00:22:16.160 --> 00:22:20.359 they're being tempted and so for every single one of us if you're a Christian 00:22:20.359 --> 00:22:26.720 today of the lion the lion the world the flesh and the devil comes into your life 00:22:26.720 --> 00:22:36.360 at different times and says God is not what you thought he's not good leave the 00:22:36.360 --> 00:22:39.839 faith you know if you were to leave the faith you could be with any person you 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.799 wanted to be with if you were to leave the faith you know science and faith 00:22:43.799 --> 00:22:47.360 just don't ultimately they're not compatible in the end the lion the wolf 00:22:47.360 --> 00:22:50.759 the bear comes into your life into your heart through all manner of temptation 00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:55.200 and tries to get you to walk away over and over and over and over again and 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:00.360 God says I'm sending out the sheep dogs to try to guard and protect you with 00:23:00.360 --> 00:23:03.920 what they're guarding which is the gospel itself the gospel message itself now 00:23:03.920 --> 00:23:08.519 that's the negative side then there's a positive side and we'll move on and the 00:23:08.519 --> 00:23:17.160 positive side the positive side is this that Psalm 23 the Lord is my shepherd he 00:23:17.160 --> 00:23:22.440 takes me out of the valley of death and leads me to still waters by green grass 00:23:22.440 --> 00:23:26.320 beautiful pastures you see the positive side the pot is the positive side of the 00:23:26.320 --> 00:23:31.160 under shepherd is to then say I protect you and then I take you to the green 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:37.440 grass and the green grass is just Jesus to say don't follow me I'm just trying 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:40.360 to help you find the green grass again every time you're tempted to say I'm 00:23:40.360 --> 00:23:43.080 not sure science and faith are compatible I'm not sure that God is 00:23:43.080 --> 00:23:46.400 actually good I'm not sure I can get through this how could evil exist and 00:23:46.400 --> 00:23:50.240 God be good at the same time the under shepherd the sheep dog says let me show 00:23:50.240 --> 00:23:54.240 you the green grass again let me take you back to the truth over and over and 00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:59.960 over again now we've got to move on to the last thing but let me close the 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:04.880 second revolutionary call by saying this remember the elder is an example 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:11.200 meaning that this is actually just everybody's job he's he's just a leader 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:15.519 among equals all called to the same exact thing all of us are called to come 00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:19.960 alongside of sheep dogs to each other to one another and mutual love and say let 00:24:19.960 --> 00:24:24.039 me take you back to the green grass to come alongside a friend a Christian 00:24:24.039 --> 00:24:28.120 friend in the congregation and say I see that you're you're you're walking away 00:24:28.120 --> 00:24:31.720 you're you're chasing after these things this is not gonna fulfill you this is 00:24:31.720 --> 00:24:35.600 not it you think it's it but this is not it let me take you back to the green 00:24:35.600 --> 00:24:39.400 grass that's the elder's job as a leader among equals but it's everybody's 00:24:39.400 --> 00:24:44.279 ministry elders called the same exact thing that everybody else is but as as 00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:48.519 a leader as a model in the midst of that ministry and that means that an elder 00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:56.039 like everybody else is a sinner a helpless sheep in desperate need of 00:24:56.039 --> 00:25:00.160 spiritual power so that they don't walk away from the green grass themselves and 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:04.559 that that leaves us with a question and the biggest question of the passage 00:25:04.559 --> 00:25:08.680 might be this where do you find the spiritual power to be an elder elders 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:13.039 well the answer is the exact same thing where where do you find the power to 00:25:13.039 --> 00:25:20.440 even be a sheep at all and you remember Psalm 23 the great Psalm the Lord is my 00:25:20.440 --> 00:25:25.680 shepherd that God is the good shepherd of the sheep and then you come to the 00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:32.359 Gospels and Jesus and John chapter 10 stands up in the midst of the Apostles and 00:25:32.359 --> 00:25:40.119 says I am the good shepherd I am the God of Psalm 23 and we we learned 00:25:40.119 --> 00:25:43.719 immediately that the good shepherd the shepherd of the sheep of the Old Testament 00:25:43.719 --> 00:25:48.039 came into history and took on flesh and he's standing right there the Lord has 00:25:48.039 --> 00:25:56.039 become the good shepherd in this human Jesus Christ and there were he's so close 00:25:56.039 --> 00:25:59.799 but that that not even that is the end of the story of spiritual power where 00:25:59.799 --> 00:26:04.799 does it really come from and it's this that in the beginning of the gospel when 00:26:04.799 --> 00:26:09.279 Jesus first showed up in John chapter 1 John the Baptist opened his mouth the 00:26:09.279 --> 00:26:15.440 first time he saw Jesus the good shepherd and said what behold the lamb of 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:21.359 God who takes away the sins of the world you see the power to be an elder is the 00:26:21.359 --> 00:26:27.399 same as the power to be a Christian and it's to see that the good shepherd came 00:26:27.399 --> 00:26:31.559 into history but he didn't stay the shepherd he became the lamb he became 00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:37.119 the sheep the sheep are helpless the sheep are spiritually dumb Jesus Christ 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:42.279 came to become the lamb in other words you see what he's saying he's saying 00:26:42.279 --> 00:26:47.439 that he took on everything that we are he took on what's wrong with us the 00:26:47.439 --> 00:26:51.279 spiritual power an elder needs to be a good elder is the same a Christian needs 00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:55.639 to be a Christian and that's to see that Jesus Christ was the lamb for you that 00:26:55.639 --> 00:26:59.079 went to the slaughter that's how Isaiah puts it in it's quite crude but it's 00:26:59.079 --> 00:27:05.239 true that's the heart of spiritual power it's nothing but saying oh boy in his 00:27:05.240 --> 00:27:11.880 when Jesus was slaughtered as the as the lamb of God there's my power grace was 00:27:11.880 --> 00:27:16.640 poured upon me that's the green grass it's him it's what he did for me it's 00:27:16.640 --> 00:27:20.559 what he came to do for me and that's the real secret to all of this that's the 00:27:20.559 --> 00:27:25.759 revolutionary call that Jesus changed leadership forever that it became all 00:27:25.759 --> 00:27:30.319 about the cross it became all about him and that means that elders aren't 00:27:30.319 --> 00:27:36.519 personless not even close instead what we might say as elders are meant to be 00:27:36.519 --> 00:27:41.159 true Christians and what's a true Christian a true Christian as a person 00:27:41.159 --> 00:27:48.200 who knows how desperately they need the grace of the lamb of God now let me 00:27:48.200 --> 00:27:53.200 close finally with the third revolutionary call and very briefly and in 00:27:53.200 --> 00:27:58.960 light of all that this is how Peter wraps it up he says in verse 5 likewise you 00:27:58.960 --> 00:28:04.200 who are younger which is not just young and age but you who are not an elder so 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:08.759 anybody that's not a leader be subject to the elders and then he says this 00:28:08.759 --> 00:28:16.360 clothe yourself with humility all of you toward one another now Peter ends it in 00:28:16.360 --> 00:28:21.039 the modern world in the 20 in 2023 you might not catch it but in the first 00:28:21.039 --> 00:28:26.440 century he ends it with something that's truly revolutionary he turns to the 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:31.519 people that are under the leadership of the elders and says yes you're subject to 00:28:31.519 --> 00:28:38.519 the elders authority and he says but to all of you elders and people be subject 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:44.160 to one another in humility the world had never seen anything like that before 00:28:44.160 --> 00:28:48.640 when Peter writes writes this right here remember that in the first century 00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:53.640 even in the midst of Judaism in the midst of the synagogues and the Jewish 00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:59.960 leadership of the towns elders had had nearly absolute right over the people 00:28:59.960 --> 00:29:04.759 they own the buildings they ran the educational system they were in charge of 00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:09.480 the health care they were paid very well they gathered the temple tax all of 00:29:09.480 --> 00:29:15.200 this and Peter's coming and saying not anymore not after Jesus it's got to 00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:18.360 change and he says here's the revolution actually all of you are just in 00:29:18.359 --> 00:29:23.759 mutual subjection to one another that you're just you're commonly and equally 00:29:23.759 --> 00:29:28.000 humble before one another that that's the revolution now let me give you two 00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:35.279 ways that this works out and we'll finish the first is in 1st Timothy 5 so 00:29:35.279 --> 00:29:41.240 Paul says the same thing in 1st Timothy 5 and there he says that he says this 00:29:41.240 --> 00:29:47.199 that the role of elder sometimes is to come alongside somebody and tell them 00:29:47.200 --> 00:29:50.640 that they're really concerned for them that this is the path of discipleship 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:55.080 and elders sometimes does in the church need to come to church members and say 00:29:55.080 --> 00:29:59.440 I'm worried about where you're going I'm worried about something you're 00:29:59.440 --> 00:30:03.120 believing I'm worried about a pattern of your life a direction that you've been 00:30:03.120 --> 00:30:07.600 heading I'm worried that you may be walking away from Jesus and that's not 00:30:07.600 --> 00:30:11.600 spiritual abuse not at all not it when it's done in love that's that's actually 00:30:11.600 --> 00:30:16.120 the call the call not only of the elder but of all of us to each other sometimes 00:30:16.119 --> 00:30:23.199 that happens but 1st Timothy 5 verse 17 Paul does something he says and the 00:30:23.199 --> 00:30:28.759 elders are to be subject to the people and therefore if anybody has a complaint 00:30:28.759 --> 00:30:34.679 has a concern all they have to do is gather one other person and come and 00:30:34.679 --> 00:30:40.439 speak and say to the elder I'm worried about where you're going I'm worried 00:30:40.439 --> 00:30:43.159 about you walking away from Jesus I'm worried about the path of life you've 00:30:43.160 --> 00:30:47.080 been living I'm worried about something you've been teaching and that had never 00:30:47.080 --> 00:30:52.120 happened before you see he's saying it actually now goes both directions that 00:30:52.120 --> 00:30:56.640 elders are chosen to shepherd and model and lead people back to the green grass 00:30:56.640 --> 00:31:00.320 but sometimes the people are also called to lead the elder back to the green 00:31:00.320 --> 00:31:04.200 grass and that it works in both directions it's mutual it's mutual 00:31:04.200 --> 00:31:10.320 humility he says now the second thing and here's the important bit that that 00:31:10.319 --> 00:31:14.559 means that he's calling on the church to be a space a culture of mutual love in 00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:19.919 every direction he says so be humble all of you before one another elders 00:31:19.919 --> 00:31:25.639 deacons women pastoral women's pastoral team members regular attenders 00:31:25.639 --> 00:31:30.480 visitors he says it's comprehensive everybody just be mutually humble 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:34.359 subjecting yourself to each other in every single direction whatever the 00:31:34.359 --> 00:31:38.919 relationship might go however it might be it doesn't matter in every direction 00:31:38.920 --> 00:31:45.440 and that means he's saying never allow for a culture of hyper criticism never 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:50.920 allow for a culture of abuse spiritual abuse none of that in every direction 00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:58.160 instead the paradigm is this character humility truth and love so keep short 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:01.880 accounts understand that there's always gonna be we're always gonna struggle with 00:32:01.880 --> 00:32:05.320 one another to some degree but keep a short account because the paradigm is 00:32:05.319 --> 00:32:11.200 humility character love it's a culture ultimately of trust in every single 00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:16.200 direction remembering remembering that we all we all actually share just share 00:32:16.200 --> 00:32:21.519 the same ministry and the ministry is nothing but this helping one another to 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:25.960 get to the end of our days believing in Jesus Christ that's the mutual ministry 00:32:25.960 --> 00:32:31.879 and it's as simple as that I'll close with this one pastor was talking about 00:32:31.880 --> 00:32:36.840 this mutual humility idea that we see in Peter and he says what does this look 00:32:36.840 --> 00:32:41.440 like in other words he asked the question out where where should you look 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:46.240 for an elder in your church according to first Peter 5 verse 5 and this is what 00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:50.880 he says he says on the one hand they're guarding the deposit of the faith you 00:32:50.880 --> 00:32:54.120 know on the one hand they're over here they're reading John Calvin they're 00:32:54.120 --> 00:32:58.440 reading people named Bob Inc. you know they're they're they're reading theology 00:32:58.440 --> 00:33:01.240 they're they're loving the Bible they're getting into the word they're trying to 00:33:01.240 --> 00:33:05.440 understand more and more of what's been given to us through the apostles all the 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:11.880 time that's the one hand on the other hand they're taking out the trash they're 00:33:11.880 --> 00:33:17.160 in the crash they're in kids church they're cleaning up after the service 00:33:17.160 --> 00:33:20.759 they're praying with the sick they're sitting at the hospital bed they're 00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:25.359 holding the hand of the dying they're playing with the children it's both 00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:30.440 and that's mutual humility that in every direction love in every direction 00:33:30.440 --> 00:33:37.880 humility and so the universal call is simply this our church St. Columbus will 00:33:37.880 --> 00:33:42.240 always will always by the spirit grow and grow and grow in health spiritual 00:33:42.240 --> 00:33:48.519 health in so far as in every single direction no matter what role anybody 00:33:48.519 --> 00:33:54.799 plays in the church we are putting on the clothing that Peter says here the 00:33:54.799 --> 00:34:00.960 clothing of humility towards one another the clothing that the great shepherd of 00:34:00.960 --> 00:34:06.960 the sheep put on when he became the lamb that that's the model for healthy 00:34:06.960 --> 00:34:12.840 church let's pray together father we ask Lord that you would gift us all with 00:34:12.840 --> 00:34:20.880 humility and with love and with trust and we ask for that because Lord we want 00:34:20.880 --> 00:34:26.920 we long to be guided by the Holy Spirit in the way that we shepherd one another 00:34:26.920 --> 00:34:32.360 towards the finish line so Lord you say that the reward is not in this life 00:34:32.360 --> 00:34:37.960 verse 4 that but it's an unfading crown of glory that is yet to come and so help 00:34:37.960 --> 00:34:42.880 us today especially as leaders for me for all of us who are leaders Lord I pray 00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:46.079 for them and lift them before you and ask this morning that they would be 00:34:46.079 --> 00:34:53.400 renewed in the call the call to not love anything but helping people find the 00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:59.519 green grass Jesus that's you we know that's you and so we pray Lord that you 00:34:59.519 --> 00:35:03.599 would give us grace help us to forgive one another as we of course fall short of 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:09.039 this and give us great wisdom as we seek new elders in this coming season and we 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:16.840 pray for this in Christ's name Amen