at Cheyenne Mountain Presbyterian Church, and it's my joy to bring God's word to you today.
Special welcome if you're new or visiting with us. We're glad that you're here, and we're glad
that you're here not because we're filling seats, but because we're following Jesus together as one
community, and as we follow Jesus together, we become convinced that there's no one so good
that they don't need God's grace, and no one so bad that they can't have it,
which means that God has something to say to us in his word. That's why we come back week after week
to study God's word to us, which is contained in the Bible. We've been studying the book of
1 Peter together. We're almost finished, and as I've been telling you, 1 Peter is a letter.
It's a letter written by a man named Peter, and he writes it to churches in the first century
A.D. who are struggling. These churches are in the Roman Empire in Asia Minor, what's now modern-day
western Turkey, and they're struggling because they're feeling out of place in the world as
Christians, and they're facing opposition from the world as Christians. Peter writes to instruct them
and to encourage them. He writes to encourage them that Jesus is worth it. He's worth living and loving
for, and he's worth suffering and dying for, and he also writes to instruct them. He instructs them
how they should live in the world as Christians and also how to respond when they face opposition
for being Christians. We've been in this long section on suffering, and we exited that a couple weeks ago
just for a little bit to talk about the community, how we interact together, and then last week we went
back to suffering, and this week we're back in the community, how we function together as a church.
And I mentioned a couple weeks ago that many people want thick and rich community.
Few people are willing to do the work to get it. Many people want thick and rich community. Few people are
willing to do what it takes. A couple weeks ago we looked at what it takes in a general level, how it
is that we love one another as a church, and this week we're going to look at something more specific.
How do we handle power as a church? How do we have a thick and rich community when it comes to
some people who have more influence and some people who have less? Some people that God has given to be
leaders in a specific situation and others that God has given to be followers. How can we be a church
that survives suffering? Well, a church that survives suffering is one that's going to know how to handle
power. There's a famous illustration that's used to talk about marriage. People will say that the sexual
relationship in marriage is kind of like fire. You can either keep it in the hearth, in the fireplace,
and it could be something that warms the entire home, or it can be something that burns everything
down when it's not kept within God's constraints. We could say the same thing about power in the church.
Leaders in the church can use their power to build it up and to make it a place of incredible warmth,
power is something that can be used in either way. And of course, the same can be said. We'll see this
in this passage as followers as well. They can be people who fan that fire into flame,
or they can snuff it out. And so God's going to speak to both of those things in his word this
morning as we look at 1 Peter. We're in chapter 5, and we're starting at verse 1. You can turn in your
worship guide. You'll find it near the end. You can also turn in your Bible or turn on your phone,
but regardless of your method, I invite you to read with me. As we come to this passage, remember that
this is God's word. And God tells us that while the grass withers and the flower fades, his word
will stand forever. That's why we read it now, starting at verse 1.
Verse 3.
I invite you to pray with me as we come to this portion of God's word.
Lord, our Father in heaven, we praise you and we thank you for your word that brings life.
You use your word to bring the world into existence at the very beginning.
You use your word to bring life to those who are dead in their sin.
And you use your word to bring life to those who belong to you, who need to know your love
and also the way to go.
And so we ask that you would send your spirit now and you would use your word in that way,
that you would give us life as individuals and as a community because you've spoken to us
by your word, through your word and by your spirit.
We ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.
I mentioned last week the repetition that occurs in this letter over and over, and we're going to see it once again at the very beginning.
Peter tells us what he's been telling us over and over.
There's suffering and then there's glory.
And that's what we see in verse 1.
We saw it last week as well.
He tells that he's exhorting the elders.
And when he says elders here, he's not exhorting everyone over a certain age,
but he's exhorting those who are leaders in the church.
We learn about this from other passages like 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1.
And he exhorts them as a fellow elder.
So he's saying, I know the struggles that you have.
I'm with you in this.
That means I'm a witness of the sufferings of Christ.
So we have the same theme of suffering that we've seen before, as well as a partaker in the glory that's going to be revealed.
He is telling them the same thing he's been telling them over and over.
They're suffering, but it's going to end in glory.
Jesus suffered.
You suffer.
Jesus' story ended in glory.
Your story will end in glory.
And there's a special way in which that's true for leaders of the church.
And so this theme continues in every area.
You are suffering now because you have taken a position in the church that brings you a special level of heat.
And as we see in verse 1, and we'll see also later in verse 4, you're also going to receive God's glory.
And so this particular category of suffering is like every other category of suffering that happens when it's for the name of Jesus Christ,
that it is suffering for Jesus and glory with Jesus.
And then he gives us his commands.
There's going to be three commands, main commands in this passage.
First, shepherd the flock.
Second, be subject.
Be subject to the elders.
So there's a command for leaders.
Shepherd the flock, a commander for followers.
Clothe yourselves.
Excuse me.
Be subject to the elders.
And then there's a third command for everyone.
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility.
And so we're simply just going to go through and we're going to take a look at all of those commands.
First, shepherd the flock.
Peter summarizes his command for all leaders in that way that they should be like shepherds.
They should be like shepherds who protect their sheep.
Shepherds don't just protect, but they're also leading.
They're feeding.
They're doing all sorts of things to make sure that the flock is cared for.
This is something that's going to take an enormous amount of work on their behalf.
And it's also going to take sacrifice.
There's going to be times maybe they're going to have to fight off predators.
But this is the metaphor that Jesus used in his teaching.
It's also the metaphor that Peter is going to continue to use in his as well,
going over this main category of what it is that leaders do.
And then he breaks it into a variety of things that shepherding the flock involves.
First, those who are leaders in the church, and specifically he's talking to elders, right?
There's all kinds of people who exercise leadership in the church.
Some are elders.
Some are not.
But this is to the elders who are ultimately responsible to answer to God.
And he gives them several categories.
First is the exercise oversight.
It should not be under compulsion, but willingly.
Quite simply, if you're going to be a leader in the church,
you should want to be a leader in the church.
This is a battlefield.
We need people who actually want to be in the fight.
Shortly following the dust-up that the United States recently had with Iran, with Soleimani,
there was a Google search that skyrocketed.
And it was the search of, how does the draft work?
And is there going to be a draft in this situation?
Of course, many of us registered for selective service,
knowing that we could be drafted at one point.
And there was all this fear, right?
Maybe we're going to go to war, and we're going to have people who don't want to be at war who are fighting.
Peter is telling them this.
There is no draft in God's church.
There is no draft for elders.
No one should be forced against their will to take on the role of leadership.
If you become an elder at a leader in the church, it should be because you want to.
It shouldn't be because someone else tells you they need you.
It shouldn't be because someone else tells you you would be good at it,
although that's important, that's necessary.
I'm going to say it.
It shouldn't be because your wife wants you to be an elder.
You should be an elder, not under compulsion, but willingly.
It's a battlefield in the church, church leadership.
Peter wants only those who are ready and willing to head into the battle.
Next, verse 4.
Not for shameful gain, but eagerly.
There is a type of leadership that serves self rather than others.
And there's a type of leadership that's interested in what you can gain from your position of leadership
rather than what you can give.
And that kind of leader shows up in the church just like everywhere else.
In every human organization, there are people who are interested in leadership,
and whether they realize it or not,
they're interested in what they can get from being a leader rather than what they can give.
Now, Peter perhaps is talking primarily here of financial gain when he talks about shameful gain.
Certainly there's people who would be interested in that,
but there's all kinds of ways that someone can gain in leadership in a way that actually hurts the community.
In his autobiography, About Face, the famous Army Colonel David Hackworth,
he became famous, by the way, because he came out publicly against the Vietnam War
while he was still serving as a colonel,
tells the story of his time in the Army
and also tells about his growing frustrations with the Vietnam War.
And one of his frustrations occurred when he showed up at Fort Lewis,
which is in Tacoma, Washington,
and he saw these soldiers being trained to go to the battlefields of Vietnam.
Near the end of their training,
there would come a time where they'd go to this constructed patrol camp.
This patrol base would be simulated,
so they'd have these field training exercises
to simulate what it would be like to be in Vietnam.
And they'd have this patrol base that was set up,
except it was in the snow
because it's in Tacoma, Washington.
And so you have soldiers who are training
for the tropical and temperate temperatures,
the topic and temperate climate of Vietnam,
training in the snow of Tacoma, Washington.
So what would happen is they'd show up for this training,
and those who were running, it would realize,
hey, it's actually too cold for us to do this right now.
And so Hackworth would see that they would set up these bonfires,
and they'd just smoke cigarettes around the fire
instead of preparing for the battle that was ahead of them.
Of course, the military had bases in other places
that were more like the climate in Vietnam.
They had bases in the Philippines, in Hawaii,
but those weren't the ones that were used.
And so he began to dig in.
He was enraged, by the way,
that this is what the military was doing.
This is part of his growing frustration with the war in Vietnam.
He had to ask the question,
why is it that we're training people
in a way that's going to get them killed?
We are sending people who are unprepared to the battlefield.
What he found out was this.
It was big business to run an army base in Tacoma, Washington.
And the politicians there were unwilling to take the hit
that would happen to the economy
if the base shut down while it was snowing.
And so, in exchange for money that needed to go to the military,
these politicians would lay out as one of their stipulations
that this base had to remain open.
And they put American lives at danger in the process
because these politicians were concerned,
not with serving eagerly, but verse four,
they were concerned with shameful gain.
They were exchanging the preparedness of American soldiers
and their lives for what they could get with power and money.
God's leaders also put his people in incredible danger
when they serve themselves rather than others.
When they are interested in shameful gain
rather than building up God's people.
This happens in a variety of ways.
It can happen for pastors.
Pastors perhaps are afraid that they might lose congregants,
and congregants means losing money,
and maybe that will affect their salary.
And so, it's easy to not teach on certain portions of the Bible.
It's easy to avoid the kind of things
that might upset certain people in the church.
Of course, they look great, right?
We're preaching the gospel.
We're preaching through this book.
It happens to be this hard passage.
We're going to bury it in a larger section
so we don't have to discuss it.
Perhaps it was tempting for these elders as well.
It can happen in other ways.
Not just fear around what we teach,
but fear around certain people.
Maybe we're going to avoid having a hard conversation
because doing that's going to affect us personally.
And we'd rather live with comfort than do what's right.
It can happen in other ways.
Now, perhaps, you know,
there are some people who receive compensation from the church, right?
And there's a temptation for them to do things for shameful gain.
There's also people who don't receive compensation from the church.
And there's also a temptation for shameful gain.
There are people who desire church leadership
so that they can finally have their way.
There are people who long for church leadership
so that they can finally get rid of that song that they don't like.
They can stop that ministry that they don't think is effective.
They can finally enact their vision for the church in the world.
They can finally do what is best for their group within the church.
Right?
We need so-and-so to be an elder.
Finally, that will get changed.
And our voice, right?
Our voice, our tribe within the church will finally be heard.
Philippians chapter 2.
We're questioned people, not answered people.
Jesus looked not to his interests, but to the interests of others.
Those are the leaders that we need in the church.
Not leaders who are trying to make a church that's perfect for them,
a church that conforms to all of their preferences,
but leaders who are seeking what's good for everyone else,
seeking what's good for the body.
It is always tempting for leaders to look for ways to make things better for themselves
and worse for others.
It's tempting for leaders to look at ways that will make things meet their preferences
rather than what will serve the body.
And so it's a temptation.
It's a temptation in leadership in the world,
and it's a temptation in leadership in the church.
Peter is telling them,
this is not how it should be among you.
I've told some of you before,
if you were here,
when we went through Philippians,
I told you about an amazing church.
At this church,
everything is done right.
The church has a name, by the way.
It's called Matthew Presbyterian Church.
It conforms to all my preferences.
We only sing songs that I like.
We only do the kind of things that I want to do.
We set the service time based on kind of my morning schedule and routine.
It's also a very terrible and frightening church.
It's a terrible and frightening church because no one ever challenges me.
No one else gets to have any input.
No one gets to raise important questions.
No one gets to have any input questions.
When leaders come to the church,
they are not there to make their perfect dream church.
This is not,
Cheyenne Mountain is not the dream perfect church for any of us.
All of us have a list of things that we would change
about this church, right?
I have things I would change.
You have things you would change.
But we're not here for personal preference church.
We are not here for shameful gain.
And more than anyone else,
leaders need to be aware of that
because more than anyone else,
leaders have the ability and the power
to use their influence in that way.
Peter warns against that.
That's not the kind of leadership
that's going to get us through suffering.
That's not going to be the community
that's going to survive when the storm comes.
By the way, you might be wondering,
okay, there are six, seven elders at Cheyenne Mountain,
depending on how you do the math.
What does this have to do with me?
First, this is what you should expect
and look for in leaders.
This is the kind of person you should nominate
when we have officer nominations.
When you move, when you PCS,
what kind of church are you going to look for?
Look for a church in which you believe
they have these types of elders.
This is what you should look for
in leaders in general, right?
If you're the leader of a family,
if you're a father,
you could take this first
and you could apply it to your little flock.
If you're a single woman
and you're looking for a man,
if you want a little flock at some point,
this is the kind of man you should be looking for.
You want a first Peter five kind of shepherd.
Peter goes on.
It's not just a shameful gain.
By the way,
I jumped ahead of myself here.
Hackworth saw this situation at Fort Lewis
and decided he was going to do everything
in his power to fix it.
He couldn't fix the fort it was held at.
There were a lot of things he couldn't fix,
but everything that he could, he did.
He started to hold leaders
who were under his command accountable.
He began showing up to classes incognito,
so he would dress as if he was a private,
so no one would know he was there auditing.
At one point, he blew his cover
and took over the class
so that he could teach what needed to be taught.
He sacrificed himself
for the sake of these people,
knowing that what mattered
was their safety and their lives,
much, much more than his comfort
and his convenience.
Verse three,
not just from,
are we avoiding shameful gain,
but we're avoiding domineering
those in your charge,
being examples to the flock.
Elders lead by example.
They don't lead by explosions of anger
or threats
or power moves.
That's not how God's shepherds operate.
Instead, they're operating
as examples to the flock
that people can look at them
and see this is what a godly
and humble leader looks like.
First Timothy three,
when it lays out the qualifications
for elders,
says this should be someone
who's gentle.
Also says it should be someone
who's not contentious.
If you are looking for someone
to be a leader in the church,
you are not looking for the person
who demonstrates to everyone
that they're able to win every debate.
You're looking for someone
who is willing to serve.
They don't impose their will on others,
right, through personality or power.
Church leaders can sometimes
become isolated
and become heavy-handed
without even realizing it.
It's important instead
for God's leaders
not to be domineering,
but being examples to the flock.
And what do you get?
It's tempting for leaders, right,
to seek shameful gain
because they want to get something
for their leadership.
If that's your view
of church leadership,
I have some bad news for you.
Church leadership is a lot less
getting your way,
expressing your opinion all the time,
being able to do
whatever you want to do,
and it's a lot more of
taking out the church's trash,
telling people things
they don't want to hear,
confronting people in their sin,
dealing with conflict in the church,
having things said about you
that are not true
and not being able
to defend yourself,
being a punching bag for Jesus.
What do you get?
You get suffering.
If you're a leader in the church,
what you gain
is tremendous suffering.
Verse one,
I exhort the elders among you
as a fellow elder
and a witness
of the sufferings of Christ.
What else do you get?
You get Jesus.
Verse four,
elders,
your service in the church
is not so you can gain things
now and here,
but it's that you can gain
the honor and glory
that Jesus Christ
will bring to you
when he returns.
And so you suffer
knowing that he is coming back,
doing what you need to do
in the church,
not for your own gain,
but to build it up
so that we would grow together
as one body,
giving tremendous honor
and glory to Jesus Christ
as we serve one another.
And we're serving,
verse four,
the chief shepherd.
In other words,
Jesus is the one
who is the shepherd
of this church.
We said that multiple times
during the transition
when we didn't have
a lead pastor,
we would say,
Jesus is the one
who leads his church.
That is still true now.
And everyone who leads
in his church
will answer to him.
And so there's both
an encouragement
and a warning, right?
The encouragement
is you serve
not to get things now here,
but to get Jesus.
Jesus,
there's also a warning.
The chief shepherd
is coming back.
If you remember
in our worship guide,
we read at the very beginning
our preparation for worship,
Hebrews chapter 13,
verse 17,
obey your leaders
and submit to them,
for they are keeping watch
over your souls.
By the way,
this word keeping watch
is talking about someone
who's keeping watch
at night.
Another way to translate it
would be those
who are losing sleep
over your souls.
They're not gaining,
they're losing
as those who will have
to give an account.
In other words,
I don't know exactly
what it's going to look like,
but it's going to look
something like this.
When Jesus returns,
he is going to sit
with the elders
of Cheyenne Mountain
Presbyterian Church
and he's going to take out
our church directory.
And he's going to go
name by name
through the directory
and he's going to say,
what about so-and-so?
As those who will have
to give an account.
And so we serve
as leaders
knowing
that we answer
to Jesus.
We answer to Jesus
in our failure
and our success.
But most of all,
we look to him
in our suffering
knowing that
that is our goal
as leaders.
Not shameful gain,
but the unfading
crown of glory.
If you are going
to lead,
do it because you want
to shepherd the flock.
That is Peter's
fundamental command here
and do it
because you want
to serve
the chief shepherd.
Jesus is
the great shepherd
shepherd of the sheep.
By the way,
that's the example
that Jesus has left us.
In the gospel,
I should say first
in the world,
we use our power
to lift ourselves up.
Jesus took his power
and he used it
to lift other people up
and push himself down.
And he did that
fundamentally
by dying for us
and our sins
on the cross.
And so as Christian leaders,
we also use our power
to push ourselves down
and lift other people up.
Jesus,
the chief shepherd,
is the example
for his under-shepherds.
The gospel
is the narrative
that informs
how leaders
in the church operate.
They operate
for the sake of others
just like Jesus did.
In the gospel of Luke
in chapter 22,
there's a dispute
between Jesus'
and his disciples
and it tells us this.
A dispute arose among them
as to which of them
was to be regarded
as the greatest.
And he said to them,
the kings of the Gentiles
exercised lordship over them
and those in authority
over them
are called benefactors.
But not so with you.
Rather,
let the greatest among you
become as the youngest
and the leaders
as one who serves.
For who is the greater,
one who reclines at table
or one who serves?
Is it not the one
who reclines at table?
But I,
Jesus,
am among you
as one who serves.
And so also
the shepherds
of the church.
Our next command
comes in verse 5.
So we've had
shepherd the flock.
Verse 5,
likewise you are younger,
be subject to the elders.
Now we could take this
as a command
only to young people,
old people,
older folks
don't really need to worry
about what the elders
have to say.
However,
in this context,
elders,
follow the logic
with me here,
elders is referring
to leaders of the church,
not all older people.
And so the younger here
in context
are the opposite of that,
the non-leaders
of the church.
So this is not
primarily a distinction
of age,
although that may happen
in certain situations,
it's likely that elders
are going to end up
in general being older
and some are sometimes
going to be younger.
But the distinction here
primarily in this passage
is between the elders,
those who lead,
and the younger,
i.e. those who are not elders.
You who are younger,
you who are not elders,
be subject to the elders.
I mentioned at the beginning
that power,
those who have power,
elders,
can be like a fire.
They can warm
and nurture the house
or they can burn it down.
Followers can fan
that fire into flame
or they can snuff it out.
There's a type of following
that causes incredible headaches
for the leadership
of the church.
And those are followers
who refuse
to be subject.
This could look
in a variety of ways.
It could be someone
who's causing trouble
in the church.
And it gets to a point
where the elders
have to talk to this individual
about the trouble
that they're stirring up
and this person says,
well,
I really don't care
what you have to do.
I answer to Jesus.
Jesus is this chief shepherd.
He has under shepherds.
It could be someone.
They're not an elder,
but they still have
an agenda for the church.
They have a perfect church
in mind
and they're going to push
for it no matter what.
And they don't realize,
Philippians chapter 1,
that we have to discern
what's best
and approve what's excellent.
And we can't do everything
as a church.
There are a million good things
we could do in this city.
We could probably actually
only do one or two of them.
And sometimes,
we have to make hard decisions
about what those things are.
And so being subject
to the elder
sometimes is realizing
and recognizing
this is a good thing
and we as a church
aren't able to do it right now.
And I'm going to move forward
with this church
building up the body
rather than subverting it.
Rather than going around
the church
and stirring up division.
Rather than gossiping.
There is a type
of followership
in the church
that wastes
incredible amounts
of time and energy.
There is division
that's stirred up
in the church
that wastes
countless institutional hours
between the elders combined.
Another way to put it
would be this.
Imagine
if the elders
of the church
did not have to spend
any time
addressing conflict.
Imagine what we could
accomplish as a body.
Imagine what we could
get done
if people were willing
to come together
following the leaders
that God has given them
even as they do so
imperfectly.
By the way,
our preparation for worship
spoke to this as well.
Talks about leaders.
They'll have to give an account.
But it ends with this.
Let them do this with joy
and not with groaning
for that would be
of no advantage
to you.
You hurt yourself
when you rebel
against leaders
in the church.
You hurt yourself
because they're actually
trying to point you
towards righteousness
and holiness,
something that is
for your good.
You hurt yourself
because you're stirring up
division in the church
and then you wonder
why the church
isn't doing better
than it is.
because the leaders
are spending time
with you
rather than the ministry
that God has called them to.
And so it is
of no advantage
to you
to stir up
division in the church
to rebel.
Instead,
we have leaders
who are sacrificing
and followers
who are following.
By the way,
in verse 2,
this phrase,
among you,
shepherd the flock
of God that is among you,
the word here
is the idea
of an apportion
or an allotment.
In other words,
God has given us
to each other.
The elders
that you have,
God gave them to you.
The congregants,
you all,
God has given you
to us.
With all our quirks,
with all our flaws,
both in leaders
and in followers,
we are the people
that God has
for each other.
And so imperfectly,
we are walking together,
following Jesus together
as one community.
And if we want that
to be a thick
and rich community,
we need leaders
who sacrifice.
And followers
who follow,
who are subject
to the elders.
Finally,
we have our last command,
clothe yourselves,
all of you,
with humility
towards one another.
For God opposes the proud
but gives grace
to the humble.
How do we do it?
How can you be
a sacrificial leader
and a humble follower?
A follower
who doesn't stir up division
but is willing
to receive correction
and hear a no
instead of always hearing yes.
The answer
that Peter gives us
is humility.
Remember I mentioned
two weeks ago
that there's a rich
humility
that comes with the gospel.
You are so flawed
and sinful
that Jesus had
to die for you.
Maybe I,
not maybe,
but I am so sinful
and flawed
that Jesus had
to die for me.
Maybe that means
I don't get everything
right all the time.
Maybe it means
you don't get everything
right all the time.
But we're the people
who've been allotted
to each other.
And so we walk
in humility
recognizing our own
foibles and flaws
and working together
the best that we can.
We've had some
positive motivations here.
The chief shepherd's
going to appear.
There's a positive
and negative one here.
God opposes the proud
but gives grace
to the humble.
people.
If you are a leader
and you are looking
to use your power
and your influence
to impose your will
on the church,
God is opposed to you.
If you are a follower,
even if you know
your theology
really well,
but you are stirring
up division
in the church,
God is opposed
to you.
We cannot
mince words
where the scripture
does not mince them.
And so this is not
just a feel-good
kumbaya
passage for God's people,
but it is a serious
command
and a serious
warning.
God opposes the proud
but gives grace
to the humble.
On the other hand,
if you are a leader
making mistakes
with flaws
as all leaders are,
but you have humility,
you're willing
to recognize
your mistakes
and correct,
you're willing
to work alongside
and with other people,
God's grace
is for you.
And if you're
a follower,
imperfect
and flawed
and sinful,
making many mistakes,
but you're humble
and you're seeking
to build up
your leaders
in the body,
God's grace
is with you.
And our hope
is not in
our behavior
ultimately,
but our hope
and our praise
is that God
has not always
followed the pattern
of opposing the proud
and giving grace
to the humble.
Because when Jesus
died,
he did the exact
opposite.
when Jesus
died on the cross,
God opposed
the humble.
He took Jesus
who was humble
and he allowed
him to die.
And then he gave
grace to the proud.
He gave grace
to you and me
who are flawed
and sinful.
He gave grace
to leaders
who make mistakes
and followers
who don't always
get it right.
He opposed
the humble
to give grace
to the proud.
And so that's our hope,
right?
That's what we're
uniting around
as one community.
We're uniting around
the fact
that Jesus is there
doing that for us,
that we are sinned
and flawed
so much so
that we deserve
God's wrath
and his judgment,
but Jesus died
on our behalf
taking the penalty
for our sin
for everyone
who's willing
to repent
and have faith
and hope
in Jesus Christ.
Jesus models this
for us
in John chapter 13.
He's near the end
of his ministry.
They're preparing
for the Passover
and he washes
everyone's feet.
And who doesn't
want to be subject
to the elders?
It's Peter.
Peter tells Jesus,
no,
you can't wash
my feet.
He said,
you shall never
wash my feet
and Jesus answered him,
if I do not wash you,
you have no share
with me.
Simon Peter said to him,
Lord,
not my feet only,
but also my hands
and my head.
And then he says,
do you not understand
what I have done to you?
You call me teacher
and Lord
and you are right
for so I am.
If I then,
your Lord and teacher,
have washed your feet,
you also ought
to wash one another's feet.
For I have given you
an example
that you also should do
just as I have done
to you.
Truly,
truly,
I say to you,
a servant
is not greater
than his master
nor is a messenger
greater than the one
who sent him.
How do we handle
power in the church?
And how do we have
thick and rich community?
We do it by having leaders
who want to sacrifice
rather than gain.
We do it by having followers
who are willing
to follow Jesus together
as they follow his shepherds.
We're only able to do it
as we clothe ourselves
with humility.
And we do it
because we know
that Jesus' grace
is for us.
He set us his example
by washing feet
and being among us
as one who serves.
And he's enabled
and empowered it
by being the one
who allowed God
to oppose the humble
so that he could give grace
to us who are proud.
And so that's our hope
and our confidence.
Please pray with me.
Our Father in heaven,
we thank you
for your word
and we ask
that you would drive it
deep into our hearts,
that we would be filled
more and more
with the humility
that comes with the gospel
and it would cause us
to serve you
and one another.
We ask these things
in Jesus' name.
Amen.