Shepherding Life

Anthony W. Franklin

Easter • Sermon • Submitted a year ago • Presented a year ago

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Scripture: 1 Peter 5:1-11

1 Peter 5:1–11 NRSV

1 Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you 2 to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it—not for sordid gain but eagerly. 3 Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. 4 And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away. 5 In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you. 8 Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

Shepherding Life

Great Expectations

One of the things that sets mature men and women apart from children is how they manage their expectations. When we are children and life veers outside our expectations, we get upset. We cry and throw a fit. Those are the natural responses we were born with that act as a cry for help, and as children, we expect the adults around us to be able to fix whatever seems wrong to us.

There is a strong connection between our responses to expectations and our faith. A child cries because they believe their parent can make anything right, and perhaps that is a little bit of what Jesus called the faith of a child. However, we stop crying when we stop believing those around us can do anything about our situation. For many of us, these unfortunate events pave the way for our maturity into adulthood.

Middle age is a time, like Middle School, when the things we thought were true as children begin to be challenged regularly. As the adults around us stop solving all our world problems for us and invite us to work to solve our problems, we have to reevaluate, and we sometimes rebel or pull away from those relationships because we don’t feel we are getting what we want. The more we face disappointment, the more we discount the help around us and venture off on our own.

Growing into adulthood is often as much about finding out how much you don’t know as it is about anything else. The older we get, the faster time goes, and the harder it is for us to keep up with the young people we should be raising. In the end, we often find ourselves constantly relying on others to help us again, just as we did when we were children.

Peter’s first letter in the New Testament gives us much insight into suffering. Much of the suffering Peter wrote about was more than just physical pain. It was broken hearts, crushed spirits, and frustrations brought on by expectations that were not met. Throughout his entire letter, Peter encourages us to live as an example of Christ because God has created us to lead by example, and our passage today tells us how we can lead others by that example, especially when life does not meet our expectations.

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Who leads?

Significantly, none of the original Twelve Apostles were high-ranking citizens in either Jewish or Roman society. Jesus gave Peter, a fisherman, the keys to His Kingdom. The contents of 1 Peter were written to everyone of every status level. Men, women, young and old, the wealthy and the slaves of the Roman Empire, and everyone in between. Peter connects all these people to Jesus. The same challenges they face in daily life were the things that Peter showed that held them together, and Jesus was their example to follow to live through and overcome those issues.

This last chapter of 1 Peter, though, has a special designation. In this chapter, Peter addresses the church elders and explains their essential role in ensuring that the whole Body of Christ can grow through life and become more like Jesus daily. Without these key leaders in place, doing the work they needed to do and doing it the way Jesus called them to do it, the whole Body would be helpless to suffer without the guidance of God in their lives.

So, who are the elders of the church? Many denominations and most independent churches use the term elder to describe leadership positions within the church because it is used in the New Testament in passages such as this one. Sometimes elders are pastors. Other times, they refer to lay leaders elected for term limits. They can also be a kind of hybrid and refer to people who are not pastors but who are made church leaders for life.

When Peter used this word, the church was new worldwide, and there was no set standard other than this: An elder (which Peter claimed to be) was an older person with some authority. In this very fluid time in the life of the early church, there were likely some elders who had been given a title and others who led with a strong personality. Both official and unofficial leaders were at risk of abusing their authority or failing to lead like Jesus. Many of you could be considered elders, and some of you who are younger may become elders someday as you follow God faithfully. Virtually anyone who leads anyone else can benefit from Peter’s teaching here, and it is crucial for church leadership.

So, how are elders supposed to lead?

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Shepherds

Elders are called to be shepherds of God’s people.

In the past century, scholars worked hard to integrate our blossoming business practices with church leadership. They devised various terms to describe the ideal church leader, from Pastor-as-CEO, servant leaders, shepherd-visors, facilitators, consultants, and others. Many of these connect with biblical examples from the Old and New Testaments. However, Jesus leaned into shepherd metaphors when describing leadership as He approached the end of His earthly life. All four gospels include parables about leading as a shepherd, and John’s gospel digs deep into that illustration. It is not just the gospels either. King David, one of the greatest leaders of the Old Testament, also championed shepherd leadership. Indeed, the very word pastor means shepherd.

So when Peter tells those with authority to tend their flocks, He is speaking in line with all of the scripture. He assumes that we are following Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and leading His flock as His under-shepherds. We know that God will hold us responsible for them. We are to lead our flocks as Jesus leads us - willingly, gratefully, not with an attitude of I’m only here because I was told to do so, and not because of what we can get out of the position. We would do well to go back to the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and see how He had all the authority of God and yet used none of that authority for Himself. That is the model of the Good Shepherd that we are to follow.

Shepherding is a spiritual role, and aspects of it are spiritual gifts and fruits of the Spirit. Neither your DNA nor your upbringing determines your ability to shepherd others. We will see next week that God determines and orchestrates those gifts and roles in all of us. However, we do have a part in growing those gifts, and Peter encapsulates that part in one word: Humility.

Humility nurtures good shepherding in us in two ways. First, it reminds us that we have room to grow. When we choose to believe we have arrived and do not need to learn any more about leadership, our leadership will not only stop growing; it will begin to decline. We continue leading by humbly seeking ways to expand our knowledge and skills as shepherd leaders.

Secondly, we grow spiritually through life-on-life relationships. Books and Youtube videos are wonderful tools. Indeed we have many educational options today. But nothing replaces relationships, especially when it comes to spiritual growth. We all need someone who brings Jesus to us. Or, to put it another way, we all need shepherds ourselves. We all have a direct connection to Jesus, our Chief Shepherd, through the Holy Spirit. Humility reminds us that we have not graduated yet and need accountability to live out what we have learned. Education can grow your knowledge and ability to lead, but without accountability, there is no guarantee that it will be used.

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Growing Shepherds

We are all broken people working in a broken world. Nothing is ideal. But God is at work in the middle of it all. So what can we do to humbly align ourselves with the work of God instead of continuing to be part of the problems around us?

First, we need to recognize who the shepherds are in our life. We were created to follow the example of others, and if you cannot identify some of the people you are following, you are likely following people without knowing it. That can be a dangerous thing. The Good Shepherd keeps the sheep guarded in the sheepfold. The thief lets them out and makes them think they are free. If you cannot recognize your shepherds, you are vulnerable to someone taking advantage of you. So make sure you know who you are following.

All people, including your shepherds, are works-in-progress. We all have flaws, and some are easier to see than others. What you need to know most about your shepherds is where you see Jesus shining through. Often it means forgiving those flaws in your leaders and choosing not to imitate them. However, there are also times when we see Jesus the most in the way He works through those flaws in our leaders. Sometimes the power of Jesus shows through the most in our weaknesses. So don’t discount aspects of your shepherds automatically, but look for Jesus and follow what you see from Him.

Identify your shepherds and look for Jesus at work in them. Those who follow you will follow your example as you lean on each other, carry one another’s burdens, help each other cast anxieties on Jesus, and hold each other in grace as God shapes us into His flock and His Church. Who are the people that God has brought into your life and called you to shepherd?

Bekah and I have watched some farming shows and saw good and bad examples of tending sheep. Those who pretend to be shepherds but have no desire to put in the work are often seen chasing the sheep from one place to the next. Yet, I find it amazing that every painting, photo, and even written illustrations of good shepherds portray them standing before the flock or even in the middle of the flock, exerting minimal effort. Instead, the sheep seem to follow them just by seeing them or by the sound of their voice.

Sometimes sheep are rebellious and get caught up momentarily in a thorn bush or mud hole. But good shepherds never really lose their sheep because they have a relationship with them. Sheep only truly get lost when the shepherd does not know them. We can be a church family that ensures everyone has a shepherd who knows them and can lead them by example.

Or, there is another option. In Matthew 25, Jesus shares a shepherd parable about separating the flocks. Those not a part of His flock are sent away, even though they thought they were doing all the right things. As He sent them away into darkness and condemnation, He told them, “I never knew you.” If we choose not to humbly connect to our shepherds and faithfully lead those God sends us, we may find ourselves saying the same thing. How often will people come into our building, worship, and fellowship with us but not see Jesus? When they leave, will they even notice they are gone? When we stand in line to face Jesus and give account for the people He entrusted to us, will we look at Him and say that we never knew them?

We lead by example, whether it be good or bad. We reproduce who we are in those we shepherd. So, as we continue to dream and plan and pray about the kind of church family we want to become in the days ahead, know that the most significant part we play in that becoming a reality is what kind of people, what kind of leaders we choose to be today.

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