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I Peter 5
 
! Introduction
            Many of you have been watching the TV series “Survivor” over the summer months.
The object of the contest was not so much to survive the elements, but to survive other people.
One of the stated objects of the game was to “outwit” all the other players.
Very early in the show, Rich indicated a confidence that he would win.
I thought, “how arrogant!”
In the end, he was right.
It turned out that way because he knew how to use power to his advantage.
We live in a world in which power is used and often abused to gain an advantage over others.
The United States military has the ability, by its power, to force its will in almost any country in the world.
Hockey teams hire enforcers to help win the game.
The two chipmunks in the cartoons who were always deferring to each other are laughed at because the whole world knows that you can’t live that way.
They are a parody mocking the folly of yielding to one another.
In the church, we have learned to exercise power very much as the world does.
When it comes time to fill positions in the church, we manipulate and coerce until someone is willing to do the task we want them to do.
When it comes time to make decisions, we use the same methods of power which are used in politics to sway an issue in our direction.
I know all of these things happen because I have done them.
We have noted repeatedly in our study of I Peter that we are the people of God.
As Peter closes his book, he raises the issue of how we as the people of God should relate to the issue of power and authority.
He talks about how we relate to the authority of leaders, how we use power in relationship with one another and how we relate to the authority of God.
In all of these situations, we will learn that God calls us to something different from the way of world in which we live.
He calls us to be humble and submit.
There is only one relationship in which we do not submit, but rather we resist and that is in relationship to the power of the evil one.
!
I. Leadership 1-5a
!! A. Leaders
One of the mistakes we make when we think about power and authority is that it means that there is no place for leadership.
As a church that believes very strongly in the priesthood of all believers and is very congregational, we have been very uncomfortable with the concept of giving authority to leaders.
Peter, however, recognizes the responsibility of leadership.
The term “elders” was a term that was used among the Jewish people in reference to those who were older and therefore respected with wisdom to lead.
The term came to refer to more than just those who were older in age, but to those who were seen as leaders.
Timothy is identified as an elder, but Paul also identifies him as a young man.
Thus, elders are those who hold positions of leadership in the congregation.
The leadership responsibility of elders is that they must “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care.”
One wonders if Peter thought of this because of what Jesus said to him after he had denied Jesus.
Jesus asked him “do you love me” and when Peter responded in the positive, Jesus told him, “feed my sheep.”
Shepherding is the responsibility of leadership.
There are those in the congregation who have been given authority or more accurately, responsibility over others.
They must lead them, guide them and take care of them.
They must teach them truth and guide them into the way of righteousness.
They must warn them when they wander away.
They must give direction to the work of God in the church.
The other word used is “overseers.”
This also is a leadership function.
Thus we see that there is a place for leadership and we need to allow leaders to lead.
I have to admit that I am uncomfortable with power, I don’t want it, I am afraid to exercise it, it is a scary thing to handle because I am afraid I will misuse it and so I don’t use it.
On the other hand, sometimes, I use it when I should not use it.
What does Peter have to say about leadership and its place in the church?
He teaches that leaders must lead.
The important thing for leaders to remember is in how they exercise their leadership.
Peter has three pairs of opposites which demonstrate the way in which leaders must exercise the power they have in their leadership role.
I have already spoken of this to the ministerial, but I would like to mention it for the sake of all the leaders who were not there.
Negatively                                           Positively
Spirit: Not under compulsion              but willingly
Once again, I would reiterate what I said last week that God invites us to use the gifts he has given us and to serve him with joy because we love to do it.
Motivation: Not for sordid gain         but eagerly
            Leadership has its advantages, and therefore the underlying motivation for leadership must not be what can be gained from leadership, but rather an eager desire to serve the Lord.
Style: Not as lording                           but as examples.
In this last one, we see above all the method which is a method of humility, not using power, but using personal example to lead.
!! B. Followers 5a
If leaders are to lead with humility, how do those who are not leaders relate to their authority?
Peter has one line which speaks about this.
It has been translated in different ways and we need to get a good sense of how it should be translated.
The Greek would read “Likewise the younger, or new ones, you should be subject to the elders.”
NIV gives us the sense that young men should submit to older men.
Although this is a good thing, I do not believe that it is what the passage intends.
Since he has been talking about elders and the same word for elders is used in verse 1 and in verse 4, I think we should keep the context together.
The word “young men” can be translated as the “new ones” or the “young ones” meaning not only in age, but in experience.
I think the best way to translate this is to suggest that it means that those who are younger in faith should submit to those who are the leaders in the church.
The Message puts it this way, “you who are younger must follow your leaders.”
In an age of individualism and personal authority where we are told assert yourself, this may not be a popular message, but it is God’s word to us.
It recognizes that those who have more experience and who have been given the authority and responsibility of leadership should be listened to.
So when you go to Sunday School, listen to your teacher.
Accept and respect the authority of those who are in leadership.
So we learn that power in the leadership structures of the church must be exercised with humility and gentleness by those who lead, and those who follow must do so willingly.
!
II.
One Another 5b
!! A. The Call To Humility
But humility is not only to be exercised between leaders and followers, but in fact in all our relationships with one another.
Peter says, “All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””
When Peter said this, I wonder if he had in mind the imagery of Jesus wrapping the towel around his waist and washing the disciples feet?
Some have translated this, “put on the apron of humility” which suggests to me the serving apron, or the serving towel in Jesus’ case.
When Jesus took up the towel and washed his disciples feet, he demonstrated a very different way of living in this world.
He is our example!
Have we really learned to live in that way?
If we think of Jesus as the example for this kind of thinking, we have a wonderful model of one who came with humility.
The same Jesus who washed the disciples feet was the one who came from heaven, and all its glory and humbled himself by becoming a child.
He was the one who said, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
He was the one who had the power to turn stones into bread, but did not use that power in order to gain an advantage.
He had the power to fall from the temple and not get hurt and impress the people, but he did not use that power.
He was the one who gave up power and instead offered his life on the cross in order to give us life.
Peter reinforces the example of Jesus by referring to Proverbs 3:34 in which we learn that it is a principle of God that the humble are accepted and the proud rejected.
!! B. Exercising Humility
The truth is clearly and powerfully presented that we are to act with humility towards one another.
The question is, how do we do it.
Humility is elusive.
When we think we have it, that is the moment we lose it.
Thomas More was ambitious, but he did not want people to know that he was.
He loved the praise of the crowd and worked hard to create a public image of himself as a man who took no care for what people thought of him.
Yet he hated criticism and responded furiously whenever attacked.
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