Studies in 1 Peter
1 Peter 5
Introduction
1 Peter 5
Some of you will know that when I'm in house group, or a Bible study, I am very
keen on thinking about the practical application of a passage. So I think that
this is an absolutely great passage, as there's lots of meat, lots of scope
for practical application in it.
So what I plan to do is go through the passage section by section, and attempt to think about "what does this mean for us?".
V 1 - 3 (read out)
Who does this affect? Who of us are told to be 'shepherds of God's flock'?
Everything Peter says is applicable to all Christian service inside and outside
the church.
I think that this can apply to an awful lot of us:
Youth work co-ordinators, even to parents
How does it affect us?
First of all, why do we do it? "not greedy for money, but eager to serve"
So we're not doing it for an earthly reward: money, prestige
but we're doing it because we're keen to serve
It's always useful to re-examine our motivation
to make sure we're not doing it for the admiration of others, doing it for the sake of those that we serve"being examples to the flock"
· so we are called to be role models to those we are shepherding
· Up to us to demonstrate Christian character in everything we do.
v.4:
"And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away"
This ties in with what Mike was saying last week
we should seek our reward - the crown we will receive in glory - and the way we earn our reward is through being obedient
(We don't earn our salvation - we our saved through our faith in Jesus)
But we're called to work at it.
This is a source of encouragement - even if we think that things are going badly
But the encouraging thing is that "we're called to be obedient, we're not called to be successful". Sometimes God will choose to bless our work - but frequently it will look as if He's not blessing our work. But whether or not things appear to be fruitful, we're being faithful if we serve.
This reminds us of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 6 v 19-20 [read out]. This reminds us of what we should set our sights on. In everything we do, lets think about what will be pleasing to God on judgement day.
Verse 5a [read out] - respect for those who are older
This goes counter to popular culture. The newspapers are full of stores of people who have made millions by the age of 25 (either as rock stars or as dot com millionaires).
Speaking as someone who, I guess, is middle aged, and who will soon be one of those who is older, I find this very encouraging.
But there's a serious point. It's very easy to be influenced by popular culture. It may be tempting to 'right people off' who don't fit into whatever stereotype we have for a hero. But we should show appropriate respect for those who are older.
Verse 5b - 6 [read out] - Humility
How should we be humble?
It's easy to think that it is us who might do great things. But things happen not because of what do but because of what God chooses to do through us.
I remember hearing Chuck Colson speaking. Successful lawyer, Richard Nixon's right hand man, jailed - his part in the Watergate burglaries. Became Christian between Watergate affair and being jailed. As he said, what was the "greatest good" he did? Was it his work I the US government? Was it the cases he argued in the Supreme Court? No - probably the greatest good he did was in founding Prison Fellowship, an organisation which witnesses to those in prison. It was as a result of something he did wrong - going to prison. But God - our wonderful, all-powerful God - worked through that, and is still working wonderfully though Prison Fellowship.
Let's remember that everything we have - our possessions, our talents, our abilities, our strengths - are not of our own making but are gifts from God. So how foolish it is if we are proud or boastful.
On our own, we can do nothing. But thankfully, with God's help, we can do things. Or to put it another way, Praise God that he sometimes chooses to use us, or to work through us.
Verse 7 [read out]
What does this mean? Meaning of cast. Dictionary: "throw forcefully". Fishing - cast - throw the fishing line into the river. So it's not just a case of passively letting God pick up our worries, but we should actively hand them over to God.
This is a wonderful promise. God wants us to get rid of our anxieties, because he cares for us. But how do we do it in practice? God has made us all differently. Some of us find it easy to hand over our anxieties to God, others of us find it more difficult. So here are some things we can do to help:
Let's actually make an effort to remember this verse, and remind ourselves of it when we are feeling anxious.
Reminds us of Phil 4 v 6. NB Need to 'ask him with a thankful heart' (GNB) or 'with thanksgiving' (NIV).
Let's remind ourselves of how powerful God is. So that even when we have a problem, and we can't imagine how we can possibly overcome it, God can.
It almost goes without saying that we should actually be praying about whatever it is that is worrying us, and that whatever it is that we can count on God.
And sometimes it can help to talk to someone about it. I know that there are times when I've been up tight about something, but when I've actually talked to someone about it I've felt like an enormous weight has been lifted off my shoulders.
Let's remember how God has helped us in the past. Some people keep a prayer diary, and record prayers and answers to prayer.
I remember a friend of mine telling how he ruled a page, with prayers on one side and answers to prayer on the other side. When he started his prayer diary, in his lack of faith, he had a wide column for the prayers and a narrow column for the answers. But he found that, with time, God gave him more and more answers to prayer, and he had to shift the rule further and further over tot he left, to leave more and more room for the answers.
So let's remind ourselves of how God has helped us in the past.
Sometimes, the way to overcome our anxiety is to act on whatever God wants us to do. We know what we should do - but we put it off. And while we're not doing it, whatever it is, instead we worry about it. I was worrying about preparing this talk - but as soon as I actually did something about it, and started considering the passage, God helped me to stop worrying about it.
It's a bit like the great unwritten commandment "Thou shalt get on with it".
And finally, we need to consider that if after all this we don't have peace about a particular situation, it's possible that God's trying to tell us something - that He wants us to do something different, or that things aren't right. And that we need to ask Him to guide us to whatever it is that is wrong.
But I do urge you to reflect on whether you have any anxieties which the Lord is urging to cast upon Him.
Verse 8 [read] Self-controlled and alert
We need to remember that the devil is always looking to trip us up
The devil is subtle (as is vividly illustrated in The Screwtape Letters). He doesn't normally tempt us to go out and rob a bank (well I don't think I've ever been tempted to go out and rob a bank) - but it's much more like gradually pushing at the boundaries (like "am I just putting my side of the story? Or if I'm honest have I actually stretched the truth a little").
The fact that it says self-controlled shows that we have a personal responsibility to do something about this - not just to sit back and wait for God to do everything
Verse 9 [read out] Resist him…
It's encouraging to be reminded that we're not the only one being tempted, but all our brothers and sisters around the world are also being tempted.
How do we resist in practice?
Clearly, we should ask God to help us
The better our relationship with the Lord the more we will want to stand firm in our faith
The better we know the Bible the more helpful it is in resisting temptation
Jesus quoted from the Scriptures when he was in the wilderness being tempted
One on occasion I had to make a decision there and then. I needed guidance, and I sent up an 'arrow' prayer for guidance. And what came into my mind was Psalm 1:1 [read it out]. Someone had ben talking about it previously. The decision could have had serious consequences, but thankfully the Lord reminded me of this verse which helped me with making a decision.
So clearly the better our knowledge is of the scriptures, the better we will know what is right and what is wrong. What what's more, we will have ammunition to quote to ourselves when we're trying to 'resist him'.
Verses 10 - 11 [read out]
Another reference to what Mike was talking about last week, that we are made stronger as a result of our suffering
And the encouragement that even if we do suffer, we can look forward to our eternal glory in Christ
Another reminder that whatever we do, it's God's power and strength that is working through us - we can't achieve anythign in our own strength, but only in God's strength.
Verses 13 - 14 [read out] - final greetings
Contrast to Western letters. Final greetings (or 'small talk') are at the end of the letter.
We don't know who 'she who is in Babylon' is - but it doesn't matter - she sends her greetings, as does Mark.
'Greet one another with a kiss of love'. Clearly at the time that was appropriate in the culture at the time. What should we make of it? What should we do? We should do something that fits in with our culture - it might be a handshake, it might be a kiss on the cheek, it might be a hug.
But there are two things that a vital:
- That the recipient is happy
- That we also have an attitude of embracing; an attitude of love, for our Christian brothers and sisters.
But it's a reminder of the Unity in Christ that we should all strive for.
Conclusion
We'd better close there.
I hope that this has made some sense. I hope that it has rung true.
But most important of all, as I said at the beginning, I believe that this is an immensely practical chapter. Let's all individually look to see how we individually should be putting this into practice in our lives.
Vaughan Harper