Tonight we are concluding our short series of sermons on the subject of the Biblical doctrine of eldership as we prepare for the elder elections next Lord’s Day morning after Sunday school. We’ll meet here, as Wiley reminded us, at 10:30 am in the sanctuary, to elect around 16, up to 16 new elders from the 36 candidates that you have nominated. You can find them all listed in the bulletin. Do please make each of them and their families, as well as the important matter of electing new elders and the ministries they will fulfill, a subject of serious and persistent prayer between now and then.
So far, if you recall, we have considered the office of the elder and its place in the government of the church as we find it in the New Testament. Then last time, we looked at the character qualifications of an elder from 1 Timothy 3 and Titus chapter 1. And now tonight I want to look more directly at the work of an elder. What is it that elders are to do? What is their function in the life of the local church? And so with that in mind, would you please take a Bible in hand or turn with me in one of the church Bibles to page 1016 and to the first letter of Peter, chapter 5; 1 Peter chapter 5. Peter unpacks here for us the work of the elder. We are going to look at it under four headings. The model of an elder’s ministry in the work and ministry of the apostle Peter himself who is a fellow elder. So a model of an elder’s ministry. Then, the mandate of the elder’s ministry. They are to shepherd the flock, exercising oversight. Then thirdly, the manner of an elder’s ministry. You see that in verses 2 and 3. And lastly, the motive. There is a promise of reward, of rich reward, a crown of glory promised to those who serve faithfully and well in verse 4.
Before we turn to each of those themes, let’s pause and pray and ask for the help and blessing of the Holy Spirit. Let us pray.
O Holy Spirit, Lord and giver of life, we pray that You would take of what is Christ’s and make it known to us. You have inspired these words now before us. Illuminate our understanding, please, that we might behold marvelous things out of Your law, for the praise of the name of Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.
1 Peter chapter 5, beginning at the first verse. This is the Word of God:
“So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”
Amen, and we praise God for His holy and inerrant Word.
The Model of an Elder’s Ministry
Let’s think first of all about the model that we have here of an elder’s ministry; the model of an elder’s ministry. On the 23rd of June, 1963, speaking to an audience of 120,000 people on the steps of the Rathaus Schöneberg in Berlin, in what has since become one of the most famous speeches of the Cold War era, President John F. Kennedy said, “Two thousand years ago, the proudest boast was, ‘Civis Romanus sum’ – ‘I am a Roman citizen.’ Today, in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner!’ All free men, wherever they may live, are citizens of Berlin, and therefore as a free man, I take pride in the words, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’” Not long after Kennedy delivered the speech, the claim arose that he misspoke. And instead of identifying himself with the people of West Berlin, he actually identified himself as a jelly donut, which is what “ein Berliner” is! Had he wished to identify himself as a citizen of Berlin, so the argument goes, he should not have used the definite article; he should have simply said, “Ich bin Berliner,” rather than, “Ich bin ein Berliner.” “Ein Berliner” is a jelly donut! Since then, that claim, as tempting as it is still, as attractive as it is that the leader of the free world should identify as a jelly donut, that’s a tempting suggestion but it’s since been roundly debunked. In fact, the willingness of the President of the United States to publicly identify on the world’s stage with the beleaguered people of West Berlin helped strengthen their resolve right at the moment when Nikita Khrushchev was building the now infamous wall that ran through the heart of the city. It was a powerful signal of solidarity, the solidarity of the free world with this suffering people.
In the opening verse of 1 Peter chapter 5, the apostle Peter does something very similar. In the second half of chapter 4, Peter has been preparing his readers for suffering, the suffering he knows is coming. “If you are insulted for the name of Christ,” he said, “you are blessed. If anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed but let him glorify God in that name,” he said. “Let those who suffer according to God’s will, entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” Suffering is coming, difficult days, difficult days. And now, when he takes up the subject of the eldership in the local church here in chapter 5, instead of rushing directly to give them exhortations and instructions on how to do their jobs, he stops first and identifies himself with them as a fellow elder. He expresses personal solidarity with them. “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and witness of the sufferings of Christ.” The very first word of verse 1, “So,” that little connecting word, “So,” ties all that he is about to say to the elders in chapter 5 back to what he has already just said in chapter 4 about suffering. In light of suffering, he says, “Therefore, I am going to exhort the elders, but I do it as a fellow elder, as an elder amongst elders, standing with you in solidarity, knowing that hard days lie ahead.”
One of the reasons we need elders, one of the reasons Christ has given elders to His church is because following Jesus is a costly business, but of course Peter knows if you are going to be a leader in the church, an elder, then you yourself will be a particular target of opposition and of Satanic response and attack and of suffering. And so he wants them to know that he is standing with them and he is offering himself to them as a paradigm, as a model of what an elder is really to be and to do.
The Elder’s Proclamation
Notice what Peter says about himself. He speaks first about his proclamation as an elder – what it is he says. “He is a witness,” he says, “of the sufferings of Christ.” Now we know from the Gospel records that Peter was not a firsthand eyewitness of the most acute sufferings through which our Lord passed. You remember that he fled along with the other disciples and then having betrayed Jesus, he left the scene early “to weep bitterly,” Matthew 26:75. So when he says he’s a witness of the sufferings of Christ here, he does not mean an eyewitness. He likely means a witness in the same sense you and I might talk about bearing witness, that is, giving verbal testimony to the heart of the Gospel, to the sufferings of Jesus Christ. This is the elder’s task, remember – the proclamation, the testimony of Christian truth centered on the sufferings of Jesus Christ. This is what an elder is to be, surely. He is to be a Gospel man. A Gospel man. Constantly bearing testimony to the redemptive suffering of Jesus Christ on behalf of sinners. The elder’s proclamation.
The Elder’s Great Privilege
Secondly, Peter also talks about the elder’s great privilege. The elder’s great privilege. He is not only a witness of the sufferings of Christ, he is also a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed. Now just remember, that was the pattern of Christ’s life and ministry, wasn’t it – suffering followed by glory. And Peter says, “Elders get ready. That’s the pattern for me and that’s the pattern for you too – suffering followed by glory.” But as you go through all of that suffering, understand that the glory that is to be revealed, the glory that is coming, is not a way over there at some distant point from you. You are already a partaker of it, he says. He is, right now, a partaker of the glory that is going to be revealed. Ahead of time, he tastes something of the power of the age to come and the glory that lies ahead in reward.
And so elders, elder candidates, pastors, men training for Gospel ministry, officers and Christian leaders in the church of Jesus Christ, you are going to suffer for Jesus’ sake. It is part of the entailment of faithfulness that you will be the object of Satanic attack and of other people’s misunderstanding and frustration. You are going to suffer for the sake of Jesus Christ if you are faithful in the conduct of your ministry. But Peter wants you to see in his own example, as you go through all of those trials, you must cling to the great privileges that are yours. You are already a citizen of the kingdom of heaven and already, by the grace of God, you taste something of the age that is to come. The model of an elder’s ministry.
The Mandate for an Elder’s Ministry
Secondly, look at verse 2 and notice the mandate for an elder’s ministry – what it is that he is supposed to be doing. What’s his fundamental task if he is a faithful elder? “I exhort the elders among you,” Peter says. “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight.” The oversight in view there, I think, is here primarily pastoral rather than administrative in its character. “Shepherd the flock,” Peter is saying, “by exercising oversight. Watch over the flock. Be attentive to them. It’s part of the way the shepherding work will get done.” It’s not about greasing the administrative wheels of the organization. It is about diligence and attention in the faithful, pastoral care of the flock of God.
Did you know that there are about 5.5 million people in Scotland and there are 6.6 million sheep in Scotland? And everyone who has been around sheep for long knows that they are unruly and prone to wander off. Their lambs are easy prey for predators and they get all kinds of very nasty diseases just by standing around in a field. Sheep take an awful lot of looking after, and shepherds have to tend their flocks constantly with vigilance, every single day. And given how like sheep we all are, given our spiritual weaknesses, how prone we are to wander and to leave the God we love, it’s not really a surprise, is it, that the image of a shepherd should be a favorite metaphor for pastoral office throughout the Scriptures. So for example, in a famous passage in Ezekiel chapter 34, God says to the spiritual leaders of the prophet’s generation, “As shepherds of Israel, you who have been feeding yourselves, should not the shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed, you have not brought back the lost, you have not sought; and with force and harshness you rule them so that they were scattered because there was no shepherd and they became food for all the wild beasts.”
It’s an indictment, isn’t it, of a shepherd’s failure. It’s a negative example, but it’s clear to us, isn’t it, from that passage, certainly, what a shepherd ought to be doing. They’re supposed to feed the sheep with the Word of God. They’re supposed to stop them from straying into spiritual danger. And they are meant to protect them from wolves, from false teachers and from false teaching. That’s the work of a shepherd, which of course is why in John chapter 10 when Jesus came He said of Himself, in fulfillment of this rich stand of Biblical imagery, “I am the Good Shepherd, the ideal Shepherd, the perfect and true Shepherd. And the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. I know My own and My own know Me. My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” However weak and foolish the sheep may be, God’s flock, praise the Lord, God’s flock is perfectly secure under the watchcare of the one that Peter, in our passage, will go on to call, “the chief Shepherd,” the Lord Jesus Christ.
But did you see, even in Jesus’ self-description of His shepherding work, a reminder to us of what every under-shepherd ought to be like. “My sheep know My voice. I know them. They know Me.” A shepherd ought to know the sheep. He must know his flock. His flock must know him. Billy Dempsey likes to say, “Good shepherds smell like the sheep!” That’s right, isn’t it? That’s the point. You are to teach them the Word so that the sheep might hear the voice of the Good Shepherd in your teaching and follow Him to green pastures and quiet waters that He might restore their souls. You are to shepherd the flock, exercising tender, compassionate, faithful, intimate, attentive oversight.
The Manner of the Elder’s Ministry
The model. The mandate. Now look at verses 2 and 3. Notice the manner of the elder’s ministry. Peter further qualifies the way in which elder’s should shepherd and exercise this oversight ministry. And he does it in three couplets. Do you see this? There is a negative vice paired with a contrasting positive virtue. Not this, but this. Do you see that pattern? Really Peter is dealing with three common dangers that confront elders as they go about their shepherding work. There is the danger of mere duty. The danger of duty. The danger of greed. And the danger of power. The danger of duty, the danger of greed, and the danger of power.
The Danger of Duty
Notice how he tackles the danger of duty, first of all. “Shepherd the flock,” he says, “exercising oversight, not under compulsion but willingly as God would have you.” Now to be clear, there is nothing wrong with duty. Doing your duty is a virtue that is to be commended and ought to be high on our qualification lists as we think about the elder candidates. Is this man faithful to do his duty? That’s a good thing. But a man who does his duty as an elder must never do it merely because it’s his duty. A shepherd who cares for his flock under compulsion doesn’t really care for his flock at all. People will start to detect very quickly a cold performance of obligatory service and a reluctant spirit. No bride should marry a husband who, when asked if he takes this woman to be his lawfully wedded wife, says, “Nah, I suppose. If I must!” Right? He ought to be eager. He ought to be eager to marry her, glad to do his duty toward her, because he loves her.
That’s what you’re looking for, First Presbyterian Church, in future elders – men who will care for you not because they are supposed to, but because they love you, they love you; they have you in their hearts, not out of compulsion but willingly as God would have you, knowing this pleases Him. This is how He has wired them – to love you well. The danger of mere duty.
The Danger of Greed
Then secondly, the danger of greed. Look at what Peter says. “Shepherd the flock, exercising oversight, not for shameful gain but eagerly.” The word translated, “shameful gain” actually involves more than just the feeling of greed. It included the idea of fraudulent methodology. It is an abuse of power for personal profit. Probably, Peter has in mind elders who receive financial remuneration. We might call them ordained, vocational ministers, serving on the staff, as it were, of a local church and being paid for it. And he is challenging them and warning them not to be in the ministry for financial gain. But the same message, I think, still applies equally to ruling elders, because after all, there are more ways than direct financial remuneration to promote your own interests at the expense of others. Peter’s target is a spirit of avarice – a desire to promote our own welfare at the expense of the flock. Instead of greed, notice Peter calls us to an “eager spirit of service.” An eager spirit of service. “What’s in it for me?” is a question that ought to be altogether alien to anyone who seeks to serve the Lord Jesus Christ in any capacity at all. “What’s in it for me?” ought never to enter your heart.
The Danger of Power
Then finally, there’s the danger of power. The danger of duty, the danger of greed, then the danger of power. Look at verse 3. “Shepherd the flock, exercising oversight, not domineering over those in your charge, but being an example to the flock.” Just as an aside, the phrase, “those in your charge” – do you see that phrase? – actually means something more like, “those in your lot,” or “those in your portion.” The word originally came from the context of a dividing up an inheritance by the casting of lots. And so whatever portion of the inheritance you received, that was your lot. We might call it a shepherding group. Here is the portion, the lot of the church assigned to you, elder, to care for and be the shepherd of. And Peter says you should care for your lot, your portion, your district, your shepherding group, not “lording it over them” as one translator frames Peter’s language here. Not domineering over those in your charge, not lording it over them. Authoritarian elders, bossy, abrasive, controlling elders, elders who throw their weight around, who are bullies – that’s a contradiction in terms.
Peter wants men who are gentle without being weak. He wants men who are patient without being indifferent. He wants men who are flexible without surrendering principle. He wants men who will be examples to the flock of basic godliness. Do you see? If Peter himself is proposing himself as an example to the elders, now he says, “And by the way, elders, you need to be an example to the whole church. They are to look at you, elders, and be put in mind of Christ, to be reminded of Jesus.” That’s a good question, isn’t it, to be asking ourselves as we think about the faces and the names proposed to us for our vote next Lord’s Day as potential elders. “Does this man remind me of Christ in his conduct, in his speech, in his behavior, in his faithfulness, in his words and in his works? Does he point me to Christ? Is his an example I’d like to follow, I’d like my children to follow? Would I be glad to be more like him?”
The Motive of the Elder’s Ministry
The model. The mandate. The manner. Then finally, notice the motivation held out for elders to engage in this weighty responsibility. Look at verse 4. “And when the chief Shepherd appears” – the Lord Jesus in His return – “you,” elders, “will receive the unfading crown of glory.” Peter sets our sights not on any earthly gain but on the great glory awaiting us at the return of the Lord Jesus. There will be, he says, a reward. There is a reward – the unfading crown of glory. That phrase really means that glory itself will be the crowning gift of God in reward for your faithful service. And I think we are sometimes a little squeamish about reward language like this in the Bible. We worry that it somehow undermines free grace. It sounds like merit and works. But the Bible is full of reward language, and we’ve got to come to terms with it.
The truth is, you see, when Jesus returns at the last judgment and all things are made new, all our sin will be gone at last. What a wonderful day that will be. And the work of sanctification will be finally complete. And we will look back over our lives in amazement that the Lord should have dealt with us so graciously, so patiently that He never stopped working in us even though every day we grieved Him and failed Him. And then, as we stand in amazement at His amazing grace, Jesus will crown us with glory and we will not, in that moment, strut and preen and say, as we adjust the crown on our heads, “Look what I earned. Look what my hands have won for me.” The crown of glory, let’s be clear, will sit strangely on our heads and we will feel, we will know nothing could ever have merited, nothing we ever did could ever have merited such a reward. And we would, of course, be entirely correct. Nothing could ever merit such a reward, and yet for all our imperfect works – think of this, this is glorious – for all our imperfect works in the service of the Lord Jesus, even the very best of which is riddled with so much of self and sin. For every one of them, Jesus will look at us and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.” And we will stand back and say, “This isn’t reward. This is grace upon grace upon grace. This is more than I could have ever anticipated.” The glory that is to engulf us.
And then in that moment, what will we do? We sang about it earlier. “The bride eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom’s face. I will not gaze at glory, but on my King of grace. Not at the crown He giveth, but on His pierced hand. The Lamb is all the glory of Emmanuel’s Land!” You will see Him and you will cast your crowns at His feet and give Him praise. What a reward waits for elders, for Christian servants and leaders, who serve faithfully in the manner that Peter has been describing. Fix your eyes on the glory that is going to be revealed, Peter says. Remember your privileges. And no matter what comes, no matter how heavy the load, no matter what suffering you may be called upon to endure, fix your eyes on the prize and press on to take hold of that for which God in Christ has also taken hold of you.
The model. Do you see it? Peter himself is a model elder. He proclaims the sufferings of Christ. He is a Gospel man. Be on the lookout for Gospel men. And he clings to his privileges, no matter what suffering comes. He is a partaker of the glory that is going to be revealed. There is an elder’s mandate in this passage. Shepherd the flock that is among you, exercising oversight. You’re looking for men who smell like sheep, who love the flock. And then the manner – avoid the danger of duty and the danger of greed and the danger of power. We’re looking for men who exemplify basic godliness, who put you in mind of Jesus. And the motivation. There is a great crown of glory coming. Press on, till you take hold of that glorious prize.
Let’s pray together.
Our Father, we pray again, please do not give us the elders we deserve. Give us men who are like Jesus. Give us men who are humble shepherds, who love the sheep, who love the flock, who, like their Savior the chief Shepherd, will give themselves and lay their lives down for the flock, who know them and are known by them. And when they speak Your Word, they speak it faithfully so that the sheep hear in their ministries the voice of the chief Shepherd and they follow Him and He leads them out and in and they find pasture for their souls. Give us men like that, we pray, that we might be built up and more in love with our Redeemer than we were before. Raise up, O Lord, laborers for the harvest field. The fields are white unto harvest, so send more laborers and do it, we pray, for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, amen.