Sermons

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Leaders, Followers and Lion-Tamers
July 7, 2002
Sixth in a sermon series on Peter and his letters
Pastor Dan Baumgartner
1 Peter 5:1-11

We’ve been reading the letter of 1 Peter for these last weeks. We’ll finish it today, then plunge ahead into 2 Peter next week.

We’ve talked all along about how this letter was written to the early church under threat of persecution for their faith. And we’ve talked about how, despite some antagonism toward things of the faith, our culture really is not in that position. So maybe it would be helpful this morning to use your imagination a little bit. Imagine that a few years from now, you cannot find a decent job…because each time an interview gets to the question: “Are you a Christian?” and you say, “yes,” your resume is immediately thrown onto the “reject” pile. Imagine you could not live in a certain part of the city if you claimed to believe in Jesus. Imagine that there are two restrooms, two water fountains, two parts to every restaurant…one for “Christians,” the other for everyone else. We light this candle as we come to God’s Word this morning:

1 Peter 5:1-11

When I was in seminary in New Jersey, I took a class from the President of the Seminary, Dr. Tom Gillespie. He was a tall man, in his 60s, a pastor for a number of years himself…and teaching a class on Galatians. My friends and I were very excited to be in the class, eager to learn. And so terribly disappointed on many days when the Professor would stand behind the lectern, reading verbatim off of a manuscript, talking about the intricacies of parsing the Greek verbs. Heads would nod all over the classroom.

But on occasion, Dr. Gillespie would lay his manuscript down, come out from behind the lectern, take off his glasses…and begin to share from his heart. He was a very godly man…a man who loved Christ, who knew people, who knew leadership from being there for many years…and the whole class would lean forward, eager to catch every single world.

That’s how I imagined the Apostle Peter writing the last chapter of this letter. Leaning forward, out in front of the podium, sharing more from his heart than at any other time in this letter, talking about what it means to follow after Christ.

In the middle of these verses is the powerful image of a lion, stalking around, back and forth, waiting for the proper moment to spring on his prey. The lion, verse 8 tells us, is the great Evil, the great adversary, the Devil. The devil “prowls around, looking for someone to devour.” Now, it seems clear that being devoured by this lion is not talking about physical death. Peter has been very clear throughout this letter that physical death holds no fear for those who live in Christ. No, this “death” is a spiritual one, one that happens, for instance, when a believer renounces their faith in Christ, which is the goal of most persecution. In this image, the danger OUTSIDE (persecution by people) is encompassed by a danger INSIDE…turning aside from faith in Christ.

How is it that a Christian can avoid falling away from Christ? How does one avoid being just another meal for this lion? Peter addresses this by talking about three different things. The first one, and the one he spends the most time on is humility.

A Christian stays close to Christ (away from the lion) by living in humility. Humility is a word we don’t tend to spend much time on these days. Frederick Buechner says that we often confuse “humility” with a game that we play where we say, “I’m not much of a bridge player,” but you know perfectly well that you are. It’s a game, he says, because if you really ARE NOT much of a bridge player, you’re apt to be proud of yourself for admitting it so humbly!…thereby, of course, destroying the word before it hits your brain. Buechner says this kind of humility is actually just a form of low comedy.

In the scriptures, humility tends to be something very different. It usually has to do with voluntarily setting aside the power that comes from a particular status…and/or recognizing your dependence…on God, and on other people. And Peter will call EVERYONE to this.

The first group that Peter looks at, glasses off, and calls to humility…are the leaders of the church…the elders. This word, “elder” is “presbuteros,” which is where we get our word “Presbyterian” from…it has to do with the form of our church government, with leadership and decision-making power resting in the form of elected “Elders.” Peter says that in this time of persecution, these young churches will need a particular kind of leadership. And surprisingly, he says the need is for leaders who act with humility. It is no time for egomaniac, power-driven leaders.

[I have to share this with you. Sylvia this week unearthed for me some minutes from a Bethany congregational meeting from September 26, 1890! And I confess I don’t know what all the issues were, but there seems indeed to have been some kind of power struggle. The minutes say that the chairman of the meeting, elder J.B. McKilligan, asked the Pastor, a Rev. B.F. Parsons to open in prayer…which he refused to do! Later, when the subject of building a manse (house for pastors) came up…it says Rev. Parsons objected to the presence at the meeting of a Mr. Sliter, and in fact, went and attacked him in an “unchristian and ungentlemanly” manner (that made me wonder what a Christian and gentlemanly attack at a congregational meeting would look like!)…and then at the end of the meeting, after things calmed down, they asked Rev. Parsons to give a benediction, which he refused to do! I can’t wait until our next congregational meeting!]

Peter says…no time for these things. What should leadership look like in the church? He says nothing, really, about exactly WHAT the leader does…this is not a job description. He only talks about HOW they lead…what kind of people will they be. He stares at the leaders, and says, “accept leadership willingly…not with a bad attitude. Don’t lord it over people, don’t try and do it for some personal gain, in fact…you should act like a shepherd.”

From other places in scripture, we know all about the way shepherds lead: know each individual sheep, move them in a direction, protect them, go looking for them if they’re lost. Remember, Peter is the one the resurrected Jesus pulled aside, and asked him three times if he loved him…and each time Peter answered, “yes,” Jesus said to him “Feed my lambs, tend my sheep, feed my sheep.”

Peter received the call to be a shepherd, and now he is passing that call on to others. The words used of shepherds are words of humility, not the misuse of power. They are about leaders who give their lives away, leaders who set examples for the people that they serve. In a word, perhaps, being a leader is not about YOU at all.

I invited you to read a book with me this summer, Kathleen Norris’ The Cloister Walk. In one of the early chapters, Norris talks about St. Benedict, and his advice to “keep death daily before your eyes,” and then Norris’ translation of that thought: “Remember…you are not the center of the universe.”

Peter doesn’t only give this word “humility” to leaders, but also to followers…those younger in age or faith. He has only one sentence for them, though: “Accept the authority of the leaders.” Be willing to be led. There is a giving up of power in this humility too, isn’t there? No leader can lead people who refuse to follow. This is not a concept we think about too much, we are far too independent…but it undermines the effectiveness of businesses, schools, governments, churches...every day.

There is sort of a two-edged principle here, I think: If we never accept the authority of people in leadership, I wonder whether we will accept God’s? Or put in reverse, if we have never accepted God’s authority, we probably won’t accept people's. In our day, we do a very good job of teaching our kids these things: Question authority, always think for yourselves, analyze everything, critique everything, criticize what you don’t agree with. In fact, we have probably taught these things to our children more effectively than any generation up to this point. But have we taught them anything at all about respecting elders, about obeying instructions, about honoring parents, about submitting to authority?

Sometimes we need to obey. Sometimes we need to look beyond ourselves to the greater good…not just at my interests. Paul says, “Consider others better than yourselves.” For the follower, too, the word is applicable: “You are not the center of the universe.”

Now Peter speaks to everyone…and says “clothe yourselves with humility.” Another way of saying: “Put on humility.” The words for “put on” have to do with the image of someone putting on a garment. And they draw us back to what Jesus modeled out. How did Jesus teach leadership? The gospel of John tells us how, at the Last Supper, Jesus took off his robe and “put on” a towel, or a servant’s apron…and began to wash the feet of his disciples. The lowest task reserved for the lowest servant…that was what Jesus picked up. This is how Peter says “you are to deal with one another.”

Finally, he says, “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God.” It is not by accident that Peter uses this phrase “the mighty hand of God.” It is all over the Old Testament, particularly in the story of the Exodus, where God rescues His people from slavery in Egypt “with a mighty hand.” “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt with a mighty hand.”

Peter reminds us that humility involves acknowledging our dependence…on God. We do not perfect ourselves, we do not naturally give up our rights or power, we do not earn our way to heaven or salvation…we are DEPENDENT people, depending on God’s action in Jesus Christ for our very existence, for eternal life, and for living a life with meaning. Humble yourselves…God will lift you up.

After all of this talk about humility, the second thing Peter tells his readers is rather surprising: “Work hard at your faith!” We might think that all this talk about humility, about giving up power, about acknowledging our dependence…would lead a Christian to be quiet, passive and sort of let life wash over us. Actually, Peter says, the opposite is true: Work hard!

He’s writing to people in hard, awkward or dangerous positions on account of their faith. He KNOWS that it would be easy to quit the faith…he says, “Don’t quit.” He KNOWS it would be easy to succumb to the culture…says, “Don’t.” He KNOWS it would be easy to get cynical…don’t. You have a part, a very active part to play in living out your faith. Spiritual disciplines…like prayer or fasting or study…are not just busy work…they are hard work, but work with a purpose…to keep us near to God. Or better said, to keep us aware of God’s nearness to us. And for most of us, when praying or reading or fasting get hard…we think there’s something wrong! Of course not! Disciplines are work.

In some ways, this is Peter’s call to arms: discipline yourselves, keep alert. Resist, be steadfast in faith. Why? Evil lurks. This passage of the lion from verse 8 is repeated in many evening liturgical services. If you go to St. Mark’s Cathedral on Capitol Hill to the 9:30 pm Compline service, every week you will hear, “Be sober, be vigilant. For your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for those whom he may devour.”

It’s easy to get swallowed up by the lion. Suffering, worry, fatigue, deception, all make us doubt whether God cares about us. Are you anxious? You can cast those anxieties upon God…why? Because he cares for you. Are you passive? You must be alert, disciplining yourselves spiritually…watching what goes on in the world, looking for what is true, practicing the things that will keep you close to God. Are you just plain tired? Still, resist, be steadfast. Do you think you are the only one who is a Christian who suffers? All over the world, Christians suffer.

That brings us to the third word Peter uses…it’s the word grace. God is the God of all grace. Grace puts limits on evil and suffering. It puts the lion on a chain. Your suffering will not last forever, but your life in Christ will last into eternity. And it is Christ himself, verse 10 says, HE HIMSELF will restore you (the word used is that used in the mending of a broken bone -- he will set unhappy things right). He HIMSELF will support you (not abandon you), strengthen you (beyond what you have) and establish you…HE will give you the firmest of foundations. All of these images are of strength and solidity, of immovability.

Anne and I were in Oregon a couple of weeks ago to celebrate our 20th anniversary, and the motel room we had was right across from “Haystack Rock,” the giant rock structure on the beach at Cannon Beach. As we took beach walks, I kept looking at that rock. You have just never seen anything so rooted, so established, so strong. That rock has been there through millions of tide changes, winter storms, probably a tsunami or two…I’d walk out there at low tide, and just look up at it and think…this thing is NOT going to move. That’s what Peter wants our faith to be like. But ultimately, we need something more than we can give. We need Christ, who will restore, support, strengthen and establish us. These are not things that our work accomplishes. These are gifts from God. He will give you what you need.

Everyone!: Live in humility. Do the hard work of faith. Depend on God’s grace, shown to us in Christ. These are the three things that Peter proposes to those under threat of persecution. They are three ways of staying close to Jesus Christ. And when we are near Christ…all the lions in the world won’t make the slightest difference. Amen.