Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:08] This is Rick. Welcome back to the Nomad Pastor Podcast.
[00:00:12] Today is our final episode on our five episode walk through First Peter.
[00:00:19] And if you've been listening since chapter one, we've covered a lot. We've talked about identity, being built into something, living with difficult people, being done with our old life.
[00:00:29] And this week in chapter five, Peter is going to wrap this whole letter up with some of the most, what I believe to be practical instructions in the book of First Peter.
[00:00:41] He talks to leaders, he talks to young guys, he talks about humility, and he gives us one of the most well known pictures in scripture about standing firm against the enemy.
[00:00:54] And so let's finish this off and let's finish it strong, right?
[00:00:58] So Peter opens chapter five, talking to the elders, leaders in the church.
[00:01:04] Now, some of, some of you listening might be in a season where leadership is the last thing on your mind, you're just trying to get through this week.
[00:01:15] But, but I'm going to ask you just to stick with me because even if you're not in a formal leadership role, there's somebody looking up to you right now.
[00:01:25] It might be a younger guy in recovery or a younger girl in recovery. It might be a kid, maybe it's a neighbor kid, or it's your children.
[00:01:33] It's somebody who's watching how you handle things. And whether you realize it or not, they're watching.
[00:01:40] So this section has got something for everybody, not just leaders.
[00:01:46] So verses one through three, Peter calls himself a fellow elder.
[00:01:51] He tells the elders that they need to shepherd the flock of God among them, exercising oversight not under compulsion, but voluntarily, according to the will of God, not for sordid gain, but with eagerness, not lording over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock.
[00:02:17] So I want to pull out three things from that.
[00:02:20] First, the first thing is not under compulsion, but voluntary.
[00:02:27] You see, real leadership, real influence comes from wanting to serve people, not from being forced into a role.
[00:02:35] That's the first thing, right?
[00:02:38] Not under compulsion, but voluntarily. Second, not for sordid gain. Not using your position to get something for yourself, whether that's money or status or just, you know, the feeling of being needed, not for sordid gain. And the third thing, not lording it over people, but being an example.
[00:02:59] The way we lead is by going first, not standing over people and telling them what to do from a distance.
[00:03:08] If you've ever had a sponsor or a pastor or a mentor or just even an older person in your life who did this, right, who led by going first, who didn't use you, who didn't talk down to you, you know how rare and how valuable that is.
[00:03:27] And if you had people in authority who did the opposite, who used their position, who lorded it over you, you know also how much damage that does.
[00:03:39] You see here Peter's calling for leaders to be the first kind.
[00:03:45] I know in my life, I saw these leaders.
[00:03:51] And this is more in my professional life, right? I saw these leaders who just, for lack of a better term, just left bodies in their wake. Just the trail of blood as they climbed the corporate ladder.
[00:04:08] And what I saw was that's what it takes.
[00:04:16] And for a part of my professional life, I mimicked that because that's what I thought worked, but it didn't.
[00:04:29] When I came to Christ and the person who I am evolved and changed because of the love of my Lord Jesus.
[00:04:43] I couldn't do that to people.
[00:04:46] It was very dramatic for people who worked for me, who saw the way I was and then the way I am today.
[00:04:55] You see, Peter's calling leaders to be that first kind of who don't use you, who don't talk down to you, who go first.
[00:05:09] I never knew how valuable the people that worked for me were.
[00:05:14] To me, they were just another number.
[00:05:18] But now I recognize when I look at them through a different lens, a different set of eyes, the eyes that Christ has opened.
[00:05:29] I couldn't do anything without the people.
[00:05:34] It's important to recognize that and to recognize what influence you have on people. Because those people who influenced me probably didn't know they did, but that's what I saw.
[00:05:46] They didn't know I was watching.
[00:05:50] And you don't know who's watching you.
[00:05:54] And so I want the people who are watching me that I don't know about to see somebody who loves people, who loves God, who goes first.
[00:06:08] It's a very different thought and mentality.
[00:06:14] And then in verse four, and when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
[00:06:22] There's that word again, unfading.
[00:06:27] Same family of words from chapter one, about the inheritance. That doesn't fade.
[00:06:32] Faithful leadership, even when nobody's watching, even when it's thankless, even when you don't get credit, it doesn't go unnoticed by God. He sees it.
[00:06:47] And then in verse five, you younger men likewise be subject to your elders. And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another.
[00:06:57] For God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.
[00:07:04] Clothe yourselves with humility.
[00:07:08] You see, that's a Picture of putting something on, right? Clothe yourself. That's like an action.
[00:07:14] Like you'd put on a jacket before you walk out into the cold. Or if it's raining, you put on a rain suit. It's deliberate.
[00:07:25] You don't just naturally feel humble all the time. None of us do. I don't.
[00:07:32] So Peter's telling us to put on that humility, like clothing on purpose every day.
[00:07:39] Get up.
[00:07:40] I'm going to clothe myself with humility today, Lord.
[00:07:48] And then there's that line, God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble.
[00:07:56] I want us to really hear that God is opposed to pride, not unimpressed by it.
[00:08:05] Opposed to it. Opposed is actively against it.
[00:08:11] But humble people get grace.
[00:08:17] So I'd ask this. If you're in a season of your life where you feel like you need grace, and to be honest, I am who isn't, right?
[00:08:29] Humility is the posture that positions us to receive it.
[00:08:35] Humility opens the door, but pride blocks it.
[00:08:40] And I don't think we realize that sometimes.
[00:08:45] In verse 6, therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at a proper time.
[00:08:54] I want you to notice the order, right? Humble yourselves first.
[00:09:00] The exaltation, if it comes, comes from God in his timing, right? That the proper time exalts you. That he may exalt you at the proper time.
[00:09:12] Not your timing, not my timing, the proper time. God's timing, his timing.
[00:09:20] I think a lot of us want to skip that humbling part and get straight to being exalted.
[00:09:25] I want to get straight to my comeback story. Get straight to the people seeing how far I've come.
[00:09:34] I want you to recognize how much I've done.
[00:09:38] But Peter says humility comes first. And the timing of what comes next does not belong to us. It belongs to God.
[00:09:47] And then verse seven, I think, possibly one of the most quoted verses in the whole book of First Peter. And for good reason, right?
[00:09:58] Casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
[00:10:04] All your anxiety.
[00:10:07] Not the manageable stuff, not the stuff you've already mostly worked through, all of it. Casting.
[00:10:17] There it is again, another active word, casting. Casting is an action, right?
[00:10:23] Like, I love to go fishing, so I'd love to cast out into the lake.
[00:10:30] But what he's saying is, cast it out there, throw it, leave it, get it off of you.
[00:10:40] But in my.
[00:10:44] I don't know the right word other than like, in my unbelief or my stupidity, whatever you want to call it. I like to Go fishing. I cast it out there and nothing happens for a little while. So I reel it back in.
[00:10:59] I reel that anxiety back in and say, well, nobody did anything with it. So I'm gonna.
[00:11:05] I'm gonna bring it back. I'll deal with it.
[00:11:09] Well, that's not what he's saying. He's saying, throw it away. Throw it, Get rid of it.
[00:11:21] Get it off of you.
[00:11:23] And the reason you can do that isn't because the anxiety doesn't matter or because it's not real.
[00:11:30] It's because God cares for you.
[00:11:35] The casting is only possible because of God's caring.
[00:11:42] You know, if you have anxiety right now, if you're carrying anxiety about money or relationship or your future or sobriety or whether you're going to make it, Peter's not telling you to suppress it or pretend it's not there.
[00:11:59] He's telling you who to give it to and he's telling you why you can trust him with it.
[00:12:05] Because God cares about you specifically.
[00:12:09] Not in general or in a distant way. God cares about you personally.
[00:12:17] Don't suppress it or pretend it's not there. Just hand it off.
[00:12:24] And then in verse 8, this is a verse that a lot of people, they know, even though they didn't know, like, where it's from, but it's, be of sober spirit. Be on alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring, lying, seeking someone to devour.
[00:12:42] Sober. That word, sober, right? Sober spirit, alert.
[00:12:48] That theme runs through this whole letter.
[00:12:52] And here's the picture, right?
[00:12:55] A lion doesn't go after the strong, alert animal standing in the middle of the herd.
[00:13:05] I've watched Discovery and National Geographic Channel and all these different things, and watched lions and tigers and cheetahs and all these things, wolves attacking different animals.
[00:13:21] They don't look for the strong.
[00:13:24] The lion looks for the one that's wandered off.
[00:13:28] He looks for the one that's distracted, the one that's weak or isolated.
[00:13:34] You see, that's the picture that Peter wants us to see about the enemy.
[00:13:41] He's not necessarily going to come at you when you're strong and surrounded by people who are going to hold you accountable.
[00:13:48] He's going to look for you when you're isolated, when you're tired, when you've let your guard down, and when nobody's watching.
[00:13:58] If you're in recovery, especially if you're in recovery, this verse is huge because the times you're most vulnerable aren't when you're at a meeting or when you're surrounded by Your group, it's the late night alone, that moment of isolation.
[00:14:21] It's that I've got this moment, our pastor, Pastor Ryan, likes to say. You know, in recovery, when you hear somebody say, I've got this, they're close to a relapse.
[00:14:35] You see, that's exactly when Peter says to be most alert.
[00:14:44] He's like a lion, roaring, wandering around, looking for prey.
[00:14:51] And then verse 9. But resist him firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being experienced by your brothers and sisters who are in the world you see here. Peter saying to us, like, we're not alone fighting this, whatever we are up against.
[00:15:10] The same kind of fight is happening to other people, too.
[00:15:15] We're not uniquely and individually cursed.
[00:15:19] We're not the only ones struggling with this.
[00:15:24] To me, that's comforting.
[00:15:26] Not because, you know, you hear that old saying, misery loves company. That's not why, but because it means you're not broken in some special way that nobody else deals with.
[00:15:38] There are people that are where you are and can help.
[00:15:44] And then verse 10 and 11.
[00:15:46] After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.
[00:15:57] He says four things here, right? Four.
[00:16:00] Perfect, confirm, strengthen, establish.
[00:16:04] And I want you to notice who is doing this action.
[00:16:13] After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, we will Himself, right? God himself.
[00:16:26] You'll eventually get yourself together.
[00:16:29] God himself will do this after suffering for a little while. Not forever, a little while.
[00:16:36] But God is the one doing the perfecting, God is the one doing the confirming, God is the one doing the strengthening, and God is the one doing the establishing four actions God himself is doing.
[00:16:51] And then as this chapter winds down, there's some personal notes, right? Peter mentions Silvanus, who helped him write the letter, and mark and sends greetings. And then verse 12 sums up the whole purpose of the letter. I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
[00:17:12] Stand firm in it. That's good. That's the summary kind of of all five chapters in three words.
[00:17:18] Stand firm in it.
[00:17:20] Everything Peter's written, the identity, the living stones, the relationships being done with the old life, humility, casting your anxiety, being alert, all of it is the true grace of God.
[00:17:36] And the response to it is to stand firm.
[00:17:43] And the letter closes with verse 14.
[00:17:47] Greet one another with the kiss of love.
[00:17:51] Peace be to you. All who are in Christ peace.
[00:17:57] After everything Peter has talked about, everything he's walked through, suffering, trials, the roaring lion, hard relationships, the old life pulling at you.
[00:18:09] He ends the letter with peace.
[00:18:13] Not because the hard things go away, but because peace and the hard things can coexist when you put Christ in the middle of it.
[00:18:27] So here's where I want to land this.
[00:18:33] And I want to land it. Not just for this week, but for everything we've covered over the five episodes, over the five chapters.
[00:18:40] You're a chosen living stone, placed exactly where God needs you, even when it doesn't make sense.
[00:18:51] You're done with the old life, not because you're strong enough, but because Christ already finished the fight.
[00:18:58] Clothe yourself with humility every day.
[00:19:02] Do it like putting on your jacket to go outside.
[00:19:06] Cast every bit of your anxiety to God and leave it. Don't reel it back in because God genuinely cares about you.
[00:19:17] Stay alert. Because the enemy looks for the isolated. The enemy looks for the tired. The enemy looks for the one who thinks they don't need anybody.
[00:19:28] And after all of it, stand firm.
[00:19:33] So here's my challenge going forward.
[00:19:39] Take that verse seven and make it a daily practice.
[00:19:45] Casting all your anxiety on him because he cares for you every time that you feel the weight building up, regardless of what it is. Relationships, sobriety, money.
[00:19:58] Say that verse out loud and actually hand it over.
[00:20:03] Not once every time it comes back.
[00:20:08] And maybe it would be good that, like, you write it down and you physically put it somewhere.
[00:20:17] Whatever that anxiety is, write it down and put it in your jar and label your jar, giving it to God every time it happens. That's not weakness. That's exactly what Peter is telling you to do.
[00:20:32] So, look, I want to say thanks for walking through first Peter with me over these five episodes.
[00:20:40] You know, it was written for people who were scattered under pressure, far from home.
[00:20:46] And I think for a lot of us, mostly me, it landed exactly where it needed to.
[00:20:52] If the series meant something to you, share it with somebody who needs to hear it. Somebody in your group, somebody you're walking with, somebody who feels like they don't belong anywhere.
[00:21:02] It's important to understand and just study the word of God again. This is Rick with the Nomad Pastor Podcast. Subscribe on any podcast platform that there is. We're on all of them. Share it, like it, comment on it, review it. I just want to thank you guys for listening. It's been my pleasure. And I want to remind you to love God and love people.
