Sermon: St. Mark 14:27-28; 1 Peter 5:1-5

A FAITHFUL SHEPHERD’S LEADING

1 Peter 5:1-5. The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed: Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock; and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another.

Lord, this is Your Word and these are Your words. Sanctify us by the truth. Your Word is truth. Lord Jesus, You can feed Your flock any way You want. You send out shepherds, pastors, to do Your feeding, yet it’s You Yourself doing it! Give us such joy in believing this that we, shepherds and sheep, will all be led by You. Amen!

Dear fellow redeemed by the Chief Shepherd, who laid down His life for His sheep: Grace and peace to you from Him!

In the creeds we say we believe in the one holy Christian Church. Jesus teaches in John 10 that it’s not many churches but one church, when He says there is “one Flock and one Shepherd.” It’s challenging to believe this.

First, it’s challenging because of what Jesus says about laying down His life for the sheep. The night He was betrayed, Jesus told His disciples it was coming true what had been prophesied: “Strike [down] the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” If He gets struck down, as He also said in John 10 – “I lay down My life for the sheep” – who will protect the sheep, how can they be a flock? How can a dead Shepherd take care of His sheep?

Then there’s what the apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter. Peter is imprisoned in Rome. He’s writing to persecuted Jewish Christians who had scattered. Peter writes to “the elders” – this is their word for pastor – and says, “I am a fellow elder,” a fellow pastor. Peter says he’s a pastor, a shepherd. But how can he feed the sheep if he’s in prison and they’re scattered?

Also there’s something else. Peter recalls when James and John came to Jesus asking to be higher in His kingdom. He remembers his sinful pride and anger. He and the others bad-mouthed James and John for this. Jesus looked Peter in the eye, and all of them, and said: “Those who are so-called rulers among the heathen, they lord it over each other … yet it shall not be so among you.” Peter knows, even the apostles didn’t look a cohesive flock.

So he uses Jesus’ very words and says to the pastors, the shepherds, “Do not be lords over those entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock.” He includes some other instructions that include negative characteristics, telling the pastors to serve “not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly,” adding this to what he said about “not lording it over them but being examples.”

“Not, not, not.” Pastors don’t read this without feeling guilt. They’re supposed to be shepherds, supposed to be about serving, not having a be-served attitude, supposed to be joyful in their work, doing it not as a job but as an extension of Jesus. Since they are sinners, pastors are not always the humble servants they should be, they get wrong priorities, and often forget about Jesus in their pastoral work. Me too.

Peter is focusing on the shepherds here, but he doesn’t forget the sheep. At the end of this he says, “submit yourself to your elders,” which is the word for pastor. “Yes, all of you be submissive to one another.” Yet it’s not just outside the church but in the church where people bite and devour each other, go off in a huff, get upset about not getting their way.

Forget having an idealized view of the church and that only pure motives and behavior prevail in here. It’s not just: “Inside the church people hurt one another,” but you hurt others, you fail to show concern, you have not been there for them, you’ve blamed and criticized others or the pastor.

So we don’t always look like much of a flock, either. But this is just part of the picture. It isn’t the whole picture. Peter knows something. So do we.

Jesus is risen! It makes all the difference. There could be no flock if Jesus weren’t risen. We couldn’t be His flock, you couldn’t be His sheep, if He wasn’t risen, if He had remained dead. If Jesus is risen, then it means His death really does pay for all the sins you’ve done. Thus the main thing to hear is the verse that says: “When the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.” He will appear because He is risen! He lives, yes, He lives!

But how will He have anyone to give a crown of glory to, if we aren’t what we should be as His Church or flock? It’s because He is the Chief Shepherd, who not only laid down His life for His sheep but “took it up again,” rose from the dead to provide a kingdom. But more than that – in wanting to be known as “Shepherd” He’s saying that He is risen to give you things, to feed and nourish and protect you in a specific way.

As the Chief Shepherd, He sends out “under-shepherds,” pastors, who are under Him, doing His work. “In order that we may obtain this faith” – the faith that you’re forgiven – He instituted “the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments” (AC 5:1). He provides not only the Word and Sacraments but pastors, undershepherds, to give out His grace.

He wants His sheep to follow them. What if the pastors do it poorly? What if it seems it’s going wrong, there aren’t great results? What if there are problems, and as Peter implies, it may start with them, they’re at fault?

Well, remember the words: shepherds are to serve “not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly, not being lords over them but examples to the flock.” These words – not coming to be served but serving, doing it eagerly, willingly; not lording it, not doing it by force – it’s a description of Jesus who came first and did it perfectly!

So the pastors who are filled with knowledge of their own failures, where do they go? They go to Jesus! Pastors need to confess their sins too. They need not only to ask the question, “Do you repent of your sins,” but also to answer along with you, “Yes, I do.” They need not only to ask, “Do you desire forgiveness in His name,” but also to answer along with you, “Yes, I do.” Shepherds need to hear the words of institution, need to receive Jesus’ body and blood for the remission of our sins. No less than anyone else!

This is where a faithful shepherd is leading: to the cross. God gives you a pastor to lead you there. Jesus is your Good Shepherd who sees how you stray and wander, what spiritual dangers you’re in, how you don’t always see your sins as you should and especially how you live uncomforted, not feeling forgiven, full of anxieties and fears, guilt and shame. He gives you a pastor who promises before God that He will always tell you the truth about your sins and will always tell you the truth of your Savior, and fully absolve you of sin through the Word, Baptism, and the Lord’s Supper.

The pastor does this even if he feels discouraged, if people don’t come as they should, and if he sees how he may have spoken or acted wrongly.

You need to see and know that your pastor – your shepherd – is also a sheep who has the same fears, struggles with sins, weakness of faith, loss of courage, being hurt by the devil and death … is in need of rest for his soul and peace in his conscience, and needs to see the Shepherd and hear again that he is Jesus’ little lamb too. Jesus takes His shepherds from the sheep.

His shepherds never stop being His weak, frightened little sheep who get all their strength and confidence from Him. This guards pastor and people from having unrealistic expectations. Jesus has us shepherds lead His sheep to the living waters that our sins drive us toward, and Jesus is there to feed all of us together, shepherds and sheep.

The “crown of glory” that He promises to pastors – the shepherds – is the same one He promises to the sheep. So Jesus, “the Chief Shepherd,” keeps pastors being shepherds under Him, keeps them feeding and protecting His sheep, keeps them leading His flock to the cross, to Jesus, to hear the voice of the Chief Shepherd, who laid down His life for the sheep, and who took it up again – rose from the dead – so that He lives and is here to care for all His blood-bought sheep (the under-shepherd too) through the words He tells the pastor to speak and the gifts He puts into his hands to give.

This marks us as His true flock, part of the one church, the one flock. You can say: “The Lord is my Shepherd, because His undershepherd leads me to Him and lets me – lets us all together – hear His voice.” We go together, you and I, in His flock, all the way to the heavenly pasture. Amen!