Devotions—I Peter
I Peter 5:1-5
To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s almighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.
Sometime ago I was sitting in my favorite coffee shop reading, studying and lost in a literal sea of my own mind. There was a lady sitting on a bench outside by herself. She was an average looking woman, doing nothing all, and she seemed…well…she seemed sad. I watched her for a while as she was in my view and I wondered about her life.
Out of nowhere a young man walked by, he too not what the world would hold up as lovely, his hair large and a mess, his clothes a bit disheveled, and he stopped in front of the woman and handed her a beautiful flower. He smiled and his lips said, “Here, this is for you.” And he continued on his way. The woman feigned a smile as the young man bounced away. She looked at her gift for a few moments wondering, I surmised, what it was and why it was given to her and she sat down.
Over the next hour she picked it up a number of times and smelled it and looked longingly into nowhere. How was I to measure, how was I to understand what I had witnessed? What did it mean to the young man, what did it mean to the woman on the bench? Was this kindness or pity? Was it a selfless act, was her heart moved, did it make her happy, or perhaps sadden her all the more? Did he come back later? Did she want him to?
There are many things that are hard to describe, hard to measure or understand, things we take for granted because the word, phrase or sentiment is so common. Have you ever tried to explain to someone the smell of a rose? Or have you ever tried to describe a blazing red sunset? How do you measure love or explain the feelings of a broken heart or the pain of lost hope?
If I were to ask you what the truest Christian virtue is, the quality that epitomizes the Christian life would you agree with St. Augustine that the three cardinal virtues of the Christian are, “humility, humility, humility?” Well, how do you measure humility? What is it, and can you tell just by looking or does it go deeper than that? How do we understand this virtue?
It is easy for a man to claim humility, of course once he makes his boast, perhaps he loses what he boasted of having. But even if one believes himself or herself to be humble before God, how does anyone know if it is real or true? Is humility simply the doing of random acts of kindness that cost us very little or nothing? Is humility defined by doing those things that others do not want to do? Or have we Christians contented ourselves that everyone is proud, everyone lacks humility to varying degrees, and so it is just a waste of time to spend all that much energy discussing it?
How easy is it for you to blame something on your pride and quip, ‘well I am just proud’, which is among other things an admission of a lack of humility, but then do absolutely nothing about the pride you just confessed? Think about it, if the reason we do something or will not do something is because we are not humble enough, because we are too proud, should we not take action against that pride and toward the cultivation of humility? But isn’t it true we seldom do? Would we ever say such things about other sin? ‘Oh well, I’m just a thief. Oh well, I’m just an adulterer.” Probably not.
Our text is about humility, the humility of the Christian life the humility of elders and those who lead as examples of humility for the Church of Christ. And although Peter never really tells us how to be humble except in broad categories, he does tell us that we should be. He begins with an instruction to elders, to those who are leaders in the church they are to be examples of humility, but how do you measure an example?
Remember, in the context Peter has spoken of trials and persecutions and how we are to see all our circumstances as a stage upon which to live the Christian life of faith. We are amazed at the grace of God to sinners but we are not surprised by the extreme hostility this creates in the world. Rather we are to see all trial and all persecution as an opportunity for us to stand with Jesus, to identify with our Savior and to find joy in the midst of it all!
The apostle now takes a moment to address those who are to set an example for the church in the midst of all this mess. In a book I read some time ago one of the characters says to another, “Nobody who is successful gambles, rather they work hard and accept the fact of reality, they enjoy life as it is.” To which the other responded, “But the facts of reality stink.” The wise friend responds, “Reality is like fine wine; it will not appeal to children.”
The elders of the church are not to be children rather they are to understand life, they are to know the gospel and to live it before the church is verse three says. Then in verse five Peter calls the church to this same way of life, the same understanding of the life of humility. He says, likewise you younger people submit yourself to the elders and then he calls everyone to be submissive to one another and to be closed with humility.
So, we begin with the officers of the church, we begin with the elders, but only as examples and leaders in the life of faith. As we prepare to look into this more deeply, it would be good for us to take stock of our own lives. Do we understand the life of humility? Is humility something that we think we can go and do and then return to our normal way of life? What does it mean to be clothed with humility? If someone praises us for our humility can we then call it humility?
CS Lewis wrote: “Do not imagine that if you met a really humble man, he will be what most people call humble nowadays; he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person, who is always telling you that, of course, he is nobody. Probably all you will think about him, (this truly humble fellow) is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him…He will not be thinking about humility; he will not be thinking about himself at all.”
Prayer: Father give me a spirit ‘content to fill a little space’ if it glorifies your name. Help me to seek nothing that puffs me up or thinks to exalt myself above others. May the mind of Christ be in me, that I would take the lowest rung and seek to draw attention only to Christ while wanting to serve my brothers and sisters. Birth, nurture and bring to maturity a godly humility in my mind, heart and life, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Hymn: O Sacred Head Now Wounded