Impractical Christianity Part 5

The Call to Shepherd the Flock Under the Chief Shepherd

Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church. Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern Minnesota. We proclaim Christ and Him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone.

And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg. Our reading tonight.

Is taken from the last chapter, chapter 5 of the epistle of 1 Peter. 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.

Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you casting all of your anxieties on Him because He cares for you. Be sober minded, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.

Resist him firm in your faith knowing that the same kinds of sufferings are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while the God of all grace who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ will Himself restore, confirm, and strengthen and establish you.

To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen. By Silvanus, a faithful brother, as I regard him I have written briefly to you exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings and so does Mark my son. Greet one another with the kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. This is the word of the Lord.

Impractical Christianity and the Church Militant

In the name of Jesus. Chapter 5 of 1 Peter. I've named this series for our Lent, Impractical Christianity, because it just seems so relevant and completely out of touch with what the modern or post-modern, whichever modern you're looking at, church, really would be looking for from the church.

But the thing is that Biblical Christianity doesn't seem to be interested in scratching our itching ears and meeting our particular tastes and expectations. And you'll know once again here Peter is talking about, get this, suffering.

I feel like we've suffered our way through this epistle. And yes, we have. And that's kind of the point. Now to kind of frame this let's consider this thought. That Scripture teaches and we affirm that this side of Christ's return or our death, whichever comes first I always like to say it that way because you never know when Jesus is going to show up.

I still am a firm believer that it's going to be on a Thursday because no one's looking for him on Thursday. But that being the case, when Christ returns the church transforms from the church militant to the church triumphant.

And thinking of the church in militant terms, well, makes a lot of people nervous. Kind of evokes the crusades and things like that. Yeah, put all that away. Because you're going to note here that what Peter is describing sounds like us, well, getting clobbered during the blitzkrieg.

It really does. And when we think about it, you're going to note then that he is trying to get us Christian soldiers, because we're all part of this army of the church militant, to focus our eyes on the final end of the conflict.

And this is the same story that, well, soldiers have been telling for all human history. And we know about this if you've watched the Civil War series by Ken Burns or even the one about World War II or if you've even seen any movies about World War I, World War II, the Civil War, the Vietnam War, the Korean conflict, all of these things.

It kind of is a recurring theme. Some fellow from the middle of nowhere, kind of like Oslo, Minnesota, gets drafted into the army and sent halfway across the world to a place he's never even heard of, let alone they've never even heard of Oslo, Minnesota.

And this poor fellow every day has to get up, put his boots on, put his uniform on, has to clean his rifle, get everything ready for action, muster, and then receive the orders and go do the day's work.

And the day's work is awesome in a gruesome, horrible kind of way. They have to shoot and kill people, blow things up. The purpose of an army is to break and destroy things. And then when that day is over and he's lost some of his best buddies, they've died or been shot and wounded and had to be evacuated off the battlefield, he gets to his tent, eats whatever miserable food is presented to him, writes a letter home, and thinks and wishes that he were back in Oslo, Minnesota.

He heard that there was a flood this year and he wished he was here to help. And so he longs for coming home, getting his orders to go home. And so the next day he gets up and he repeats what he did the day before, and the day before, and the day before.

And it's always fascinating to me that you can track certain fellows, that history has shown us that there were guys who were there at the beginning of these wars who somehow fought in all the major battles and made it through to the end alive.

It's weird to think, but that's kind of the weird oddities of how it works in war. But think of it this way now. We are called daily to stand firm against an enemy that is described in the most fearful terms.

A dragon with ten heads. A lion who is seeking to devour us. We're talking about a completely irrational, rage filled, never stopping and willing to do whatever it takes to take Christians out kind of enemy.

And we battle this enemy whether you recognize it or not, day in and day out. And we are told to stand firm. To not yield our post. We are told to stand in our faith against this fearful enemy. And to wage war.

Standing Firm Against the Devil and the Church's Collapse

Now a little bit of a note here. The devil will never, and I mean this, be at peace with you unless you are willing to lay down your arms. And there's only one weapon that we have that's an offensive weapon.

If you read Ephesians 6. And that's the word of God. So those churches, we kind of sung about them today in our hymn. Listen to these words from our hymn. Built on the rock, the church shall stand even when steeples are falling.

Crumbled have spires in every land. Bells still are chiming and calling. This is a reality. This is not some abstract idea. How many churches can you point to where the light of the gospel has been extinguished?

And they are no longer calling sinners to repent and to be forgiven. They are no longer placarding the crucified and risen Jesus who has bled and died for our sins. And calling people to repent and to be forgiven and to be reconciled to God.

They've ceased to be churches. They barely administer the sacraments. Baptism? What's that? They've become more like country clubs than churches. You turn this church into a country club, the devil will leave you alone.

I promise. That's how that works. And so note here that Peter now is writing a letter to us soldiers in this conflict with a very real enemy and he's trying to get us to understand, listen, this battle is going to be ugly.

It's going to be brutal. It's going to be tough. And I promise you're going to suffer. You're not getting out of this conflict unscathed. But keep your eyes ahead. Christ has already conquered. He's already won.

Pastors as Under-Shepherds and the Call to Humility

And so he says this, I exhort the elders among you. And it's important to talk to elders. These are your pastors. I exhort the pastors among you. And he says, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, I love how the Apostle Peter considers himself even to be a pastor.

Kind of recalls when Peter was restored after he denied Christ three times. What did Jesus say to him? Feed my sheep. Feed my sheep. So the Apostle Peter doesn't hold out his apostle credential here. He pulls out his pastor credential.

He's still a shepherd. So as a fellow shepherd and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in, listen, in the glory that is going to be revealed, you pastors shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight.

Now that word oversight there is related to the word bishop, episkopos. And it is not talking about a domineering oversight. Think of it this way. A good close modern parallel to the word here for oversight would be like somebody who's given legal authority to care for somebody who's ill.

So you have the authority to care for somebody. That's the idea. Not under compulsion, but do so willingly as God would have you. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Not domineering over those in your charge.

No, serving them as a slave. But being examples to the flock. And then when the chief shepherd appears, and you'll note then that every pastor is an under-shepherd under the great shepherd Jesus. And even Peter himself was an under-shepherd.

Notice he doesn't play the Pope card. And there's a good reason for that too. But that's for another sermon. So when the chief shepherd then appears, and again note looking past all of the suffering, looking past the battles, looking past the persecution, looking past all of the danger.

When the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Now I have no idea what I would do with a crown of glory. I'm glad that the book of Revelation describes people who receive these types of crowns as casting them before the feet of Christ.

I would look silly in a crown. I like baseball caps, especially one that has the Brooklyn Dodgers logo blazoned on the top of it. That's a little bit more of my style. But yet it says that we will receive the unfading crown of glory.

And now he writes to everybody, likewise you who are younger, be subject to the elders. The fourth commandment talk there. And then clothe yourselves all of you. Every one of you. Clothe yourselves with humility.

Humility toward one another. Paul echoes the same sentiment when he tells us to not look to our own needs, but to consider others as better than ourselves. And then holds up the incarnate Christ, who though being by nature God did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he humbled himself and was found in the form of a slave, of a servant.

And was obedient even to death, even death on a cross. That same humility that Christ had, then we clothe ourselves with that humility. Think of it as the shirt and stuff that we wear under the armor.

So clothe yourselves with humility toward one another. Literally look at everybody in the congregation and say, you are better than me. You are better than me and I'm here to serve you. For God opposes the proud.

Oh, and yes he does. His pride is that thing that is the most like the devil. God opposes the proud. But he gives grace to the humble. And this is exactly what the gospel teaches us. The one who is proud says, oh, look at all the good things I've done, Lord.

Oh, man, aren't you proud of me? The humble says, Lord, have mercy on me. I'm a sinner. Be gracious to me, Lord. I have sinned grievously against heaven and against my brothers and sisters. Oh, miserable man that I am.

Who will save me from this body of death? Those are the words of the humble. The one who receives forgiveness and mercy and grace. And so you'll note that repentance towards God then flows in humility towards one another.

Not pride, not domineering, not slaps in the face, not abuse, but service and love, considering others better than ourselves. And all of this flows from the cross. So humble yourselves, therefore, he says.

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time, and it's not any time in this life, at the proper time he may exalt you. In the meantime, cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

Casting Anxieties on God, Resisting the Devil, and Awaiting Restoration

In this veil of tears, and that's what this life really is, a veil of tears. One thing we can count on is suffering, persecution, difficulty, attacks of the devil. And every time that happens, there's all kinds of anxiety that comes with that.

And God knows this. And Peter anticipates it. The battle's going to be brutal today. And when you wake up tomorrow, it's going to be worse. And in the midst of all of that, you are going to have those anxious moments and know that that's really what's going to happen.

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God. He will exalt you when the time comes. Take all of your anxieties and cast them on him. And that's what it means to have a God. To cry out to him, Lord, ruthless men have risen up against me.

Men who do not know you and know your ways. Whose mouths are full of lies. Whose tongues have been sharpened like swords. Lord, rescue me. That's what it means to cast your anxieties on him. Why should we do that?

Because he cares for you and he's proven this by sending Jesus to bleed and to die for all of your sins. You can never doubt God's great love for you because there it is on full display as Jesus is suspended between heaven and earth.

The very son of God bleeding and dying so that you can be forgiven and reconciled to God. Oh, he cares for you indeed. And that doesn't even do it justice to say it that way. And so because of all of this, be sober minded.

Be watchful. And here comes this part where people today would scoff. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Are you serious? Do you really believe there's a devil, Pastor Roseboro?

Yeah. It says so right here. I'm not authorized to say anything different than this. And if I were to say to you, you know we live in a 21st century world. I mean it's almost 2020. We could do away with this idea of a guy with a pitchfork and a red union suit swinging his tail and trying to tempt us on our left shoulder.

Nonsense. By the way, that's not a proper picture of the devil. That's just a cartoon. The devil is real. He really is truly real. And he really is our adversary and he is pursuing the church of Christ to devour her.

To destroy her. And if he can't get a hold of the whole church he'll do it one by one, pick us off one at a time. So what do you do in the face of such an adversary described like a roaring lion, pictured as a ten headed dragon?

What do you do with an adversary like that? Are you ready? Here's your marching orders. Resist him firm in your faith. Are you kidding me? Have you seen this lion? Have you seen this dragon? Yeah. Resist him.

Stand firm in your faith. That means continue to confidently believe that you are forgiven in Christ and that Jesus Christ has reconciled the world to himself not counting men's trespasses against him.

You keep telling people about Jesus. You resist the devil firm in your faith in Christ. And then knowing this, that the same kind of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

What kind of comfort is that? We're all suffering together? You've seen the movies, right? When the blitzkrieg starts and the Nazis roll through Belgium and into France and then you've got the British army on the beaches trying to figure out how to get off and the reports are coming from all lines across the Maginot line that the Nazis have run over this place.

They've destroyed that. That battalion's been blown off the face of the earth. People are fleeing and running. What are we supposed to do? That's kind of the state we find ourselves in right now. Don't worry.

Resist the devil. Others are suffering the same way we are. The reports are coming in from all over the world and this is what we're called to do. What kind of battle is this? It's Christ's battle. And we as the church militant have been called to suffer.

That comes all the way from the top. Okay. And then Peter says after you've suffered a little while. A little while? That seems to be nonstop. A little while? It's been going on for decades. Not getting any younger.

And after you've suffered a little while, the God of all grace, the one who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, he himself will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish you. Don't worry. You're not getting off this battlefield of life.

Stop acting like you're going to survive it. You're not. You're going to suffer. This is what you're called to do. And don't worry. When Jesus appears in glory to judge the living and the dead and he calls you from your grave, he will have you stand before the whole world and he will vindicate you.

He will restore you. He will confirm, strengthen and establish you in a new earth. In a world without end. In a world without sin. And I even read in scripture, there's not even going to be any weeds in the new earth.

Oh, would that there were weeds, I would muster my armies against them. The psalmist writes. Talking about the new earth. And so the idea here is this. We are called to fight for a kingdom and a king we have not seen.

And like the soldiers in every war who long to go home to get their paperwork that says your tour of duty is done, we're waiting to receive our papers telling us that our tour of duty is done. And it's because of this that those who go before us when they get their papers to go home, in some ways we can be jealous of them.

But the strange thing about it is that the fellow who finds himself fighting somewhere in the jungles Southeast Asia, he has a memory.

Of home. We don't.

I couldn't tell you the name of one street in the New Jerusalem. I'm assuming that one of them will be named after Jesus and it will probably be the main thoroughfare, but that's just a guess. I couldn't tell you what the gardens look like or the fountains.

Couldn't tell you which is the most spectacular of the buildings and which is the second. I couldn't tell you where people like to sit in the shade and drink coffee and talk together. I have no clue. I've never seen this home.

I've never been home and neither have you. And I've never seen the king who has given us these orders to fight and to suffer and to resist and stand firm. But he's real and there's a day coming when we will see him face to face and we will finally all get our papers saying that it's time for us.

Our tour of duty is over and it's time for us to go home. Arden's there waiting for us. So is your dad. So is your grandpa. How on earth am I supposed to live this Christianity? This is the Christianity that tells me well, to basically consider myself to be nothing.

My life to be nothing and Christ to be everything. To take up my cross. And those things are designed to make you suffer and follow this Jesus. Follow him to death and to the grave and also to the resurrection.

So to this Jesus, this king, to him be the dominion forever and ever. Impractical Christianity. Impractical indeed. If the religion you were looking for was one that gives you self glory. But practical.

If the one that you were looking for gives you eternal life as a gift. So let us repent of our unwillingness to be good soldiers and to resist the devil and to suffer for it. May God give us grace and forgive us of our selfishness.

Forgive us of our insubordination. Soldiers have been shot for less. And may he grant us the grace to join him in his sufferings to his glory until that day when his kingdom is revealed from heaven. And on that day he restores us, confirms us, strengthens and establishes us.

Until then, soldier up. Getting ready to march out. Got another fight to fight. It's going to be awful. Hope you're ready. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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