You (Still) Need a Pastor • 1 Peter 5:1-4

43:09 Teaching begins

Notes

This is part two of a series called, You need a pastor.

A pastor is God’s gift to you to help you, teach you, and enable you to obtain the eternal glory that God has for you.

He does this by feeding people the word of God and watching out for them to protect them. That’s where we started.

Now we look at how a pastor feeds and how he watches out.

1. A pastor shepherds a little flock of God.

A. The word for “flock” is a diminutive, a word indicating a small size. That’s interesting, because we get the impression that if a pastor is any good he has a large church. Big equals success. But here is Peter saying take care of God’s little flock. He’s really assuming there aren’t that many people.

B. Though there is a small number of people, they are not insignificant. They are the flock of God.

1. They are God’s, not the pastor’s. There is no split, with God gets three and the pastor gets one. They are all God’s.

2. Each person is valuable beyond price. Each one was redeemed, not with gold, but with the precious blood of Christ. Each one of you who trusts in Jesus is more valuable to Him than His own life.

3. Since that is true, each person has to know that. They are not rejects or discarded. Jesus saw the multitude as sheep without a shepherd, weary, distressed, like they were rejected. He does not reject the sheep. He says, come to Me, you who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. They are the beloved of God, precious to Him.

4. A pastor cannot regard anyone as expendable. You can’t lose one of them. They belong to God. What are you going to say to Him? Oops? No skin off my nose? That is never going to fly.

C. A shepherd can only take care of so many people. If a church does grow bigger it means there has to be more pastors so that each one can feed and watch over a little flock of their own, so to speak.

2. A pastor is among his sheep. That is, a pastor is one of the sheep.

A. A pastor needs to have a relationship with his people. You cannot pastor from afar. He needs to know them so he can help them and pray for them. He takes those burdens off them and loads them onto Jesus, because a pastor can’t even carry his own burden! Did you know that? But Jesus can carry each one of us. So a pastor needs to be among the people.

B. But the people need a relationship with the pastor as well. You need to see that the pastor is just a guy. He’s not perfect. He can be a real klonk, actually, and you wonder, how did this guy get to be a pastor, because you know that a pastor has to be blameless! This guy is not perfect, but he is getting saved.

1. People get offended when a pastor is human and makes mistakes. How dare he? I’m not paying for a stupid pastor who fumbles and messes up! Remember that a pastor is also a sheep of God. He was redeemed with the same blood of Christ and is valuable beyond price, just like you. He is worth more than you think he is.

2. On one hand a pastor has a specialised calling to feed and watch over the people but on the other hand he is no different than they are. He was not immaculately conceived and born sinless. He doesn’t have super powers that nobody else has. He is a guy just like everyone else.

3. The difference is that he is called to take his relationship with Jesus extremely seriously. He is to take his Bible extremely seriously and apply it to himself. That’s why Paul exhorts Timothy, you therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. You are to be an example of God’s patience, of God’s faithfulness to save anyone who comes to Jesus. Whoever comes to Me I will in no way cast out. Well, that means the pastor! That means you, too.

4. As a pastor is among his people they can see him up close. Because he is so focused on God’s grace, everyone who watches him begins to take it seriously for themselves. They start tuning in to Jesus and getting what they need from Him because they watch their pastor do it. And if he can do it, I can do it too. It’s valuable to see a guy who is imperfect get saved.

C. So you don’t put a pastor up on a pedestal to worship him, and you don’t despise him. Just treat him like one of the guys and love him like you love yourself.

3. How does a pastor lead and use authority?

A. Exercising oversight is the word from which we get the English “episcopal” which translates to “bishop”. It means watching over. Peter is not saying, be a powerful executive, he’s saying this is how a pastor is to watch over the church.

B. He says do it, not by compulsion, but willingly.

1. Compulsion is where you are forced to do a certain thing against your will, you don’t have a choice.

2. Now, God does come to you and call you with authority. You don’t call yourself to be a pastor. He calls you and He gives you to the church.

3. Yet you do this willingly. Jesus called Peter: “Do you love Me? Feed My sheep.” Did Peter feel adequate, sufficient, like he would do a great job? He felt a total failure. He’d denied Jesus three times. You want me to work for You? Well, do you love Me? Jesus! What do I do? People feel like, I can’t be a pastor because I’m not blameless. But what does blameless mean? Never sinned since becoming a Christian? Where is the grace in that? What does “blameless” mean?

4. Deuteronomy 18:10-15 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things is detestable to the LORD; and because of these detestable things the LORD your God will drive them out before you. You shall be blameless before the LORD your God. For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the LORD your God has not allowed you to do so. The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.” Blameless is the direction of your life. Are you listening to Jesus or are you listening to the gods of this world?

5. Blameless means you are listening to Jesus and you are willing to do anything for Jesus. You are willing to be empowered and equipped to do the job. Willing that God be glorified in your life. And whatever He calls you to do, you do it, because the will of God is good, acceptable and perfect.

6. You as a pastor embody that willingness so that everyone can see it and know, that’s what you do. “I’m not sufficient, I’ll never be ready to serve God, but my pastor isn’t sufficient either, and he’s not letting that stop him. So I will say, “Here I am, Lord, what would You have me do?”

7. It is a privilege to serve the Lord Jesus. It is the very attitude of Jesus: I delight to do Your will, O My God, Psalm 40:8.

C. Not for sordid gain but with eagerness.

1. Sordid gain is not only money, but gaining recognition, fame, prominence for being a good teacher. Using the ministry to serve one’s personal interests.

2. One well-known pastor used church money for agents to buy his book so that he would get on the New York Times Bestseller list. Then he could put “New York Times Bestselling author” on all his books and they would all sell, and they did. But then someone went into the warehouse for the church and found all these books. He was well-known and he was influential and dynamic. And when he was discovered, all his books were pulled from the biggest retailer in the U.S. Within six months all the churches in his movement all ceased to exist. People who followed him were devastated.

3. Instead you have enthusiastic desire and interest for God’s sake. It’s God’s call to serve, it’s His little flock, you are not asking what can I get out of this, you are asking what can God get out of this? It’s about God’s glory, God’s fame, His benefit.

4. This is the attitude of Jesus. Zeal for Your house has consumed Me. Peter watched Jesus serve the Father in disregard of His own life. Pastor like that, says Peter.

D. Nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

1. Jesus’ disciples had a natural tendency to lord it over each other and to scheme for the best positions. Why not? Here’s the Messiah! We’re on the ground floor of the kingdom of God! Lord, please let us sit on Your right hand and on Your left when You come into Your kingdom! What an opportunity to have others serve us and make our lives better!

2. Matthew 20:25-28 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those who are great exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but whoever desires to become great among you, let him be your servant. And whoever desires to be first among you, let him be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”

3. Jesus was first among them all, no dispute there. And He washed their feet, the job of a slave. He washed Peter’s feet. And Jesus said, I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done.

4. Serve the flock, make their lives better. Embody what Jesus spoke, that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

E. The point is that you are becoming an example to the flock that they can safely follow. It’s a steady growth in teaching, watching over, serving willingly. A pastor shows by the example of his life that serving Jesus willingly is the way you inherit eternal glory.

4. The reward of a pastor is glory.

A. In helping people get to glory, a pastor will also receive the crown of glory. Thinking about others and helping others is our glory. That’s what all Christians everywhere should be thinking.

B. The pastor is going to make it because the pastor himself has a Shepherd. Almighty God became one of the guys, lived among His people, fed and watched over the flock of God, willingly, eagerly, being an example to the flock.

C. The Chief Shepherd suffered and entered into His glory. That’s the promise that we will also suffer and enter into His glory.

5. So what?

A. You need a pastor. God says so. It’s His plan for you and for the church. Do you have a pastor? Does he know you? Do you know him?

B. You need a good pastor like Peter, like Paul, like Jesus, who will lay down his life for the flock. Not a bad pastor who makes the flock lay down their lives for him.

C. Now that you know what a good pastor should be like you can pray for the one you already have, that he would grow to be a better shepherd. The better he gets, the better you get.

D. We can also pray for more pastors so that more people can follow Jesus. That might be some of you. But what of it? It is a great privilege to serve Jesus. You do not need to be perfect, you need to be blameless, listening to Jesus, willing to be empowered and equipped, willing to serve Jesus.

Let’s pray.