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” I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.” NIV

’I’ve written as urgently and accurately as I know how. This is God’s generous truth; embrace it with both arms!’’ The Message

Discipleship is incompatible with a casual approach to the Bible.

I am attracted to this idea of embracing the truth with both arms. To my mind this speaks of welcoming it, loving it, feeling it, valuing it, holding it.

Try, with God’s help, to make it your habit to not just skim-read your Bible, but to hold its truth tight, next to your heart.

One way to do this is to take the text of Scripture and turn it into prayer. In doing so you meditate, and meditation has been called, ‘The digestive system of the soul.’

Don’t settle for the superficial reading of a Bible passage in your quiet time. It needs to become a part of you.

PRAYER: Lord God, please forgive me for those times when I handle your Word carelessly. Let this change from this day on.

^“12 With the help of Silas,whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.” NIV

^‘’I’m sending this brief letter to you by Silas, a most dependable brother. I have the highest regard for him’’ The Message.

Dependable brothers and sisters: where would we be without them? They are the backbone of any and every congregation. Although some may be in the limelight, most are not, but they are faithful. They are reliable. They get work done and people served, whether it’s noticed or not, acknowledged or not, applauded or not. It doesn’t matter to them.

But there is an appropriate place for affirming and appreciating people, as Peter does here. Don’t wait for their funeral to say nice things about them. There are honouring words to be spoken now.

Reading this reminded me of two older men in the ‘Elim’ church in Lancaster, Nic and John. Both were in their 50’s, and they were wonderful supportive friends to a young, long-haired pastor in his early 20’s. I will always be thankful for their hospitality, lifts to and from church (when I had no car), and many words of encouragement. John took me back to his place for coffee every Sunday night after church. Nic and his wife, Jean, had me over for meals twice a week. They prayed and fasted with me Wednesday by Wednesday, and Nic even had his car insured so I could drive it from time to time. (So he wasn’t risk averse!). These men were absolute ‘bricks’ – so supportive. As long as I live and breathe I will not forget them and what they did, and who they were. They weren’t famous. If I hadn’t told you about them you probably wouldn’t know their names. But they were ‘’dependable’’ brothers. Such people have a lasting influence, and their work is always known to God.

PRAYER: Lord, whatever else you make me, please make me reliable.

^“8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.”

This entails just a little back-tracking, but I thought it would be good to read verses 8-11 in ‘The Message’

‘’Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.’’

 We have seen that the context for 1 Peter is suffering. The church to which Peter wrote was facing hard times. But there is a key message to hold on to in this paragraph. Here it is:

‘’The suffering won’t last forever.’’

 An old negro-spiritual says,

‘All my trials, Lord, soon be over.

Whether your suffering today comes with a capital ‘S’ or a small ‘s’ it is temporary. It may feel like forever while you have to endure it, but the dawn will come; the day will break, and the Son will blaze in all His splendour. We have been called to God’s ‘’eternal glory’’, and by His everlasting power we can prevail.

PRAYER: Lord, in any sufferings we undergo help us to keep our eyes on you, and fill our souls with an ever-growing hope.

^“7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” NIV

A friend told me about being in a session, on a week-end retreat, in which the facilitator encouraged the participants to pummel this text with questions such as these:

• If I’ve ‘’Cast’’ it, where is it?
• Do I still have it?
• Is it in my hand?

The philosopher, Soren Kierkegaard, wrote:

‘You are to cast all care away; if you do not cast all care away, you retain it and do not become absolutely joyful. And if you do not cast it absolutely upon God, but in some other direction, you are not absolutely rid of it.’

Tom Hale says, ‘We may not be able to get rid of our trials and troubles, but we can get rid of our anxiety. We can give our anxiety to God (Psalm 55:22).’ ‘The Applied New Testament Commentary’, p.921.

‘God is linked to your little life by his tender regard and care for you.’ F.B.Meyer: ‘Devotional Commentary’, p.617.

‘’Cast your cares on the Lord
    and he will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken’’ (Psalm 55:22)

^“6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” NIV

I had just finished writing yesterday’s note about the need to be intentional re humility, when someone sent me this quote from Dallas Willard:

‘Grace is opposed to earning, but not to effort’.

Some effort is involved in putting on clothes!

In my view, today’s verse parallels Philippians 2:1-11. We see there this principle at work. Jesus humbled Himself ‘’under God’s mighty hand’’ and, ‘’in due time’’ He was exalted. This is what I refer to as ‘God’s law of gravity’: Whatever goes down must come up!

‘’Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus…he humbled himself…’’ (Philippians 2:5,8).

⁵ In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because,

I love the idea of being ‘clothed’ with humility – indeed, of clothing yourself with humility. Here is something you and I have to do quite deliberately and intentionally .

Day by day, I don’t find my clothes automatically on me. I have to choose what I’m going to wear: decide what is appropriate for the day, the occasion, the weather, and so on. By a definite action I put my clothes on.

Similarly, every day of our lives, we must choose to don this beautiful garment of humility. We don’t find that we put it on just once and that’s it. Job done! Far from it, pride is constantly rearing its ugly head. It’s a continual fight to stay humble.

Paul, in passages such as Colossians 3:5ff shows that there is dirty clothing we must remove, and clean clothing we are to put on. This includes the robe of humility (Col.3:12). In Christ we have a whole new wardrobe to wear.

Peter, in this verse, gives a very good reason to choose humility. He quotes from Proverbs 3:34. A friend of mine would often refer to this verse and say he didn’t want to be a proud man because God makes a formidable opponent.

PRAYER: Lord, I realise that I will have to choose humility again and again. Please help me to do so, for I know that if you command it, you will enable it.

^“5 In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility towards one another, because,

I remember hearing about a young man who said, ‘When I was 18, I didn’t think my father knew very much, but now that I’m in my 20’s I’m amazed how much he’s learned in the last few years!!’

It is often a characteristic of younger people to think they know better than the older generation.

When my dad talked about how he remembered me in my teenage years, he would paint me as quite a radical, summing up the story by saying that I wanted to throw out the TV! Whether I did have that ambition I can’t remember, but like most teenagers, I did have strong opinions – especially about what it meant to be a fully committed Christian. I didn’t have any time for what I perceived as lukewarmness.

We have to recognise that younger people may know better than the older generation in some areas, and we need the humility that will listen to their opinions and insights; we should open ourselves up to the stab of their probing questions. It’s important to note that Peter goes on to say:

‘’All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another…’’

 The church is a family in which we all need to listen to one another and learn from each other – young and old alike.

PRAYER: Lord God, whatever our age, may we be blessed with the humility that listens to and learns from the other’s viewpoint.

“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.” NIV

It has often been said that leaders face major temptations in three areas – money, sex and power. These are not the only ‘fences’ at which pastors have regularly fallen, but they have repeatedly proven problematic.

Two of them are dealt with by Peter. Notice:

‘’…not greedy for money’’ (2); and

‘’…not lording it over those entrusted to you…’’

If God has ‘’entrusted’’ a group of people to us, they are not ours but His. He is their Lord; we are not their lords. We have a role to play in encouraging them to live under the Lordship of Jesus, but we are not to try to dominate or control God’s people.

John Maxwell has said, ‘Leadership is influence.’ It is not primarily about status, position, fame and popularity. The influence may be with just a few, or it may be with many. That is ultimately God’s decision. But nothing can magnify or diminish a person’s influence like ‘example’. Who can estimate the real power of a godly example? Who can calculate the havoc wreaked by a bad one?

To sum up, elders are called to recognise that they are under-shepherds. Jesus is ‘’that great Shepherd of the sheep’’ (Hebrews 13:20). The church is His possession. He bought it with His own blood. He is ‘’the Chief Shepherd’’ (4), and our primary motive must be to please Him.

^“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;”NIV

Wrapped up in these two words ‘’God’s flock’’ you have both the awe-ful responsibility and immense privilege of eldership. As we spend some days looking at these words about elders in 1 Peter, whatever else you may feel moved to do, please spend time lifting the elders of your church to God in prayer. Although they carry a burden, ask God that they will feel the delight of service; that they will be enthusiastic in their giving and caring. May they not be like people trudging heavily through a wet, muddy field in their wellies, but may they have a lightness in their step. Let it not be a case of begrudging duty.

‘’God’s flock’’

 I ‘just happened’ to read these words from Zechariah 10 this morning:

‘’The idols speak deceit, dividers see visions that lie; they tell dreams that are false, they give comfort in vain. Therefore the people wander like sheep oppressed for lack of a shepherd. My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the LORD Almighty will care for his flock, the house of Judah…’’ (2-3)

‘’his flock’’

 Don’t mess with ‘’his flock.’’

 In Paul’s farewell to the Ephesian elders, he said these wonderful words:

‘’Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood’’ (Acts 20:28).

So, pray for all in leadership in the church, that they may give and not count the cost, fight and not heed the wound, labour and not ask for any reward save that of knowing that they do God’s will.