Pastor Dan Eddy
1
Peter 5:6-11
Graduation Advice
6-5-11
I.
Introduction. What happened to the fire?
Years ago, my
first job after graduating from college was working as a broadcast engineer for
Channel 17 in
In particular, I remember
one hectic and stressful 5 o’clock newscast. A propane gas leak was threatening
an area of
It was the top of
the newscast. The anchor was setting up the story and just moments before we
went to the live shot...the flames, shooting all over the place, suddenly
stopped. And I will never forget the
disappointed producer in the control room yelling, “What happened to the fire?” And the director turning around and
saying, “Well isn’t that a good thing?”
The producer was
so caught up in a chance to advance his career covering a potentially dangerous
situation that he could no longer see the forest from the trees.
Sometimes our
jobs, careers, and schooling can consume us. When we allow that to happen then
we get a very dangerous and distorted view of life and our faith in Christ.
This morning I
would like to speak to our graduates about the potential life ahead for them.
This text from 1 Peter, although not necessarily written for new graduates of
high school or college, does give us a proper perspective on how to live the
many vocations God calls us to in life. And the truths this text teaches can be
beneficial for all of us.
II.
Context of 1 Peter 5
First of all this
particular concluding chapter of first Peter was written to advise and warn
pastors. Then the Apostle extends his Holy Spirit inspired advice to young
people.
Peter was facing
a new church that was maybe 20-30 years old. There were lots of new converts
living in a mostly unbelieving world…facing opposition, oppression, and suffering
from the world around them, because of their faith in Christ.
Peter was
attempting to offer meaning for their lives so they could put their challenges
into perspective.
III.
Vocation is about more than about occupation
So the first
application of this text is to learn that our occupations are not our only
vocations in life.
In verse 10,
Peter reiterates that “the God of all grace” “has called you to his eternal
glory in Christ.” He first called you at your baptism to be His child, where He
gave you faith. That’s the first way He is glorified.
Then He called to
you a life a service as ways to thank Him for saving your life from Hell…for
giving you eternal life…for forgiving all your sins.
The way you show
that is He calls you into various vocations in life: child, sibling, student,
athlete, parent, spouse, community volunteer, church member, and, yes, your
occupation.
But never
anywhere in Scripture is occupation held higher than the other callings in
life.
We can tend to
think that the vocation of occupation is more important…because it provides
income to the household, opportunity for advancement, and a source of
accomplishment. But when that consumes our lives it affects our other vocations.
We’re not as good of a child, not a dedicated of a parent, not as loving of a spouse,
not as loyal of a church member, or not as great of a community volunteer. This
is because our occupation becomes all about us, and not about serving others
through the other vocations God is calling us to.
Even being a
pastor is not a higher calling, because all our callings in life are all vocations
that serve the one Lord God.
Jesus Himself as
God incarnate served His Heavenly Father to His glory as a child to His mother
Mary and His foster father Joseph. Jesus was a brother to 3-6 half siblings,
and as a carpenter. These were vocations Jesus was called to long before He
started His earthly ministry as Your Messiah. Even while dying on the cross He
didn’t stop being Mary’s son as He asked John the Apostle to take care of her.
IV.
Attitude of our life in Christ is humility
Second, vocations
in life come with many challenges and therefore call us to be humble as verse 6
states.
Pride is a major
challenge to our vocations. We can be proud of our work at home and on the job.
That in and of itself is not bad until we think of our vocations as better than
someone else’s.
The more pride we
have, the less our Lord is in the picture, the less love we have for others.
The less credit the Lord gets for our accomplishments, the less we call on Him
when troubles arrive.
When it comes to
vocations, the less God is in the picture, the more frustrating life will be. The
more proud we are with our vocations, the more control we want, the less
satisfaction we will receive, the less gratitude we will have, the less we
enjoy God’s blessings.
That’s why in
verse 6 Peter is encouraging a humble attitude, so that your head doesn’t get
big and blotted. So you don’t think life is all about you.
How many times do
you hear people justify their prideful actions? They may say, “He was nasty to me so that’s why I was
nasty to him” “She’s not doing her job right, unlike me.” “He’s incompetent.” Are
those statements of a proud or humble person?
There’s a purpose to being humble…so
you can see the mighty Hand of God delivering you from the challenges you face
in life. Otherwise, you might think you did it all by yourself.
Look
at what the Heavenly Father did to His Son at the Cross for you and me. Jesus
was humble there as He suffered and slowly died over a six hour period. And He
didn’t need to be humbled; He was perfect. And yet from the grave God’s mighty
Hand exalted His Son when He brought Him back to life in the flesh, and you are
the beneficiary of that exaltation.
When
we face challenges in life…humility open us up to seeing God’s mighty Hand helping
us at just the right time…God’s timing.
One
of the three internships I served while in college went really badly. I worked
for a television station in
V.
The benefit of humility and danger of not
being humble.
Paul warns us in
this text that Satan is out there to convince you God has nothing to do with
vocations, careers, or service. And do you know one of the biggest traps we
face toward falling away from our faith in Christ? It’s not knowing the
difference between being a perfectionist, being perfect, and doing excellent
work.
Perfectionists
think they do perfect things. But how many of us who are perfectionists or know
perfectionists consider them or us perfect.
Perfectionists think they do things well but they only do 1 or 2 things
really well and somehow ignore other important areas. They major in minors.
For example
someone may be the “perfect” dresser, but have the messiest room at their home.
Someone may be an outstanding musician but act like a jerk to their fellow
musicians. Perfectionism is all about me, myself and I, (the unholy trinity) and
not about abiding by God’s will for our lives.
You and I will
never act perfectly this side of Heaven, because we are all sinners, born into
sin, and commit sins. We are perfect in the sense that Christ is in us. He is
perfect and that is how God sees us, but it’s not based on our works. We will
make mistakes, even when we try not to. But, God’s grace covers over those
imperfections.
So that means
when we serve we do excellent work, focusing on other’s needs not our own,
doing good work for God’s glory, not our own.
Otherwise Satan robs
us of serving with joy, because service becomes all about “me.” Not about serving God by loving others.
One of the last
classes I took at the seminary before coming here four years ago was a class
called “Congregational Dynamics.” It
was a course designed to take all the rich theology we had learn and lovingly
apply it as pastor serving our first congregation. One of the assignments was
to prepare a detailed transition paper on how we were going to finish our lives
as students and begin our lives as pastors.
I will never
forget in one of our class discussions raising my hand and saying “But what if I make a mistake as a pastor?”
I thought the usually very nice Professor Bruce Hartung was going to reach down
take off his shoe and fling it across the room at me. Quite annoyed, he said. “It’s not if you’re going to make a
mistake…it’s how do you handle yourself when you make mistakes.”
(Notice the emphasis on the plural.)
He was teaching
me what Peter is teaching us here; First, we cast our anxieties, our mistakes,
our imperfections onto Jesus…in prayer. Prayer can be quite humbling when we
face challenges and are suffering. Having someone pray with you can be even
more humbling.
I’ve seen it
first hand here on many Thursday nights during our prayer services. Many, including
me, have walked away humbled after 45 minutes to an hour of prayer. But in that
humility, God picks us up, dusts us off by forgiving us, and puts us back on
track again.
God cares for you. To make sure you know
that…make sure you have a good rear view mirror. I’m not talking about the one
on your car. I’m talking about the one in your head.
In other words have a good memory…to
see all the times the Lord has and will bring you through troubles you have and
will experience in life. That means being in worship often where it’s humbling
to know that God does more favors for you in one hour of worship than you and I
can ever do for Him in a lifetime of service.
VI. Being watchful
In addition to
remembering that vocation is more than our occupations, and to possess a humble
attitude…there’s one final piece of advice this text is teaching and that is to
“watch out.”
Believers
in Christ are to be clear headed and observant…because the Devil is continually
looking for trouble. He wants to devour your faith. But as long as Christ is in
your heart by not rejecting Him, you are protected even when things in life
look dire.
When
I was at the seminary with only a few months notice we were told that there was
going to be a massive increase in summer tuition. My wife and I wondered where
were we going to come up with $1500-$2000 dollars. Our home congregation was
tapped out. We were tapped out. This is the stuff that causes seminarians to
leave, never to return. It’s kind of stuff that cause them to fall away from
the faith.
So
we prayed about it, made our needs known, and, out of the blue, another
congregation un-expectantly helped out. Then the next year when medical bills
were piling up in our household and another tuition increase came, my wife and
I again prayed. We made our needs known, and support started coming in from
individuals, just enough to help defray the costs and keep us humble.
It
was a lesson in resisting the Devil and standing firm in the faith that no
seminary class could ever teach.
Through
those experiences and others we learned from this text and from life that (1) all
suffering is temporary, and (2) many others believers in Christ were facing
similar problems (3) God’s
love in Christ Jesus is always there…even if we don’t see it. And, with the
Lord, always is forever.
VI.
Conclusion
One of my professors at the seminary, Dr
Jeffrey Gibbs described our vocations this way: “Christians
are [not] to live their lives in ordinary ways, that is, in the same
ways that non-Christians do. Jesus’ disciples (that’s you and me) are called to
be extraordinary husbands and wives, remarkable neighbors and
employees, powerful friends and citizens.”
Don’t believe in
yourself. Believe in the God you re-made yourself at your baptism, who is
making you His more and more.
God’s blessings
on your graduation…and God’s blessing to all of you to serve with joy in the
many vocations of life: restored,
confirmed and strengthen by and through faith in Christ Jesus alone. Amen.