Image: "Humility", 2020, Hofskirkja Turf Church, Öræfi, Iceland, (Link) Photo credit: Dave Johanson
1 Peter 5:2–4 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion but willingly, not for dishonest gain but eagerly; 3 nor as being lords 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 does not fade away.
1 Peter 5:5–7 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” 6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
1 Peter 5:9–10 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
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Two main themes are readily apparent in these verses: the call to humility and the exhortation to resist.
Peter's readers are living at risk. They know it and he knows it. The world, under Satan's hidden reins (vs. 8), is always looking for an opening, an opportunity, to rip the little churches apart. This, as Peter well knew, is what it means to "embody Jesus" or "walk in His footsteps." The more Jesus and His message took root in ancient Palestine, the more enraged and jealous were His enemies. They were constantly watching Him, seeking to entrap Him, catch Him in an indiscretion. They feared Him because they could not control Him. They were terrified of Him because it was clear, by His teaching and example, that they should submit to Him. This was intolerable to them... as it always is intolerable to pride-soaked mankind and its aspirations for autonomy. Peter knew that the Church, as the continuing ministry of Jesus, was also the focus of Satan's continuing hatred.
So Peter called his first readers, even as he is calling us, to follow Jesus in dealing with this opposition. Right in the center of this chapter, signaling emphasis, we find Peter's exhortation to humility. He calls us to be "clothed with humility" (vs. 5) He began this verse speaking to the younger folks but he expands his scope to "all" in the requirement to be "submissive to one another." Then, after quoting Proverbs 3:34, he calls on us to "humble" ourselves "under the mighty hand of God." (vs. 6)
Here again, our thoughts are drawn to the comparison with Jesus. Did He not exhibit humble submission in the face of all His enemies? Did He not clearly see that, like Joseph, though those enemies meant their efforts for evil, yet God meant them for good? Did He not rebuke Peter himself for suggesting that God surely would not want Jesus to suffer? Peter points through the rolling battle drums of the enemy hordes bearing down on the little church and shows them the sovereign Hand of God in the background. This "mighty hand of God" (vs. 6) was supervising the course of history in general and the particular expressions of trials that the church must face. There was a necessity to it. As the Christ had to suffer unto the end of God's glory (vs. 10,11), so the suffering ahead of Christ's church was necessary also.
This is the core of Christian humility. It is the exact opposite of downcast defeatism and despair. Christian humility is the willing and even energetic embrace of God's purposes for our lives. It is always characterized by a certain acceptance that those purposes are hidden from our view. We don't know the "why" of our situation but we readily recognize the "what." God leads us to face perils, particularly those arrayed in the battle colors of the enemy, and calls on us to trust Him. There is no place here for self-pity. Christian humility understands the privilege we have been accorded. We have been called, along with untold thousands of other brothers and sisters across the world (vs. 9), to suffer... for a while... unto the end that we may be exalted in due time. (vs. 6)
Here is the apparent paradox. Willing submission to the hand of God in the face of enraged enemies is opposition to those evil men and the demonic powers behind them. It is God who is actually fighting and it is He who is resisting the proud. (vs. 5) He is not absent from the conflict but rather is present to give grace to the humble. He is not like a callous general throwing his soldiers into battle as so much "cannon fodder." Rather, He cares for us. (vs. 7) It is His intention to carry us through our struggles and then usher us into "eternal glory" after our short while of suffering, and, through those trials, perfect and establish us in His Kingdom and His blessing.
Christian humility is realizing and accepting that we are God's "pawns" if you will, to be used as He sees best, to attain His ultimate victory. However, unlike pawns in a chess game, our sacrifice does not mean we are removed from the board and cast aside. It means that, as would happen with a pawn advancing to the last row, we will be elevated to royalty as part of God's eternal family.
Christian humility is grounded in the conviction that "it doesn't get any better than this."
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