Life in the Community of Faith (Standalone)

It is a joy to be with you this morning.

By way of brief introduction: I have six children — three teenagers and three toddlers. Please pray for me. We’ve been blessed to live here in Waverly since 2018, and I bring greetings to you from my home church over in Cedar Falls.

We are co-heirs together in an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us. Your sister churches and believers around the world share that commonality with us. That’s exactly how Peter opens his letter to the churches in Asia — and it’s a reality we sometimes forget. I hope today’s message helps us remember it.

The Passage

We’re in 1 Peter 5:5–11.

Peter writes that those who are younger should be subject to the elders, and that all of us should clothe ourselves with humility toward one another — because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. So we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, that at the proper time he may exalt us, casting all our anxieties on him because he cares for us.

Then: be sober-minded and watchful, because our adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by our brotherhood throughout the world.

And after we have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. To him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

A Different Kind of Independence Day

Today is Independence Day. It’s a genuine occasion — we celebrate this country’s independence from a past tyrannical hold, and we celebrate the freedoms that came with it.

But I’d like to shift the perspective slightly, to help us see some glorious truths from Scripture that run in a different direction.

The theme of the whole book of 1 Peter is standing firm in God’s grace, and what that looks like in community. That message runs implicitly through the entire letter — and here at the end, Peter states it explicitly. This passage is the second of two bookends. At the beginning of his letter, Peter says the same thing: we are one in Christ, together in this struggle, traveling together toward a righteous life and a life of community in Christ.

So this is Peter’s final encouragement to a set of young church plants in Asia Minor. Anyone familiar with a church plant knows encouragement is sometimes needed. Peter wants you to be encouraged today.

We’re going to work through two questions. First: what do we do? Then: what does God do?

What We Do, Part One: Humble Yourselves

Verse 5 tells us that humility toward one another is meant to be our default mode.

And notice this isn’t merely a command for those under leadership to be humble toward the elders. It runs the other direction too — leaders are to be humble with the body. We are all to be humble with one another, horizontally and vertically.

What’s the opposite of humble? Prideful. And God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

So the command is that all of us humble ourselves. And then we’re given the manner: going low, submitting to one another. But not only to one another — to God as well. It only stands to reason. If we’re to be humble toward each other, what should our posture be toward the Creator of the universe?

Peter has just spent four and a half chapters explaining that in the midst of suffering we shouldn’t be afraid but should have faith — believing that God is who he says he is, because our God is strong. And here we’re told to clothe ourselves with humility, making it part of who we are, precisely because our strong God will protect us with his mighty hand.

That Phrase: “The Mighty Hand of God”

I love that description. You don’t often see it in the New Testament, but in the Old Testament it appears again and again, almost always describing the hand of the Lord in connection with the exodus: this is how the Lord will bring you out of Egypt — with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm.

That capable, mighty hand brought a million-plus people out of Egypt and sustained them through the wilderness. If he was able and willing to do that for Israel, is he not able and willing to do it for us?

Think about what a humble position actually looks like. It looks like kneeling. Why do you suppose a man gets down on one knee when he asks a woman to marry him? It’s humility. It says: I’m letting you have your way here. I’m trusting you. Will you?

The Carrot on the End of the Stick

Now, why? Why do we need to clothe ourselves with humility?

I think of this as the carrot. Kids, do your parents ever do this — hold something out as an enticement to get you moving? Pick up your toys and you can have a snack. Finish your homework and you can use the car.

The carrot on the string is what gets the stubborn donkey moving forward — and let the reader understand, I am a stubborn person. This is a relatable concept for me. Sometimes I need a compulsion to help me do the right thing.

We usually think of compulsion in negative terms: clean your room, or else. Finish your homework, or you’re not going anywhere this weekend. The Puritan John Owen put it memorably: be killing sin, or sin will be killing you. That’s compulsion aimed at avoiding death. Sometimes we have to drag ourselves away from temptation kicking and screaming.

But in verse 6, humility comes with a genuine incentive. Peter says: humble yourself in order that, at the proper time, God will exalt you.

And unlike the carrot on the string, our God doesn’t keep it dangling out of reach. He actually gives it to us.

When Is “the Proper Time”?

This is not an encouragement to expect exaltation tomorrow. It isn’t a promise that if you humble yourself this week God will elevate you next week.

He’s pointing to the end. This is a pointer to eternity — a much bigger matter than tomorrow or next week. That perspective matters enormously. When Christ’s glory is fully revealed, we will be exalted.

The foreshadowing of God’s glory in Christ is the down payment. God is saying: watch what I do with Christ. I am going to exalt him as proof that I can exalt you too. If he can do it with the greatest treasure, he can do it with lesser ones. God exalted Christ in the resurrection. He will exalt us in the end.

The Wedding Feast

Jesus taught the same thing in Luke 14, in a parable he told after noticing how guests at a wedding feast chose the places of honor.

He said: when you’re invited to a wedding feast, don’t take the place of honor — because someone more distinguished may have been invited, and the host will come and ask you to give up your seat, and you’ll take the lowest place in humiliation. Instead, take the lowest place, so that when your host arrives he says, Friend, move up higher — and then you’ll be honored in the presence of everyone at the table.

And then the line that ties it together: everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

I got to see this firsthand a couple of months ago. My oldest daughter got married, and my dad came to help me with some logistics. I’d rented a sound system, and he’s an expert at those things, so I invited him along to get everything running.

We got it all set up, and when the wedding began he assumed he’d be running sound.

I said, “Dad, no. I have a much better place for you. You’re the grandfather of the bride. There’s a seat of honor up front, where you don’t run anything — you just get to witness this.”

Humility Is Going to Happen Either Way

Jesus used that parable to expose what pridefulness looks like — and that kind of pride sneaks up and catches us off guard.

Listen again to his conclusion: everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.

Which means humility is going to happen. Either we do it to ourselves, or it gets done to us. Actively, or upon us.

Those who are haughty speak highly of themselves. They don’t consider others. They’re selfish, vain, self-important — and every one of them will be brought low, against their will. Their will is to stand up against God in pride.

We were watching one of those obstacle course competition shows the other day. You know the format — enthusiastic contestants trying to cross a massive course, already covered in mud, attempting to leap across a row of giant balls. I’ve never actually seen anyone make it. They fall between the first and second and get bounced around like a rag doll before landing in more mud.

There’s one obstacle they sometimes use: an enormous sweeping arm rotating in a circle across a bridge, set at precisely the height to catch you behind the knees.

And what happens when you’re caught behind the knees? You go down. You are humbled against your will.

The prideful will be humbled by God. Remember what Isaiah says — that God has sworn by himself, and a word has gone out from his mouth in righteousness that will not return: every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.

Some knees are made to bow.

This is what living out the fear of God means — holy reverence, a life of humility. Nothing can stand against the mighty hand of God. All will be brought down.

Casting Your Anxieties

Verse 7 begins with a participle. Depending on your translation it may look like another command, but grammatically it describes the manner in which we humble ourselves: casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

These are the worries of life that weigh us down. And I have to admit, this week has been a hard one for me. The worries of life have been weighing me down — and it took me until Thursday, while studying this very passage, to realize where I actually was. I’m sitting there working through this text about humility, and it took until Thursday to see my own heart and my own pridefulness.

The things we care about so deeply burden our hearts and distract us from life. They’re the complications that get in the way. Maybe it’s a family member. A broken-down car. A job. A bad habit.

God wants all of it. He cares for us, and he has a mighty hand.

Sit with the gravity of that. Here is God — the one whose mighty hand spoke the world into existence — and he turns to you and says: give me your concerns. Let me take that off your shoulders.

That’s the help we need, and that’s the faith we need to exercise. Problems bigger than we are require a solution greater than we are — and there is no solution greater than him.

So that’s how we approach our sin, our frustrations, the things that depress us. We take all of it to the foot of the cross and lay it down. Jesus died for all of this. He cares for all of us, and he wants our anxieties.

What We Do, Part Two: Be Sober-Minded and Watchful

Back in chapter 1, Peter used this same phrase — sober-minded — describing a kind of spiritual alertness. Being sober-minded is another way of saying mentally ready, setting our hope fully on the grace of the coming time.

Here he repeats it and adds something: be watchful.

Why? Because your adversary the devil is seeking someone to devour. He wants to catch you with your guard down. There is no moment in life when we’re not susceptible to attack from the evil one.

Consider that word prowl. Sneaking. Circling. Waiting for the opportune moment — for my weakness.

And a lion is no small threat. Strong. King of the jungle. A paw roughly twelve inches across. One swipe could take the head off a man like me.

But look at the contrast in how the two are described. God is a protector with a mighty hand who wants to help us. The devil is a prowling lion who seeks to devour and destroy — and he’s the one we need protecting from.

God not only wants to protect us from him, but also to take our other cares and anxieties off our shoulders and give us real freedom — freedom from fear of the devil, from our own anxiety, our own depression, our own struggles. God protects against the devil’s attacks, and God gives where the devil takes away.

What We Do, Part Three: Resist Him

The third command is to resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

Resisting is fighting the fight of faith. And notice how we resist: by standing firm in our faith.

Which raises the obvious question: where does that faith come from?

Good news — it’s on sale at the grocery store. Meat department, five dollars a pound. Excellent deal.

Obviously not. We can’t go pick faith up somewhere. We can’t manufacture it internally. I can’t give you any of mine and you can’t share yours with me.

And yet together we have it, because it is a gift from God. He is the one who gives the gift of faith to believe. It’s him working in us. Ephesians 2:8 says that by grace we have been saved through faith, and this is not our own doing — it is the gift of God.

Believing isn’t something we accomplish on our own. Faith is what you get when God opens your eyes. And if God hasn’t opened your eyes yet, the best thing you can do is seek him in your desperation and ask him to open them and grant that gift only he can give.

Standing Firm in Practice

For those of us who do have faith, we stand in it and surround ourselves with it.

This is one reason memorizing God’s word matters so much. We need to be planting that word in ourselves regularly, so it reminds us of what we already know to be true. Then when the trials and temptations and struggles arrive, we can point our own hearts back to Christ and rely on the Holy Spirit for strength.

So the moment comes, and I can say: I know God always keeps his promises. He promised in Isaiah 41:10 to strengthen me, to help me, to uphold me with his righteous right hand. So I can stand. I can resist, because I don’t have to fear — God told us not to fear and not to be dismayed. I’m going to keep walking in faith. Devil, prowl all you want, because my God has a mighty hand and he is going to protect me. That’s his promise. And I know I can get back up, because God will strengthen me.

And We’re Not Alone

This is what living as a community of faith means. It isn’t just me in my faith. It’s all of you in yours. It’s my home church standing in faith alongside yours.

We rely on each other. So when I stumble, I can remember God’s word — and I can also remember the church planter you support up in Minneapolis standing firm and serving. I can remember your pastor and your worship leader standing in faith too. I know my church family is standing in faith. I can call a brother and be encouraged by him. I can message a sister and she’ll encourage me. We stand firm together.

And we have more means of communication available to us than have ever existed. We can redeem that technology for God’s glory by using it to point ourselves — and one another — back to him.

What God Does

Now to the second question. Verse 10: 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, strengthen, and establish you.

Our hope is in him, and our suffering is temporary. We have hope in the middle of everything happening in our lives. Our hope is in Christ, and he is going to set things right at the proper time — and we will witness it and be exalted.

This is grace realized. Glory revealed. All the sad things made untrue. Christ finally known completely. The seed of the woman promised back in Genesis, who would crush the head of the serpent, has come — and the serpent’s head will be crushed completely.

First, He Calls

The God of all grace does this — the one who calls us to himself, brings us to himself, and preserves us for the greatest experience in the universe: knowing his eternal glory, which we get to glimpse now through Christ.

The first thing God does is call. It’s his calling that brings us to himself. Left to ourselves we wouldn’t desire him — our hearts are bent against him. But when our eyes are opened, that calling shifts from something that grates against us into our deepest desire.

That calling opens our eyes to see grace in an entirely new light. Before it, grace looks like weakness. It looks like foolishness. Afterward, the transformation of our hearts changes our vision so we can see what is invisible to everyone else.

It’s something like a superpower. We look out at reality and see genuine hope in the midst of surrounding tragedy, and the rest of the world doesn’t see it at all. A man could have vision that sees through walls, and if he hasn’t been called to Christ he still can’t see the grace directly in front of him.

If God has opened your eyes to see this grace, you are among the most blessed people in the world.

Restore, Confirm, Strengthen, Establish

Restore. He picks us up and returns us to where we need to be. We have all fallen and we will all fall again — and God has promised to restore us every time in our repentance.

Confirm. Having been restored, we now stand before God, who reminds us that we are his children and that he loves us.

Strengthen. He gives us what isn’t ours to have. One of my favorite verses, 2 Corinthians 12:9, says his grace is sufficient for us, because his power is made perfect in weakness — therefore Paul will boast all the more gladly of his weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon him. Strength that isn’t mine becomes mine.

Establish. He gives us a place in his story — to be his witness, proclaiming the grace we found in him and the glory he is due.

All four words are used together to make one emphatic point: God will cause you to succeed. To triumph under pressure. To finish well in the midst of suffering. And he will do it for us.

That’s what he does. He calls us. He equips us. And when the going gets hard, has he not promised to strengthen us, help us, and uphold us by his righteous right hand?

Our Suffering Is Temporary

Seventy years feels like a long time. It is temporary. Eternity is vast; this life is tiny.

Restored, confirmed, strengthened, established in him — safe.

We are living in a situation that will one day cease, because this isn’t how God wants it to be. This earth as it currently stands, the sin we contend with, the temptations around us, the anxiety dragging us down — he has something better, and he has given us a preview of it in Christ. When Christ comes again, what we now know dimly will be shown to us in full clarity. Better than life.

Dominion Forever

That’s exactly where Peter takes us in verse 11. The glory this points toward provokes praise: to him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

“Dominion” is about sovereignty and control, and it belongs to God. This is praise: God is in control. God is sovereign.

In a world where it appeared the Roman Empire controlled everything, Peter reassures his readers that God is sovereign over all things — including the emperor. And in a world of sinful pursuits, sexual revolution, and political turmoil, we have a rock that cannot be shaken. Our hope is in Christ, and it is solid, because he holds dominion over all things and always will.

Dependence Day

Read the final greetings for yourself in verses 12 through 14. They reinforce everything Peter has said about life in the community of faith. He tells the churches to greet one another with a kiss of love.

And that brings us to where we are today: in the midst of assault from the devil, in the midst of struggles and difficulties and anxieties across the world, we were made to be in community with one another.

So as I said at the start — today is Independence Day. Perhaps we can celebrate it in a different light, as we recognize our utter and complete dependence on him.

Independence is something of an illusion. We need to depend on God completely, and on one another, exactly as he designed us to. We get to be pointers for each other. I point to him to remind you. You point to him to remind me. We point to him to remind one another of the wonderful truth we know in Christ.

If You Don’t Yet Believe

If you’re not a believer today and you sense God calling you to himself, we want to pray for you — that your eyes would be opened and you would see the beauty of what Christ did on the cross.

He came because of his love for us. He lived the perfect life we cannot live. He took our penalty and died a death we could not survive, so that a way could be made for us to be with God eternally. That is the love he has for you.

And he did not stay dead. He rose again. If you want to know that, and the peace it brings in a world that feels like it’s collapsing around you — if you want the hope we have in Christ — we want to pray with you and for you.

And If You Already Do

For those of you already fighting the fight of faith — you know that fight isn’t easy. It rarely is.

The commands to humble ourselves, be sober-minded, and resist the devil can feel like being asked the impossible. We are a people easily deceived and quick to forget. We forget that we’re under the mighty hand of a God who is protecting us and caring for us. We buy the lies the prowling lion feeds us. We fall into his traps.

But the gospel isn’t only the good news that saves you. It’s the good news that keeps you. The gospel reminds us of what we already know. We preach it to ourselves.

Father, you are good to us, and you keep reminding us of your goodness. You have promised to hold us, to keep us, to restore us, to confirm us. You have made a place for us that we will enjoy eternally — an inheritance undefiled, undamaged, unspoiled, perfectly protected and kept for us. We are looking forward to that day.

As we remember your body and your blood, remind us who we are: your children, made in your image, seeking to live a life that glorifies you above all things. Help us do that, and to point one another to that grace every day. In Jesus’s name, amen.