The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:
Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according unto God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.
And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.—1 Peter 5:1-4
There are three simple things, because I know I do not have much to add. But three things.
Brothers, we have been called to the highest calling. Can you imagine? The Lord of glory putting His church, His sheep, His fold, into our care? Can you imagine? Surely, I cannot advise the Lord, but I wonder if that was a wise decision. Can you imagine? This is the highest calling on your life.
As you leave this place, I want these words of Peter to be written in your heart: “The elders which are among you I exhort.” Let the Holy Spirit write this upon your heart.
There is no higher calling than this calling. The Lord has entrusted you with a trust so great. It was the Father’s ultimate purpose for His Son. If you can imagine such responsibility, it should weigh upon your heart, and you should always be looking at the great Shepherd of the sheep.
There is no higher calling. You know that song we sing: “There is no greater honor than to be given this awesome responsibility.” I cannot think of anything more.
This is the end of what God is after: His church, which would be the body of His own Son, which would be the bride of Christ for eternity. Can you imagine a higher calling, a greater responsibility? This is what Peter exhorts in the end.
But there is another thing, a second thing, I want to leave with you—an impression. Think about who is exhorting. It is Peter.
Could there be a less perfect specimen for this highest calling? I say it is the impossible calling. You cannot do this calling. I cannot do this calling. Stephen cannot do this calling, if he will forgive me for saying that. Dana cannot do this calling. Dale cannot do this calling.
God chooses Peter to show us that He can do the impossible through the least perfect.
You know that scene. We read it in John 21, when they were all night fishing and had no catch. You remember, we read in the book Shepherding the whole explanation of that for my brother Stephen.
Do you remember John? They are out all night, and the Lord is at the shore. He says, “Did you get a catch?” Do you remember? They said, “No catch.” These were professional fishermen.
Now, if I was out there, I would not have gotten a bite, a nibble. But these guys knew the Sea of Galilee like the back of their hand—and no catch.
Then He says, “Put the net to the other side,” and then there is a haul that you cannot imagine: 153 fish. It almost broke the net. Then John said, “It is the Lord.” Peter—it is the Lord.
Now, if I wrote this story, I would have had John dive into the sea and swim to the Lord, because I think John would be a better specimen. You know, I cannot think of anything so much wrong with John. He is the disciple whom the Lord loved. He lays his head upon His breast. The Lord whispers to him.
You know, maybe he had something with temper. I do not know what “the sons of thunder” means. But I suspect it was his mother that wanted the place for James and John. He seems almost perfect. Why did the Lord not put John? But He called Peter.
Peter swam to the shore, and those words were, “Do you love Me more than these?”
And he—the denier, the blasphemer—it must have been fresh in his thoughts: that fire, and that little courtyard, and that little lady that said, “You, one of them. You, one of them.” “No, I am not one of them.”
The cock began to crow. And the one who said, “The others may abandon, but I will die for You”—this one came to the place that he cursed the Lord. Can you imagine?
I suppose the Lord was probing him and saying, “Do you love Me?” His heart must have been sinking. He must have been saying, “It is impossible. Lord, You know.”
You can almost read the agony. You read the words: “Lord, You know. You know all things. You know at best I can say, ‘I am attracted to You.’”
“Feed My lambs.”
“Do you love Me?”
“Lord, You know.”
“Do You not remember, Lord? I said I would never abandon You. John was at least at the cross. How can it be?”
“You know all things. I am attracted to You.”
“Shepherd My sheep.”
“Peter, are you attracted to Me?”
“Lord, You know all things. Why do You keep asking me? I am attracted to You.”
Brothers and sisters, I think this is the mercy of God. It shows us that He can take the one who has failed the greatest and failed the most, and yet call them to this impossible calling.
I do not know what your church experience has been. I have heard the agony of prayers here. I will never forget the agony of Bobby’s prayer this weekend.
But I believe the Lord is saying, “I have called you. I have chosen you. And I will do the impossible through you.”
That is the second point.
It is all because the Lord—the Word of God says—we have been called according to purpose, like Stephen said. What a purpose. And that purpose is that those He has foreknown, He has predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son.
So this brings me to my third point.
Peter was such an unlikely candidate. But the Lord said something to him. He had been dealing with him by the cross all through the way. Then He said, “Peter, here is the secret.”
“When you were young, you went where you would go. But now that you are older”—this is all He tells you—“you will stretch forth your hands, and another shall lead you.”
Brothers and sisters, all the Lord is asking us today is to stretch forth our hands to the One who can do the impossible, who has called us to this highest calling.
Do you remember the words Dana shared in 1 Chronicles 29 about David? What was the word that came out over and over with David and with the people? They offered themselves willingly.
That is all the Lord is looking for in you and me. As a matter of fact, when you read 1 Peter 5:1-4, He says, “Shepherd the flock of God willingly.”
This third thing is all He is looking for: a response. He will do the rest. You humble yourself. You confess you cannot do it. You confess, like Peter, you are not the right material. But He is able to do the impossible, and He has chosen to do the impossible through us.
I remember forty-five years ago, I stood right there—John, right where you are.
I did two things. I was married to my wife here at a conference in 1974. It is all Stephen’s fault.
I went to Brother Kong. I had already proposed to Linda, and I said to Brother Stephen after a youth conference, “Well, brother, do you think we should get married?” I do not know what Linda would have done to me if he said no.
But he said, “Yes. Get married at the conference in six weeks, because the conference in the end is about a wedding.” And I stood there.
But there is another thing. It was even more.
In the book you have been reading about spiritual leadership, the first two messages were from that 1974 conference with Lance and Brother Stephen—the one where I was married.
And in that conference, there was a call that went out for spiritual leadership.
Forty-five years ago, I stood there, married Linda, and accepted the call.
I remember Brother Stephen said in the wedding ceremony, “Let’s give it five years. We will see if, in five years, and then we will know.”
It has been nine times five years.
And this I know: there is a calling on our life as we leave this place. It is the most important calling. It is the highest calling. It is an impossible calling. And He is looking for a single response.
You stretch out your hands. You say, “Lord, I give myself unreservedly to You for this high calling.” And then you confess. If all you can say is, “I am willing,” that will be enough. He will do the rest. You cannot do it anyway.
I want to ask you to do something unusual. I have never done it. Everyone that wants to respond to this calling, stand up.
Lift up your heart in this moment and say to the Lord, “Lord, I am willing. I offer myself willingly.”
In the spirit, stretch out your arms and say, “Lord, You do the impossible. Your church is Your most precious possession. You have trusted it to us. You do the work we cannot do. But we offer ourselves to You.”
And let’s just do this for a few moments.
Lord, I am thankful You gathered us these few days to hear about Your great purpose, to hear unbelievably how You have included us in that so great purpose, and to see how You entrust to us this highest calling.
How can it be? What mercy has been shown to us?
Now, Lord, we know it is impossible. We know You have not picked the best. But we believe You have called us.
And we stand here as a testimony to that calling, and we say, “Lord, take us. We offer ourselves willingly.”
We stretch forth our hands and say, “Lord, we have led ourselves through our life, through many things, but no longer.”
You lead us. You do the work of conforming us. You do the work of making us, just as You did in Peter.
And then we see the transformed Peter at the end, exhorting his fellow elders.
May Your will be done. May You go with us. May Your purpose be fulfilled.
In Jesus’ name, amen.