Living as part of God’s kingdom community requires that we recognize the danger around us...

At the church where I serve, we are concluding a sermon series entitled “Living as part of God’s kingdom community”. During this series, we have been looking at a letter that has been preserved and recorded for us in the Bible called the book of 1 Peter. This week, as we conclude this series, I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. And as we jump into the final section of this letter that the Apostle Peter wrote to early followers of Jesus, we will discover a timeless truth about how we are to live out our identity as followers of Jesus who are a part of God’s kingdom community in the midst of a rapidly changing culture. So let’s discover that timeless truth together, beginning in 1 Peter 5:6-7:

Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, ⁷ casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.

Peter begins the final section of his letter with the word therefore. By using the word therefore, Peter is making a connection between what he wrote in the previous section of this letter and what he is now writing. Last week, in 1 Peter 5:5, we saw Peter command followers of Jesus throughout history to willingly place themselves under the godly leadership of Elders so as to place Elders first.

Peter’s point was that just as the right leadership will demonstrate servant leadership that places the needs of those under their leadership before their own needs, those under the leadership of Elders were to respond to their leadership by willingly coming under their leadership. Peter reinforced his command by pointing the readers of his letter to a section of a letter that is preserved and recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of Proverbs.

In Proverbs 3:34 Solomon explained that God is opposed to the proud. In other words, God resists and rejects those whose life is marked by an undue sense of self importance. God is opposed to those who are full of themselves because they are full of it. By contrast, Solomon explains that God gives grace to the humble. In other words, God extends His divine favor to those who place themselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord before themselves.

And because God opposes those who are full of themselves and extends His divine favor to those who place themselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord before themselves, in verse 6 Peter commanded followers of Jesus to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God. So Peter is basically saying to followers of Jesus throughout history “make sure that you live your lives in light of the reality that there is a God and you are not Him. And make sure you act according to that reality by placing yourselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord before yourselves”.

Peter then explained that the reason why followers of Jesus were to place themselves under the Lord and by placing the Lord and others before themselves was so that He may exalt you at the proper time. When Peter uses the word exalt here, this word means to cause enhancement in honor, fame, position, power or fortune. Peter’s point is that instead of trying to exalt oneself so as to achieve honor, fame, position, power, or fortune during our time here on earth, as followers of Jesus we are to humble ourselves in a way that places ourselves under the Lord so as to place the Lord before ourselves during our time here on earth.

Then, at the proper time, which refers to end of God’s story here on earth, when Jesus returns to defeat selfishness, sin, and death and to usher in the kingdom of Heaven in its fullest sense, God will be respond to those who humble themselves in a way that places themselves under the Lord so as to place the Lord before themselves during their time here on earth by enhancing their honor for all eternity. Instead of living in a way that seeks to gain honor for ourselves, we are to seek the honor that comes from the Lord. And the honor that comes from the Lord comes to those who place the Lord before themselves.

Now a natural question that could arise at this point is “Well Dave, that sounds great, but how do I keep from trying to exalt myself? How do I humble myself in a way that places the Lord before myself?” Peter provides the answer to that question in verse 7 when he states “casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.” What is so interesting is that the phrase casting one’s anxieties conveys the sense of transferring one’s concerns.

In other words, Peter is not saying that you should never have anxiety or concern as a follower of Jesus. The issue isn’t whether or not you have anxiety or concerns: the issue is what you do with that anxiety or concern. Peter’ point here is that we are to take those anxieties and concerns and transfer them to the Lord. You see, when we try to carry anxiety and concern ourselves, the natural temptation is to try to resolve those anxieties and concerns ourselves without the Lord. And when we resolve those anxieties and concerns without the Lord, we can have a tendency to exalt ourselves. However, when we transfer those anxieties and concerns to the Lord, we are placing ourselves under the Lord by seeking the Lord’s help. And when the Lord intervenes to resolve those anxieties and concerns, it is the Lord who is exalted.

Peter then explained that we can have confidence in transferring our concerns before the Lord because the Lord cares for you. This morning, the Lord takes an interest in us as His followers and is interested in what anxieties and concerns trouble us. And because the Lord takes a genuine interest in us, the Lord desires that we transfer our concerns to Him by placing ourselves under the Lord so as to place the Lord before ourselves.

And it is here, in this section of this letter, that we discover a timeless truth about how we are to live out our identity as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community in the midst of a rapidly changing culture in that living as part of God’s kingdom community requires that we recognize the danger around us. And in 1 Peter 5:6-14, we will see Peter reveal three different dangers that we need to recognize as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community.

First, in verses 6-7, we see Peter reveal for us the reality that, as followers of Jesus, we are to recognize the danger of difficult times. Just like the readers of this letter, as followers of Jesus living in a rapidly changing culture, we can experience difficult times. Just like the readers of this letter, as followers of Jesus, we can feel like we are being squeezed by trials and difficulties in our lives.

And because of that reality, we are to respond to danger of difficult times by humbly placing ourselves under the Lord, knowing that the Lord will lift us up upon Jesus return. And as followers of Jesus, we are to respond to the danger of difficult times by humbly placing ourselves under the Lord, knowing that we can transfer our cares to Him while we wait His return.

Instead of trying resolve our anxieties and concerns ourselves without the Lord in a way that exalt ourselves, we are to transfer those anxieties and concerns to the Lord in a way that exalts the Lord. Tomorrow, we will see Peter reveal a second danger that we need to recognize as followers of Jesus who are part of God’s kingdom community…