Category: 1 Peter

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Humble Yourselves Toward One Another

Summary of my sermon, based on 1 Peter 5:1-11. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto on March 1, 2026.

We are continuing our series on the “one another” commands. Today, we look at 1 Peter 5, which begins with a specific exhortation to leadership. Peter instructs the elders—the older men leading the first-century church—to shepherd the flock and exercise oversight without being domineering. While church hierarchies look different today, this remains a vital call for anyone in formal or informal leadership. But Peter does not stop with the leaders. He immediately broadens his instruction to the entire congregation: “Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:5, ESV).

When we think of humility, we often think of it passively. We picture someone who is exceptional at something but chooses not to brag or boast about it. While that is true, Peter’s command to “clothe yourselves” with humility implies something much more active. Peter is likely conjuring up a very specific memory of Jesus. In John 13, during the Last Supper, Jesus laid aside His outer garments, tied a towel around His waist, and washed His disciples’ feet. He literally clothed Himself in the attire of a servant to perform a menial task. He even washed the feet of Judas, knowing full well that Judas had already agreed to betray Him. Active humility is not just the absence of pride; it is deliberately lowering yourself to sacrificially serve others, even your enemies.

Peter continues, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:6-7, ESV). Humility before God leads to exaltation, ultimately at Christ’s return. But notice the connection to anxiety. For many of us, the hardest thing to submit to God is our worry. When we allow anxieties to fester, we betray a lack of conviction that God truly cares for us. We foolishly think we can control the situation ourselves, or we become so paralyzed by fear that we stop serving others entirely. Casting our cares on God is an act of active humility. It requires us to admit our limitations and lean on His strength, often through the support and fellowship of our local church community.

We must also remain vigilant against the things that distract us from this humble dependence. Peter warns, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8, ESV). While the first-century church faced brutal physical persecution, we face a different kind of danger in the West: prosperity. As C.S. Lewis illustrated in The Screwtape Letters, prosperity ties us to the world. It makes us feel so at home on earth that we stop looking toward heaven. Wealth and comfort can breed anxiety and distract us from prioritizing Christ. We must guard our hearts against the lie that our ultimate fulfillment is found in the fleeting success of this world.

After we have suffered a little while—whether through genuine hardship or the hollow anxieties of a consumeristic culture—the God of all grace will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. The struggles of this world cannot compare to the eternal glory we have in Christ. Jesus gave us the ultimate example of humility when He emptied Himself and became obedient to the point of death on a cross. As we reflect on His sacrifice, let us aspire to that same active, sacrificial humility toward one another.

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Called Out of Darkness

Summary of my sermon, based on 1 Peter 2:9-11. Preached at Greenhills Christian Fellowship Toronto (Family Camp) on July 20, 2025.

Being chosen by God is not like being the best option in a lineup. It is not like a trainer in a game looking for the strongest fighter. We often think of choice as selecting what is most valuable or most useful. That is how life usually works—we look for the best job, the best school, the best home, and we teach our children to make good choices. But when we read passages like 1 Peter 2:9, we have to be careful. “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession…” It sounds like we must be special. It sounds like we are chosen because we are better. But then Peter explains why God chooses: “that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.” The choosing is not because of what we are; it is about what he does.

We are called out of darkness, not because we were shining gems hidden in a cave, but because we needed mercy. Verse 10 says, “Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.” Mercy means we are not getting what we deserve. And grace—the other side of salvation—means we are receiving what we do not deserve. We needed mercy because before a perfectly holy God, none of us measures up. Even our best efforts fall short. Isaiah 64:6 describes our righteous deeds as polluted garments. Romans 3:23 says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and Romans 6:23 adds, “the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

God’s choosing is not about our worth. It is about his grace. He sent his Son, Jesus Christ, who met God’s perfect standard and then took the punishment we deserved. Isaiah 53:5 says, “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.” Romans 5:8 reminds us, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” That is what it means to be chosen. It means we are loved despite our failures, saved by mercy, and transformed by grace.

If that is true, then being chosen changes how we live. We cannot claim God’s mercy and then live as though nothing has changed. Peter calls believers “sojourners and exiles” because this world is no longer our home. We are passing through, heading toward eternity with Christ. While we are here, we are called to “abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter 2:11). Sin still surrounds us and tempts us, but sanctification—the ongoing work of God in us—calls us to fight against it. We will not be perfect in this life, but we are expected to grow. Our choices reveal who we belong to—sin, or Christ.

And as we live as sojourners, we are not meant to hide from the world. Verse 12 says, “Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God.” We are called to live visibly, to show mercy because we have received mercy, to demonstrate grace because grace was given to us. We are not chosen to boast about ourselves. We are chosen to proclaim his excellencies, to be witnesses in a world that still needs the same mercy we were given.