Sermon on Luke 22:14-27; Pastor Edgar Mayer; Wilsonton/Glencoe Parish; 6.5.01; 4th Easter.
For more sermons and other writings check out pastor’s homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mayeredgar.
"Heavenly Father, please give us leaders who follow you. Amen."
As One Who Serves
A church without leadership cannot survive. A church without people who shepherd the flock to new pastures and understand the mission – a church without competent leaders cannot operate in the midst of an ever-changing world. So then, are you a leader of the church? Do you see yourself as someone that influences the hearts and minds of others?
If you hesitate to give an answer, then you are not alone. In six years of seminary training I never intentionally learned about leadership skills or qualities. I came to understand myself as a pastor rather than as a leader assuming that my theological training, call and ordination, the pastoral office set me up to provide oversight in any given parish context. I had a lot to learn.
Who is a leader? In our church we do not use the word "leader" a great deal but at the moment, on all church levels, we talk a fair bit about authority in the church and the view is expressed that pastors should be the ones that hold and exercise authority. They preach the word of God and administer the sacraments. They hold an apostolic office which is divinely instituted and they present Christ to the congregation. Power seems to belong to pastors and therefore quite a few of our clergy disapprove of lay-people voting against them at synod and are scandalized that the "sheep" can ignore the voice of their "shepherds". A few of our pastors are so upset that they consider leaving our church and becoming Catholics because at least in the Catholic church the question of authority and power finds a definite answer. Obey the pope and comply with the hierarchy.
We Lutherans are different. Pastors hold an important office but they are not infallible. As a matter of fact lay-people have equal access to God and are priests themselves as the Bible says. I read: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, ... " (1 Peter 2:9). And Luther spelled out the rights of every baptized Christian priest, that is: "to preach the word of God, to baptize, to celebrate the sacrament of the altar, to minister the office of the keys, to pray for others, to sacrifice, to judge doctrine and to distinguish spirits." Therefore pastors cannot be sole leaders in any given congregation because they deal with people who also preach, baptize, forgive, pray and judge doctrine – not always in the same public forum as pastors but nevertheless.
Who is a leader in our church? Please consider whether you are one. You may not preach the word from the pulpit or hand out Holy Communion but there are homegroups to support, dramas to write, newcomers to visit, ... Someone may identify new opportunities for outreach, train others in new skills and expand our collective horizon. How may the good news of Jesus Christ become real in our midst? What does the Holy Spirit want us to do? These are difficult questions and require all the creativity and intelligence we have.
Please, please take on a leadership role. Do I have to say "please" again? Maybe not. In Jesus’ time there was no shortage of keen would-be heads of churches. When Jesus sat down with his disciples to share the last meal before his death, a dispute arose among the disciples as to which one of them was considered to be the greatest. Leadership aspirations went to their heads. "I want to be boss. I know what is best for others."
Become a leader but do not get caught up in this illusion. Jesus deflated the bubble. He said to the disciples: "The kings of foreigners lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves."
Leaders do not lord anything over people. Jesus is not impressed by royal commands which coerce people and beat them into submission. He says: "You are not to be like that." We better listen because lording things over people doesn’t work anyway. Even kings, tyrants and dictators eventually suffer a backlash from oppressed people and usually end up dead. You cannot impose what people reject.
Hence – genuine leaders understand what at first sounds like a contradiction. Jesus said: " ... the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves." The greatest should be like the youngest who has the least clout to get anything done. The greatest serves. The greater you become, the more you serve.
What does this mean? Do not lord anything over people but serve them as one who has lesser status than anyone else. What does this mean? First and foremost it means: Do not manipulate. Do not have secret agendas. Do not undermine or white-ant. Do not gossip. Do not pull rank. Always be upfront about your intentions. Don’t use clever political tricks. And so on. Do not manipulate.
How wonderful life would be in church, if no one manipulated people or proceedings. That would not save us from confrontations but at least they would be productive rather than hurtful to our community and emotional health. When I first came out of the seminary, I thought that pastors somehow had to guarantee the doctrinal purity of their congregations. What self-important delusion that was. No one can guarantee what is on the minds and hearts of other people. I cannot control what the congregation thinks about worship or reading the Bible. I cannot force anyone to be less judgmental and more loving. And I don’t have to. You and I, leaders in our midst, we are called to serve like people who have no clout. We witness to the truth, we present what we know with passion, but we don’t have to control and manipulate. We don’t have to win.
That makes me free. That makes you free. Be a leader and serve but leave the rest to God who said: "My word that goes out from my mouth will not return empty but accomplish what I desire ... " (Isaiah 55:11). Leave the outcome of your leadership to God. Should the church ordain or not ordain women and the synodical decision disagrees with your convictions, then don’t try to manipulate a different outcome. Keep proclaiming the word of God, keep leading, and wait for God to accomplish what he desires. You don’t have to be God – just be a leader.
That requires humility. No matter how many people listen to us or seek our advice, we do not bask in the glory of deceptive power. God alone is powerful and he does not depend on us to promote or defend his righteousness. We are nothing but humble servants who serve the needs of others under God.
Jesus is wise. If we don’t want to become tyrants but leaders, then we need to practise humility. Humility is one of the costs of leadership. A consultant said: "When you become a leader, you lose the right to think about yourself" (Gerald Brooks). Everyone else may be abusive, be on the attack with unfair demands, refuse to be properly informed, but you – as someone that wants to lead – you cannot retaliate. You cannot lash out and protect yourself because you are concerned about the other. By God’s grace you are humble enough to forsake your rights and keep leading towards harmony and peace, the forgiveness and love of Christ.
Only a humble person can put up with leadership which wants to serve others. The wife of Martin Luther King wrote: "Day and night our phone would ring, and someone would pour out a string of obscene epithets ... Frequently the calls ended with a threat to kill us if we didn’t get out of town. But in spite of all the danger, the chaos of our private lives, I felt inspired, almost elated." By God’s grace we cope, are inspired and elated, but the higher you rise, the more the phone will ring with unpleasant calls.
Jesus knows because they called him everything vile under the sun and then crucified him. Jesus, our Lord, knows about leadership. He remained humble and sacrificed his life for the cause, only to keep on leading when God the Father raised him to eternal life after three days in the grave. You may have missed it but earlier I said that a dispute arose among the disciples as to which one of them was considered to be the greatest – a dispute arose when Jesus sat down with them to share the last meal before his death. Listen to how Jesus responded to his disciples, how he brings up this meal and connects its celebration with leadership. Jesus said: "The kings of foreigners lord it over them ... But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves. For who is greater the one who is at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who is at the table? But I am among you as one who serves."
Jesus, the one who is God, the one who brings freedom from sin, death and the devil, whom the entire cosmos must obey, he busies himself with serving food to a bickering bunch of peasant disciples. They wine and dine at the table but he is among them as one who serves. That’s mind-boggling leadership. How good to be under such a person’s care.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, how good to be under his care also. The food that Jesus served his first disciples at the last meal before his death, that’s the food he also serves us, his disciples, today. Back then, he took some bread in his hands, gave thanks to God and said: "This is my body, which is given for you. Eat this as a way of remembering me." After the meal he took another cup of wine in his hands. Then he said: "This is my blood. It is poured out for you, and with it God makes his new agreement."
His body in the bread, his blood in the wine. It may never have occurred to us that Holy Communion has to do with leadership, but that is what Jesus provides – every time we eat the meal. He serves at the table and builds us up with himself as the food to eternal life. We eat and drink which make us share in his sacrifice on the cross – the price of leadership which paid dividends on the day of the resurrection – his and ours. Especially when you are down, come forward, eat and drink the food of Jesus, let his body and blood nourish you with patience and forgiveness, let him lead you on. Follow the leader’s invitation to be served.
I come to a close. A church without leadership cannot survive. A church without competent leaders cannot operate in the midst of an every-changing world. Please consider whether Jesus entrusts leadership to you. We need you. We need you to be a good leader. Don’t manipulate but serve like one that has no clout. Lose the right to think about yourself. Jesus himself is among us as one who serves. Next time you go to Holy Communion, think about the call to leadership when he serves you with his body and blood in the bread and wine. Amen.
