Sunday 10/21/12 RWJ/Pottersville UMC
Sermon: “They are amongst the people”
(Qualities of a Good Leader Series: Part 2 of 5)
Scripture Lesson: Job 38:1-7
(34-41)
Gospel Lesson: Mark
10:35-45
Good morning
brothers and sisters! I greet you in the name our risen Lord and savior Jesus
Christ! I hope and pray that you have all had a blessed week and I am happy to
be worshipping with you here this morning!
This morning,
I am continuing on with my sermon series on the qualities of a good leader. As
I said last week, if you are not already aware of it, we are in the midst of a
presidential election season. As I also said last week, I don’t know how you
could not be aware that it is a presidential election season! For some of us,
this every four-year cycle of electing a president is exciting, for some it’s not
exciting, for some of us it’s overwhelming, and so on and so forth. Many of us
have all sorts of emotions around this and all presidential elections. Since it
is a presidential election season though, I thought that it would be good to do
this series on qualities that we as Christians should look for in a good
leader. Specifically, as Christians what sorts of qualities, attributes, and characteristics
do we want to have not only in a president, but all leaders.
What sorts of
qualities, attributes, and characteristics do we want in church leaders,
community leaders, and etc.? I am asking all of us in this sermon series then,
to think about of the all kinds of leadership that we want, and to think about developing
further leadership in this church. Once again, this 5-week sermon series could
not possibly cover everything that makes a good leader or a good president, so
I have just picked some of these qualities to get us thinking.
Last week, I
talked about how as Christians we should desire a president or any leader who
is humble. Jesus was humble, and Jesus calls us to be humble. When we get
egotistical and all puffed up, we fail to be like Jesus, and most people are
really repelled by such behavior. I think for all of us, we want leaders who
are strong and courageous, yet humble. I think we want Leaders who are honest,
open, and humble, whether we realize it or not.
In continuing on
then in this series this week I want to talk about leaders that are “amongst
the people.” When we look at the four Gospels in the Bible, we do not see Jesus
going to just the powerful and the affluent. Instead, we see Jesus going to the
woman at the well, whom nobody wanted to talk to, we see Jesus spending time
with the homeless. We see Jesus healing, raising people from the dead, and
declaring a new way to God. In fact, before the followers of Jesus became known
as “Christians” in the city of Antioch, in the Book of Acts, they were simply
known as The Way. This term “The Way,” simply meant, “The Way of God.”
Jesus
I think never conducted an opinion poll of his favorability, before spreading
His good news to a city. He never said, “Well Jerusalem is a swing state, so I
will spend more time there.” I don’t know about you, but I seem to see
presidents and a lot of leaders showing up when it matters, but I would like to
see a president if even for 1-2 days a year, showing up when it doesn’t matter.
I want to see a president go to a poor community that is not a swing state to
be with the people. I mean are those people in that little community, in that state,
any less significant than the folks in a big city or a swings state? In this
way, I would argue that Jesus did not care about polls, or swing states,
instead Jesus cared about people. 1 John 4:7-8 says, “Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 Peter 4:8 says,
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of
sins.”
People have jokingly said to me
before, “Paul why don’t you run for political office?” I say, “that’s simple,
because I would never get elected.” That person might then say, “well why do
you say that?” I might then say, “because I want to be among the people, and I
don’t care about smear campaigns, fund raising dinners, and etc.” In our Book
of Job reading this morning, God in Job’s distress said, don’t you trust me?
Did I create everything that ever was and ever is? Job’s love and his trust was
being tested. In the Gospel of Mark reading this morning, Jesus said “whoever
wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be
among you must be slave of all.” We must be amongst the people.
I don’t know
about you, but I want a president who is amongst the people. You might say, “Well
pastor is that really possible?” Obviously our president, whom ever that may be
at the time, cannot possibly be amongst 320-million Americans in 50-states.
What I want though, is to see just one a president or any high up leader, do
something not for press, not for camera time, but because they want to be
amongst the people. I want to hear the accolades and good deeds of a president
or a presidential candidate not from them, but from those who know them. I want
to hear all the great things that they do for people that they themselves never
talk about. I want a president who is amongst the people, like Jesus Christ was
amongst the people. Hebrews 13:1-3 “Let brotherly love continue. Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some
have entertained angels unawares. Remember those who are in prison, as though in prison with
them, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body.” We
must be amongst the people. Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not grow weary of
doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”
Mathew 5:16 says, “In the same way, let your light shine
before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your
Father who is in heaven.”
You know whenever
there is a calamity or a natural disaster we see leaders showing up surveying the
damage, giving speeches, and helping. Are these leaders doing this though to be
amongst the people, or to keep their poll numbers up? Do our leaders really
care about the common people? I personally think that some do and some don’t,
but if you think about past leaders, the one’s we tend to respect the most, are
the leaders that were amongst the people.
There is a
good movie with Mel Gibson I saw a while back, called “We Were Soldiers.” Has anyone
ever seen this movie? In this movie Mel Gibson portrayed an army officer named Colonel
Hal Moore, a man who was a deeply religious Christian. In very first battle of
the Vietnam War, the character that Mel Gibson portrayed, Colonel Hal Moore, said
before the battle to all the soldiers, “when we go into battle, I will be the
first to step foot on the field, and I will be the last step off, and I will
leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together, so help me
God.” The first time I heard that speech in this movie I had chills run down my
spine. I thought to myself, “I would sign up and fight for Colonel Moore.” You
see Colonel Moore was amongst his soldiers, and was the first on the ground,
and the last one off. I am also sure that his men’s allegiance to him in battle
was paramount compared to many other Army officers due to him being amongst the
people.
I think of
church leaders like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who was always amongst the people.
I think of leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was constantly amongst
the common people fighting for equal rights and opportunities. I think of
church leaders like many of you here, who serve the Lord, and with most of us not
even knowing half of what you do for people. When I think of other leaders that
go amongst the people, I think of the first president of our republic, George
Washington, who went amongst his soldiers, ensuring their well-being and care.
Is there any wonder why George Washington was so popular? I know that we are
all probably planning on voting in a few weeks, and I think we all should
consider if our chosen leader is amongst the people.
I would like to close today with a
story. This is a story about being amongst the people, and sharing our time. Here
is the story: A man came home from work late again,
tired and irritated, to find his 5 year old son waiting for him at the door.
“Daddy, may I ask you a question?” “Yeah, sure, what is it?” replied the man.
“Daddy, how much money do you make an hour? “That’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a
thing?” the man said angrily. “I just want to
know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?” pleaded the little boy.
“If you must know, I make $20.00 an hour.” “Oh,” the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he
said, “Daddy, may I borrow $10.00 please?” The
father was furious. “If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I
make is just so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense,
then you march yourself straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why
you’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours everyday and don’t have time
for such childish games.” The little boy
quietly went to his room and shut the door. The man sat down and started to get
even madder about the little boy’s questioning. “How dare him ask such
questions only to get some money.” After an
hour or so, the man had calmed down, and started to think he may have been a
little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with
that $10.00, and he really didn’t ask for money very often. The man went to the
door of the little boy’s room and opened the door. “Are you asleep son?” he
asked. “No daddy, I’m awake,” replied the boy.
“I’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier,”
said the man. “It’s been a long day and I took my aggravation out on you.
Here’s that $10.00 you asked for.” The little
boy sat straight up, beaming. “Oh, thank you daddy!” he yelled. Then, reaching
under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled up bills. The man, seeing
that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy
slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man. “Why did you want more money if you already had some?” the
father grumbled. “Because I didn’t have
enough, but now I do,” the little boy replied. “Daddy,
I have $20.00 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?”
This week brothers and
sisters share some time with those who need you. They need our time more then
we will ever know. Let us as we continue on into this presidential season, to seek
leaders and seek to be ourselves amongst the people. Amen.
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