Lead the Way
Introduction: Person of the Year
At the end of every year, Time
magazine gives someone the distinction of “Person of the Year”.
This is a person who, for better or
for worse, has done the most to influence the events of the year just past.
Persons of the Year have included politicians
like Barrack Obama in 2008, Pope John Paul the 2nd in 1994, and back
in 1927, it was pilot Charles Lindbergh.
Time chooses people who have
stepped up and taken leadership roles in our society and have offered change to
the world because of it.
Does anyone know who Time
magazine's “Person of the Year” for 2011 was? This time, they didn't name a
politician, a religious figure or a scientist. This time, they named ordinary
people like you and me by naming “The Protestor” as the Person of the Year for
2011.
As you may recall, numerous major
protests took place this year throughout the world, including the Arab Spring,
the Occupy Movement, the Moscow Protest, and the Athens Protest. In the end it
was the Average Joe and Jane that stood up for what they believed in who made
the most difference in changing the world.
In doing so, they became leaders, leading
people in an alternative way of thinking and acting. Dictators fell, media
turned its attention to topics like values, systems changed.
Children’s Story
Band Aids – Healing people
-
Jesus came to make things better. How?
-
What are simple things we can do?
-
Take this band-aid and keep it till you can give
it to someone to try and cheer them up.
Deuteronomy
So we have two things on the go…
the idea of a prophet, or in modern terms, a protester… and the idea of
healing.
I want to make the argument that
they are two sides of a coin… in order to heal the world, you have to
understand it… and in order to understand it, you have to question it.
Our Hebrew reading today from
Deuteronomy urges us to do this – to question authority, to determine the right
things to stand for, to not worship false prophets, and perhaps most
importantly, to recognize the leaders among us.
It is about seeing reality for what
it really is… and recognizing that there are always going to be those who are
leading the way.
In the reading, Moses tells the
people: “God will raise up a prophet for you from your own people. Listen to
this leader for they will speak in the name of God.”
It is always a tricky thing, trying
to figure out when someone is doing the right thing… Without a doubt, God is
calling us to determine what separates a good leader from a bad leader. Who is
leading from a place of justice, peace, and love? Who is leading with the
authority of the divine? Because it is those people we should listen to…
But beyond that God is also calling
us to become these leaders.
As Moses said, prophets aren't
these special people who come from somewhere else; they are ordinary people
that we find among us. They can be you and I.
Ordinary People
This is the crucial point we need
to accept: we the ordinary people are called to be leaders, to figure out what
it is we should stand for and to stand up.
The Old Testament is filled with
people who held no official office but were great leaders; people that you
wouldn't see wearing suits and ties or campaigning for our vote. We think about
Elijah, a wild and wooly man in the desert or David, a typical testerone-filled
young boy who liked to play on his harp or Deborah, a woman very much like all
the other women in her community.
Last week we heard about Jonah,
this ordinary fellow like you and me. And before that, we talked about Samuel,
an inexperienced child. All of them and many more were able to address
everyone, from kings to ordinary people, because they were grounded in God and
they sought guidance from God's Spirit.
Paul too talked about how to lead
from right there among the people. He said that we have to make choices that
allow other people to see God through us… we have to step up and BE leaders.
Sometimes it means choosing to do the things because other people need us to…
That’s what this is all about –
think of the eating meat sacrificed to idols as alcohol – what, you go to
church and you drink? Well, if it is going to cause someone problems, you
should abstain in front of them – that is what Paul is saying, step up, lead,
be willing to put yourself second…
When we do that…. We will discover just
how many gifts we have to offer.
And even if we just become leaders
of our own life, we are making progress. If we simply take control of our own
actions and situations, and not let other people or circumstances dictate how
we live, we are choosing to lead.
Shipwrecks
You have all heard by now about the
shipwreck that took place in Italy.
On January 13, the Costa Concordia
was carrying 4000 passengers and crew members when it came too close to the
craggy coast and was thrust upon its side. The tragedy resulted in injury and
death.
Reports indicate that the rescue
mission was a bit of a circus, as proper procedure was thrown out the window. Crew
members allegedly panicked and didn't tell passengers what to do. There are
even reports that the Captain abandoned his ship, leaving passengers to fend for
themselves; a nightmare created from a lack of leadership.
Contrast that with a story told by
Tom Wright in his commentary “Mark for Everyone”.
He told of a great disaster at sea
when a ferry boat, loaded with cars and people, failed to shut its doors
properly. This meant that the boat began
to take in water and started to sink.
As you can imagine, people were
screaming and running around. In the midst of the horror, one voice began to be
heard, as a man, who was not a crew member, began to take charge.
Clearly and calmly, he began to
give orders. The men, women and children on board responded to his calming
influence, and reached the safety of lifeboats, which they certainly would have
missed in the dark and panic.
Rather than get into a lifeboat himself,
the man went below deck where people were trapped and helped them to safety.
This is what Jesus did.
He was a leader who based his
authority on good things like love and a desire to heal. Unlike the priests and
scribes who taught from the authority of someone else, Jesus spoke with his own
authority.
Jesus' desire was to heal those
overwhelmed by nightmares, to rescue people from those things that were
destroying them. His voice, his actions, carried a gentle yet effective
authority to which people reacted positively.
We are called to speak and act an
authority that comes from the same place. And the type of leaders we are to be
is modelled for us by Jesus. We are the prophets among us.
Conclusion
Demons come in many forms. I know
most of them intimately. They are loneliness, and anger, self-doubt and
frustration.
They are all out there and you know
them as well as I do.
Perhaps, in the end, that is why
Jesus had such great faith in us as his followers.
GO out there, remember who you are,
embrace what God has given you, and you too can cast out the demons in the
people you meet.
Believe it.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment