Senior Sermon Pfister
Nov 04, 2009
Kathy Pfister
The Senior Sermon of Kathy Pfister, Class of 2010 from the Diocese of North Carolina, given on November 4, 2009, in Christ Chapel
This semester we have heard a number of sermons about the fragile condition of our Church. In fact, Bishops Dena Harrison, Greg Rickel and Andy Doyle, each in their own way, addressed the problem.
But sermons like these are really nothing new- I've heard some version of the "Church is in trouble" sermon since I joined the church 16 years ago.
But as I listened to these Bishops I couldn't help but notice a shift in tone-- a different emphasis. These Bishops seemed less concerned with preserving our current construction of Church and much more intent on preserving the mission of the Church. It's not about us, it is about a world that desperately needs the Gospel. We seem to have finally realized what's at stake.
And I assume that the reason we have heard so many sermons like this during our time at seminary is that as leaders of the Church, our various ecclesiastical authorities, be they Lutheran, Episcopal or otherwise-- are counting on us to do something about it. The Church needs leaders, and well folks- we're it. But what sort of leaders will we be? And what sort of leaders does the Church need if she is to truly accomplish her mission?
Today's lesson from Nehemiah certainly offers us a compelling vision of leadership.
Nehemiah returns to Jerusalem from Babylon to discover that both the Temple and the people of God have been corrupted. Nehemiah's old nemesis Tobiah and the Priest Eliashib are socking away all the goodies for themselves. They've set up posh Chambers luxuriating in the sacrifices of others-- Meanwhile the nobles and merchants are profaning the Sabbath. Folks from all around are flocking to the holy city of Jerusalem, to make a buck on God's holy day. Greed has gotten the better of everyone, and as a consequence, the post-exilic renewal of Israel has careened into chaos.
But Nehemiah rides in like a knight, albeit in Persian armor, and in just 18 short verses of scripture he gets the whole mess sorted out. Talk about having healthy a sense of Authority-Nehemiah has it in spades... Tobias and Eliashib are out, the temple is cleansed and order is restored. Nehemiah is even gifted at "organizational process." To ensure that all of the resources will be distributed fairly, he sets up a council of treasurers. And boy, are the merchants and nobles are in for a big surprise. Nehemiah locks the gates to Jerusalem. How's that for boundary setting! After a couple of cold dark nights huddled outside the city gates, the sellers get the message and move on.
Because of Nehemiah's remarkably effective leadership, Israel gets back on track and all is right with the world.
The book of Nehemiah offers a portrait of leadership that is hard to argue with. Nehemiah is a righteous man who loves his people.
He uses his considerable gifts and power to order things the way God wants them ordered. He is effective, admired and powerful. He is the very definition of a good leader, the kind of leader I think most of us would like to be.
But wait, something here doesn't quite fit. For one thing, Nehemiah is idealized in such a way as to be decidedly intimidating. As I read Nehemiah, I find myself thinking things like-well, I could be really effective leader too- if I had the Persian army backing me up. But it's not just that this type of leadership seems unattainable-it's that in the end it doesn't actually work, it doesn't hold.
The pericope we read today from Nehemiah, is actually Nehemiah's second trip to Jerusalem. Just a few chapters earlier, the whole Nation of Israel gathered to celebrate the rebuilding of the Jerusalem wall, to listen to the Torah and to dedicate themselves to their covenant relationship with God. And all was right with the world then too
-But Nehemiah leaves them alone for like five minutes, and it all goes haywire.
The renewal of Israel is held together with chewing gum and duct tape, and Nehemiah knows it--you can hear it in his prayers. Following each of his achievements, Nehemiah prays-"Remember me O God, and don't wipe out my good deeds," make it last God, make it last-
"Remember this in my favor and spare me according to your steadfast love." In the end I think Nehemiah knows that no matter how effective, revered or powerful a leader he is, he can only provide a temporal fix to an eternal problem. That new wall is coming down; it's only a matter of time.
Henri Nowen is critical of leadership that centers itself in temporal power. His book, In the Name of Jesus, uses the temptation story in Matthew's gospel to reflect on the pitfalls of Christian leadership. He names the three temptations Jesus faces in the desert: the temptation to be relevant, the temptation to be spectacular and the temptation to be powerful. What Nowen calls temptations most of us would call good leadership. Nowen calls them temptations because our desire to be relevant, spectacular and powerful, even for the sake of the Gospel, is often a thinly disguised impulse to gain control.[1]
Today's reading from Matthew offers a startling contrast to the leadership of Nehemiah. As Jesus ministers to the folks in his hometown, he isn't particularly effective at getting his message across. His wisdom is dismissed as irrelevant. He certainly isn't admired, but instead finds himself without honor.
When Jesus enters Nazareth, he encounters a group of people, who are familiar with him-but who don't really know who he is. They think they know him, but they don't. And like Jesus we too enter a context in which many people both inside and outside the Church, are familiar with the Church-they think they know what it is, but they don't.
As Jesus encounters the people of his hometown he resists the temptation to be relevant, spectacular and powerful, and so Jesus does NOT do-what I believe every last one of us would do, when confronted with a faithless congregation.
Wouldn't we all pull ourselves up by our egos, muster up some agency and be the powerful, relevant, spectacular leaders we have worked so hard to become?
But Jesus doesn't do that. Surely he could have.
Jesus has already demonstrated transformative power and wisdom. Why doesn't he just take it up a notch? Overwhelm their unbelief with signs. Ignite their faith with some great miracle.
But Jesus loves them too much for that. He knows that belief, predicated on the attributes of the leader, is no belief at all-only a temporal fix for an eternal problem.
Jesus doesn't have a Persian army to back him up. He has the power of God. But Jesus, as Paul tells us, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, humbled himself, and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus will not use coercion, no matter how subtle to win their hearts. Because coercion, even in supposed service of the Gospel will always short circuit genuine transformation. You see Jesus has come not to prove himself, but to make a way. A way that restores all people to unity with God. A way that is always open- but never forced upon us. The most loving thing Jesus can do for the people of Nazareth, is nothing. Jesus does not reject them, but leaves open the possibility of authentic faith.
Jesus' kind of leadership is so alien to us-it's disconcerting, imprecise and paradoxical. I once met some people like this, many years ago when I lived in New Orleans and I've never been able to forget them.
The 4th world movement is a group of what I guess you would have to call missionaries, but they were not like any missionaries I had met before. Their mission is simple, to be in relationship with the poorest of the poor, throughout the world. In New Orleans, they loaded up a van with books and drove into the poorest neighborhoods of the city. This is how they met people, by lending books and by offering to read them if asked.
Because most of the 4th world folks come from another country, the people I met were from France-- they often have a bit of difficulty speaking the language. The poor to whom they ministered became their language tutors, helping them learn to communicate in an alien landscape. In the midst of violence, addiction and mental illness, they read stories to children and listened to the complaints of tired mothers. They did not build houses, or feed people or give them money. All they offered was themselves.
Through the simple gift of relationship, mutual transformation takes place. By helping the missionaries learn to speak the language, those who so often saw themselves as having nothing to offer, discovered themselves to be gifted and empowered. And the missionaries, continually confronted by their own powerlessness to remedy the intractable conditions of the people they had come to love, discovered deep wells of hope they could have never imagined existed.
From the outside you might say that this ministry made no difference at all, at least by any earthly standards. Many of the people I met during those years never seemed to get appreciatively better. But transformation in the light of Christ doesn't use earthly metrics- it doesn't use metrics at all. The relational transformation of Christ breaks our hearts of stone and brings us to our knees. It is transformation that raps its arms of hope around us when we fear all hope is lost, and lifts us, ever so slowly into the full stature of Christ.
From the foundation of transformative love, right action becomes truly possible.
Hatched in relationship, nourished by mutuality- transformative justice takes flight. Transformation, through Servant Leadership, born of the love of God and neighbor is what fulfills the mission of the Church and restores us to union with God.
We enter a Church that is asking for leaders like Nehemiah, when what it needs most are leaders like Jesus. How will we ever resist this temptation, if when truth be told we'd prefer it that way?
But we don't have to fall for it.
Why should we? We know where these temptations will eventually lead us-and its no place good.
Meanwhile Jesus beckons, "Come, take my yoke upon you and learn from me-my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Yes, the Church is in trouble, big trouble.
But through his life, death and resurrection Jesus shows us the way of the servant-a way that brings transformation and ever-lasting life.
Loving and leading like Jesus will break our hearts, but it will never burn us out.
The way of the servant is the way to Life.
As Servant Leaders, we are not slaves to what we can accomplish or how effective we are-but we delight in the One who loves us just for us.
And Knowing the Source of All Love we can forgo the approval of others and our need to be spectacular in favor of genuine relationship. Relationships that by necessity will make us vulnerable, and require continual confession and forgiveness.
Yoked to the One who humbled himself, we can let go of power and control and receive instead the hard work of love. Love that builds up, not walls or institutions, but the people of God.
Yoked with Christ we participate in a relationship of love that comes not to prove itself, but to make a way. "The miracle of ministry is that we have been chosen to make our own limited love the gateway for the unlimited, unconditional love of God."[2]
Jesus completely reconfigures the reality upon which effectiveness and power are based. And by his resurrection we get to participate in this new reality! Jesus has provided an eternal solution, once, for all.
The good news is no matter how relevant, spectacular or powerful we are--We can't fix it-but forgiven and free we have been given the freedom to love without fear.
Let's do that. (And see what happens)
[1] Henri Nowen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership
[2] Henri Nowen, In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership, page 44.
