Sermon, by Pastor Joel
Ninth Sunday After Pentecost
July 21, 2024
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Psalm 23
Ephesians 2:11-22
Mark 6:30-34, 53-56
(The context of this sermon is 100%
written by a human)
In our gospel this morning, we hear that Jesus and the disciples were worn out. They had been teaching and helping other people so much that they had barely had time to eat. Yet more people kept on coming. Jesus takes pity on the weary faces of the apostles and says, let’s take a break; let’s go away where we can eat and rest in quiet. Let’s take a vacation, he tells them. I think we need it.
And yet, when they tried, the people saw where they were going and followed. And Jesus, we hear, had compassion on them – these sheep without a shepherd – and continued to work and care for them, and listen to them and teach, to give them a voice and value in the world. And the vacation was put on hold.
The lesson here is not that we should never take a vacation. Which is good news, indeed, as I look forward to heading to Nova Scotia. As we know, Jesus would eventually take the disciples on a respite up into the mountains, and he himself went alone into the desert to think. Time alone, to speak quietly to God, to hear our own thoughts, just to rest, away from the business of life, is not only part of the gospel story – it is an essential part of it. For Jesus and the disciples return from those times away wiser and better because of them.
This is a lesson about leadership – a question that seems most topical these days. We have many varied examples of it and many ways we might consider what makes a good leader. We have examples in our political leaders of those who struggle to do right and those who appear to care only to do right by themselves. That can be complicated and nuanced as we watch our neighbors finalize their candidates for president, and many of us worry about the state of that leadership in the years ahead and what it will mean for the rest of the world. If the war in Ukraine has taught us anything, it is the difference that leadership – indeed, one person – can make in the world. One leader who refuses to give up on his country. Another leader who rules with an iron and violent fist.
But we don’t have to consider what good leadership looks like – we have our frame of reference – enough so that we might celebrate good leaders and see clearly the false ones.
For we have Jesus, who, even exhausted, cared not for his own needs, but for those of the people who needed him. Jesus did not elevate himself or line his own pockets. He called out people for their lies and hubris. He welcomed strangers and loved those whom society had deemed unworthy. Importantly, he practiced compassion – exhibiting empathy to understand those he sought to teach the gospel. He demonstrated patience in serving their needs. And mercy for their mistakes. With this example, we might so clearly assess the leaders around us.
But Jesus, let’s be clear, demonstrates an aspirational form of leadership few of us can hope to attain, or at least hope to demonstrate every day. Even Jesus lost his temper on occasion.
In our first lesson, we are offered the example of King David, and an important lesson from his own leadership. David, whom we know most famously for his brave victory over Goliath. He had a backstory that was similar to that of Jesus: growing up poor, the youngest son in a line of brothers, a shepherd, who rose up in power when, by society’s rules, it should have gone to someone else.
He was a good king, but he was not a perfect one. He did unethical things – all recorded in the scripture – including sending a soldier to the frontlines of a war because he coveted the man’s wife. But he didn’t hide behind lies when this happened. He acknowledged his failing, he returned to God for forgiveness, and he looked for a better path.
And in our reading this morning, we hear that he wanted to build a grand temple in God’s name, and that God tells him not to do this, that God does not need a new temple. God tells David that it is more important to build up the kingdom, the society, and to focus his attentions elsewhere. And David agrees.
What example does this set for us? How might King David inform our modern idea of leadership? We see clearly that we are not expected to be perfect in leadership; no one can be. We will all make mistakes, but when we do, we admit them, and we try to fix them.
And we also see that leadership cannot be about what we want – in David’s case to build his temple – it must be about what God wants, about the work that should be done for the greater good. Leadership is not about making ourselves feel bigger; it is about those who feel small becoming equals. Easy to forget, when we have the power – in our communities, at work, at home, or in our marriages. But so necessary to remember.
When the confusing curves of life hit, we can lead together for the sake of the journey that lies ahead. I’ve seen it happen with many families and many marriages. Sacrificial love for the sake of the other when it truly matters. There is no better example of leadership.
So, we have today a clear definition of the gospel-led leader: an imperfect person who admits when he or she errs and seeks to make amends, someone who directs their energy not for their own elevation, but to the exhausting and necessary work of making society better. Someone who is brave when it is required, but not bombastic. Someone who sets the needs of others above their own.
It is the summer, and I hope you all get some rest. It is important to feed our souls in quiet moments of our own choosing, so that we might return invigorated. But remember the gospel this morning: even in those moments, we are still called to lead as Jesus did.
Amen
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