April 26, 2020 - Pastor Message
04/19/2024THE YEAR OF DISCIPLESHIP CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP“
Jesus summoned his disciples and said, ‘You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave’” (Matthew 20:25-27).
Continuing our parish’s Year of Discipleship, our theme for the Easter season is Christian leadership. While Christ does not call all disciples to leadership in the same way, he calls all of us to leadership in some way. In the broadest sense, he calls us all to be the “light” and “salt” of the world (Matthew 5:13-16), to make a difference by showing others the way to him through our Christlike words and actions. The form that takes will vary by our particular vocations. Clergy, like Deacon Tim and I, are called to lead in one way, while lay leaders of our various parish ministries are called to lead in others. Spouses and parents lead their families in one way, while Christian citizens lead our political and civic organizations in others. Elderly disciples lead us with their accumulated wisdom, while younger disciples lead us with their zeal and energy.
We will look at some of these particular paths of Christian leadership in future columns. Today, we’ll focus on some traits common to all forms of Christian leadership, beginning with Jesus himself, our teacher and model. According to Jesus, the first and most fundamental trait of all Christian leadership is true discipleship, as he teaches his disciples in the Sermon on the Mount: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’ Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you. Depart from me you evildoers’” (Matthew 7:21-23). And what does it mean to do the will of the Father? Jesus explains that it means listening to Jesus’ own words and acting on them, so that our “house”, our lives, are built on rock (Matthew 7:24). Only by standing on the solid foundation of hearing and acting on Jesus’s words ourselves can we lead others in his name. Does that mean we need to be perfect to lead others? Of course not just look at how flawed the Apostles were! But it does mean we need to strive to “be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Matthew 5:48), trusting in God’s words to Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for [my] power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Another fundamental characteristic of all Christian leadership is an attitude of service, as we see in the dispute that erupts among the disciples when James and John seek the highest places of honor in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus responds by teaching them that service, not power or glory, characterizes Christian leadership: “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and the great ones make their authority over them felt. But it shall not be so among you. Rather, whoever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant; whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave. Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:25-28). Jesus offers himself, their leader, teacher, and master, as the perfect example of the kind of service Christian leadership must embody when, at the last supper, he takes off his outer garment, kneels before his disciples, and washes their feet, a task reserved for the lowliest servants: “You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master’ and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do” (John 13:13-15). Jesus then goes on to provide the ultimate example of service, giving even his life for his disciples, what he reveals in the sign of washing the feet fulfilled in reality on the cross. That is Christian leadership par excellence, an image of what all Christian leaders are called to do in their own way.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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