“Servant Leadership”
Matthew 20:25 – 28 and Ephesians 4:11-13
Pastor Deb Troester, STHPC, July 7, 2024
As most of you know, I just returned from a two-week trip to Peru. It’s hard to describe just how beautiful a country Peru is, from the Pacific seashore in Lima to the grassy-green mountains and fertile plateaus of the highlands, up to rugged snow-capped mountain peaks, and the mist-covered pinnacles of the cloud-forests surrounding Machu Picchu. Each time I thought I had seen the most spectacular view, we would round a corner, and would see something even more stunning. I actThis sermon was based on a devotional given by our elder, Horace Hines, at our last Session Meeting, from a blog on the Grand Canyon University website. The illustrations are mine.
There’s an African proverb, “A large chair does not make a king.” Those of you who are African will know exactly what I am talking about. I remember the first time I was invited to attend a civic event in the Central African Republic. It was an Independence Day parade. A viewing stand was set up on the dusty market square, complete with a number of tarps fastened overhead to shade us from the sun. I was surprised to see a large ornate sofa on the platform, front and center, flanked by fancy upholstered chairs on either side. Someone explained, “The sofa is for the Prefect (that is the governor) or his representative, and the chairs are for the sous-prefect and the mayor.” This was not the last time I saw large pieces of elegant furniture placed for VIP’s to sit in, while the rest of us made do with plastic lawn furniture or metal folding chairs
– no complaints – at least Joe and I, as missionaries, usually got to sit under the awning in the shade with the other notables. I quickly learned that in most African countries, the bigger the leader, the bigger the chair – or sofa. Even here in the U.S. we pastors usually get a special chair to sit in. Yet, as the proverb says, “A large chair does not make a king.” Or a good pastor.
This proverb implies that there are good leaders and bad ones, wise leaders and foolish ones. Some leaders may impact an entire nation, while others may only influence a few people. All of us in some way are leaders, even if we only lead by example. For those of us who are leaders in the church: pastor, elder, deacon, Sunday School teacher, and so on, what kind of leader does God call us to be?
Jesus said, “Whoever wishes to be great among you must be your servant.” In other words, leaders are called to serve, not to be served. We must think of others and what is best for them and for the church, not what is best for ourselves. Our leadership should be about more than power, influence or our own personal agenda.
We must care about those we lead, show Christ’s love to others and be focused on what God wants for our community and world.
Paul wrote in Philippians in 2, reading from the Message: “Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.” Continuing in the New International Version: “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself…”
Humility is the mark of a true leader. The prophet Micah tells us to walk humbly with God. To be a leader in the church means that we walk humbly with God and with our fellow Christians. What does it meant to be humble? I like C.S. Lewis’s quote:
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself. It’s thinking of yourself less.” A humble person doesn’t think they are worse than others – they know they are a person of worth, loved and valued as a child of God. But a humble person doesn’t always have to be first. They don’t have to toot their own horn. They are usually thinking of others. They are not arrogant or proud. They don’t look down on other people, no matter who they are. As another proverb says, “Never look down on anyone unless you are admiring their shoes.”
As Christians, if we are given a position of authority, we should not lord it over others or use it to treat them as inferior. Rather, we should think of leadership as an opportunity to serve. Even Jesus, the Son of God, did not come to earth with a prideful or arrogant attitude. He came ready to humbly serve others and help those around him.
Joe and I recently watched the movie Cabrini, about Mother Cabrini, the first American recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church. She came to the U.S. from Italy in 1889 to care for Italian immigrants in New York City, many of whom were living in desperate poverty.
She and her nuns founded an orphanage and a hospital and went on to found many more works of charity throughout the U.S. and around the world. She is known as the patron saint of immigrants. The movie shows Cabrini and her sisters on the night of their arrival, walking through the muddy lanes of the Italian ghetto, seeing their new neighborhood for the first time. They are shocked by the filthy and degrading conditions people are living in – street children sleeping in the sewers, young girls forced into prostitution. Mother Cabrini tells her sisters, “Open your eyes. See everything. This is who we’ve come to serve.”
When we are ordained for Christian leadership, we are called to serve. Empowered by the Holy Spirit and affirmed by the congregation, our job, according to the passage we read in Ephesians, is “to equip God’s people for works of service, for building up the body of Christ.” In other words, we are not made leaders to build ourselves up, but rather to build up Christ’s body, the church. Ephesians continues: “until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ.”
To paraphrase “a good leader brings people together and helps them to grow in their faith, so that we all know Christ better and become a little more like him.”
But how can we have the wisdom to do this? Where can we turn when we have people that are relying on us for guidance? The Bible is a good place to start. Psalm 119:105 calls God’s Word “a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” And we can always turn to God for assistance and insight in prayer. We can also turn to each other. Our Presbyterian system of governance can be a rich resource for leadership: we have the Session – a board of elders – for a reason. No one person has all the answers. I often ask our elders for advice. As it says in Proverbs 15:22: “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”
Of course, when we consult with others, we must recognize that we cannot always agree. Sometimes we agree, sometimes we disagree, and sometimes we have to agree to disagree. However, we should always do so with caring and humility, focusing on how Christ would act in this situation.
If there is a disagreement about something that we care passionately about, we need to let go of our frustrations and truly listen. We should try to understand where the other person is coming from. This is especially important when we come from different cultural backgrounds, as we do here at STHPC. I am really proud of our leadership and congregation that we try to listen to each other and set a good example of how to get along despite our differences. We are truly a New Testament Church – if you recall the story of Pentecost, how people from many nations came together that day, you will see how, from the very beginning the church was made up of people from different cultures and languages. I often think God prefers it that way.
Good leadership requires more than just our own strength. It requires us to rely on God and look to the Bible for wisdom. It requires us to listen to each other and learn from one another. Each day we get to choose what type of leader we want to be.
So I ask our elders and deacons, both old and new, and all of you who are leaders in some way – even if just by your good example – what kind of leader do you want to be?
Let us pray: Lord, we recognize that we ourselves do not have the wisdom to lead your people, or even to always be a good example. Help us, guide us, teach us to walk in your ways, so that we may serve your people well, that your will may be done on earth as in heaven. Amen.
©Deborah Troester, 2024 (with credit to Horace Hines and Grand Canyon University: https://www.gcu.edu/blog/spiritual-life/weekly-devotional-leading-purpose)
©Deborah Troester 2024