God’s Ministry Through Servant Leaders is Cosmic
January 21, 2016
By: James L. Brewer-Calvert
“The apostles returned to Jesus,
and told him all that they had done and taught.” — Mark 6: 30
This Sunday morning First Christian Church will be installing and commissioning servant leaders who will become new elders, deacons, and elected officers of the Church Board. We hope you will be present at 10:30AM. If you cannot we ask that you lift up God’s people in your prayers.
They say that a new church servant leader was talking with a hard-working woman who was a devoted follower of Christ. She was likewise active in community service projects and present at every worship service. She said that one day their pastor expressed thanks for her commitment to being present every Sunday. She responded, “Yes, it is such a blessing after a hard week of work to come to church, sit down on soft pew cushions, and not think about anything.”
From the Bible we learn that disciples are sent out in pairs and small groups. Jesus’ followers are commissioned to serve with joy and sincerity. Like our spiritual forbearers, when we return from our adventures we are eager to tell the highlights and challenges and to hear words of affirmation and sympathy. In Calling and Character, William Willmon imagines the disciples shouting as they return to Jesus, “It works! We are actually ministers!”[1] The disciples return to Him with joy and a good bit of pure astonishment. “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” Jesus said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightening.” (Luke 10: 17-18) Willimon writes, “In other words, this ministry is much more than helping people, more even than healing and preaching… God is taking back the whole cosmos through our work.”[2] Ministry in the name of Jesus is transformational, miraculous, cosmic.
The biblical model for church leadership described here guided both the first churches and later the Disciples of Christ revival movement. This biblical model taught disciples like us how to be servant leaders:
Ø Don’t work alone. Do ministry in teams, working together for the greater good.
Ø Don’t become isolated. Be, share, and serve in the context of a faith community.
Ø Don’t be ostentatious. Live simply, and trust in the Lord to provide for your physical and spiritual needs.
Ø Don’t be obstinate. When you are rejected or ignored, let go of any grudges or discontent, learn the lessons you must, and move on.
Ø Don’t neglect the disinherited. Emulate Jesus by serving to and with the marginalized, calling His people by name, and ministering with humility.
Ø Don’t forget who or whose you are. You are a child of God! You’ve been baptized, called and anointed to serve humbly, as one with divine authority, with “…no arrogant display of power, for [you are] the servant of God whose ministry will take [you] to the cross.”[3]
Ø Do take your cue from God as revealed in Jesus Christ. Look first to Jesus as God’s embodiment of messiah, mission and message.
What would you do and be and share if you knew that God would not let you fail? If you knew that the word of God does not return unfulfilled? If you knew that your declaration of your availability to serve is the very change the Lord has been waiting for? What would you do if you got tired?
We do get weary; oh so weary with giving away and pouring out. We question and wonder and question some more. That is fine. You and I are not alone in our journeys of giving out and giving in, repeatedly seeking to be refueled and refilled with the Holy Spirit. The love of Christ stands ready to receive us home. And so we return and are welcomed home. We return to Jesus, to His Church, to worship, to commune, to be filled and commissioned with the Spirit of the Lord.
Nancy Brewer, my mother-in-law (mother-in-love in our family tradition) wrote the following poem, entitled “GENE POOL” (October 2011).
I’ve done my share. I’ve paid my dues.
Volunteers needed? Well, I refuse.
Chair a committee? If truth be told,
I’ve chaired a-many, but I’m just too old.
Well, just take the minutes, an easy task.
No, I’ve had my turn, so please don’t ask.
No more casseroles will I bake.
No more raffle tickets will I take.
The community garden is ready to plant.
When they call for help, I’ll say “I can’t.”
I glance in the mirror and with shock I see
the face of my Mom, looking back at me.
Memories flood of how she slipped away,
With the ledger balanced for that fated day.
A bookkeeper, retired from that lifetime career,
She was some group’s treasurer, year after year.
Cake in the freezer for a Fellowship meal,
With banana bread ready for a food appeal.
February birthday cards written in advance,
Tithe checks written, nothing left to chance.
She transported “older ladies,” then a stroke
Was just a nuisance of which she rarely spoke.
In her ninth decade, she could no longer drive,
But caring for others kept my Mom alive.
I glance in the mirror, and I see through a blur
my mother’s daughter, wishing it was her.
Her genes, her example, my habits? I’d guess
when they call for volunteers, I’ll likely say “yes.”
Gracious and loving God, hear our prayer. Send me! Send us! Send your people forth to be your cosmic power in the community. We ask your blessings upon your people who say “yes,” upon those whom your church installs and commissions to serve and love in your name. Amen!
As always, First Christian Church of Decatur, I am delighted to be your pastor. Shalom, James
[1] William H. Willimon, Calling and Character: Virtues of the Ordained Life, (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000), 138.
[2] Ibid., 138.
[3] Fred Craddock, et al, Editors, Preaching the New Common Lectionary, (Nashville: Abingdon, 1986), 119.