Yesterday, I preached a sermon based upon Matthew 23:1-12. Jesus is speaking to a crowd, including the disciples, in which he says to listen to your religious leaders - but don't follow their examples. Jesus goes on to describe the behavior of said leaders. He tells of a people who care more about how they look (with their long phylacteries and fringes) and how they are perceived by their people (by where they sit at the banquet and how they are greeted in the marketplace). Jesus ends by saying something you would expect Jesus to say - that the greatest among you will be your servant and God will exalt the humble and will humble the exalted.
Although one of the commentaries I read in preparation commented that this text is more appropriate for pastors and other leaders to study (as a what-not-to-do in leadership), I think that since Jesus is addressing a crowd of followers, that Jesus is also telling us about the nature of discipleship.
The behavior that Jesus describes focuses on lifting one's self up instead of a life that is centered on serving others. At the heart of what Jesus does is describe the many ways in which we allow our selves (read "egos") to get in the way of just simply serving God. (In my mail today was a national YMCA publication that was applauding the work of one Y-board in making some changes that made some community differences - the quote I remember is from the board chairman: "Everyone decided to check their egos and agendas at the door and we all decided to simply do what was best for the community.") I'm not sure I can say there is no room for ego in a faithful community, but I do believe I can say that we often (and I'm guilty as charged!) allow our egos and agendas get in the way of serving God.
Jesus invites us to strip away all in our life that does not build up the body of Christ. Jesus invites us to strip away the clutter and the distractions and the busyness and stuff that doesn't really matter so that we can live grateful lives of service. There are 168 hours in the week. What would happen if we let the one hour that we spend in communal worship shape us to that the other 167 hours were lived in service to God?
Rienhold Niebuhr once wrote (and I got this quote from a sermon that John Buchanan of Fourth Presbyterian Church in Chicago preached recently) "Nothing worth doing can be accomplished in a lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful or good makes sense in any immediate context of history, therefore we are saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous can be accomplished alone, therefore we must be saved by love."
What am I going to do different because of Jesus words? What can I strip away in my own life that distracts me from my calling and my witness?
Ponderingly- John C.
---- A note on some happening at CPC - my installation as Pastor is this coming Sunday - November 6th at 4:00 p.m. My dear friend Trace Haythorn will be preaching the service. It is an official event of the Presbytery of the Twin Cities Area. It will be nice to show my parents and my uncle Plainview and the church.
-----Our midweek LOGOS program began last week with record numbers! We had 47 elementary youth in attendance. Such energy! Such excitement! Such exhaustion! The next time Belinda tells me to take a nap...I'm going to take her advice. It was wonderful to see all the activity, all the young people, and all the volunteers. What a great start to LOGOS.
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