“The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
It is interesting to realize that almost every major news story, these days, touches in some way on the issue of leadership.
Even over the past week, we have pondered the parameters of appropriateness in a Governor-General’s comments; we have watched the ongoing debates about Russsian influence in the choice of US presidential leadership debates; we have wondered about how tensions between leaders in the United States and North Korea will play out.
We have been troubled by the predatory sexual activities of leaders in the worlds of entertainment and culture, as well being concerned about how the power of those leaders contributed to a damning silence on the part of those who knew what was going on but did not raise concerns in order to safeguard their own careers.
Business leaders are no less immune to critique of their behaviour. Later this month, the Speaker series will be welcoming a leader from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment to discuss issues related to the worlds of major sports, corporate social responsibility, and the need for ethical, moral, socially-conscious practices in the world of business and in the leaders who are entrusted with those responsibilities.
In all of these various areas of life – from politics, to international relations, to entertainment, to culture, to business – issues of leadership are in the forefront of the news.
But there is nothing new about this news.
To the contrary, for thousands of years, we as humans have been aware of the fact that greatness in leadership has a profound role to play in the functioning of community. In fact, it is interesting to note that — for good and for ill — we often label entire eras in relation to the leaders who are in place at the time – Churchill’s Britain, or Stalin’s Russia, or Hitler’s Germany; Maoist China, or the Victorian era, or the Napoleonic age. We speak of kingdoms, of empires, of dictatorships, of republics, of parliamentary democracies — all of which are ways of defining the organization of community in relation to the forms of leadership that a community embraces.
Questions about the nature of greatness in leadership serve as a central theme in the pages and narratives of Scripture. A central concern of the Hebrew Scriptures had to do with the type of leadership that was to be embraced in the formation of Israel – and how the choices that the people made about their leaders had either beneficial or detrimental effects on their life together. The time of the judges, shortly after the departure of Moses and Joshua, led to the people’s demand for the establishment of a monarchy in the time of the prophet Samuel and the rise of the house of Saul, and then of the house of David. But in the aftermath of David and Solomon’s reigns, the kingdom of Israel itself was divided under the leadership of Solomon’s sons. Subsequently, the moral decay which beset the people was deemed to be the fault of the kings and queens, and led to the Babylonian exile. After the return from Babylon, the rise of great empires such as Persian, Greece and eventually Rome meant that the people of Israel were – for hundreds of years – subjected to the leadership of foreign dignitaries, while they waited for, and longed for the coming of a divinely appointed, divinely anointed leader – a Messiah, a suffering servant, an everlasting king – who would restore their dignity and lead them back to a time of peace, prosperity, hope and confidence.
But then Jesus came.
And many of his disputes were with those who were in positions of leadership in the religious and political life of his community — disputes in which he was not always complimentary in his assessment of the behaviour of the leaders of his time.
To the contrary, today’s suggested reading from the 23rd chapter of the Gospel of Matthew contains some cutting words about those who were in positions of leadership. At best, do what they teach, he stated, but do not follow their example. They want power without the expectation of moral responsibility, they want authority without ethical accountability, they want to be seen as great regardless of how they are behaving.
Be careful.
As a person who wears one of those long robes in worship and whose life is in a position of religious leadership, it is not always easy to read these passages, especially in light of the fact that Jesus’ assessments are directed towards people like Bob.
Well, and perhaps myself.
But for all us, it is really easy – and very dangerous – to read these passages as words of condemnation and judgement aimed at “someone else”. Just as it is really easy – and very dangerous – to read the news headlines, these days, about the moral failings of political, entertainment and business leaders as a way of judging “those” people, without any correlating assessment of our own behaviour.
It is so easy to point the finger and to make ourselves feel good by pointing out the foibles in the words and actions and twitter posts of others, but not look at ourselves. It is easy to judge those who have been exposed as lecherous, but not look at our own attitudes. It is easy to condemn those who are in the public spotlight, but not look at the thoughts and ideas that we hide and harbour within our own minds and spirits.
The way of Jesus asks us to be different – not to judge, lest we be judged; not to use power for our own sake; but instead to strive for true greatness by shaping our lives in the pursuit of opportunities to serve rather than to be served.
“The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Jesus’ words are for all of us, regardless of our position in society. They set before all of us a wonderful and compelling challenge about how we live our lives. Do we strive for greatness by pursuing the trappings of worldly success and power, or do we have the courage to seek out opportunities to use our time, our energy, our strength, our power in the service of others?
In this, it is interesting to read his words carefully. Jesus never stated that human greatness was to be avoided, or that it was to be shunned. Jesus wanted his followers to be great, and to do great things in this world. He wanted his followers to shine their light brightly, he wanted his followers to use their power wisely, he wanted his followers to build a kingdom of love that would transform the world.
Jesus encouraged greatness.
But his words reminded his followers about the way that actual greatness is achieved. By drawing attention to the religious officials of his time, he was not seeking to center them out as unusually flawed, nor to suggest that they were particularly or uniquely awful. To the contrary, he was simply reminding his followers that true greatness was not to be found by using positions of authority for one’s own good.
And those words are as relevant today as they ever were. After all, our moments of greatest skepticism about flawed leadership in every sphere of life come when we begin to suspect that those in positions of great authority and power are primarily there for their own selfish purposes. And our greatest respect – both in religious and in secular culture — is reserved for those individuals who we see trying to use their platform or their influence or their power in ways that bring blessing to others, and particularly to the poor, the oppressed, the sick and the vulnerable.
And each and every one of us can apply his words to our own lives. We do not need to be the Governor General of Canada, or the President of the United States, or the head of a major Hollywood production company, or the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, in order to strive for greatness by embracing a life of servanthood.
In fact, at this time of year when we are invited to remember all of the saints of our spiritual tradition, it can be good to remember that those who made the greatest impact were rarely, if ever, in positions of great authority and leadership in the world. And even in our own lives, those all hallowed saints that we have encountered – those who have demonstrated and revealed grace and love in our lives and in our world – have often been people who never had any particular authority or power at all. Rather, it was a Sunday school teacher who offered time to teach us the stories of the Bible, or the youth group leader who gave up their Friday nights to help us to find our place in the church, or the kindness of a friend who reached out to us in a time of distress, or the example of a neighbour who simply went about their lives with joy and compassion, regardless of their circumstances, and who did so out of their desire to make the world a kinder, gentler place. It was that elderly friend in the church who sincerely encouraged us, when we were young; it was the young friend who treated us as a friend and a companion when we grew old – it was these saints, in their humble, compassionate ways who have demonstrated the true nature of greatness.
As we come to this Table, today, it can be good for us to realize and to remember that the God before whom we bow is a God whose true greatness was not, ultimately,, revealed not in the majestic, dramatic, powerful ways that God could have chosen to act; but rather, a God whose true greatness was revealed in humble acts of servanthood – in serving the poor and the hungry; in reaching out to touch the untouchable and the marginalized; in talking with people who were not supposed to be treated with dignity; in stooping down to wash his followers’ feet; in giving up all power – and even life itself – to show us, once and for all, that real power, real greatness, is found by giving it all away for the sake of love.
And so, as we gather at this Table, as we remember what Christ has accomplished for us and for our world, let us bring our lives before him – our attitudes, our priorities, our lust for power and authority, our judgements of others, our striving for greatness – and let us leave at this Table anything that holds us back from the true greatness that he desires to inspire within us.
And then let us go from this Table, and from this place, in his name, and with his words ringing in our ears — “the greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Amen.
