In the name of God, our Creator, Redeemer and Giver of Life, Amen.
Today I would like to share with you some reflections on leadership because both the reading from the book of Joshua and the Gospel seem to point in that direction. Leadership is important in human society, in families, in nations and in the church. There are many different styles of leadership and many different ways in which leaders lead which makes it important for us to know what sort of leaders we should be.
Some leaders make it very clear that they are in charge; Saddam Hussein was clearly in control of Iraq which he ruled by force. He led by having power over the people. When he said, "Jump!" the only question people dared to ask was, "How high?" This sort of leadership, which denies free will to people, is called Dictatorship, and it is quite rightly criticized and opposed. Joshua had a different kind of leadership. "The Lord said to Joshua, "This day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses. You are the one who shall command the priests who bear the Ark of the Covenant." Joshua's leadership and his authority to give commands was not seen as coming from his own personal qualities, he was the leader and commander of the Israelites because God was with him in the same way God was with Moses. The Israelites knew that God was with Joshua because God provided a sign. When Joshua commanded the priests to stand in the middle of the river Jordan, the water stopped flowing and piled up in a heap so that the people could cross on dry ground. In the same way, as it says in the book of Exodus, "the people believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses" at the crossing of the Red Sea. Because of this tradition of signs given by God to affirm leadership, the Jews demanded that Jesus show them a sign of his authority. He rejected this type of leadership by telling them that the only sign they would see was the sign of his death on the cross and his resurrection after three days - a sign completely unacceptable to the Jews - leaders would never allow themselves to be crucified! The Jews wanted a big boss - Jesus refused to be bossy. And this is the style of leadership that Jesus rejects in the Gospel reading. He is against leaders who set themselves apart from the people they are supposed to lead. He is against those who love to be honoured and those who demand the signs of respect. He is against those who say one thing and do another. He is against those who tell other people what to do and how to behave without doing the same. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled - those who puff themselves up to make themselves look big will collapse like a burst balloon - they will die and be forgotten. On the other hand, says Jesus, those who humble themselves will be exalted. This may be a reference to the crucifixion. Jesus was nailed to a cross like the worst sort of criminal, burdened like a slave with the faults, misery and sin of the whole world. He died and was buried, but instead of being forgotten, he rose again and now billions of Christians worship him. Even those who are not Christians agree that he was one of the greatest human being that ever lived. Perhaps we could look at Jesus' style of leadership and make that the model for our own. I am talking about all of us because Jesus did not claim all the leadership for himself. Even though he was filled with the power of God, he did not use his power to dominate or control. St John, in his gospel says that he gave his power to all people so that they could become children of God. Jesus' leadership was a leadership of service. He said, "The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve." He showed his leadership by healing, by comforting and by raising the dead. At the last supper he showed his leadership by washing the feet of the disciples. These were not signs given so that people would treat him as a leader. No, instead they showed the world how a true leader behaves. And he gave to his disciples the same ministry. "As my Father has sent me," he said, "so I send you. Everywhere you go, heal the sick, raise the dead and proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven has come near." Jesus had a vision of leadership that went far beyond the distorted leadership of the scribes and Pharisees. He had a vision of leadership that went far beyond the power of Imperial Rome. He told Pontius Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." Meaning, "You will not understand." Jesus did not want to gather a huge crowd of followers who would do what he told them, Jesus instead took those followers and made them leaders, leaders who would do what Jesus did - giving people the power to become children of God, filling them all with the Holy Spirit. This is St Paul's vision for the church as well. The members of the church were to be "subject to one another", serving one another and sustaining one another like the various parts of a body. Some people are to be prophets or apostles; others are to teach or to be administrators. There will be coordinators and preachers, evangelists and healers, there will even be bishops, priests and deacons. The leadership task of the church is to "equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ." Leaders must lead, there is no doubt of that, it's just that leadership is a servant ministry. The greatest leaders will be those who serve the community best. I believe that this is the best way for St Luke's community. I have been appointed by the Archbishop as a leader in this parish. He calls me a minister, and I don't mind that, because a minister is one who serves. I am a priest, too, which means I am an elder in the church, and my special task as an elder is to encourage and enhance the leadership of each person here. Last week we had a meeting of potential leaders of pastoral care groups. Their leadership will be to encourage and facilitate the love and care that we have for one another, making what is good, better. In this way, as St Paul told the Ephesian church, we will all draw nearer to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity in the fullness of Christ.