Over the past two weeks, several hundred clergy from various Christian denominations - some evangelical, some mainstream, some progressive - have signed a statement calling on their fellow clergy to preach on issues related to the upcoming election, with a focus on the type of leader we as Christians should vote for.
Pastors and other religious leaders who act with integrity generally do not tell you who you should vote for. On the other hand, it is appropriate and even necessary for religious leaders to lift up biblical values, and to hold leaders accountable to biblical calls for justice and compassion, especially as these things pertain to those who are most vulnerable in our society.
One suggestion that was made to pastors was to preach on Philippians, chapter 2, and highlight the qualities of a leader that are mentioned there - qualities exemplified by Christ himself.
But I thought: No, I want to get back to the lectionary. I took a detour from the lectionary when I stuck with the story of Moses at the burning bush for four weeks, and I really want to get back to the lectionary.
Using the lectionary is a good practice for me, it unites our church with thousands of other Christian congregations who also use the lectionary in their weekly worship services, and it prevents the preacher from only ever preaching on their favorite verses and neglecting other passages that might be more challenging.
So I went and looked up the scriptures for today, September 27, 2020, the 17th Sunday after Pentecost in year A of the three-year lectionary cycle… and guess what was listed there?
Philippians 2. So here we go!
Philippians was written by the apostle Paul to the church in Philippi - hence its name.
And the church in Philippi was having a hard time. There were divisions in the church - divisions that threatened to split the church apart.
And Paul was concerned.
Paul was concerned because too many had joined the church hoping to get something good out of it for themselves. They thought that joining the church would make them look good. Maybe they had difficulty gaining influence and power in government, but the church - maybe the church could help them move up in society.
Unfortunately, when you get too many people thinking these thoughts, power struggles ensue. We see that in churches today; too many congregations find that their ministry has taken a backseat to the struggles for power, as too many people in those congregations seek glory not for Christ, but for themselves.
And, certainly, pastors are not exempt from this. We’re human, too! Pastors want respect, at least; pastors want affirmation. At least. And some want even more: adulation. Influence. Wealth. Power. Glory.
In boy scouts, the scout with all the power and all the glory is the Senior Patrol Leader. At least, that’s what I thought when I was a brand new scout. Like most new scouts, I thought the Senior Patrol Leader was the one in charge, the one who gets to sit back in his camp chair and boss everyone else around.
It’s like in the movie Cool Runnings, about the Jamaican bobsled team. There’s a scene in the movie where the four teammates and their coach need to decide who’s going to be the driver of the bobsled. The movie shows that the driver is the leader of the team… which means that, in the eyes of the Jamaican teammates, the driver is the most glorious, most highly exalted, position.
One of the teammates is named Sanka. And Sanka is kind of like the apostle Peter. Always a little too quick to speak up, and often putting his foot in his own mouth.
Sanka says: I'm the driver.
Coach: You're not. You're the brakeman.
Sanka: You don't understand, I am Sanka Coffie, I am the best pushcart driver in all of Jamaica! I must drive! Do you dig where I'm coming from?
Coach: Yeah, I dig where you're coming from.
Sanka: Good.
Coach: Now dig where I'm coming from. I'm coming from two gold medals. I'm coming from nine world records in both the two- and four-man events. I'm coming from ten years of intense competition with the best athletes in the world.
Sanka: That's a [heck] of a place to be coming from!
Coach: You see Sanka, the driver has to work harder than anyone. He's the first to show up, and the last to leave. When his buddies are all out drinking beer, he's up in his room studying pictures of turns. You see, a driver must remain focused one hundred percent at all times. Not only is he responsible for knowing every inch of every course he races, he's also responsible for the lives of the other men in the sled. Now do you want that responsibility?
Sanka: I say we make Derice the driver.
Coach: So do I, Sanka. So do I.
So when I became the Senior Patrol Leader, I quickly learned that there’s more to being a leader than being in charge and bossing people around.
In reality: the SPL “works harder than anyone. He is the first to show up and the last to leave,” as Coach told Sanka. He makes sure his assistants and his patrol leaders have what they need to succeed. He calls people on the phone with reminders about their responsibilities. If he does it well, the Senior Patrol Leader puts in more time - sacrifices more time - to make sure that the meetings go well.
Because, for a good Senior Patrol Leader, it’s not about sitting in a camp chair and bossing other scouts around. A good Senior Patrol Leader is always thinking about the other scouts in the troop. He doesn’t think about what he wants, but about what all the other scouts want, what the other scouts need. And he works hard so that everything runs smoothly.
This is the type of leader that the apostle Paul says we should aspire to become. And this is the type of leader that we should vote for.
This is a leader who has the same attitude about things as Jesus did…
And at this point, Paul quotes a hymn that appears to have been sung or said from the very earliest days of the Christian movement.
He says that Jesus was in the form of God, that God’s nature was in Jesus, which means Jesus could have demanded glory and honor and power… he could have been in charge with so much more power than a Senior Patrol Leader has, and he could have used that power for his own glory.
But he didn’t.
Instead, Jesus emptied himself. And Jesus took the form of a slave or a servant - leadership, to Jesus, was service to others.
Jesus humbled himself and became obedient to one thing, and that one thing was love for others. God is love, and Jesus was obedient to God, which means Jesus was obedient to love and what love demands.
And when love demanded of Jesus that he sacrifice his own life, Jesus didn’t hesitate. Because for Jesus, it wasn’t all about him. For us in the church, it’s all about Jesus, but for Jesus, it's all about love and service to others.
It’s all about sacrificing your own glory, your own power, in order to lift up others.
Be like that, Paul says.
Stop acting out of selfish ambition.
It’s not about you. It’s about everyone, together.
And it was because of Jesus’ obedience and sacrifice and humility that God raised Jesus from the dead. The resurrection is God’s affirmation of how Jesus lived, what Jesus taught, and all that Jesus stood for.
It’s the complete opposite of sitting in a camp chair, or sitting on a throne, and bossing everyone else around.
If we want to be Christ-like leaders, we need to follow the example of Christ. That is what being Christ-like means - by definition!
It means we humble ourselves. It means we think of others. It means we obey God’s command to love our neighbor.
And loving our neighbor means working especially on behalf of the poor, the vulnerable, the oppressed.
It means speaking out on behalf of justice, and actively confronting the injustice of our world. I heard on Friday that Ruth Bader Ginsberg had a sign in her office which said, in Hebrew: Justice. Justice. That's what you should pursue. It's from Deuteronomy 16, and it's what a Christ-like leader does.
Being a Christ-like leader who loves one's neighbor means working to overcome racism, in our own ways of thinking, in our church, in our government, and in society.
It means doing everything we can to slow down or stop climate change, especially since the poor and vulnerable are the first to be affected by a changing climate.
It means voting for leaders who will stop the immoral transfer of wealth that has allowed the wealthiest Americans, the top one percent, to profit off of these difficult times while so many regular people are struggling harder than ever.
It means voting for leaders who will not cater to white supremacists.
It means voting for leaders who will not twist the truth and ignore science just to make themselves look good.
It means voting for leaders who - no matter what faith they claim - are willing to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
It means voting for leaders who will get out of their camp chair, or come down off their throne, or step off the golf course, to show up early and stay late, pursue justice, take responsibility for the lives and wellbeing of those they lead, and do the hard work that is demanded of a leader who is called to serve the people.
That's the kind of leader God calls each of us to be.
That's the kind of leader God calls each of us to vote for.
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