Qualities of Quality Leadership (Titus 1:5-16)

“Most high achievers”, says leadership guru John Maxwell,  “spend time developing their professional skills. They seek to be highly competent. Fewer focus on their character.”  Maxwell encourages his readers along with developing crucial skills to focus on their character as that is equally if not more important than competency. He encourages them to develop integrity, “being scrupulously honest even when it hurts”, authenticity, “being your real self with everyone”, and discipline, “doing the right thing every day regardless of how you feel”. In lists of attributes people look for in a leader these character traits rank highly. Conversely, we’ve seen recently the damage that even highly competent people in positions of power can cause when they are lacking in character… The Harvey Weinstein scandals has bought to light sexual misconduct, we have examples of issues to do with money and the abuse of power. On a grand scale we’ve watched the dictator Robert Mugabe being forced to give up the power he had used force to impose on Zimbabwe for so many years and on a smaller scale heard stories of exploitation of migrant workers in New Zealand and workplace bullying.  Sadly, the church has not been immune to these issues; Gifted and talented, and respected Leaders have fallen to the unholy trinity of sex, money and power. AS Paul sets Titus the task of establishing leaders for the churches in all the towns on Crete his focus is on Blameless Character, that they live out the faith they hold to.

We are working our way through what are known as the Pastoral Epistles, Paul’s letters to co-workers, leaders in the church, as they deal with different challenging pastoral situations.  Letters in which Paul encourages and instructs them, and gives us insight not only to Christian living and community but also into Christian leadership. Leadership which is not just a call to a select few, but to all who would follow Jesus Christ, as we grow in maturity and ministry.

The passage we had read to us today is split into two sections. Firstly, Paul instructs Titus to appoint Church leaders in every town on Crete and he provides Titus a code of what to look for in elders and overseers. Then he moves to set the scene in which the Church in Crete finds itself. The need for such leadership because the church faced false teaching from a group called the circumcision party who focused on ritual cleanliness like the Jewish food laws rather than Christian ethics, so there was a disconnect between gospel teaching and gospel living. It should not surprise us in this environment that character was of such important in the leaders being appointed.

Before we look at the character of the leaders Paul identifies, we do need to make some comment about the leadership structure Paul talks about. In this passage Paul uses two words for Christian leadership. The first is elders, it has its basis in Jewish society, where the family heads who provided leadership for the villages and the nation. Moses consults with the elders and gives them judicial responsibilities. During the time of the judges they formed the basis of local government, and under the monarch they were like an advisory panel whose voice needed to be listened to. They were the magistrates in local villages, with the jewish diaspora they became the leadership model for the synagogues. They were not the main teachers in Jewish society that was more the priests. So when Christianity comes along and there is a need for leadership in churches, it is natural to have adopt the idea of Elders. Of course, as a Presbyterian Church, ruled by elders we have focused on this model and we believe it is agreeable with scripture. It’s not perfect, its not the only way but it is what we have discerned in history as a good form of church governance.

The other word that Paul uses here is overseer. The Greek word is Episkopos, which we interperate bishop, the Anglican church in the US is known as the Episcopalian Church, a church governed by bishops, overseers. Overseers come from Greek culture where they were the slaves put in charge of their master’s household, or business ventures or property. The Old testament example is Jospeh who when he is sold as a slave rises to be overseer of his master Potphar’s household. It fits in very much with the idea of Christian leadership being a service and the early church being built round groups that met in people’s houses. The leader of that basic unit could be described very aptly with the term Overseer.

In this passage the two terms seem to be interchangeable, referring to the same people in each town. In 1 Timothy they seem to be two different offices, as Paul gives similar codes for the conduct of elders in chapter 3 and one for overseers and deacons in chapter 5. It maybe that the church in the towns on Crete were small and so the two roles were synonymous, where as in Ephesus where Paul wrote to Timothy it was large enough that Elders and overseer were different roles. It is easy to get caught up in different styles of church governance and historically that has been one of the issues that has kept the church apart. The focus of Titus is not the structure as much as the character of the leaders.

We need to turn our attention to that.

Paul uses the word blameless twice in his list of what to look for in a Christian leader. We might look at that and think that You must be perfect to be a Christian leader. The reality is that if you wait till you are perfect then you’ll be waiting a very long time. I wonder if part of many church leaders falling into abuses of power and money and sex is that they live with such a high expectation and start believing the hype about them, and it becomes arrogance. Blameless is a legal term which means that no charges can be bought against a person. It’s more than a background check for criminal convictions, its a life style test for present commitment to faith convictions.  Paul is asking for leaders to have a good reputation in the community and the church, a solid reputation, integrity, not simply a pretty façade.

Paul gives a list of positive traits to look for and negative traits to avoid that make up the idea of blameless. Sort like red lights and green lights for a potential leader. Family relationships are in order, there is fidelity within marriage, in a very new and difficult setting like Crete it was important that the whole household believed. That is wasn’t split with the Children involved in the wild side of Cretean behaviour. The false teaching was disrupting households, to counter it they needed to have a household that was keeping the faith and keeping together. It was important not to have a family which could be pointed to as out of control by those outside the Church. I think it is a protection for families and marriages that are struggling as well, not putting them under the added pressure and scrutiny that comes with leadership.

Then Paul gives a list of negative traits, ‘not overbearing, not quick tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursing dishonest gain. ‘These are the direct opposites of what is happening in pagan Crete society and specifically with dishonest gain it mirrors Paul allegations that the circumcision party are in it to make money.  Paul had had to defend himself against such allegations, telling the Philippians he appreciated their gift but was not asking for anything and had learned to be content in all situations. He also tells the Thessalonians to remember that he had worked as a tent maker while he was with them so not to be a burden.

Paul then follows that up with a list of positive character traits, hospitality… which is generosity, sharing what God has given. In a church that met in peoples houses it is also an essential attribute. In Phillipi, part of Lydia’s repose to the gospel was to open her house up to Paul and his team, we must assume that as where the church started and met as well.   Who loves good was seen as the opposite to being about self-gain, it reflects Jesus Beatitude, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,  self-control and disciple speak of having ones emotions and appetites under control. Upright. Speaks of being committed to justice and fairness in all dealing with other people, Holiness in greek ethics meant “living in accordance with the wishes of your god”. It describes the condition of the whole person… we might use the word integrity, our outward actions, are in harmony with our inward beliefs. Jesus would say it ‘if you love me you will keep my commandments’.  In all these traits people would see that the Candidate for Christian leadership lived out the gospel they believed in.

Paul adds a skill to his list as well that the person hold on to the trust worthy teaching they have received and be able to encourage others with sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.  Paul’s not looking for people with a theological degree here, but rather people who  know the gospel and show they now it by how they live. There is a competency element here being able to teach. But also that they set an example for others to see and follow.

How do we bring that from the there and then to the here and now.

The elephant in the room is does this passage say church leadership is only for men…Married men.  As we looked at last week when we looked at the household code and leading where we are, we noted that people have tried to take the household codes of patriarchal society and impose them as binding on todays society. In Paul’s time household leader’s elders and overseers were gendered roles. However,  I’ve mentioned many times that Paul affirmed women in leadership roles, Lydia was the leader of the church in Philippi. In Corinthians Paul talks of Chloe’s people coming to him with concerns about what was happening in Corinth, which implies she was a leader in that church. As we are a society now that values women in leadership, I know we still have a long way to go, we must ask how we apply Paul’s code to women. The answer is that the teaching on fidelity in marriage and other character traits to do with attitudes to the use of authority and money are equally as relevant, for men and women… As we look at 1 and 2 Timothy next year we will deal with some difficult passages about women in leadership.

It’s interesting that in the list of attributes Paul used Greek terms and concepts to describe the qualities of a leader. He has taken the Jewish gospel and translated the best of the qualities that Jesus epitomised and made them relevant for the situation on Crete. The attributes and moral integrity that the Greeks themselves values Paul is able to call Christians to live those out. It’s a key principle for us as well, to see Christian Leadership be about people reflecting the best character traits virtues and qualities that our society holds up for leaders, Maxwell does that by using words like integrity, honesty, authenticity, discipline cover the traits Paul had talked about. This word picture behind me reflects  leadership qualities people saw in Martin Luther King Jr, many which reflect his Christian faith. The list of the top attributes that people look for in a leader today like dependability, transparency; having no ulterior motive, empathy, compassion and care for workers and those we lead, all reflect a Christ honouring life, a person who hears Jesus words and obeys them. That are able to be examples of what it means to follow Christ. In their relationships, inside the family and outside.

When I was at Knox Theological college the then principal showed us this diagram to do with ministry formation, and he asked us which of these quadrants we felt that we needed to work on in our time at Knox. Professional skills and developing gifts, knowledge, spiritual growth, character development. I actually think it is a good way of thinking about not only ministry development but also leadership development and Christian discipleship. To be well rounded in Christ we need to grow in all those areas.

In this passage Paul is not telling Titus to look for the superheros of the faith, the exceptional Christian person, rather when you have a look at the qualities of a quality leader, you see that they are examples of people who have grown into maturity in Christ, it is God’s call on you and I In Ephesians four Paul states that  God’s purpose for Christian leadership and ministry is  that the body of Christ, all of us, might grow into the fullness of Christ and be equipped for every good deed. As we saw when we looked at Paul’s instruction to Titus about people in every status of Cretean society was that as followers of Jesus they are examples of the Kingdom of God in this world, ambassadors for Christ. To be like these street lights starting to take effect in the dusk in a town on Crete, or where we are here and now.  WE are called to a Christ honouring life and as we live that some will be called into positions of leadership in the Church… We are all called to have the qualities of quality leadership… as we serve and grow in the qualities of Jesus Christ. 

Lead Where you are!... reflections from Titus 2

This message was preached at a café style service at St Peter's and was designed to get people reflecting on how they could lead and live out the gospel in the situations and places in which they live. It has discussion questions incorporated at the end... 

Recently I listened to a podcast of a pastor from South Africa talking about how their church moved from seeing themselves as simply members of a Church to being people who were all called by God to serve in the city and place they lived, and see the good news of Jesus Christ bring transformation.

He illustrated this by talking about an unemployed woman teacher who asked the church to pray for her to find a job. The next week the pastor got a phone call from the women to say she had got an offer for a job, teaching, but she didn’t want to take it because it was in the worst school in the worst area of the city, the people were the wrong colour, it was full of problem kids, drug dealers and crime. The pastor said that he though as she was called to be a teacher and they had prayed for a job that just maybe this might be God answering that prayer and giving her the place God wanted her to serve. Long story short, She taught at the school and got to know the kids and their families, that lead to the church getting involved in the community.. They got involved in the notorious housing estate next to the school that many of the families lived in. One of their congregation was called to be a lawyer got involved in the body corporate, and used his legal skills to stop apartments being used to manufacture and distribute drugs. 

We might not see it when we look at our own lives and circumstances, but God has called each one us, and placed us where we are and its there that he calls us to serve and to lead, and see his kingdom come. In the passage we had read out to us today Paul continues to speak to Titus who he has left in Crete to establish the church in what is a difficult situation.  We are looking at it as a way of gaining insight into Christian leadership as maturity and ministry.

Paul tells Titus to teach what is appropriate to sound doctrine. The gospel of Jesus Christ results in his followers living the gospel out in the society in which they live. Paul relates that to how should Christians live in the very structured society of Crete. Paul give Titus things to teach people who are at different levels in that structure, because of age, gender and weather they are free or slave: from top to bottom, he is to teach them how they can serve God in the place they are. Then he underpins that by articulating the sound doctrine that they are to live out. Paul finishes by exhorting Titus to teach and not to let anyone despise him, it is an exhortation for him to lead where he is.  

On Crete there seems to have been a disconnect between gospel teaching and gospel behaviour, and people in the church were getting caught up in the more indulgent and promiscuous society round them. So Paul starts by teaching Christian character and behaviour.  He also starts with households because he had talked of the false teaching happening in Crete impacting on households. Household is also a metaphor that was used as a metaphor for the Church.

Greek and Roman society was built around a very rigid and enforced social structure. Aristotle summed up the system very succinctly when he put it in a series of three authority relationships…’ Master and Slave, Husband and Wife, father and children’. It was a very strict patriarchal structure, that had very codified and rigid gender roles and expectations.

Paul’s applies the gospel to that structure in a very radical way. He speaks to the older men who would be seen as the heads of the households and in positions of authority, not to be indulgent and simply accept the privilege of that position, rather to be temperate and self-controlled, to be worthy of that respect rather than simply demanding it. In a radical way he talks of being sound in faith, and in love. It becomes not about power but about care and concern and self-giving service. Likewise the older women were not to simply indulge in gossip and wine, but be about teaching younger women to follow Christ. Teaching is of course an important role in the church, passing on the faith to new generations.  The word for older women here up until the fourth century was also seen an official role in the Church of women elder.

Paul is radical in that he also speaks to the people in the positions of less or no power as well, showing them how to live out the Christian faith where they are.  Avoiding the excesses of the culture round them and acting in a way that reflects Jesus Christ.  They may have to do the things that they do because of their position in society, but he changes it from duty and demand to being about service, and showing Christs love, in fact it becomes subversive rather than submissive. To each group he tells them that their behaviour will help further the gospel… The young women while having more equality in ministry and leadership because of the gospel will show by their behaviour in managing their households…remember most women in Greek society were married at an early age and expected to have and bring up children…  will not give people any opportunity to malign God’s people… likewise the young men are to be self-controlled and have integrity, so that the opponents of the church will not be able to have anything to hold against them.  The slaves are told that by the way they show Christ like character that they will do more than that they will attract people to the gospel. These powerless people in society are empowered by Paul to make real change by their trustworthy integrity.  They can lead where they are.

The rigid social order of Paul’s day makes it kind of hard for us to work out how to apply what Titus is told to teach to today’s society. Sadly, some people have tried to apply the social structure and the household code of the then and there on the here and now. Man is the head of the house, women are to submit… with the emphasis on maintaining the power structures. Walter Liefield in his commentary on Titus gives helpful principles to how we are to apply Paul’s teaching to our very different cultural settings.

The first is that in every age and culture Christians need to evaluate how contemporaries of moral integrity view the relationship between men and women and apply Christlike love to that. In our age where marriage is viewed as a partnership between equals then it is easy to apply Paul’s teaching on the Christian household in Ephesians 5:21 “submit to one another out of reverence to Christ”… working out the nuts and bolts are a little harder.

The second is, that in all our interpersonal relationships like at work where we find ourselves in positions of authority or being under authority we show a level of integrity, that is as least as high as those of non-Christian people. I remember a speaker at a young adults’ camp we ran one Easter saying he knew his Christian faith was having an impact when his coworkers asked him to take on an advocacy role in the office. He was known for treating everyone no matter who they were with kindness and integrity and was never caught up in office gossip or complaining about everything, and could be trusted to keep confidences and do what he said he would do. People found that attractive.

The last principle is that while we point to Christ with our lifestyle, it does not simply take the place of sharing our faith and the gospel. At the end of teaching on behaviour Paul articulates the gospel truth that underpins that behaviour. That God has appeared and offers Salvation to all people, calling us to live out the Kingdom of God in this present age. Turning from the ways of the world to the ways of God. That Jesus Christ has made us his very own eager to do what is right.  As well as living out the gospel we need to be able to tell out the gospel.

In a very real way Paul is instructing the followers of Jesus in the places that they are to lead where they are.  To be an example of what the Kingdom of God looks like in a marriage and family life, at work, in the neighbourhood and community in which we live. In how we exercise authority or deal with other people exercising authority. It’s not simply to keep the status quo of a culture or society but rather Christ is about redeeming those structures and societies as people come to know his great love and reflect it…

I want to give you a few moments to have a think through this stuff in the groups you are in round the tables. Here are some questions which may get you thinking….

1.       What are the different areas of your life God has called you to serve in?

2.       In what ways do you see yourself able to offer leadership and reflect the gospel?

3.       How have you noticed that call change as you move through different life stages?

4.       How do you see it reflected in your relationships to people of different gender?

Insight into leadership from Paul's introduction to Titus (Titus 1:5)

In the past few decades Leadership has very much come into the spot light. People are fascinated with leadership and what makes a good leader…Tens of thousands of books have been written, copious theories have been expounded, courses run, seminars given, leadership development programmes instigated and it still seems quite an enigma. What constitutes leadership… When we see good leadership we see things thrive, and we have seen failures in, and abuse of leadership cause immense amounts of harm.

From now until Easter we are going to be looking at the pastoral epistles… 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon. Letters that Paul wrote to people in leadership positions within the church dealing with hard real life pastoral issues. He writes to encourage them in exercising leadership in the Church, that they may grow in both maturity and in ministry. It’s helpful for us as it gives us insights for Christian life and Christian leadership. We are going to look at Titus before Christmas and then Philemon and 1 &2 Timothy from Mid January until Easter, focusing on leadership, as maturity and ministry.

Now don’t sit back and say, I can relax and turn off here because if Howard is talking about leadership he’s not talking to me. That’s not the case…

 In the first two chapters of Titus we see that Paul talks of leadership in terms of official church structure, governance, and then in Chapter two tell Titus to teach people to lead where they are in the very structured society of first century Crete. As we grow in the Christian faith we are called to use our gifts and talents to minister to others in the church and as we mature in our faith to inspire and encourage one another, to show leadership where we are. In Hebrews 10:24 it says we are to spur one another on to love and good deeds… and how we live out the gospel leads people outside the church to Jesus.

 In the passage we had read out to us today, Paul had left Titus in Crete to  complete the unfinished task of appointing leaders, elders, in the local church. While that was specific to that time and place, God’s work in building up the church and calling people into leadership is an ongoing unfinished process. Not just to keep the existing institution going, but raising up new generations with fresh vision and vigour, and like with Crete because God’s call is always for the gospel to reach into new and different places and spheres, God calls his people to be part of that to lead it. God is calling you?

That’s a good place to turn to look at the passage we had read to us today. You can see it cut into three sections, first the introduction, where Paul gives us extended insight into how he views the ministry that he is called to exercise. Then we have a section where Paul gives Titus a list of qualities for elders and overseers for the Church, that he is to use in the process of appointing leaders in the churches on Crete. Finally we see those qualities in the context of both Cretan society and the challenges that the Church faces. We see how those qualities for leadership are counter cultural and reflect the Kingdom of God rather than the realms of humanity. We are going to look at those qualities of leadership in depth in a two Sundays time.

Paul’s introduction right off the bat tells us some important things about Christian leadership. Paul starts his letter like all his other letters by talking of being a servant or a slave. Christian leadership is not about privilege or position, power or popularity it’s about service. Titus is the only letter that Paul introduces himself as a servant of God rather than a slave of Christ. Now servant of God by the first century had taken on a sort of honorific element from the Old Testament Prophets, it was a term of respect. The church in Crete, may not have known Paul well and he is laying out his credentials here, we don’t know how the church on Crete was started, we don’t have a record of Paul having a mission to Crete, people from Crete are mentioned as being present at Pentecost, the church could have its origins there and be more Jewish than gentile and more used to the term ‘servant of God’. Definitely the main opposition group Paul mentions, the circumcision group, would have understood it having more weight and authority. But it shows that for Paul first and foremost his understanding of his leadership was as a servant. Jesus is the role model for that “The son of man came not to be served but to serve’.  

We also see that he saw leadership as a call to serve others, he was called by Jesus Christ to be an Apostle, to further the faith of God’s elect, and their knowledge of the truth that leads to Godliness. Paul saw leadership as having a specific function and playing a role, which was given to him by Jesus. It is a call to serve Jesus it is a fulfilment of Jesus great commission, “to make disciples from every nation, baptising them in the name of the father, the son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all I have commanded you.” We may see this as a more individual thing but by using the word God’s elect Paul is seeing it as a community thing, not about simply bring individuals to faith in Christ but establishing communities of faith, churches. 

For Paul leadership and ministry also meant being faithful to the gospel, the hope of eternal life, which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time and which at his appointed season he has bought to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of Jesus Christ. The good news about Jesus Christ is what Christian community and leadership is about. To Lead is to be faithful to that. When Paul talks of “preaching entrusted to me” he is not talking simply about his ability to talk in public, but rather the content of his message… the greek word means proclamation, and to the Corinthians Paul had talked of coming to them not with fancy words or eloquent talk but preaching Christ and Christ Crucified, so that they would see that they had come to faith not because of his oratory but by the power of God, the Holy Spirit moving in their lives as they heard of Jesus Christ.

Leonard sweet defines leadership as “the art of the future. A leader is one in whom the future shines through in support of the present in spite of the past.”  For Christian communities and leadership, that future is the kingdom of God, God’s eternal salvation plan, initiated by Jesus Christ, his incantation, his teaching, his death on the cross and his resurrection. We are called to live out that future hope in the here and now… Christian leadership is not about look at me, look at me and see what I have done… and how it’s made a difference…  but rather look at Jesus, look at Jesus and see what Change Jesus has made and can make. It’s not as a deflection away from a person but the direction of where we are called to go.

Paul as a leader was aware of the context in which he was called to serve God in. In his introduction he uses words like God’s elect to talk of the people of God, again a term which has Old Testament roots. It points to the fact that the church in Crete had a strong Jewish influence. But he also talks of God as the one who does not lie, he is aware of Cretan mythology and their gods who play tricks and deceive people, the father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not like that he can trusted to be faithful and keep his promises. Later in the chapter he will quote a person the Cretan’s consider a prophet, and his perception of the issues facing the church in Crete society is quite insightful, and colourful. Paul as a Christian leader is aware that God’s call is to serve God in a specific time and place, that does not change his mission or his message but he adapts it so it will be heard.  A good example is Billy Graham’s salvation tract “Steps to peace with God” which was effective in communicating the gospel to a generation that had gone through the second world war for whom peace was important.

Paul models Christian leadership being about developing other leaders. In the pastoral Epistles we see people that Paul has spent time in developing and now sends out to do ministry. He disciples Titus as his true son which may mean he lead Titus to faith, Titus definitely had been part of his ministry team and had learned about leadership from Paul. Just like Jesus had spent a large portion of his time investing in the disciples who became the leaders of the first church, and Baranabas had mentored Paul, so we see Paul mentoring other leaders. We don’t know as much about Titus as we do Timothy, but he seems to be Paul’s trouble shooter, he gets the difficult situations. Here we also see that Titus’ leadership is about developing leaders in the church in Crete. Leadership can get caught in wanting to hold onto power and ministry and not letting it go, but the Jesus model Paul uses is to empower and enable others to do what you do.

In youth ministry we used a four step process for developing leaders, it was I do it You watch, we do it together, you do it and I watch and then you go and teach someone else.

Titus’s task gives us insight into Church governance. Like any organisation the church needs organisation. This is one of the only places in the New Testament that talks about the structures of Church governance. Titus was to appoint Elders in each town in Crete. Now St Peter’s is a Presbyterian Church and Presbyterian means a church that is lead by elders, our governance structure is that we believe that Christian leadership is a group activity. Biblically, we see it in the emphasis on group leadership in scriptures like Timothy and Titus. Although on Crete it could be that because the churches were small elder’s plural here could mean one per church. Historically that has been emphasised against the distrust of power being held by one person, that comes out of the reformation and the power of bishops and the pope.

 In our Presbyterian Church the church is governed by elders and the minister (which again emphasises the idea of servant) is set aside as the teaching elder, set aside for the teaching of the word and the right observance of the sacraments. Alongside that is another layer of leadership which you could call decans but has in the past been the board of managers, which are responsible for the more practical running of the church. Because of our size as a parish we have a parish council which incorporates both those functions. Over the top we have a system of governance for regional and national levels, presbytery and national assembly, and elders and Ministers from each parish are involved in those bodies. As Presbyterians we don’t believe that our form of governance is the one the scripture expounds as being the right way of doing things, when you are ordained as and elder or minister, you acknowledge that our form of government is agreeable with scripture. Let’s face it all the different flavours of Church governance look to the scriptures for their validity…

It would be great if Paul had given Titus a handbook or a book of order (which is what we Presbyterians call our rule book) so we’d know the process and procedures that he and the church in Crete used to set up leaders, but we don’t. Paul’s emphasis was on two things on the character of the Elder, and how it reflected Christ, rather than the society around them, and their faith, that they were able to teach and encourage the church in the gospel and defend the church against false teaching. It’s about maturity and ministry, knowing the good news of Christ and living it out. We will look at that more in two weeks time.

This is not an exhaustive look at the leadership needed in the church either it was the basic governance structure and God calls people to serve in a whole raft of different ways and roles.

In our strategic plan the parish council identified leadership as one of the eight key areas we need to focus on… That the development of leadership in all areas is a priority.  That we need to have in place processes for identifying, training and mentoring new leaders as well as providing training

opportunities for, and reviews of existing leadership. We are going to come back to this passage and explore Paul’s list of qualities for Elders after next weeks café service.

Many years ago a women came up to me in Church and handed me a piece of paper and said this is for you and walked away. On the paper were written the words ‘I will give you all the gifts you need.” I wondered about it, and came to realise that this was talking about the Holy Spiit working in me but alos the development of teams and  but for many years I kept it in my wallet, until the paper disintegrated and occasionally I would take it our and read it and would be encouraged. You see most days I find myself saying “who me God! Come on you’ve got to be joking right… right!”  I wrestle with self-confidence and question my own abilities, but God has used this amongst other things to make me realise that leadership and ministry are reliance on God to provide for the things he calls us to do.

We may be tempted to see Paul’s greeting to Titus ‘Grace and peace from God the father and Christ Jesus our savior’ as a generic, things you write at the start of a letter, sort of thing. But in blessing Titus with God’s grace and Peace Paul is letting Titus know God will supply all he needs to carry out the mission God has given him. What was true for Titus is true for us as well. AS God calls us to leadership, we can trust that he will give us the grace and the peace that we need.  The “who me!” is answered by Jesus promise, “and lo I am with you to the end of the age”.

Psalm 131 A humble trusting hope in the LORD.

When you have small children going for a walk will inevitably turn into going for a carry. With toddlers there comes a time when all their energy has gone and you just have to pick them up and carry them the rest of the way.

When my kids were babies we’d have them in a back pack, and for the start of the journey they would wriggle and giggle, pulling hair and kicking there, then after a while they would be still and drift off to sleep. When they were toddlers I’d carry them on my hip or my shoulders. They would be happy to snuggle in and sometimes you’d be aware of a head coming to rest on your chest or your head as the exhaustion of a long walk and the rocking sensation of your own gate lulled them to sleep. Safe and secure in their parents embrace.  

Psalm 131 is a psalm of ascent and the pilgrims journey from distant homes to the temple that the psalm was part of the soundtrack for, was a family affair.  Little children being carried by their parents would have been a common sight. Children went with their parents. From Luke’s gospel, we know that was Jesus childhood experience, as like all Jews his family made an annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem for one of the festivals.

Psalm 131 has been described as one of the most beautiful of the Psalms not just because of its brevity but because it takes such an endearing and treasured picture of a child being carried by its parent to articulate succinctly a humble trust in God. An image that Jesus himself used in Matthew 18, when he put a little child in the middle of his disciples, arguing over who was the greatest, and told them “if they did not change and become like little children they would not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

The Psalmist comes to a place of humility, realising that they are totally dependent on God.  “my heart is not proud, my eyes are not haughty, I do not concern myself with great matters, things too wonderful for me.” Critics of the Christian faith often take a childlike faith to mean simplistic and unthought out, and not standing up to the rigors of adult reflection and consideration and the realities of life. But the Psalm has the feel of not being an unthought out blind faith as a staring point, but a journey, the destination of a well thought out process.

Taken in isolation, this humility is not the unhealthy or smarmy “I am nothing” used by some to engender pity or excuse wrong behaviour.  Rather it is a coming to know ones limitations, the having a right understanding of one’s self that Paul talks of in Romans 12, that allows one to show the costly love of serving others. That allows one to take on the mind of Christ and view others needs as above ones own that Paul talks of in Philippians. That allows the psalmist to acknowledge their ‘spiritual poverty and need that Jesus in the beatitudes says is blessed by the kingdom of God.

AS part of the psalms of ascent, we see something of the process of coming to this place. The Psalms of ascent start in psalm 120 with a holy dissatisfaction with the way thing are; no longer willing to dwell amongst the tents of those who do not seek peace. Seeing God’s provision and protection on both the journey to Jerusalem and that journey as a metaphor for life. Knowing God’s rescue and help amidst the traps and snares of life, recognising that every blessing comes from God’s hand, family and land, provision and prosperity. God’s guidance and leading in the history of his people. As we saw last month in Psalm 130 through sorrow, pain and doubt and the deep dark pits of life ebbs and flow knowing God forgiveness and God’s unfailing love.

It’s a process that the psalmist says is like a child being weaned, it has been a process of wrestling and tears and upheaval. When we lived in Rotorua, we lived up sunset road and the city ended at the foot of the hills at the end of that road. On one side of the road was houses and on the other farm land. When the calves were being weaned we would be kept awake at night by the cries of both calves and their mothers in different paddocks pinning for each other. But after a few nights it was calm again as both became settled. It is not a simplistic faith but a simple faith and trust in the love and care of God, proven trustworthy amidst history and life.

The Psalm finishes by turning from an individual psalm to a communal one. The Psalmist turns from articulating his present place of contentment, forged in past experience, to encouraging the community of God to look forward and have hope in the LORD. Because of the psalmist hope and trust he calls us all to have hope and trust, for now and for a preferred future off into eternity. That hope is based on the LORD on God’s character and God’s action, here we see the psalm point forward to the coming of Christ, his death his resurrection his ascension into heaven and his ultimate return to make all things right. This is the hope that we have in the lord.

Bryan James Smith says “ The Solid facts about the future hope of Christians are a powerful motivation for constant faith and costly love in the present.” In his book the good and beautiful community he calls us a community built round a four part story of hope.

Firstly, death… which may not sound the most hopeful place to start, but our hope filled story is Christ’s story. In Christ’s death the past is dealt with, we are no longer prisoners of all we have done in the past, tied to the social structures of this world. We are no longer tied to all the false narrative of this world of where we find joy and fulfilment, but in Christ’s death they are defeated and we are forgiven. AS it says in Colossians 3:3 “you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God”. We have a new identity a new address.

We are people of the resurrection. God raised Christ to life again and we share that new life. Just as we died with Christ we have been raised to life again, we are a new creation, we are part of a new family, we have been filled with God’s abiding presence when the Spirit of God was poured out on all who believe. The power that raised Jesus to life again is at work in us.

Christ ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. Often people think of Jesus ascension as his heading off and leaving us back here to simply get on with it. The reality is that he is seat on the throne and his Kingdom his reign has begun. God’s Kingdom does not come seeping into this world into our realm like a military force with shock and awe, but rather as we live it out and sharing the hope we have in Christ, as Walter Brueggemann puts it

“ It is hidden in the weakness of neighbor love, in the foolishness of mercy, in the vulnerability of compassion, in the staggering alternatives of forgiveness and generosity which permit new life to emerge in situations of despair and brutality.”

Finally, in Christ’s return. The hope that Christ will right all wrongs and bring ultimate healing and justice. When the church has it’s eschatology right and its focused on Christ as the ultimate one, not on a calendar of possible events and weird theories of what will happen when, then it it as its most vibrant.

Not asleep but content in our fathers loving arms, waiting expectantly hope filled and living out the new and coming reality in the here and now, with childlike humble trust in our good and gracious Lord.  

Psalm 133 and the Spiritual Discipline of Community (Psalm 133, Hebrews 10:19-25)

Psalm 133 is a psalm of ascent.. It is a psalm that was used as pilgrims came to the temple in Jerusalem for worship, specifically for one of the big three festivals… Passover, Pentecost and tabernacles As such it is a journey psalm about travelling from afar and coming to worship.  A journey not just of distance but of preparing oneself to encounter God. A journey of spiritual growth and renewal.

 Psalm 133 is the second to last Psalm of ascent. It’s about arriving at the temple to worship. It’s a blessing on the pilgrims, who have come together as God’s People to worship.

Psalm 133 is a Psalm of relationship, community and unity. As the Pilgrims journeyed to the temple it is not just reconnecting to a place and growing in their relationship with God, it has been an identifying with God’s people. They belonging to one another, and in their unity God blesses them. 

I’ve been meditating on the psalms of ascent this year and using them as a basis for services I’ve taken at Edmund Hillary retirement village. There is a progression in each of them, where the pilgrim identifies his own experiences with that of all God’s people, it develops a sense of commonality: common discontent, common awareness of God’s help in times of trouble, God as the source of life and blessing, a common trust in and dependence on God. We can see spiritual disciplines and devotional life as solitary and individual, but the spiritual discipline of community is at the heart of the Christian faith…

 “The real meaning of life,” says Leonard Sweet, “is not a journey question or an arrival question. It’s a relationship question. Your journey and your destination are important, but neither is possible without an answer to this prior Question: who are you taking with you on the journey toward your destination?”

So come join me as we explore Psalm 133 and see what it has to say to us in our season of prayer.

The Psalm is a benediction on God’s people gathered for worship. It’s a proverb about family unity that has been turned into a blessing for all God’s people. The proverb is in verse 1 and the blessing is the last line in  verse 3 and in between are two examples that are used at metaphors to illustrate that blessing.

As well as being a Psalm of ascent it is acknowledged as being of David. In the time of King David the tribes of Israel were bought together, there is a sense of a national unity that enabled them to grow strong and become an empire. For Israel they looked back at that time as their golden age. But also from David’s reign when his own sons were divided we see the damage disunity and personal self-interest had on the whole kingdom.

Many modern translations translate the second line “When God’s people” which reflects the intent of the psalm, and is inclusive but hides its roots as a proverb about family life. The Hebrew is ‘when brothers’ live together in unity. In Israel’s agricultural background, sons would normally stay with their father and work the land they had together, even after they were married, land was distributed after the father had died.  So family dynamics were an important part of the prosperity of that family.  If it was good then they would be able to work together as a unit, if it was bad it could have disastrous consequences. In the book of Genesis we see this in the clash between Jacob and Esau. We see both the negative and positive it in the joseph narrative: Where jealousy and favouritism lead to Joseph being left in a dry well to die and as a compromise sold into slavery. Then with forgiveness and reconciliation between Joseph and his brothers God provides for the whole family in a time of dire famine.

That proverb for family life is then taken to apply to all God’s people together. It is not simply a family relationship but a covenant relationship. AS God’s people they belong to each other, and equally that unity and living together is the basis of blessing.

That is how we find ourselves as pilgrims standing in this Psalm. We are God’s people because through Jesus Christ we have been bought into a relationship with God.  We are Brothers and sisters in Christ. In our new Testament reading from Hebrews this morning, the author of Hebrews uses the image of coming to the temple to worship God to talk of through Christ, that we as brothers and sisters can gather into the very presence of God. Not simply stopping at the outer courts of the temple, or the holy place where only the priest could go, but having the confidence because of Christ’s priestly sacrifice, to come into the very presence of God, the holy of Holy’s beyond the veil, that was torn in two, as Christ died.

The pastor down at Mt wellington Community Church and I are often asked if we are brothers, we look alike… I think it has a lot to do with being men of a certain age with receding hairlines and gotees who wear glasees...  I’ve always find it hard to answer that question, and I’m so grateful for that most Kiwi of answers “yeah Nah!” or rather “Nah, Yeah!”  because nah we are not biologically connected but Yeah we are brothers in Christ, we have that covenant relationship in Christ. When we work together with other Christian leaders and our congregations work together, the community is blessed.

When we think of oil being poured out on clothes, we probably wonder how will we get the stain out right. But the picture here of Aaron being anointed for ministry, with a fragrant oil, frankincense. It was a symbol of being set aside for God service, to be the one who would mediate the people’s relationship with God. Lead them in worship, through sacrifices help them get their sins forgiven and proclaim them right with God.  It’s reformation Sunday today and its special today as it marks the 500^th anniversary of Martin Luther nailing his ninety-five thesis to the door of the Wittenberg cathedral. The reformation reemphasised the fact that through grace and faith in Christ that we are put right with God. We are a priesthood of all believers. We are all called and set aside to serve God. The oil poured out is a foreshadowing God anointing us all with the Holy Spirit. We often emphasise the individual aspect of that relationship. But its a unity and community thing. The scriptures of the Old Testament is the story of God’s people and the scriptures of the New Testament are written to communities of faith, to communities working out what it meant for them to be followers of Jesus together.

The dew on Mt Hermon falling on Mt Zion, is a picture of God’s provision of plenty for his people. Zion was a mountain in a dry part of the country, barren and rocky, Hebron was well watered by dew and snow. God's blessing here is shown in the land spring forth with life that comes from a reliable water source. You may remember the imagery of Psalm 65 we looked at last month, where God’s blessing on Jerusalem was seen in the whole land being fertile and abounding with life. There is an ethical element here. The sense that that abundant life and plenty is for all God’s people, for all the people God loves and cares for. When God’s people dwell in unity, there is no poverty or want. Those who do not have do not miss out because they are blessed by those who have more than enough who share with them. Part of the spiritual practises of community for the Jewish people was alms giving. Giving money and a percentage of their crop for the sake of those who do not have. Community storehouses were set up. In Acts 2 the fledgling church in Jerusalem had a vibrant prayer life and worship life and teaching life, but they also gave hospitality to each other and didn’t hold onto what they had as their own but were willing to sell and give to those in need.  So it was said there were no needs. They were willing to look together at injustice and inequality, when the Judean Widows were getting more that those from a Hellenistic background. Prayer devotion and action go hand in hand.  

In that unity God bestows his blessing on his people. It is as we are together that God ministers to us and through us to each other. The picture is of Abundant life but eternal life as well. This passage looks forward to God’s blessing being fulfilled in Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection and the abundant and eternal life he brings. Life we share together here on earth and will share forever with Christ. In fact the whole of psalm 133 Jesus is the high priest who has offered the ultimate sacrifice in giving up his life for his people. Jesus is the source of the Holy Spirit poured out on all who believe. Jesus is the source of life giving water which changes the land from barren and lifeless to abundance that can be shared with all people. Jesus is the source of eternal life. 

I want to finish off this reflection in our season of prayer by tying it all down to some basic spiritual practises for our lives together.

Firstly, the psalm of ascent is in the context of coming together for public worship, it was used as pilgrims came to the temple for festivals and as people simply came to the temple for regular worship as well. Regular public worship is a spiritual disciple. It is part of the sacredness of time and using that time for worship and acknowledging God and Identifying with God’s people. We live in a world with real demands on time and it easy to put coming to church low on the priority list. Likewise we can see the festivals of Church calendar as times to get away rather than times to come together.  If we view attending worship as part a spiritual discipline it will mean some sacrifice. Like all disciplines it means setting priorities.

In his Book the Good and beautiful community James Bryan Smith talks of some simple steps to help make worship a  spiritual discipline. I was wondering if I should mention his first one as He says ‘come early’ like with any spiritual discipline it’s important to prepare yourself, like simply slowing your breathing before you pray or read scripture so you are relaxed. He says come expectant, that you will encounter God, “ Matthew 18:20 “when one or two are gathered in my name, Low I am with them” is usually used as a way of chasing away despondency when there is a poor turn out, but it is not it is the encouragement that when we gather together which includes for public worship Christ is present. In our reformed tradition, the flow of a worship service is that the focus is on the reading and preaching of the Word, what goes before it is designed to make us ready to hear the word and what we do after that is how we respond to the word of God. There is the expectation that we will meet God and he will speak to us through his word. Be expectant. Remember the focus on God… It’s easy to get distracted or to find ourselves struggling with style and form, but we need to remind ourselves the focus is on God. Lastly Come expecting to give… Now this is not in a prosperity we are after your money kind of thing OK… but rather as it says in our reading from Hebrews that we should encourage one another, we are to spur one another on towards love and good deeds. It’s easy to have a consumer mentality, we come for what’s in it for us… But God’s spirit dwells in each of you and you all have been called to witness to the hope you have in Christ and to minister to one another.

secondly, its about relationships, 'the church says Larry Crabb is a community of people on a journey to God. we need to develop a balanced set of relationships as a spiritual discipline for the journey and to enable us to arrive at our ultimate designation. Leonard Sweet, who I quoted at the start of this message maintains that for our Christian lives to grow and develop we need to cultivate a range of relationships in our lives. While he specifically mentions eleven, in his book eleven (and then adds a twelfth which is the Holy Spirit)... it is easy to break it down into people who are able to build into our lives and people who we invest into, and those who walk alongside us as friends and it’s a bit of both. Sweet says we need to find a mentor and encourager, but also people who we are open to being our editors and butt kickers as well, trusted prophets who speak the truth in love. We need to find a timothy or a protégée someone we can encourage and build up in the faith, a Zacchaeus, that outside who needs our love and our care. A close friend   who is with us all the way. In New Zealand society, men find it hardest to form that kind of bond. We used to having a mate, someone we work or hang out with, but really when you see the depth of care and concern that the likes of David and Jonathan had in the scriptures we kind of don’t really cultivate that sort of closeness. It is a dangerous romantic myth that we can have all our relational needs meet in a marriage. Spiritual discipline cultivating this range of relationships because there is a balance of people who fill our tank,… fuel our lives… that give to us and encourage and inspire us and those who drain our tank, that we give to, and inspire and encourage or carry and hold.

A healthy system is where there is a balance of these two things. Very often these relationships can’t be built up in a large group and one of the ways that Churches help in developing these is through forming small groups or cells. It is one of the goals in our five-year strategic plan is to develops small groups here at St Peters. Ralph neighbours says that for a church to really soar in the spirit it needs to develop two wings,  a big gatherings wing, like public worship and feeling part of something bigger than ourselves and a small groups wing, where people can develop the depth of relationships they need for real spiritual growth.   

Developing that balance of healthy and heal giving relationships is a matter of developing other spiritual disciplines: hospitality, opening your homes and your lives. Listening, showing kindness, forgiveness, caring, making time. In the end they are a source of God’s blessing for you, they can minister to you and enable us as a church to be a blessing as we practise the spiritual discipline of community.