The Leaders We Need
Readings: 15:06
Sermon: 32:53
Readings: Acts 12:1-17, Acts 12:18-25
Today, our society is full of complaints about leadership. It almost seems as pervasive as Canadians talking about the weather. I understand the complaints. If it isn’t war, poverty, or injustice that is a result, it is favoritism, greed, popularity, pride, bickering, insult, inaptitude, and more. We complain because sometimes we think we know better. Yet, it is so rare that we get a leader up to the task that I think we have to question if we do know better. Even the good leaders I can think of did not really hold the power of office and yet lead from their limited position. Our complaints often center around what we want, or what those around us need, what is that but a different kind of pride and favoritism?
In our passage today we get two versions of leadership. They almost couldn’t look more different. We see the leadership of King Herod vs. the leadership of the Apostle Peter.
With King Herod, we get a leadership that is all too familiar. It starts out with Herod imprisoning some of the Christian apostles. Why? Well, we never get the reason, except that they belonged to the church, but the likelihood was that he was joining in the persecution that was already happening. Then Herod executes James Zebedee, one of Jesus' first followers, one of Jesus’ inner circle. Again, we never hear of why, but when Herod sees the approval and popularity that results, he plans of executing more.
Here are two things that we must be careful of as leaders. Two things that it is so easy to fall into. 1st following our own whims and desires and 2nd looking for popularity. I know I have fallen into each and I imagine we all have.
As leaders when we follow our own whims, thoughts, and desires, we force people to work for, and follow what we want. We create inequity and injustice. We might think we have earned this, or that we deserve it, but that is not true. The even bigger problem is that we are full of so much fear, envy, and untruths that our desires are rarely what we really need or what others need. That’s very evident in the story of Herod. What is killing James or Peter going to do for him? Make his ruling the Jews a little easier and yet in truth, it makes Herod even more of a slave to them, to his desires. It also removes the positive redeeming work of those leaders. The same is true in today’s world. When we as leaders, whether we are in an official position or not, do something for a friend or for money or popularity we are making ourselves slaves to that greed, popularity, or relationship and removing the leadership or redemption that could have resulted if we were following the right path.
When we seek popularity this is, even more, the case. Again, you are at the whim of the most recent fad, movement, or desire of the masses. These do not last. As leaders, this means we can often go to the simplest and quickest fix. What will sell? What is most pleasing to the most number of people? Today, we are lucky that a lot of popular movements are wrapped up in social equity, but when this is driven by popularity again it becomes morphed and less productive, as people put on airs, look for quick fixes, and don’t do the hard, slow work.
These are ultimately two sides of the same coin. We either follow our own whims and desires or those of others. Either way, they are both just as fickle. What I desire can easily change, just as easily as what the world wants. Yet both are very tempting. I love hearing when you really enjoyed a sermon or a talk, but I know that I also have to give sermons and talks that you aren’t going to enjoy, but that we both need. I like getting my way and sometimes it is faster and easier at least at first, but I know my way isn’t always right and that we need to exist as a community of leaders.
Skipping over the part about Peter, for now, we next hear of Herod’s anger over Peter’s escape. Herod had put 16 guards, 4 groups of 4 to watch over Peter. Two were sleeping right beside him and he was shackled, bound by two chains. Within human means, there should have been no way he could have escaped. Yet he did. Herod isn’t willing to see what has happened though. Instead of blaming himself or seeing God, he blames the guards and has all 16 killed. This is what happens when we lead or live with Pride. Something is not our fault, or just happens, we blame everyone else and make them pay the price.
We see this in our party system and our different ministry roles, in our justice system, our marriages, social media and so much more. I have little doubt this is one of the driving forces behind cancel culture. This person did something wrong, but we are often unwilling to see the ways we have perpetuated and supported this kind of leadership. We are especially unwilling to see the ways we are living it out in our own leadership.
Instead, we need humble leaders at all levels who are willing to see their own faults, errors, and complacency, so that as they change, they can call others to do the same. We need humble leaders that can lift up society and community, instead of lifting up themselves.
In the last section about Herod, we hear how Tyre and Sidon depend on him/his area for food, so they seem to underhandedly make friends with a trusted personal servant and then they praise him as the voice of God. They are feeding into all of these temptations we just talked about: the desire for popularity, feeding his desires, and lifting up his pride. These are already really manipulative and bad, but even worse they are filling the absolute goodness of God with a fickle and even substitute that can never really give them what they need. A good leader would have pointed away from himself to others and ultimately to God. He doesn’t and so after all of this God overthrows him. Good news for the world.
On the opposite side, we get Peter’s leadership, which if we are honest with ourselves doesn’t seem like leadership at all. I think this is partly because we never see him taking a stand, speaking up, or purposefully working, but I think we don’t see it as leadership mostly because we have such a misguided idea of what leadership is. Remember this is Simon who was renamed Peter, the rock of the church, who holds the keys to the kingdom.
As Peter is imprisoned and then freed by God through an angel we see some essential ways he leads. First, he is willing to lay down his life for what is right, what is good, for others and God. It is the opposite of pride as he lives out what it means to be a servant. Second, he is willing to follow God, no matter what. I am sure he didn’t want to die. I am sure he wanted to fight. I am sure that he would have wanted to run out of the jail cell, but instead, he listens to God and gets dressed. He knows God has a greater plan than any of his. We too need to be willing to be servants as we trust and follow God before anything else.
Third, he is willing to see whatever kind of gift God offers. There’s this bit of a comedic moment where Peter thinks he is dreaming all of this. We have all been in that kind of sleepiness, but if we take this seriously, Peter is willing to see that a vision of God’s release is a wonderful gift, just like a physical release. This reminds me of Stephen’s vision of heaven opening up just before he died, which was a beautiful gift for him too. It might not always be the gift we desire, but we have to see the gift that God is laying out before us and follow it for His kingdom.
During all of this, we see that the disciples are gathered together praying to God for him. They do care about Peter’s leadership but notice that they have been taught that they have access to God as well. They have power in their prayer. They each have leadership and the whole community has an even greater leadership. We as leaders need to empower others' leaderships and we need to live out the leadership that God is calling this community into.
Again, we get a very funny situation. Peter has been released by God through an angel and he comes to some of the praying disciples. When a servant hears his voice she is so excited that he leaves him at the door and runs to the others. I can imagine him still knocking wondering why she hasn’t opened the door. We hear that she does this because she is so excited to share the good news. Yet this could only be the case if the good news isn’t really about Peter. The good news she is sharing is the redemption and freedom of God in Christ. Peter is part of the content, but it is so much more than him, otherwise, she would have dragged him in and shown him to everyone. Of course, she should have brought him in, but we are seeing here that the good news is far bigger than Peter. That is important. The good things we see in this church are far bigger than me, or anyone of us, they are even bigger than all of us combined. It is the good news and the work of the Holy Spirit moving around us and we are all gifted to join in the leadership of Christ.
Lastly, Peter leaves. I am not leaving anytime soon, but we see him making space, giving the story to others, and going out to expand the good news of Christ. We could say he is running away, but it doesn’t say that. His ministry continues. We have to be conscious of how we move out, share ministry, empower others through our stories, and make room.
When we look at each of these things individually they make sense, but when we look at the whole, at the whole story it appears very messy. It doesn’t look like leadership or at least the leadership we know. That makes it very hard sometimes, we want to settle things. We want to build strong foundations, but the truth is that the disciples have something far more settled and stable than popularity, position, or this world. They have established God as their rock and their ultimate kind and leader and so all of their leadership revolves around that. It doesn’t matter what the world may through at them, or where their own fear might tempt them, or even what persecution and evil might surround them, they are humbly founded on the consistent love and goodness of God that has been made known to them in Christ. Pride, popularity, and position can never stand up to a community humbly following and serving Christ. AMEN
