The Way

Bottom Line

Once we’ve cultivated a watchfulness of scripture and willingly put ourselves under its authority, we find that it tells us to love our neighbor, especially the “least of these.”

Takeaways

We’ve been looking at what is means to be a Christian leader, a servant leader. We’re now on step 4 of our journey and I hope you can see how it all flows together. How one step builds to the next one.

• Firstly you have to become biblically literate.
• Secondly, once you’ve done that, then you can cultivate a watchfulness of what the Bible says and how you're living your life. Do they match? Or, is there’s a mismatch?
• Thirdly, you have to willingly place yourself under the authority of scripture. If you’re going to lead as Christ did, then we have to be willing to do as scripture says.

Now, in step 4, we’re starting to look at what actions scripture prompting us to do. What does a servant leader do? What does it mean to “be” Christian?
 
Most of us have preconceived ideas about what it means to be Christian … or what it means to be religious. And, often, these ideas inform us about how to “be” church. 

But, our ideas of what God wants from us don't always match what scripture is asking of us.

This isn’t new. It was the same for the Old Testament folks as well.

They thought being religious was about making the right animal sacrifices in the temple. 

They thought being religious was saying the right prayers and being seen praying those prayers. 

They thought being religious was eating the right foods: keeping kosher.

They thought being religious was keeping the feasts.

And, they thought that being religious was fasting by the rules. 

But, what they weren’t doing was listening to what God wanted. And, what God wanted was to for them to love their neighbor. 

• Isaiah 1:11-20
• Isaiah 58

God doesn’t want outward religiosity. He wants us to love our neighbor, to care for the “least of these.”
 
 Isaiah’s condemnation of Israel is the same condemnation that Jesus gives to the Pharisees

• Matthew 23:25-32

Sometimes if feels like we fall into these same traps. 

• We’re concerned with whether we’re fasting correctly
• We’re concerned with festal celebrations, services, and rubrics
• We’re concerned with praising the saints

But, all the while, we let the starving family in our own community go hungry. We ignore the single mother struggling to get by. We turn a blind eye to someone who may not be in our social or cultural circle.

In short, we often ignore the Bible’s command to care for the least of these … the very thing God punished Israel for not doing.

And, unfortunately, we have no excuse. Israel and the pharisees serve as a warning for us. We’ve seen how God hates such hypocrisy.

But, by becoming a servant leader, we can step up to walk The Way and care for the "least of these."

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I encourage you to check out the website of the Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative. You'll be glad you did! 

Bottom Line

The third step in being a Christian servant-leader is to lead as one under authority.

Takeaways 

These past two weeks, we’ve been looking at “servant leadership.” As Christians, we are all called to lead by the example of Christ, and the example he gives us is a servant washing his disciple’s feet.
 
The Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative has given us some steps to help us become more Christ-like in the way we lead.
 
You’ll recall that the first step is to learn our Bible. If we don’t read our Bible, how can we know what God is asking of us? After all, it’s the instruction book for life.
 
 The second step, once we’ve become biblically literate, is to cultivate a watchfulness of our conduct and motivations. Do they match the example given to us by scripture? If not, what do we need to change in our lives?
 
The third step, the one we’re going to talk about today is learning to lead as one under authority.
 
As Christians, we’re under the authority of Christ and the instruction, or dare I say, “obligation,” to walk the Way as given to us by scripture.

Yes, we’ve been freed from sin and evil. Yes, when Christ trampled down death by death, we were redeemed from slavery to death. But, as one of my professors used to say, this doesn’t mean that we’re free to do as we wish.
 
Our freedom from sin and death means that we’ve been liberated from one master so that we can serve another one: Jesus Christ, whom we call “Lord.” 
 
Even St. Paul begins his letters by reminding his readers that his is a “slave” of Jesus Christ. If Paul is a slave of our Lord, then so are we. 

The difference between serving death and Christ is that Christ is merciful and gives us life. His proclamation is the good news.

But, Paul wasn’t the only one under authority in scripture. Even the prophets with their glorious prophecies were under authority. Instead of saying what they wanted, they were obligated to say the words put into their mouths by God.

• Isaiah: a cleansing coal touches his lips. Then, after asking God to “send him,” he’s given the words to say (Is 6)
• Jeremiah: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you … I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then the Lord touches Jeremiah’s lips and gives him the words to say. (Jer 1)
• Ezekiel: after having a vision of God’s chariot, God makes him eat the scroll so that he has the words of prophecy against Israel (Ez 1-3)

But, perhaps, my favorite story is that of Jonah. Jonah didn’t want to be a prophet. He didn’t want to be under the authority of God. But, as we shall see, he picked up how to lead as a servant of God in no time at all!

Each of these prophets was called to lead. But, it wasn’t haphazard. It was servant leadership that was under the authority of the word given to them by Christ.
 
Remember God’s word leads to life. It leads to blessings.

I encourage you all to check the website of the Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative (click here). You'll be glad you did!

Bottom Line

After increasing our biblical literacy, it’s time to slow down and cultivate a watchfulness of what scripture is teaching us about leadership and living.

Take Aways

If the Bible is our foundation, then, as we read and learn, we have to learn to listen carefully for God’s voice.

• Story of God calling Samuel as a child (1 Sam 3)

It may not always be easy to hear what God is calling us to do because, often, he’s calling us to repentance—and that’s no fun.

But …

When we learn to cultivate this watchfulness, then we see God’s guidance and that allows us to act on it. When we do, then our lives are transformed. 

• Young ruler who couldn’t follow Christ (Luke 18:18-30)
• Vs.
• Zacchaeus whose house found salvation (Luke 19:1-10)

There are many ways for us to be like Zacchaeus, cultivating watchfulness of our conduct and motivations—making sure we’re staying faithful and loyal to what God is calling us to do. 

One way we can begin to practice this watchfulness is through confession. 

King David had to learn this lesson the hard way. When he ignored God’s commands, God sent a prophet to force David to cultivate watchfulness of his conduct and motivations, which, eventually led David to a confession of his sins.

• Nathan vs. David (2 Sam 12:1-15)

As baptized believers, we have put on Christ. He is the coat that we put on to go outside into the desert to walk the Way. This is a calling for all Christians. And it includes servant leadership.

The first step on our journey is to grow in biblical literacy and accountability. We spoke about that last week.

The second step of our journey is to cultivate watchfulness of conduct and motivations. We have to become like Samuel, listening for God’s voice in the night.

We have to learn to slow down.

This is what allows us to stay on the path as we walk the Way!

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To learn more, click here to go to the Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative's website. 

Bottom Line: Christian leadership is “servant leadership” and it must start with a foundation built on scripture. 

Takeaways

• The Bible has high praise for King Josiah, "Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him." (2 Kings 23:25) These accolades are because Josiah led with a foundation built upon scripture. And, in this way, he's an example of how we should strengthen our leadership skills.
• We may be tempted to go to Barnes and Noble to buy the latest leadership book, but, as Christians, we should be guided by the commands given to us by God. We need scripture to give us a good foundation for servant leadership just as Jazz musicians need music theory to play beautiful solos.
• Even Christ built his leadership skills upon the Bible. When he was tempted by the satan in the desert, Jesus responded with words from the Old Testament. Jesus was able to carry out the Father's will because he knew his Bible. 
• Our task, if we want to be Christian servant leaders, is to begin by reading and obeying the Word. This is how we begin our walk on the Way. 

If you'd like to learn more about servant leadership or more about the Orthodox Christian Leadership Initiative, click here. 

Bottom Line: Scripture is a great foundation upon which we can build our prayer lives.

To pick up a copy of Gary's books, including the ones we discussed on the podcast--Kneeling with Giants and Love Your Bible--visit his author's page on Amazon.

I also encourage everyone to check out Gary's website: garynealhansen.com. There, he regularly posts about scripture and prayer, as well as theology, spirituality, and community. 

Bottom Line: Sowing seed in “good soil” is a metaphor that means you’re responding completely—body, mind, and soul—to God’s instruction as it’s found in scripture. 
 

Takeaways

•  In the parable of the sower, Jesus mentions seeds, which represent the instruction of God (the gospel). He says these seeds can fall on different types of ground: the road, the rocks, among the thorns, and on good soil.
• The different types of ground represent the different responses people have to the gospel. 
• To the ancient, Semitic person, the complete person was not “body, mind, and soul,” nor was it “body and soul,” as we think of it today. For them, the complete person involved three zones, which modern academics have labeled emotion-fused zone, self-expression zone, and purposeful action.
• These names are our terminology. The biblical writers referenced these zones using concrete images of the body.
• They referred to the emotion-fused zone by referencing the heart or the eyes (those things that allow us to see, gain insight, understand, choose, love, think, or value). This zone had to do with the will, intellect, judgment, and personality. 
• They referred to the self-expression zone by talking about the mouth, ears, tongue, and lips (those things that allow us to speak, hear, sing, swear, curse, listen, or even remain silent). This zone had to do with communication, especially if it’s self-revealing, but also listening and responding).
• The purposeful action zone was expressed through the arms, legs, hands, and feet (those things that allow us to walk, sit, stand, touch, or accomplish). This zone had to do with external behavior or interaction with the environment.
• When Jesus describes the good soil, he makes reference to each of these zones, meaning that to be "good soil," one has to respond completely to God’s instruction. 
• When Jesus explains what the other types of ground mean (the road, rock, and thorns), it’s clear, from our understanding of the three zones, that the reason the seeds don’t bear fruit is that they haven’t completely responded to the gospel. 

The Bottom Line: To love, to do good, and to lend—even to your enemies—hits at the heart of the social world of the first-century.

Takeaways

1. The Roman world—and the Roman household—is structured around what we call a patron-client relationship. The opening of The Godfather is a perfect example of how this worked.
2. A patron would do favors (in Greek, χάρις or “grace”) for his clients, who, in turn, were expected to be loyal (in Greek πίστις or "faithful").
3. To love (ἀγαπάω) is properly understood as “attachment” to some group: your family, your village, your ethnic group, or to the patron-client relationship. It was not an internal, psychological state as we think of it today. It should always be understood as “group” language. 
4. Likewise, doing “good” or “lending” (in Luke 6:31-36) should also be understood within the context of the patron-client relationship.
5. In Luke 6, Jesus is not just talking about being a “good person” or being “kind” to those you don’t like. Instead, he’s reorienting our entire outlook on life, including how we make our living. It’s a challenge to live our lives in such a way that God is our patron and we completely walk the Way by depending on him. 

Bottom Line: Sometimes, a fisherman has to listen to the carpenter’s advice to push out into deep to catch the fish. And, sometimes, this carpenter’s advice is what we, as God’s assembly, need to hear as well. 

Takeaways

• When we first encounter Simon, he’s cleaning his nets even though he hadn’t caught any fish. We imagine he’s frustrated, as we sometimes are when we work hard but don’t get the results we want.
• But then, he encounters Jesus who borrows his boat and tells him to “push out into the deep.” 
• On the “literal level,” this story is about how Jesus gains his first disciples.
• But, on the “spiritual level,” it’s a story about moving past our own comfort zones and traditions to preach the gospel all over the world. 
• Our response should be like Simon’s: a confession of our sins and a willingness to drop everything to follow Jesus. 

Bottom Line: To pick up your cross and follow Jesus implies a responsibility to walk the Way.

Takeaways

• Crucifixion in the ancient world was a humiliating and painful way to die. After being stripped naked and hung on the cross, it could take days to die from exhaustion or asphyxiation. 
• The Romans crucified non-citizens as a way to keep subjected peoples in check and it wasn’t rare. The Romans crucified thousands of people outside the city walls as a warning for all to see. 
• Crucifixion functioned similarly to the way lynchings functioned in the American south. 
• Knowing all of this, Jesus was still obedient to the Father and continued to walk the Way to crucifixion. He was one under authority, responsible for carrying out his mission. 
• He asks us to also take up our crosses and follow him—to walk the Way … there’s no “Sunday only” Christianity being promoted here. 
• And, as difficult as taking up the cross may be, it’s the Way that leads to transfiguration. 

The Bottom Line: Using 2nd Temple literature to give us a broader understanding of the worldview of Jesus’s time, helps us draw deeper meaning from the New Testament text.

Takeaways

• Enoch, an apocryphal work written just before the time of Jesus, tells us about how the fallen angels came and corrupted humanity just after creation. But, it also tells us how God deals with these fallen angels—specifically one named Azazel. God binds him and throws him out.
• In Matthew 22, Jesus us the parable of a wedding feast. When the host of the feast finds that one of his guests doesn’t have a wedding suite, or garment, on, he binds him and throws him out. This reminds us of the binding of Azazel in the Book of Enoch. 
• Bringing Matthew and Enoch together, Fr. John reflects on the meaning of the wedding suite, which he sees a robe of righteousness that represents God’s justice in the world, a justice that brings the oppressor to account.
• The parable, in Matthew, also shows us how God is renewing God’s call for Israel to be a light to all the nations so that everyone can come to the wedding banquet.
• Fr. John also reminds us that the wedding suit is a free gift given to us by God, but we have the responsibility to continue to walk the Way.
• In summary, looking at Enoch and the parable in Matthew, we see God’s announcement of how he’s going to deal with evil and bring his kingdom to bear on the world. In short, how he’s going to put everything in its place and bring justice to the world.