Do You Love Me?

Matthew 4:1-11        John 21:15-17

 

mat 4:1-11 The Temptation of Jesus

4Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. 3The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ 4But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” ’ 5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’  7Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.” ’  8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor; 9and he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.’ 10Jesus said to him, ‘Away with you, Satan! for it is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.” ’  11Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

 

joh 21:15-17            Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’ 16A second time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’ 17He said to him the third time, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ And he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.

 

            A little boy was playing in the kitchen, and underfootà

                        while his mother was busy preparing dinner.

                 She asked him to get a box of noodles from the pantry closet.

 

      Peering in from the side of the doorway into the darkened pantry,

              he said, "I'm afraid, it's too dark and scary in there."

 

His mother replied,

            "But don't you remember what you learned in Sunday School,

                        that Jesus is everywhere and He's always with you?

                                    Go ahead into the pantry.  You'll be all right."

 

Looking intently into the very dark and still scary pantry,

            the little boy whispered, "Jesus, if you really are in there,

                        would you mind handing that box of noodles  out to me?"

 

This is a very important day in the life of this congregation.

            We are going to ordain and install the new elders and deacons

                        who have agreed to serve as our church leaders.

 

And as a church servant myself, I can assure each of you,

            that during your term of leadership in the Church, à

                        there will be times,  

                                    when you too               will stare into a scary darkness,

                                                   and wonder if Jesus really is in there with you.

 

 

Faithful & effective church leadership is not always an easy task,

            but can be a huge challenge,   demanding and difficult testing.

 

So as we think and talk about Christian leadership,

            obviously a great place to start is with Jesus Christ himself.

 

The story we read in Matthew 4,

            about Jesus being tempted by the devil in the wilderness,

                        has much in common

                                    with some of the challenges and temptations;

                 that our deacons and elders

                        will face during their service to the Church.

 

The temptation begins with vs. 3

            The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’

 

This first temptation is actually a two part leadership trap.

            Part "A"   is Satan's challenge, "If you are the Son of God ..."

 

When I ran a business,

      sometimes when I promoted someone into a position of authority,

                        they would feel the need to assert themselves

                                    and demonstrate their power over their former peers…

                … and I'd hope that their foolishness and silly power-game

                          would pass quickly without causing any permanent damage.

 

In Mark 10:42-44 Jesus describes faithful Christian leadership:

            "You know that among the Gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.  

            But it is not so among you;

                        for whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all.

 

Elders and deacons, as church leaders,

     don't be enticed into playing silly & manipulative power games,

                        for there is nothing  that you  have to prove to anybody.

God has called you to serve,

            and God has equipped you to lead,

                            which the congregation has already

                                    recognized and affirmed   in electing you as officers.

 

Part "B"   of that first temptation of Christ was: vs. 3

            "if you are the Son of God,  (then) command these stones to become loaves of bread"

 

Obviously, Jesus had the power and could have à

            turned every stone in Palestine into a loaf of bread.

                                    He had the power to solve world hunger for all time,

**                                      but  that would have compromised   his true mission.

 

Solving the immediate problem of human hunger, even for all time,

            would  not have solved the bigger problem   of human sin;

                        and would not have fulfilled God's purpose and plan;

                                    for Jesus was sent   to bring salvation to humankind.

 

Ironically, later on in his ministry,

            and within God's will,  God’s purpose and timing,

                        Jesus did miraculously make bread  to feed a crowd of 5000.

 

     But it was done   in accord with God's plan, God's will and timing,

            so that it didn't supplant   his primary mission and purpose.

 

Like Jesus, you too will be tempted by lesser goals and objectives,

            may  be distracted away from our true mission as the Church,à

     i.e.  to faithfully proclaim the good news and make disciples,

             as a reflection of God's love, and light, and hope, and joy

                 into a world    lost in human sinfulness and darkness.

 

Elders and deacons,

            try not to be distracted by any lesser goals and objectives

                        that compromise and weaken our true mission as a church…à

           

            … for there are, and you will be tempted by distractions

                        that would draw your focus away from our true mission.

            You will want to prove your worthiness and giftedness to serve,

                        and to show what an effective and faithful and wonderfulà                             leader you are   to the world   by all you accomplish --

 

- as if the Lord were mostly interested and primarily concerned

            with our success, achievements or by the tasks that we do well.

However, neither God nor the people of this congregation

            are looking for you to solve and fix all their problems.

 

                        Christian leadership

                                    is mostly about serving well  as a servant-shepherd.

            It is being someone who loves them enough   to listen and care.

It's being someone of compassion   who will visit and pray

     with those who are lonely, wounded or hurting.

 

There is nothing that any church leader can ever or will do that is

     more important than their relationships  as a servant-shepherd.

 

Perhaps it will help us stay focused on who we are supposed to be,

            if we can remember, that we get our name, Presbyterians,

                        from the Greek word for elder or leader, presbuteroV ;

                 which is a noun,   and not a verb;

                             it is something we are,   more than something  that we do.

 

Being an elder, being a deacon   is a condition of your heart & soul.

            It's not the tasks and projects you do, it's who you are.

                It is something   that by God's grace  we are always  becoming.

 

The second temptation begins with vs. 5-6

            "Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.” ’

 

How tempting to let the devil make him a king by an amazing

            show of God's power that would so impress the world,

                               that maybe Jesus could even avoid altogether

                                       the whole suffering, crucifixion and dying thing.

 

But that is not why God sent Jesus, and that’s not why Christ came.

            Jesus came to demonstrate and accomplish God's gracious love.

                        God's purpose and plan for our salvation;            and not à

                           to perform a magic show of God's power, wonder and might.

 

There is a great temptation to try to impress & dazzle other people;

            but being a good and faithful deacon or elder

                        has very little    to do with impressing others

                                    and everything to do   with   working with others  à

 

            and more often than not, it is anonymously doing menial tasks,

                and reflecting God's love through joyful and humble service.

 

A foreign mission school that prepared people to serve overseas,

            and they deliberately kept things very rustic and primitive.

 

And amid the expected classroom studies and instruction,

            they also take their turn at the menial labor-type tasks;

 

                        including cooking, laundry, cleaning, and so on…

                                    … along with the most disgusting job,

                                                dumping out the waste barrels from the latrine.

 

Naturally there were academic courses with exams and tests,

            but what the students didn't know, was that the instructors

                        paid very little attention to their written test grades.

 

Experience had shown that the best and most accurate indicator

     of which students would actually serve well in the mission field,

was a single and simple test:

            how well did a student deal with emptying the latrine barrels -

                        and did they take their fair turn, or shirk the nasty work?

 

Leadership is not about status or seeking to impress other people.

            It does not develop   by asserting our rights and privileges,

                        but from humble submission and faithful obedience to God,

                                    at whatever God has called and equipped us to become.

 

* In a hungry world,             why not just make  more bread?

                        * In a world apathetic and distracted,

                                    why not just do the impressive to entice and attract?

 

Satan, the tempter, is the embodiment of disobedience to God,

            and his evil,   is usually the corruption and compromise of good

                   by taking shortcuts, by forcing things to go our own way.

      Evil,   is taking control  rather than yielding control to God.

 

Satan's third testing  was the temptation of power itself;

            'the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor;  and he said to him, 'All this I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."

 

The temptation for more power and authority is intoxicating.

 

   We see it in politics, business, petty bureaucrats, & the church.

                        It is an institutional problem pretty much everywhere,

                                    when leaders give in  to the temptation of power…

 

            … to the assumption that most problems and challenges in life

                           can be solved best by applying coercive force and power.

 

It's that temptation of power that causes us to value and force

            our goals and projects, our ideas, accomplishments and plans

                        even more than we value, appreciate and affirm the people                                     whom  we have been called    to love and to serve…

            … and  in so seeking to accomplish our goals, fulfill our plans,

                        we may actually crush and damage God's precious children.

 

Our call is not about mastering the use

            of this world’s ways, power and methods of manipulation.

 

Rather, it’s a call to show love and mercy;    one life at a time,

                to offer one hug at a time,   one act of mercy at a time,

                        and to affirm the worth of others, one person at a time…

 

… for it’s a lot easier to lead by acting like    we are the god,

            than for us to love & be compassionate because Jesus is our God.

 

Jesus describes such Christian-style leadership in John 21,

       when he calls and commissions Peter to serve as a church leader.

 

Jesus began by asking Peter, 'do you love me more than these';

            I don' think 'these'  is referring to the other disciples,

                        but he's asking, do you love me more than your fishing?

                            Will you abandon your former life, for your love of me?

 

            And three times Jesus asks Peter, 'do you love me?'

                        Peter responds each time, "Lord you know that I do."

 

And each time Jesus commissions Peter to serve and lead,

            then feed my lambs,  tend my sheep,  feed my sheep and follow me.

 

Feeding is providing needed nourishment, and it's about nurture.

     Tending is the caring servant-shepherd   using authority to lead.

            Nurture and leading    these are the combined tasks of ministry.

 

To put it in the simplest of terms;

            the question of leadership in the church  is this:

                        are you in love with Jesus,

                                    enough to show that love    in joyful,  humble service?

 

            Your call     is to love,   truly   to love the Lord your God,

               in order to feed, tend and lead   His precious lambs and sheep.

 

Being an leader is often thankless and it can be hard workà

            among obstinate sheep who are not always appreciative;

                        and at times you will be misunderstood, even maligned;

                                    your love may be rejected, your leadership ignored…

 

… yet truly nothing is more satisfying that to serve the Lord well,

            for the work and tasks of ministry

                        are the most meaningful things we can do in this world,

                                    and far too great a privilege,   not to be enjoyed.

 

And when Jesus evaluates

            our life and our ministry as a church officer,

                        I don't think that it will be based upon

                                    our successes, our accomplishments or programs.

            But far more likely, Jesus will ask, "Do you love me?";

                                    for if we can get that part right,

                                                then surely the rest will fall right into place.