Good Morning Friends,
We all know the arrival of the New Year means it’s time for a celebration and the making of New Year’s resolutions. All that kind of passed me by this year though we are having a choir party later today. Part of making it a bit more somber is the Jimmy Carter memorial services that are being aired on television. That the former President of the United States died on December 29, 2024 at 100 years of age the longest lived President ever, did not set the tone for a New Year resolution to laugh more. But as important as it is to remember former presidents and their Christian character it is equally important to laugh as we say goodbye to 2024 and welcome the start of 2025. The problem is that I am not particularly a funny person. I am kind of like the Dad who said no more jokes this year at one minute until Midnight on December 31st. So instead, today we look at a Psalm on why God should be praised for providing all that we need and if we smile that is ok as God cares for people in all of life’s journeys in all sorts of ways. Then we take a look at a Gospel reading on healing and a passage from a letter on how people and how God rules and how it applies to being Christian and especially a Christian leader. This I think exemplifies Jimmy Carter. Unfortunately, some of us are often more concerned about appearing Christian than we are with being the Christian God designed us to be. We go to great extents to keep our Christian reputation and hide our cultural sin of pride and prejudice forgetting the gift inside each of us waiting to be unwrapped. Now the problem here is that there are characteristics of who should lead, and they conflict with our cultural bias. The selection process is well established in scripture and in our American Institutions which I will not reference in detail today. You can look them up, but I do want to give some serious thought to the issue as it relates to the next generation and the change in leadership happening in America. Great leaders face great challenges and perhaps the greatest is to get us to think differently.So today we ask, What Is The Honest Potential Of A Christian Leader?
Scripture: Praise the Lord! How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting. The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure. The Lord lifts up the downtrodden; he casts the wicked to the ground. Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving; make melody to our God on the lyre. He covers the heavens with clouds, prepares rain for the earth, makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry. His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the speed of a runner; but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your children within you. He grants peace within your borders; he fills you with the finest of wheat. He sends out his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly. He gives snow like wool; he scatters frost like ashes. He hurls down hail like crumbs— who can stand before his cold? He sends out his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow. He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes, and ordinances to Israel. He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 147 (NRSV)
Once, when he was in one of the cities, there was a man covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you choose, you can make me clean.” Then Jesus stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, “I do choose. Be made clean.” Immediately the leprosy left him. And he ordered him to tell no one. “Go,” he said, “and show yourself to the priest, and, as Moses commanded, make an offering for your cleansing, for a testimony to them.” But now more than ever the word about Jesus spread abroad; many crowds would gather to hear him and to be cured of their diseases. But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.
Luke 5:12-16 (NRSV)
Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ, not with the water only but with the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one that testifies, for the Spirit is the truth. There are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood, and these three agree. If we receive human testimony, the testimony of God is greater; for this is the testimony of God that he has testified to his Son. Those who believe in the Son of God have the testimony in their hearts. Those who do not believe in God have made him a liar by not believing in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. And this is the testimony: God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
1 John 5:5-13 (NRSV)
Message: Here is the problem, God’s understanding is infinite whereas ours is finite. When we think of earthly sovereigns, we think of one who delegates power. They cannot possibly be involved in the minute details of the lives of others. This is because people are finite. Once in a while, a leader involves themselves in the lives of a common person. The story is told of President Reagan who had received a letter from a poor woman in Chicago who was unable to pay her electric bill. President Reagan did not call some government agency to tell them to help this lady. The Federal Government did not send a check. President Reagan wrote a personal check with a letter to her. The woman was so dumbstruck that instead of cashing it to pay her bill, she framed the check and put it on the wall. As the story goes, the President, when he balanced the checkbook, noticed that the check was not cashed. So, he took the trouble to find the woman’s number and called her personally. “Did you get the check?” She answered that she framed it. So, he told her that he was sending her another check to replace the one she framed. You can hear more about this story on the American Experience and their series on the Presidents. Who knows, maybe it is even true. But as kind as that gesture was, there were a lot of people in America who could not pay their monthly electric bill then and it is perhaps worse now. The President, being a man, was unable to personally deal with everyone. He had to limit his mercy. So even human leaders with the best intentions get overwhelmed with details. And when we realize that a lot of leaders do not care for the lives of those they rule over at all, the poor are left destitute. But what is impossible with men is possible with God. The LORD is infinite in power and knowledge. God is aware of every detail and personally provides for them. In the context of today’s Psalm, His eye is upon the Hebrew people. Too often we judge others by appearances and really miss an opportunity to extend grace. The Hebrew certainly did. Often people miss the unique and amazingly valuable creations of God because the human eye too often fails to see the promise and beauty of what is on the inside. It is a gift to be able to see…to be willing to see the whole person as Jesus did with the Leper in today’s Gospel reading. Part of the problem is that human nature, wounded by sin, is marked by limitations. There are silent objections and prejudices about those who have a life characterized by serious physical limitations or even race…think of the Samaritan Woman at the well. And this is true for other characteristics as well. In an age when care for one’s body has become an obsession and a big business, anything seemingly imperfect must be hidden away, since it threatens the happiness and serenity of the privileged few and endangers the dominant model. We forget that each of us, sooner or later, will be called to face – at times painfully – frailty and illness, both in our own lives and those of others we love. There is this thought that people who are sick or disabled cannot be happy, since they cannot live the lifestyle held up by the culture of pleasure and entertainment. But friends, that is not true. That such people should best be kept apart so that they do not hold back the pace of a false well-being in others misses the mark. I figure that what God is looking for in us and in Christian leaders is to discover in the hearts of people, who are not like us, something special that we allow to become part of our lives. Authentic leadership requires some degree of humility in order to reach its potential.
And So, we can find authentic spiritual leadership in unexpected places, but we must look below the surface and have faith. So,if we have a call to minister the needs of others, and hopefully we all do, be of sober mind about it even though from time to time we crack a smile at something funny about the world in which we live. But let’s not make light of the issue for it is serious business using the gifts we have been given in a way that makes a difference. Know that most people are looking for leadership in the wrong ways and instead need to be looking for Jesus in the gifts of people. There is always some bias. The better way to be properly judged though, by both God and people, is to ensure both our hearts and our actions align properly with God’s perfect will. Friends, there is healing in the dignity of love. The perfect appearance of a Christian leader therefore is one who has Jesus as a substitute not only before the Father and judgement but in all actions to God’s glory. They are willing to see people and love them. Their mark is not the number of their followers, but how they attract and intentionally develop the next generation of leaders. So, the church today needs to understand what makes a great leader in God’s eyes. Since leadership works, to get great results we need to define, develop, and deploy great leaders. The reality is that good leadership produces good results, and bad leadership produces bad results. We have been given the example of this in Jesus Christ, who was unalterably committed to achieving His mission for a good result in each of us. Friends, great leadership requires an understanding of our mission and an unyielding commitment of faithfulness to it. Great leadership takes care of others with great love. What this tells us is that the LORD is not the manipulator of things. We are not chess pawns on a chessboard. What it tells is that the infinite God is infinitely personal. God does not treat us like robots. He personally cares for us. This is most praiseworthy. This is comforting. The world situation has become most troubling. There are signs that big social change is on the horizon. The economy is perplexing. There is much animosity. Increased persecution of the church appears likely but also the potential of a resurgence in the visible power of the Holy Spirit. We can get fixated on details to the point we take our eyes off the details of God. So instead of responding in fear, let us respond in praise and thanksgiving. God has it all worked out. Let us mark this New Year with our hope in the LORD rather than the devices of men.
Pray during these changing times thatwe look beyond outward appearances to a person’s heart and character. Pray we see the perfect imperfections of how God uses people for a holy purpose. Pray we realize that God is in the big things of life as well as the smallest details. Pray we do not rush to judge for our sight is imperfect. Pray we thank God for His grace and mercy and the blessings we receive and can share. Pray we prepare ourselves to dress up our insides… to look with a sensitivity into the hearts of others. Pray we listen to the amazing stories of others. Pray that we take a stand for the truth. Pray that we do not grow weary of doing good. Pray we realize that those called by God to act in unity also have a responsibility to minister to members of the Body of Christ. Pray we look to God trusting that our Lord has our best interests at heart. Pray our hearts are ready to love. Pray our hearts are pure. Pray we exercise our spiritual muscles for those who have lost control of their physical muscles. Pray that we learn to love the vulnerable. Pray we realize we need each other’s gifts matured so that we might collectively appear more like the body of believers Christ intended. Pray that we are surrounded by great leaders who intentionally reproduce themselves for a positive outcome in the lives of the next generation.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 