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The Rev. Dr. J. Brent Bates,
January 31, 2010 --- Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany

The Bible is full of reluctant leaders. From the most ancient Jewish patriarch to Jesus himself, figures in scripture are often unenthusiastic about what needs to be done. It begins with Moses. Not even the voice of God speaking out of a burning bush (that doesn’t burn up) is enough to initially persuade Moses to confront the Pharaoh and lead the Israelites out from under his oppression. Moses responds “Who am I that I should go to Pharaoh...?” and follows up with a bevy of questions and excuses for God: “What if they do not believe me or listen to me?” “O God, I have never been eloquent, but speak rather slowly.” And after God gives pretty decent answers to all of this, Moses finally just says, “O my Lord, please send someone else.”  

In our passage this morning from the Hebrew Bible, the prophet Jeremiah rejects God’s choosing him to be a prophet to the Jews. Jeremiah must have been reading Moses, because he also tells God “Truly I do not know how to speak” and adds “for I am only a boy.” But perhaps the most famous reluctant character in Hebrew scripture is the prophet Jonah who is called by God to bring a message to the ancient city Nineveh. Instead he fled to Tarshish hoping to escape the presence of God. But we all know that we cannot escape God, lest a large fish swallow us at sea and spew us out on the place that God wants.  

In the New Testament, the disciples are frequently reluctant in their ministries. Even Jesus shows some reluctance—he tries to get out from his debut miracle of water into wine, and he prays near the end of his life that God take away the sacrifice he is being called to make. The history of the church, too, is full of reluctant leaders. You might think that back in the early church being a bishop was a desirable and sought out position of authority. But the legends of the church tell us that it was actually quite difficult to convince someone to take on the responsibility. A steadfast desire to not be a bishop actually seems like one of the ancient qualifications. John Chrysostom, the most famous preacher of the fourth century (hence “the golden mouthed”), was kidnapped into a carriage and taken off to be consecrated bishop against his will. 

But deep down, these stories probably don’t really surprise us. Can’t we relate to the reluctance to do what is needed, what is necessary, what is often difficult, in life? We may not be called to part the Red Sea, but, nonetheless, I believe, if we’re honest, we can relate to these tales of tentativeness on a more personal level. You may know the importance of making difficult decisions in the work place. Even if we have become leaders in our professions, we may be unmotivated in other important areas of our lives, like our families and churches, in our personal and spiritual lives. Indeed, these are two areas of life—family and church—in which I have observed people, while often very successful in the world, are timid or unmotivated. Do we go on living in relationships unhappy (with our parents, spouses, and children) instead of trying to do something about them? Would we rather stew over something or grumble about someone than take to them our honest complaint? Do we spend more time on Facebook or in front of the TV, than with close friends? Or on the church front: Would we rather let someone else do church for us, than to offer our own hands and minds and time? Do we over schedule our children with sports and school activities to the detriment of their spiritual formation? Would we rather merely hope that people will come into our churches rather than do the difficult work of welcoming people into church? 

I wonder what contributes to a lack of motivation. Certainly, we have all kinds of excuses and answers like the leaders of old, Moses, Jonah, and Jeremiah. Perhaps we just don’t care; but I doubt it. I think it is more likely that we don’t know how to deepen our relationships in our personal lives. Or we try and find ourselves defeated. Or we think we will be defeated before we even try. Or we find ourselves so overwhelmed by things to keep us busy and it is easier to stay busy than to focus our time and energy on interpersonal and spiritual priorities. Or even that we think that because we are so skilled at our professions that we should be able to fix everything in our personal lives without anyone’s help. We might be embarrassed. Or there might even be some ego at stake. Are we sometimes just too lazy? 

Whatever our excuses, we find ourselves realizing that they come to end and that we are still left facing the depths of ourselves. The only true option is to be willing to do what is hard. We must be willing to do what is necessary. We must be willing to risk ourselves. We must believe that doing the right thing will lead to a better outcome than maintaining our status quo. While it may first be important to recognize our reluctance, to voice it like Moses and Jeremiah, we must then follow their example by going on to live and act courageously. Our personal relationships will benefit. Our own souls will be nourished. Our church will thrive. 

There is great hope in living so boldly and proactively; but how? The primary answer that I hear in these texts is that the source of our motivation comes from the very being of God. When Moses worries about going up against the authority of Pharaoh, God answers: “I will be with you.” When he worries what he will do or say, the answer from God is “I will be your mouth and teach you what to say.” When Jeremiah tries to relinquish his role as a prophet and claim that he is “only a boy,” God replies “Do not say, ‘I am only a boy’; for you shall go to all to whom I send you, and you shall speak whatever I command you, Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, says the Lord.” God promises to be with Jeremiah, to be with Moses, and to lead them in their difficult tasks. And God promises to be with us and to lead us out of our hesitance. The second answer that arises from these texts about how to live courageously is that we must know God has given us what is necessary to live this way. God has given us our minds and our abilities to do what is needed. Jesus is our ultimate example in bold living. Remember in that miracle of changing water into wine, he goes ahead and does what is necessary. And in our gospel this morning, Jesus enters his hometown knowing he will not be accepted as prophet and Messiah and yet courageously lives out who he is, brings them a difficult message, and is rejected anyway. And even after praying sincerely and desperately that his ultimate sacrifice might be taken from him, he nonetheless goes forward with his ministry and its consequences.  

I don’t know whether you find yourself in the situation I have been describing. I suspect there are many of us who do. Somewhere in our lives we have trouble doing what is necessary, to be the leader or merely be the person we need to be. Who is that family member or friend with which you need to reconcile? Who is that person that perhaps you are too close to and need to set up some boundaries with? What priorities need to be reorganized? What do we need to do to be more faithful to God? What difficult thing needs to be done in your life? The danger is to get so stuck in our reluctance that it numbs every aspect of our lives. And yet we are called like the prophets of old to push against all the odds and to live bravely and fearlessly. May we follow our courageous leader who leads us even to the cross. Amen.

© copyright 2010, J. Brent Bates

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