"There Must Be Some Mistake"

Sermon Preached By Rev. Richard E. Stetler - January 2, 2005

Psalm 72:1-7; 10-14; Matthew 2:1-12

        This morning I would like for us to consider the incredible, remarkable quality of leadership. Do leaders have something within them that causes them to take flight almost as soon as they are born?  The answer to this question is not easy to find.  

Answering this is like trying to find out why some people are self-starters, inspired and highly motivated while others need direction and guidance from managers.  There is no consistent answer. Leadership can arise from within us during the oddest of moments resulting from unique circumstances or from someone asking us to step forward during a moment of need.        

Right now we find ourselves in the throes of a major international disaster.  No doubt when the final death total is known from this tsunami, we will find the number hovering around the 200,000 mark.  A number of us have experienced this kind of event at least a half dozen times in movies like Armageddon, Independence Day, Volcano, Meteor, or The Day After Tomorrow.  It is as though humanity has been subliminally planning for a global disaster through its entertainment industry.  Yet the media sources reporting from Asia are claiming that the reality of what they see is beyond imagination. 

As the world gathers to render assistance, commanding leaders will rise out of nowhere.  This quality had remained dormant until a recognized opportunity or an invitation arrived allowing them to express it.  As we read and watch during the rescue efforts, we will find numerous incidents of heroism as well as countless stories of people who are total strangers to leadership, rolling up their sleeves and becoming involved in highly effective ways.           

During the massive flooding in West Virginia in the mid-80s, I had accompanied teams rendering assistance in the flood zone.  Those of you who were here at the time may remember the role of St. Matthew’s during those relief efforts.  Gordon Harvey and his team were gathering over a hundred donated cars to take to his native state.  What an incredible story that was!  Jay and Susan Bryant’s Christmas letter directed recipients to funnel financial aid through my church in Arden.  Thousands of dollars were raised through their letter.        

While in Petersburg, I met a woman who was the youngest general I had ever known.  She had to be in her early-thirties.  Heather was in charge of the command center.  She barked out orders, made decisions without hesitation as she sent into the field numerous work crews that were arriving by the hour from all over the West Virginia and beyond.  

She finally took a break after working for 8 hours and I had a cup of coffee with her.  I asked her if she worked for FEMA.  She said, “No.  FEMA has not yet arrived, but they are coming.”  I asked her where she developed such a commanding presence.  She said, “I have no idea.  Someone asked me to coordinate activities and I said, ‘There must be some mistake, I don’t know anything about emergency management.’  They said, ‘Just do it.  You are familiar with Petersburg’s flood zones.’  Actually, I’m a local. I am a music teacher in one of our elementary schools.  Do you believe this?  I guess a person has to do what they have to do.” 

Leadership can be thrust at us, but there are other times when our potential role is ill defined and not so clear.  We may not be aware that we are leading anyone or if we are making a mark anywhere that someone notices.  

Travel back in time and become Mary or Joseph for a moment.  You had a very challenging journey to Bethlehem, delivered your baby in a stable and now you are indoors through someone’s kindness.  A knock comes on the door.  Three Persian astrologers arrive bringing some very expensive gifts:  gold, frankincense and myrrh.  They tell you that they have come to pay homage to your baby who will one day be a great king.  Your first response would probably be, “My baby? I know what my dream told me, but really? There must be some mistake.”  

Was Jesus a leader from the beginning of his life?  If so, why did it take him so long to get started?  He had not gone into politics that was a standard model for such a career, but into carpentry.  He had not migrated to one of the great seats of power the likes of Rome, Alexandria or Athens; he remained in Galilee.  He had no royal court, but surrounded himself with a dozen men who came from backgrounds that would never propel anyone into greatness as we understand it.  There was no forum, no congregation and no group that would have enabled him to launch his career.  

Was Jesus aware of his potential leadership role among his people?  It is extremely doubtful that he was.  Following his baptism his spirit drove him into the wilderness where he probably experienced a massive crisis of both his confidence and his identity. Following his death, he left behind not a shred of evidence that he existed save for the testimony of those who were called followers of the way.  How could such an unlikely candidate emerge as a towering figure in history?     

While the Scriptures make the claim that Mary “pondered all of these things in her heart,” she must have thought, “There must have been some mistake.  My son is no more kingly than I.” Even at the end of his ministry she may have felt that the astrologers had all made a mistake, particularly when the one to whom they came to pay homage was now hanging on a cross dying like a common criminal. 

No doubt, Mary experienced the same thought patterns that we do.  We want evidence. We want assurances God is guiding us. We want to see God’s activity become visible through forms with which we are familiar.  Rest assured, it is by design that we do not. We can only know what God does through the eyes of faith. (John 3:8)  This understanding has to do with how we perceive.  Jesus grew into his understanding of God’s nature and that is what he allowed others to see. 

          As we enter the New Year, remember that the word “No” is fairly limiting.  It keeps doors from opening.  The word “No” prevents us from taking risks.  It tends to keep us safe, secure and comfortable.  We need to be fully awake in our consciousness of God’s daily presence when that knock comes at our door.  Jesus could have been baptized and return to his trade of carpentry.  At the time, however, his experience after coming out of the water was life changing. 

             We live in a day when we need people to trust that God will work through them in ways they could never anticipate or comprehend.  This is how Jesus, the humble carpenter became Jesus, the Christ.  This is how a music teacher became a general in charge of a command center.  Who might we become if we say, “yes” during some unguarded moment to something that is way outside of our comfort zone? 

           In the New Year, remain open to possibilities when you hear the knock on your door.  Someone may be bringing the gift of a request of you or an insight about you that will inspire you to become an instrument of creation.  Do not miss recognizing your moment in time even when the voice of fear says, “There must be some mistake.”   

          Remember, there has been no mistake.   We do not need clarity of vision to understand when our time has come to risk, stand forth and allow God to work through us.  This is one of the ways God brings the Kingdom a little closer to the earth.  We may be used during this process and never realize when or how. 

THE CONGREGATIONAL PRAYER

We thank you, God, for the dawning of a New Year.  Teach us to accept each new day as a diamond to be polished.  Enable us to discard thoughts that do not serve our growth.  Guide us to address those habits and attitudes that have made us creatures of need and servants of our desires.  Inspire us to dismantle the barriers to sharing our love.  Teach us how to practice our faith by taking risks, by reaching out to those we do not know and by trusting completely that your will is unfolding.  Enable us to become effective disciples who are every bit as valuable as those we read about in the Gospels.  We never know which deed or thought has the ability to change how history unfolds.  We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus Christ, our Lord.  Amen.

 THE PASTORAL PRAYER

Loving and merciful God, as we enter the New Year, the entire world community is circling its wagons once again in an effort to save lives.  Surely this is who we are as a world of diverse people.  The relief effort communicates values far different from those who remain committed to the destruction of oil pipelines, electrical grids and human life itself through their self-sacrifice as suicide bombers.  O God, let the bell of freedom ring during one of humanity’s finest hours.  It is so ironic that the world’s people are about to spend billions of dollars to save and preserve life while others use their financial assets on plans to destroy it.  

Sometimes great disasters do shake us from our political agendas, our posturing and our finger pointing.  Something within the aftermath of a natural disaster reminds us of how precious and fragile life is.  May the silver lining to this cloud be the discovery of our need for each other and our willingness to share with those whose losses appear insurmountable.  God bless our world as its people embark on a mission of healing. 

As we continue our sojourn into the New Year, may our lives reflect the beauty of the season we have just experienced.  May the warmth of giving, the joy of extending ourselves, and the peace from bringing love to others, remain with us long after the glitter from the tinsel has faded.  These are the qualities of life that remain timeless.  We pray these thoughts through the spirit of Jesus, the Christ, who taught us to say when we pray . . .