August 13, 2006 Sermon

How Joseph Rose
Genesis 21:25-45

Joseph the slave became Joseph the number two in all Egypt in the blink of an eye. Literally. Pharaoh had troubling dreams, his cupbearer remembered a man in prison who had a proven track record in correctly explaining dreams, Pharaoh summoned the man and outlined his dreams, and Joseph gave him God’s interpretation. Pharaoh responded by putting Joseph in charge of everybody but Pharaoh.

Does such a thing every really happen?

In 1556 John Knox, a Scottish Protestant, was a slave on a French ship. Upon his release the English King Edward, a Protestant, sponsored him. Knox quickly became one of the most influential preachers in all England . But when Edward died his half-sister Mary (Bloody Mary) became Queen. A Roman Catholic, Mary immediately tried to erase Protestantism from her realm. Knox fled. Months later, his congregation in Switzerland turned on him, accusing him of preaching heresy. He resigned his pulpit in disgrace and disgust. But Bloody Mary died and the Protestant Elizabeth took the throne. Knox returned home. He immediately became most powerful preacher in all Scotland, the leading voice in the reformation that gave birth to the Presbyterian Church.

John Knox rose from the ashes not once, but twice. He rose from slavery to power. He rose from disgrace to leadership. Knox became a pivotal figure in not just Scottish, but world history. His rapid rise happened before millions of witnesses. Yes, men and women can rise from the bottom to the top. But how does it happen? Actually, people rise—and fall—for many reasons. But in the cases of Joseph and John Knox, the rise had the same cause: God ordained it.

Genesis overflows with examples of God calling people to the top. Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph: God lifted all of them. All of them had roles to play in the plan God willed to fulfill in history, before witnesses. We still live in that plan. God still ordains, still calls and equips, leaders. This means we still must try to discover whom God has lifted up among us to make things happen as God desires. God ordains; we follow.

John Knox helped create a church with a curious name. The word Presbyterian is not English or even Scots. Presbyterian comes from Greek and it means “elder”. It means elder in the sense of older, and it means elder in the sense of wiser. John Knox, John Calvin and others helped create a church based on elders. They built Presbyterianism on the premise that God lifts up elders to lead the church.

The Northern Lakes Community Church is a Presbyterian Church. Most people do not know or care what Presbyterian means. The word is confusing. Others have a vague sense that Presbyterians are a somewhat richer-than-average bunch of Protestants who like classical music in their worship services and use an incredibly complicated form of church government. My father reminded me that if they are old enough, some people remember that Presbyterians used to be called “The Republican Party at Prayer”.

But none of these descriptions hit the mark. Today more Presbyterians carry Korean genes than any other type. Presbyterians worship to timbale drums, barbershop quartets, bagpipes and Brahms. Some Presbyterian preachers wear pulpit robes with academic stripes on the sleeves and Geneva tabs at their throats. Others wear Hawaiian shirts, cargo pants and flip-flops. The one distinctive trait of all Presbyterian churches is their reliance on elders. To be sure, all Christian churches believe that God calls leaders. But we Presbyterians view our elders biblically.

The time has come in the life of the Northern Lakes Community Church to remind ourselves that elders lead us. The time has come to call those elders to lead. The time has come to call the rest of us—including the pastor—to follow.

God called Joseph to lead. The eleventh of twelve sons, a Hebrew slave in the land of Egypt, nothing the world could see about Joseph made him an obvious candidate for rising to the top. Yet God saw Joseph’s potential. That’s what counts. God had created Joseph to lead.

God called John Knox to lead. He was born in an obscure village. His father was a shopkeeper. Knox loved to entertain his wide circle of friends but his public persona was humorless and, well, threatening. Nothing about his life or times made him the logical choice for leadership. But God does not always do logic. God had created Knox to lead in a particular time and place, toward a particular end.

We Presbyterians believe God has called particular people to lead our congregation in a particular direction. These people may not always appear to our worldly eyes to be the “right” choices. They may not have the attributes our culture has decided leaders must have. Yet God has chosen them. Furthermore, we cannot always tell what direction God wants them to lead. Presbyterians believe that our elders’ number one job is to figure out where God wants them to take the church.

As the years pass every church feels more and more tempted to stand still. Though its ministry might grow stale it is comfortable and safe. But God has called leaders to lead. Search the Bible from cover to cover and you will not find a single case in which God has called people to stand still. Often, God calls people to go back to an earlier, more faithful place, but never to stand still. Leaders lead to a goal, to a place where the people are not. Yet.

Where does God call our elders to lead us? I have my theories. As pastor, I have a voice in the discussion. But our elders have the job of listening to God so they can learn where to lead us. And we have the job of following where they lead.

Elders: lead us. Pray to God to show you where and how. Speak and listen with each other to learn where and how. But please, lead us.

Church: follow. God has created these people to lead us and not to stand still. God ordains leaders; churches follow. Let’s get after it.