“Leadership”
Doug Lambert
Readings - Joshua 3: 7 - 17, 1 Thessalonians 2: 9 - 13, Matthew 23: 1 - 12
The English language is a difficult challenge for anyone trying to master it. As if syntax and grammar were not complicated enough, there are the intricacies of spelling. However, I think the biggest challenge would have to be all those words with multiple meanings, not only subtle variations, but some have quite different meanings. For example, the word “issue” can mean an important topic, or a flood of water, or a new publication, or someone’s child. The Macquarie Dictionary provides twelve definitions of the word leader. These include “one who leads”, “a principal editorial in a newspaper”, “a discount offering in a retail store”, “a Queens Counsel”, “a horse harnessed in front of a team”. There is a recognisable theme which is apparent to anyone who is familiar with the language, but it is confusing.
Leadership is a theme which gets a significant thrashing in our modern world. It is a quality demanded of corporate heads and political figures; it is alleged that school children need to be taught it; newspaper editors bewail the lack of it. It is the underlying theme which ties today’s lectionary readings together.
Stories from the book of Joshua have featured in more Sunday School anniversaries than we collectively have had breakfasts, such that we are quite familiar with the stories. In the reading for today we learn that the Israelites are preparing to cross the river Jordan and take possession of the “Promised Land”. Now this is not a pretty story, neither is it a unique event in the history of mankind. It was yet another conquest in a long line of others in which one group uses overwhelming force to take possession of someone else’s land. Some of these invasions were much more bloody than others. Further on, in chapter 6, you can read how the Israelites obliterated the city of Jericho and massacred its occupants. It’s interesting that the only items not to be looted or destroyed were any silver, gold, bronze or iron, this was to be taken to the treasury of the Lord. Kill the living, destroy the city, but keep the bullion, is a model of ruthless leadership which has been exploited by many warriors. Clearly Joshua was a pretty pragmatic character.
Being appointed to the leadership of the tribes following the death of Moses Joshua has a hard act to follow. The Israelites had demonstrated ever since leaving Egypt that they were a contrary and cantankerous band of wanderers. In order for there to be a successful transition of leadership power there would have to be a demonstration of continuity, a sign that whilst the old maestro may have departed, the new young buck had what it takes. More importantly, the people had to clearly understand that God was still with them. It seems to me that Joshua was keenly aware of the need to manage the underlying political forces.
With God’s guidance Joshua proceeds to orchestrate a dramatic procession full of symbolism centered around the Arc of the Covenant, with the selection of the bearers and its escort drawn one from each of the twelve tribes. The people would make immediate connections with the major milestones in the life of their community. The Arc as a continual symbol of God’s presence; the drama around crossing the Jordan mirroring the flight from Egyptian slavery across the sea of reeds and into freedom. This was a brilliant and highly successful piece of theatre which achieved its purpose.
We have read that the Lord said to Joshua, “this day I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, …” This exaltation is not to provide Joshua with a bit of an ego boost, its purpose is clearly described in the second half of the sentence “so that they may know that I will be with you as I was with Moses”[1]. Joshua’s leadership is to find its reason for being in the comfort and knowledge of the people that Yahweh is with them as he was with Moses. Leadership within that community of faith was about reminding the people of God’s ready presence.
I mentioned earlier the parallels in the story with the liberation from Egypt and the possession of the promised land. Howard Wallace writes in his notes on the passage -
“Liberation from slavery and possession of the place of promise are all part of the same event. Yahweh journeys with his people from start to finish, such is his faithfulness. Indeed, his presence is the guarantee of the completion of the whole task. But there is also a faint warning in this parallel structure. Just as the journey from Egypt through the sea into the wilderness brought with it hardship, times of doubt, and even disobedience, so too will this journey through the Jordan preface times of hardship etc., even in the promised land. The life of faith, so often described in terms of pilgrimage, is one in which beginning and end are tied together; release from captivity and entering into promise are inextricably bound as one. The promised end of the journey is foreshadowed in the journey itself.”[2]
Wallace helps us to see the life of faith as a pilgrimage in which the spirit not only sustains us on the journey, but leads to its fulfilment. For the leader this process, or pilgrimage, requires a capacity to listen and to empathise, it requires courage because the goal may not always be popular nor will it be painless. Doing what people want is not necessarily in their best interests and a leader pursuing a course which they believe is in the communities interest means negotiating a tortuous path with no guarantees of any positive outcome.
There are a number of people on stage at the moment who could talk with great feeling about the perils of leadership and in particular the issues of public perception. Christine Holgate the CEO of Australia Post has in the last few years turned a moribund statutory authority into a profitable parcel distribution business providing a handy dividend to the government. She has not committed any crime or misdemeanour, but failure in the court of public opinion, deserted by her Chairman, and the sole shareholder, she will now almost certainly resign.
Gladys Berejiklian is tottering on what was once an unassailable pedestal; in grave danger of losing her role as Premier of NSW. The full story has yet to be revealed as to whether this was just an inappropriate love affair, or there were real issues of probity. In any event her reputation has been severely tarnished and some of her more aspirational colleagues will be counting the numbers.
Dan Andrews however has handled the politics of a bungled disaster with great aplomb and overwhelming public support.
Political debate is notoriously prone to short term-ism, duplicity, hypocrisy, and sanctimonious cant. How many heads rolled over the $400 million Great Barrier Reef research funding, advanced to a company with virtually no relevant track record? There are more than a few question marks around water buybacks along the Darling River involving tens of millions of dollars. Is anyone being held accountable?
Genuine leadership stands well above these tawdry affairs in which there are demands of public figures for standards of behaviour which often far exceed community norms. Genuine leadership requires taking responsibility for the things which go wrong and living with the consequences
In the letter to the Thessalonians Paul is clearly responding to the gossips of the day, he espouses the virtues of honest work and his desire to depend on his own resources for sustenance. This would have been jarring in the context of middle-eastern cultural attachment to hospitality - both the offering and the accepting. Paul is attempting to establish credibility by emphasising that he had not been a burden during his visit to them, furthermore he is not speaking to them to be applauded but rather to encourage them to live the gospel. He makes the quite specific point that his ministry comes from love not from self-interest.
This can only be described as total commitment to the task at hand. We need reminders from time to time that in terms of communication ours is a different world to first century Greece. Paul could not visit regularly to meet people face to face, to debate issues and calm fears. There was no email or texts, not even telephones, nonetheless he does make an effort to communicate and in doing so does not model the ministry of some sort of loner, or martyr, who withdraws and blames. His focus was upon building an inclusive community in which all can share, a community which genuinely cares for and about one another. He exemplifies leadership committed to its task.
We are the beneficiaries of those letters and Paul’s attempts to build solidarity within the scattered Christian communities of the first century. The key message is that of serving the community out of love for it and compassion over its needs, rather than any hope or expectation of personal reward.
Matthew, on the other hand, exposes the superficiality of mere ritual observance. He writes about symbols which have become important for their own sake, symbols which are no longer meaningful, either because we have forgotten their purpose or because they have lost their symbolism.
We continue to follow ancient traditions - such as shaking hands. The source of this practice lies in the fact that you can’t draw a weapon whilst holding someone’s fighting arm. The placement of sprigs of rosemary on a coffin is a practice going back into medieval times, as an evergreen it is a symbol of eternal life. We erect plaques and statues, or name buildings in honour of people and even events. We enjoy public holidays, all of which commemorate specific things, although there is considerable evidence that the remembering aspect is almost totally lost on the community. Within our celebration of holy communion we use symbols of bread, wine, smoking gum leaves, things which evoke memories of past events, a consciousness of our dependance upon our community, and the source of the breath of life itself. Some symbols are more relevant and lasting than others but they remain an important aspect of our community life.
There is current controversy in some places over statues of historical figures. Rather than becoming familiar with our history and using that knowledge to improve today’s society, there are people who simply want to destroy the monuments of another era, purporting that this will somehow assuage the failures of previous generations. The prize for hypocrisy in this field of endeavour has to go to the student leading the campaign at Oxford University to remove the statue of Cecil Rhodes; a man studying at Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship.
The burning of books, or the flag, the banishment of art works, are all acts of a people deeply uncertain and fearful of their own place in society. They are not exercising leadership within the community, they are mobs.
Matthew goes on “They love to have the place of honour at banquets … to be greeted with respect in the market places …”. Everyone likes a bit of recognition, it boosts the ego no end and one hopes it emanates from genuine feelings. In many ways we have not moved very far from those first century scribes and Pharisees. Look at the public adulation which is given to sporting identities, who at least entertain even enthral us with their skill and courage, but the WAGS who accompany them? Delightful to behold but that is hardly a public purpose worthy of such acclaim. Then there are people described as facebook influencers, a role I have some difficulty getting my head around. I mean, you would actually buy something because somebody on your computer screen says you should!!
We need to find and promote role models who have substance, who are deserving to be seen as worth emulating. I do not exclude sportspersons, but preferably ones who will not be featuring on the nightly news after being charged with obscene behaviour, or of being drunk and disorderly. We certainly do not need to be idolising people who are famous simply for being famous.
Today is actually All Saints day, a festival which does not feature greatly in our ecclesiastical calendar but it is in essence about recognition of past leadership. If you go to Wikipedia, that impeccable source of everything worth knowing, there is some interesting reading on the source of this festival and I will leave that to your own inclinations. Halloween or All Hallows eve which was last night, originally marked the end of the year. The Celts believed that on the eve of the new year the lines between the world of the living and the world of the dead became blurred. Since then the purpose of this ancient holiday celebration has become even more blurred and I would have to confess to the view that Halloween is now nothing more than a marketing opportunity. Enough said.
The fact is we protestants do not put a lot of store on Saints. Perhaps that is something we should reconsider, not by slavishly following the traditional feast days but by looking more closely at our own experience as a church and congregation. We cannot successfully move forward without understanding our past, how it is we got to be where we are. There is a list on the UCA Assembly website which provides a month by month opportunity to recall the leaders of the past and their contribution to our church and community life. Each entry is accompanied by a brief biographical note. Among those featured in November are: St Andrew, Hilda of Whitby, Dorothy Day, John Knox, Isaac Watts, John Williams.
I confess that there are names on the list with which I was not familiar. This illustrates my point that we know all too little about our past, about those people who have made an impact upon society through the quality of their lives or because of the benefits they brought to society while living out their faith. These people did not set out to mount arguments in favour of a life of faith, they were actually expressing their faith through the manner in which they lived. In so doing they provided leadership at times and in areas which were desperately in need of it.
Our calling as God’s people is to live our lives in community with others, caring and sharing in the interests of the whole community. A community which is inclusive of everyone, even those who shun it. A community which actively pursues justice and rejects revenge. A community which speaks truth to power. This is leadership.
Amen
[1]Joshua 3:7
[2]Howard Wallace, Notes for Year A Pentecost 25 Joshua 3