\u201cRulers and Servants, Prophets and Priests, We All Have a Calling from God\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rev. James Rausch<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I thought I would take the occasion of our ordination and installation of elders and deacons today to give us a look at where our practices and rituals of church leadership come from. The short answer is that they originate from the Bible and our ancestors in the faith, going all the way back to early Old Testament times. But it\u2019s not in my nature to give just the short answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let\u2019s start with the New Testament, 1 Peter 5, where Peter addresses the elders of the church. He states that he too is an elder. But Peter was speaking and writing in Greek. And I get all excited when I get to share insights with you that come from knowing the Greek that was being used back then. Peter was addressing elders, our English translations say. In Greek, he was addressing \u03a0\u03c1\u03b5\u03c3\u03b2\u03c5\u03c4\u03ad\u03c1\u03bf\u03c5\u03c2, presbyters. And Peter himself was a presbyter. Our English translation is spot on. The word means elder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All throughout the Old Testament, our forerunners in the faith, the Hebrew people, can be observed as a tribal people. The way their tribes and clans and villages operated was under the authority of the elders of the tribe. They were the experienced, the gifted, and the trusted, and people went to them the have disputes settled and decisions made for the good of the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Often their gathering place was at the gate to the village or city.\u00a0 I like to think of Native American tribal culture as having many similarities.\u00a0 Each tribe had its elders who would deliberate on whatever matter that needed deciding.\u00a0 It was in groups thoughtfully discussing problems and issues openly that they found their best governance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, presbyters, or as the elders were called in Hebrew, \u05d6\u05b8\u05e7\u05b5\u05df, zawkane, have been entrusted with leadership for the common good for over 4,000 years.\u00a0 The Hebrew word is a bit less gentle than the Greek.\u00a0 It translates as \u201cThe Old,\u201d or \u201cThe Old Ones.\u201d\u00a0 We prefer elders, don\u2019t we?\u00a0\u00a0 You can be an elder sister or brother and still be young.\u00a0\u00a0 I was ordained as an elder in my home church when I was about 22.\u00a0 My youthful inexperience showed pretty obviously as I tried to live up to the tasks of the office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Yet in spite of my weaknesses and mistakes, God utilized my efforts and let me learn as I went.\u00a0 And I have always been a least a little bit proud to be a Presbyterian.\u00a0\u00a0 When I went to seminary to really study what Presbyterians believe and how they operate, it was a great revelation to discover how this iteration of Christian expression truly reflected the core of my being.\u00a0\u00a0 I have long thought that when Presbyterians are truly being Presbyterian, there is no other expression of the faith that surpasses them.\u00a0 That\u2019s not to say that I believe Presbyterians are better than other Christians; it is only to say that when we are at our best, we are right there with the most faithful of all the different denominations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0So, the Presbyterian church gets its name by how we govern ourselves.\u00a0 We are the elder-led church.\u00a0 But Presbyterian sounds so much nicer than \u2013 elder-led.\u00a0 So, we stick with the Greek instead of the English.\u00a0 But several denominations are named for the way they are governed.\u00a0 You\u2019ve heard of Episcopal churches, yes?\u00a0 An Episcopacy is a hierarchical structure.\u00a0 Priests are given authority, and bishops are given greater authority.\u00a0 The Roman Catholic church is the most familiar example of hierarchical governance as they also have arch-bishops, cardinals, and the Pope, who hold the highest position of authority.\u00a0 The Lutherans and the Methodists have episcopal structures to a lesser extent, and they do have some hybrid features that allow boards of lay persons to have a say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Can anyone guess the third prominent governing structure by which some congregations get their name?\u00a0\u00a0 I just gave you a hint.\u00a0 Congregational churches!\u00a0\u00a0 The most democratic example of church structure, congregational churches retain most of the decision-making power among the membership as a whole.\u00a0 That makes for a lot of congregational meetings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
None of the systems is perfect.\u00a0 All have their strengths and weaknesses.\u00a0 Presbyterians followed the way of the tribal leaders in the Old Testament, and the church leaders we observe in the New Testament.\u00a0 Presbyterians like to follow Paul\u2019s admonition that everything in the church be done \u201cdecently and in order.\u201d\u00a0 So having the whole congregation, tribe, or village, discuss and decide issues was too time-consuming and inefficient.\u00a0 They entrusted most decisions to an elected group of presbyters \u2013 elders.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0And Presbyterians were even more opposed to episcopacies because of their refusal to endow individuals with power over the church and its people.\u00a0 In the Reformation, it had become all too evident that priests and bishops had routinely abused their power in the Medieval church.\u00a0 Therefore, Presbyterians give almost no authority to individuals.\u00a0 I, as Pastor, cannot make the church or its members do as I please.\u00a0 Anything I might want can be proposed, but that darn group of elders called our session has to agree.\u00a0 And together we all get to vote for the people who will serve on the session and take that responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Presbyterians know that individuals are all too prone to misusing authority, and they mitigate that by only investing authority in groups instead.\u00a0 Other denominations don\u2019t know what to do with us sometimes.\u00a0 When a need arises for denominations to come together ecumenically over some issue, the Roman Catholics and Lutherans can send a bishop or a priest.\u00a0 The Methodists can send a bishop.\u00a0 Non-denominational churches who invest more authority in their pastors can send one of them.\u00a0\u00a0 But the darn Presbyterians always want to send a committee!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0As much as it is good to laugh at ourselves, we can see clearly that this insistence has served us well over the centuries.\u00a0\u00a0 The Presbyterian influence on the fledgling colonies of America added a great deal of fuel to the fire of resolve to throw off the tyranny of the English monarchy and form a new government \u2013 something different than had ever been tried before.\u00a0 Look in your history references and you will find that the Revolutionary war was often referred to by King George the III\u2019s advisors as \u201cThe Presbyterian Rebellion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Presbyterian influence, investing power to govern in a king or any individual was to be rejected.\u00a0 Absolute power corrupts absolutely.\u00a0 Government by the masses was too unwieldy, so in stepped the Presbyterians with a plan to allow the people to consent to be governed by leaders they would get to elect to legislative bodies \u2013 decision-making in groups.\u00a0\u00a0 And it could all be done decently and in order!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0Consider our familiar structures of government.\u00a0 Closest to the people is the municipal government.\u00a0 Next level is the County government.\u00a0 Above the Counties is the state.\u00a0 And at the top is the Federal Government.\u00a0 All invested with authority by the people who elect those who will serve.\u00a0\u00a0 Now compare that to Presbyterian structure.\u00a0 Closest to the people is the session of each congregation.\u00a0 A step higher is the presbytery.\u00a0 Above the presbyteries is our Synod.\u00a0 And at the national level is our general assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0The administrative and executive tasks are assigned in the Presbyterian church to moderators and clerks.\u00a0\u00a0 No chance of the title \u201cmoderator\u201d being confused with boss or dictator.\u00a0\u00a0 We moderate, and the clerks make sure that decisions are recorded and communicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, how I want to go on because there is so much more to share about our Presbyterian principles and the impact they have had on our nation. But we need to come back to focus on what we do today as we ordain and install elders and deacons. Ordination is a big word, and it is regarded differently by different faiths. Reformed Christians, of which Presbyterians are a part, have so rejected hierarchies that we don\u2019t even make a distinction of clergy and lay people. Although those churchy terms still get used, we really don\u2019t hold them as Presbyterians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0The Reformers, as they decried the corruption of the priesthood, declared that believers needed no mediator between them and God.\u00a0 Think of it, priests were those who accepted and processed the peoples\u2019 sacrifices as a middleman between the people and God.\u00a0 Priests could hear confession and make absolution as a mediator between the confessor and God.\u00a0 Priests learned Latin and said the mass in that language that the people didn\u2019t understand.\u00a0 They were literate and could read the Bible while the people could not, so they had to rely on the priest to tell them everything.\u00a0 The Reformers reacted to the corruption that resulted and declared that Jesus was the ultimate mediator who opened our access to God without need of specially elevated middlemen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And they then declared the priesthood of all believers. That remains our understanding to this day. Baptized believers are all considered priests with the ability to communicate with God through prayer in the Holy Spirit. We are all responsible for forgiving the sins of others and extending the love of God to our neighbors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what is a pastor? What is an elder? What is a deacon? In the Presbyterian church, these ordained offices are not above anyone. There is no individual hierarchy. Instead, these roles are particular functions to which we are set apart. People with gifts consistent with the office are identified by the congregation and asked to serve. Ordination is therefore not an elevation in status in any way. It is a commission to a task, one carried out side by side with others in the church as equals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When we are invited to take on service as a church officer, many of us have some great hesitations. I never thought I could be a pastor. God ended up having to insist over all of my years of protests and running away. Consider Moses as God called him to lead the people out of bondage in Egypt. There at the burning bush, as God told Moses that he was chosen to the task, Moses protested no less than 5 times, trying to get God to pick someone else. \u201cWho am I to go before Pharoah?\u201d God said, \u201cI will be with you.\u201d \u201cWhat if the people won\u2019t believe this is from you? Who should I say sent me? God said, \u201cTell them, \u2018I am that I am has sent you.\u2019\u201d But Moses protested again, “What if they won’t believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The LORD never appeared to you’?” And God equipped him with a staff that would transform before the eyes of the elders. God said, \u201cthe elders of Israel will believe your message.\u201d 10 But Moses pleaded with the LORD, “O Lord, I’m not very good with words.\u201d God said, \u201cI will give you the words.\u201d But Moses again pleaded, “Lord, please! Send anyone else.” Then the LORD became angry with Moses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, if you have been invited to serve and have felt misgivings about accepting the role, you\u2019re in good company.\u00a0 Moses had so many hesitations, fears and doubts.\u00a0 And he knew his hands were dirty.\u00a0 He had killed a man in Egypt and had to flee to escape accountability.\u00a0 He wasn\u2019t feeling very worthy of serving a holy and pure God.\u00a0 But God knows people can grow and change.\u00a0 We can learn from our mistakes and regrets.\u00a0 God sow in Moses a servant who could accomplish a particular task, and God called him to put aside his misgivings and accept the role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God is amazing that way.\u00a0 God could use David, who was an adulterer and a murderer.\u00a0 Jesus entrusted the founding of the church to Peter even knowing that Peter would deny him three times.\u00a0 Jesus promised the disciples at the Last Supper, while Judas was still there and Jesus was aware of his intent to betray him, \u201cYou will sit on 12 thrones with me to judge the tribes of Israel.\u00a0 I believe Jesus was prepared to follow through on that promise with Judas included.\u00a0 But Judas couldn\u2019t bring himself to believe that God could forgive him and allow him to continue as one of the 12.\u00a0 Jesus said, \u201cThe Son of Man goes as it has been determined, but alas for the one who betrays him.\u201d\u00a0 Judas hanged himself, and another disciple was chosen in his place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If only, he could have accepted his own flaws and mistakes believing in Jesus forgiving grace like Peter did, a broken-hearted Judas could have been restored to the 12.\u00a0 This is the God who calls us to service.\u00a0 Knowing our past and the secrets of our hearts, God shocks us by saying, \u201cI want you to care for my people\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0And so, we are called.\u00a0 All of us to serve as priests.\u00a0 Some of us to serve as Teaching elders, or ministers of the Word and Sacrament.\u00a0 Some of us as ruling elders to make decisions and carry out duties in humility and grace.\u00a0 Some of us as deacons, which can also be translated as servants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, it\u2019s time to continue our 4000-year-old tradition and ordain and install the next class of church officers whom God will work through to bring about effective ministry to and through our church.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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