Good morning, Friends!
Today I want to finish up the series we’ve been doing since the turn of the New Year.
We’ve been talking about the church – who we are, some of the great things we do. How we need to stay together. How to build a church. The gifts the church needs. The church’s witness of peace to the whole world.
It’s a lot to think about. It’s a lot to live up to.
Today, I want to talk about leadership. And to get us started, let me read you a story. It’s about one of the greatest leaders of all time, about a guy named Moses.
Moses and God’s people were camping in the desert, on a journey from slavery to freedom. And it wasn’t easy going.
Moses said to the Lord, “I cannot carry all these people by myself; the burden is too heavy for me. If this is how you are going to treat me, please go ahead and kill me—if I have found favor in your eyes—and do not let me face my own ruin.”
The Lord said to Moses: “Bring me seventy of Israel’s elders who are known to you as leaders and officials among the people. Have them come to the tent of meeting, that they may stand there with you.
I will come down and speak with you there, and I will take some of the power of the Spirit that is on you and put it on them. They will share the burden of the people with you so that you will not have to carry it alone.”
So Moses went out and told the people what the Lord had said. He brought together seventy of their elders and had them stand around the tent. Then the Lord came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied—but did not do so again.
However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp.
A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”
But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!”
Then Moses and the elders of Israel returned to the camp.Numbers 11:14-17, 24-30
Moses had done an amazing job. He went to God’s people, and he told them about the God they had almost forgotten. He told them that God was real, and that God was going to save them.
Moses went to Pharaoh, the most powerful ruler on earth. And he told Pharaoh God’s message – “Let my people go!”
Pharaoh’s heart was hard, like a stone. In spite of all the signs that Moses did, Pharaoh refused.
Ten giant disasters – disasters that threatened the lives of everyone in Egypt – and Pharaoh still wouldn’t let them go. Till the last one, the tenth disaster. And Moses led God’s people out towards a land that even Moses had never visited.
Almost immediately, Pharaoh changed his mind and hardened his heart again. He came after Moses, and they were trapped by the shore of the sea.
God sent a great wind, and the waters piled up, making a pathway, where there was no path. Moses led the people across, right through the middle of the sea, till they were safe on the other side.
But then they were in the desert, with no homes to live in. No water. No food. They complained to God, and they blamed Moses. Every day, they came and yelled at him.
That’s where we come to today’s story.
Moses was breaking down, as a leader. He didn’t have a road map to the Promised Land. He needed to trust God, just as much as any of them. He was probably hungry and thirsty, too.
Moses talked to God about it, in the middle of the night. He couldn’t sleep. He said, “God, I can’t do this by myself! Help me!”
And God came up with a solution.
To start out, God picked one person. God picked Moses. Moses knew, from infancy, what hardship and fear were like. His mother had to hide him, from the evil plans of Pharaoh, that would have ended his life.
Then, in a twist, Moses got adopted. He grew up, in Pharaoh’s own household. He saw, every day, the wealth Pharaoh lived in. He learned Pharaoh’s language. He saw the ways of power.
Then, as a young man, Moses saw the suffering of God’s people. In a moment of rage, he killed a slave master who was beating one of his people. He had to run for his life, and he fled to the desert, as a refugee and a fugitive.
And then, God called to Moses. God called to him, out of a wild fire. God told Moses his name – “I am who I am! I will be who I will be! I will become who I will become!”
And God sent Moses back, to be a leader. To lead God’s people to freedom, to a home God had promised.
Every leader of a church needs to know this story. Leaders need to be brave a lot of the time. Leaders need to stand up and share God’s word, like Moses did, even when they’re terrified inside.
Moses told God he wasn’t good enough. He told God, “No one will listen to me! No one will believe me! I’m not eloquent. I’m slow at speaking, and I can never think of what to say!”
And the Lord said, “Who gives people a voice? Who makes people deaf or unable to speak? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Don’t you know that I am the one who does these things? Now GO! When you speak, I will be with you and I will give you the words to say.” (Exodus 4:10-12)
That’s a part of what it means to be a leader. A good leader is a listener and a seer. A leader listens and sees what is happening to God’s people. And a leader listens to God, and sees what God is doing.
Then we come to today’s story. Moses is worn out. Actually, if you read your Bible carefully, Moses was 80 years old when he led the people out of Egypt. No spring chicken. He couldn’t carry the burden.
God had an answer: “Pick 70 leaders from the elders of Israel. Take them out into the wilderness with you, and I will take some of the power that you have, and give it to them. You’re not supposed to carry everything alone. I will appoint and anoint others to help you.”
Every church, and every pastor, needs to know this story. None of us is strong enough to do it all by ourselves. That’s just the way it is.
It’s interesting. God had Moses pick out seventy leaders. And here in our meeting, we have about seventy households. I could go around, and pick you, and you, and you, and we’d have about the same number of people as there are in today’s story.
And there’s a cool twist at the end. It says that there were two other elders, Eldad and Medad. Eldad’s name means, “the one God loves.” and Medad’s name means, “Beloved.”
Moses didn’t choose them. But when God’s spirit was given to the other seventy, God also gave his spirit to those two.
But people came running to Moses and complained, saying, “Those two weren’t on the list!”
And Moses said, “You know what? I wish that ALL God’s people had that spirit! I wish that ALL God’s people were gifted!”
If you were here last Sunday, you may remember that I said something like that. I said that all God’s people, right here, have gifts. There is no one who isn’t gifted. No one.
We all have different gifts. That’s not surprising, because we’re all different! But there is no one here who has no gifts.
I’m telling you, very seriously, that every one of you is gifted. And as you listen to God’s call, you will learn what those gifts are. And as you use your gifts, you will grow in them.
Even the two people who Moses didn’t call, Eldad and Medad, received the gift of the Holy Spirit. And Moses, to his eternal credit, wasn’t jealous or upset. He said, “I wish that ALL God’s people were gifted!”
You kind of wonder what Eldad and Medad did for the rest of their lives.
I want to switch now, and tell you another story. Once upon a time, Jesus and his friends were walking along. And Jesus overheard them arguing among themselves, which one of them was going to be the greatest.
And Jesus stopped them and said, “You know how it is out in the world: the big shots like to order everyone around, and great people want absolute control. But in my kingdom, whoever wants to be a leader must be the least among you, and whoever wants to be the greatest must be the servant of everyone.” (Matthew 20:26-28, Mark 9:35)
So, leaders have to be listeners and noticers. Leaders have to be touched by the Spirit. And true leaders need to know that they’re less than everyone else, and servants of everyone.
Leaders need to speak up, when God gives them something to say.
As I said last week, leaders need to know the story of what God has done, and share that story anew with every generation.
Yes. I am a leader. I do my best, and sometimes my best isn’t good enough. But I do try.
I try to be brave, even when I’m scared. I don’t have all the answers, but I ask God for help. I try to be a shepherd, and I grieve when even one person goes missing.
I’ve been a leader for a long time, in many different places, for people you’ve never met and maybe never will.
I try, really hard, to tell you the stories about God, and the stories about Jesus, and the stories of people of faith, because I want you to know these stories, so you can live stories of your own.
I truly want you all to be leaders. Maybe not exactly like me, because we’re all different. But I want every single one of you to hear God calling, and to follow, and to lead each other.
Moses told the Lord, “I don’t know what I should say. My voice isn’t too strong. And I’m not sure they’re going to listen anyway!”
God told Moses, “I gave you eyes, and ears, and a voice. Now, GO! And I will be with you. . .” And remember, Moses was 80 years old when God told him that!
Jesus said, “Go into all the world, and just tell people that the kingdom is very near them. . .”
“Be a servant,” Jesus said. “Be like a little child. Be a light-bringer. Be a messenger with good news!”
Always remember: you’re a leader! The church needs you.