Follow the Leader: Sermon John 10:11-21

"Oh God, help us to be masters of ourselves that we might be servants of others, take our minds and think through them, take our lips and speak through them, take our hearts and set them on fire."

I want to start out by playing asking a question this morning.
It is time to elect a new world leader, and only
your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three
candidates

Candidate A.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults
with astrologist. He's had two mistresses. He also
chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.
Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until
noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of
whiskey every evening.
Candidate C
He is a decorated war hero. He's a vegetarian,
doesn't smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never
cheated on his wife.

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

This goes to show that sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes those we perceive as good leaders are not. I am sure we can all think of a few politicians on both sides of the aisle that we thought were good leaders but turned out to be pretty bad. We can see the effects of poor leadership in all aspects of our government. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not going to go off on a tangent badmouthing the government, but the government always seems to provide perfect examples of bad leadership. Good leaders are desperately needed within the Body of Christ and especially within our own denomination. I read this week that attendance within the UMC is declining, with only 44% of members attending weekly services regularly. In 2004, only approximately 43% on United Methodist churches accepted a member by profession of faith that is a number that must go up. We must strive to become better leaders and better ambassadors for Christ and the good news is that Christ gives us the keys that we need to be successful leaders. There are six keys, six characteristics that make a good leader and so as I preach this sermon to you this morning I am also listening and learning these keys for myself.

The first characteristic that Jesus gives us is that leaders are always people of good character. Jesus begins the Scripture we read this morning by saying that “I am the good shepherd” and this is something that no of us can deny. Jesus was of good character and moreover he was of the best character that the world had and has ever seen. Jesus never lied or cheated. He always had the best interests in mind for his followers. He never led them astray or into danger. Jesus remains the one shining example of a good person. We can’t always say that about our leaders today can we. We can’t say that they always have our best interests in mind or that they never lead us astray. We need only to turn on the television and watch the nightly news to understand that. Last fall I attending a lecture series at Vanderbilt and heard author and evangelist Jim Wallis speak. He had recently written a book called God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It, and while he spoke he said something that stuck in my mind and that was there are some politicians in Washington that are truly looking out for the best interests of the people, but you can count them on one hand. The basis, the foundation of good leadership is a good heart, a good character, someone who is willing to set aside their own wants and needs for what is needed for the people.

This leads to the second key for good leadership and that is a good leader loves the ones they lead. We cannot overstate the love that Christ has for us. He continues verse 11 by saying “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep” and Christ practiced what he preached. He did lay down his life for all of us, for the entire world. I watched a movie this week that I just love called Band of Brothers it is based on a book by historian Stephen Ambrose and it centers on the men of Easy Company, a company in the 101^st Airborne Division, before and during World War II. These men fought in Normandy on D-Day, in Holland, and in the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne, Belgium. All during their time fighting there were numerous examples of men sacrificing themselves for the aid of their comrades. Although we seldom have opportunities for that type of heroism in the safety of our borders, there are instances that require sacrifice. Perhaps we sacrifice some money for the church or for a charity. Maybe we sacrifice an hour to visit a shut-in or even a prisoner. Perhaps we sacrifice a few dollars to the homeless person we meet on the street. In whatever situation that may arise good leaders are always looking out for others before themselves. People are willing to follow someone that they know loves them. As children we listened to our parents, most of the time, because we knew that they loved us. Leading by love is always much easier than leading by fear or coercion. And so when we demonstrate our love to our communities then those people become much more likely to listen to what we have to say.

Good leaders are never in it for the money. I can tell you for a fact that I and every other preacher in the world did not answer the call to ministry because of the promise of money. Mother Teresa did not work for her entire life in the poorest cities in India because the pay ways good. The aid workers who travel to Africa, Asia, Central and South America do not go because of a good salary. These people do what they do because of a deeper desire and a deeper need. Good leaders do not make decisions based on what is good for their pocketbooks, but what is good for the people. Jesus tells the disciples “The hired hand runs away because a hired hand does not care for the sheep.” The hired hand is only their for one thing, the money. He has no personal interest in the sheep, he is just there to collect his check at the end of the week and go home. The shepherd on the other hand is not just there for the money, he has a vested interest and personal relationship with his sheep. This is not just a job, but it is a lively hood. So we see that money does not make good motivation for leadership and sacrifice. The love and desire for money is a selfish venture and only leads to decisions that are best for the leader and not best for there flock and as we have already seen that doesn’t make for good leadership.

Good leaders do not tuck tail and run at the first sign of trouble. Jesus says “The hired hand, who is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away.” A leader looks adversity right in the eye and deals with the problems calmly but assuredly and a good leader never plays the blame game. One person that I think of when I think of a good leader is Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln faced the most adversity of any president before or probably since. His goal was to run the country while attempting to reunite the country. He had to run an army, a country and also deal with all the people in Washington that wanted his job. But all the while he never backed down from problems and he never blamed someone else for his misfortunes. Jesus also never backed down from a challenge. Jesus looked the Pharisees dead the eye and, with love, dealt with the issues. Many people, even the Devil himself, tried to stop him and even trick him but Jesus stood tough. Problems are going to come. We are dealing with problems right now in this church, and nothing will even be solved if we start playing the blame game or if we simply ignore them. But if we stand firm in the foundation of Christ and we face the issues head on then there is nothing that we cannot overcome.

Good leaders are also never swayed by public opinion. Leaders must be willing to make the tough decisions even when those decisions might not be popular at the time. I am once again reminded of something that Jim Wallis said. He said that in Washington, politicians walk around with their fingers in the air, looking for what direction the popular political wind is blowing and to change things in government one doesn’t change the way the politicians look for the wind, but you have to change the wind itself. Jesus faced a constant sway in public opinion. Remember a few weeks ago we talked about Palm Sunday and the same crowd that would make him king only a few days later called for his crucifixion. Some crowds loved and adored him and some crowds tried top stone him and in the midst of this fluctuations of popularity Jesus remained steadfast and strong in his message. He never wavered. So the Church must remain persistent and unwavering in our message. Sometimes what we believe as Christians does not match was is considered the norm in society. The world would tell us that the homeless person on the street deserved what he or she got. Popular culture would say that what happens in Africa is irrelevant to us in the United States. Society would tell us that the only way to be happy is to have as much money and material things as we can get our hands on. The world would say that we should only look out for number one. But Christ teaches us that we should love and serve our neighbors. Christ teaches that we should gather up treasures in heaven by making sacrifices on Earth, and Christ teaches what we do to the least of these we also do for him.

Finally leaders are never satisfied with the status quo. Good leaders are always looking toward the future and are always looking at ways things can be improved. Jesus said that “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Jesus was looking toward that day when all his children, all of his followers will we united as one. So we must also look toward that day. But in the meantime we have work that needs to be done. We cannot be satisfied with the way things are, we must always be moving forward. A church that isn’t growing is a church that is dying.

Jesus was the quintessential good leader. He was of good character; he always put the needs of others above and beyond his own needs. Jesus loved those whom he led. He loved the world so much that he freely gave his own life as a sacrifice for our salvation. Jesus was never in it for money. He spent most of his life in poverty without a roof over his head. Jesus never ran away from problems, he confronted those who opposed him with love, but also with strength and determination. Jesus was always looking forward to future goals and he set his mind, body, and spirit toward meeting those goals. Jesus, the master teacher, always led by example and everything he said was backed up by an action. He could never be considered a hypocrite. That is something that is desperately needed again in the Church. We must strive to make our actions meet our words. When we speak of God’s love then we must demonstrate that love in our lives. Good leadership is a vital key in any business or organization and it is no different for the Church. We must strive to take on the example of Christ and become good leaders for his Church.