4th Sunday after Epiphany Year B

The Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany Year B
January 29, 2012
Today’s readings all have something to say about authority. They talk about how we know the mind of God (which is the definition of authority in the life of the church), and how we then follow where God is calling us. In the Old Testament reading, we see the question of who the children of Israel will follow after Moses is dead? Who will be the prophet, the leader, the voice of God’s will and authority in the common life of that people?
In the epistle, we see Paul writing to the troubled community in Corinth about how authority comes not through knowledge but through love, and how, as a part of a community, sometimes we are called to sacrifice our own preferences for the good of others.
In the gospel reading, Mark shows us Jesus’s first act of ministry after he has called his new disciples to follow him. Jesus goes to the synagogue in Capernaum and teaches there, and he is noted as one who speaks with authority. As a result of that, an unclean spirit challenges him, and he heals the man of the unclean spirit, thus proving his authority even more to those who are watching, including his new followers.
It’s important to note that the Greek work that our reading today translates as authority is not power (that’s a totally different word). But authority here is more about a willingness or even a right that has everything to do with seeing justice served. This is the Way that Jesus walks, on which we follow: the care for the poor in spirit, the mournful, the lost, the sick, the hungry. It is what we sign onto as his followers and what the ministry of the church is all about.
This question of authority--of how we know the mind of God and what way do we follow--is one that is still present with us now, especially on this day as we prepare to have our annual parish meeting. For us, the mind of God is always revealed in community. It is why we are all here, because knowing the mind of God in our own individual lives is hard work, and we have found it is much easier when we do it together, as a community. Sometimes, someone can hear something from God that we haven’t ever heard before, and it can help us along our way.
A few years ago, I was reading the book called The Meaning of Jesus by Marcus Borg and N.T. Wright, and I was struck by Tom Wright’s writing about what it means to follow the call of discipleship to Jesus. He was writing about the call to “repent and believe in the good news”. Wright says that we often hear that call with our modern ears as a call to “give up personal sins and accept a body of dogma or a scheme of religious salvation” (38). But in reality, Wright says that Jesus is issuing a call with a political bend saying to people to “Give up your agendas and trust me for mine.”
“Give up your agendas and trust me for mine.” In the church this is a key point in how we follow Jesus. It is also a Key point in how we are the Church together. At different times in our common life, some are called to lead, and some are called to follow. It is the dance that we all choose to dance when we join the church.
I recently read a fascinating article in the The Christian Century titled “How to Follow the Leader: Five habits of healthy congregations.” It’s an interesting article that talks about the call of members of a church to not just follow Jesus but to also follow the leaders of the church. In fact, the author writes that following is crucial. He writes of the term “followership” which is defined as “the discipline of supporting leaders and helping them to lead well. It is not submission, but the wise and good care of leaders, done out of a sense of gratitude for their willingness to take on the responsibilities of leadership, and a sense of hope and faith in their abilities and potential…Good followers remain free to think for themselves but recognize a responsibility to help leaders lead well.”
For Christians, good followership is hardly a foreign concept. “After all the gospels begin with Jesus saying, “Follow me.” To be a Christian means “following Jesus”—listening to him, learning from him and doing what he does.” It is giving up our own agendas and trusting him for his.
The early disciples are very clearly works in progress when it comes to being good followers, and so are we. But “by becoming mature and engaged followers of the leaders we call and elect in the church, we demonstrate one aspect or expression of Christian discipleship.”
It is the job of good leaders to help a congregation to identify its most pressing problems and important challenges, and then to mobilize the faith and the resources to take on those challenges. “Followership requires an overriding commitment to the good of the organization regardless of whether there is complete agreement…Good followership entails a commitment to the mission of the church. Good following means knowing what tasks and business have ‘your name on it’ and which ones don’t. It involves a respect for the roles that help govern a congregation and not overstepping them.”
We are called by our Lord, every day, to let go of our own agendas and to follow him. We are called to grow more deeply and more fully in how we trust and how we follow in our own lives and in the life of the church.
Let us pray. O Lord our God, teach us to ask for the right blessings. Guide the vessel of our life toward yourself, the tranquil haven of all storm-tossed souls. Show us the course we should take. Renew a willing spirit within us. Let your Spirit curb our wayward senses and guide and enable us to our true good, to keep your laws and in all our deeds always to rejoice in your glorious and gladdening presence. For yours is the glory and praise of all your saints for ever and ever. (Basil the Great 330-379)