Kingly Assessment
December 14, 2014 | Patrick Preheim

As I watched the evening news this past Tuesday my blood started boiling.  A U.S. Senate report has emerged detailing brutal CIA interrogation techniques, secret rendition to black sites, and other unsavory tidbits.  I am still an American citizen.  They did this in my name.  How dare the leaders of America not just condone, but promote, such inhuman behaviour!  It doesn’t seem that far off from King Ahaz sacrificing children to the god Molech by fire.  My leaders, US kingpins, have been walking in the disgraceful way of the nations.  Thanks be to God I have sworn allegiance to a different head of state, and here I am not talking the Queen.  Jesus Christ is the penultimate king in the line of David.   In Jesus Christ we have someone who loves us, who listens to us, who seeks us when lost, who blesses us, who inspires us, who challenges us, who ultimately saves us.  Torture is not a part of his strategy to solidify his kingdom.  He is a king to worship and imitate; a worthy alternative to the nation state.

Kings.   Yes, our biblical journey has arrived at the Kings.  Like the books of Samuel, First & Second Kings were originally one in the Hebrew.  There are many stunning stories in this section of scripture which could have served as a sermon topic.  In the book of Kings we have the gorgeous queen of Sheba who gets King Solomon to give her “all she desired”—wink, wink, nudge, nudge (1st Kings 10.13).  We find God showing favor to foreigners: the widow of Zarephath with her jug of oil that never runs dry (1st Kings 17.8ff) and the curing of Assyrian general Naaman from his leprosy.  We have Elijah taunting the prophets of Baal on top of Mt. Caramel (1st Kings 18).  We read about arch villains Ahab and Jezebel slaying prophets and murdering Naboth for his vineyard.  We have Elisha receiving the prophetic mantle from Elijah, raising the dead, making an axe head float, and my favorite, turning two she bears on a gang of unruly boys (2nd Kings ch 2-4).  What a great super power to have, the ability to summon grizzlies against those who taunt!  Each of these stories deserves a sermon in their own right because they are full of irony, humour and theological revelations.  Today, though, we will reflect on kingship and leadership.  I have asked a retired educator and a businessman to share their thoughts on leadership to supplement my sermon.  Hear these words on leadership from nationally recognized physiotherapist Bruce Craven.  He is in White Horse at a conference and graciously allowed me to read his piece.

Leadership is silent.  It begins with believing in your goals and objectives and the underlying vision, mission and philosophy that guide your morals in achieving your goals and objectives.  Leadership provides you with the opportunity to teach others about something that you are passionate about through your actions.  I believe leadership allows us to do unto others as we would have them do to us.  Leadership is selfless in an attempt to guide others towards a common goal that will benefit the whole greater than the sum of its parts.  Leadership is creating an example, by which others can follow.

The hardest part of leadership is being silent, not boastful or jealous of others, but to learn from others and accept differences, as different is good.

I have had the opportunity to provide leadership in the field of physiotherapy, where I have tried to lead by example the power of helping others achieve their goals towards better performance in their daily game of life.
My leadership was taught to me by my parents!  Silently.    [Bruce Craven]

Thank you Bruce, Karen, and Cravensports for the ways in which you lead people to wholeness through your skills, your humility, your faith in action. 

Every king in the book of Kings gets a tag line assessing their leadership:  either he did what was right walking in the way of David, or he did what was evil walking in the way of Ahab or Omri or some nefarious character. The writer of Kings “judged every king on the basis of religious loyalty, with David as the standard” (Intro to 1st Kings in The New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrypha).   Since King David is the gold standard within the book of Kings against which all other kings are assessed, let us consider David.

He was the youngest of Jesse’s sons, not the eldest as we might expect.

He was the shepherd boy who ferried snacks to his family serving at the front, not the brethren with military training.

He was the one who confronted giants with rock and sling, not a sword and shield.

He was the one who defended the poor, not the greedy aristocrat.

He was the one who chose to forgive Saul and sons, not the politician who held a grudge.

He was the one who sought refuge in the wilderness and in God—not one who trusted in chariots, horses or other instruments of military might.

He delegated responsibilities to his generals, not needing to micro-manage every decision.

He was the one who danced before the Lord after victory, who cried out to God for help while on the run, who waited calmly for his kingdom to come in God’s time and God’s ways.

Each of these descriptors and stories of David detail elements of kingship against which his descendants are evaluated.  Patience, fairness, forgiveness, empowerment of those around him, trust of God in desperate times, reliance upon God in conflict, faithfulness in defeat, humility in victory—leaders who behaved in one or more of these ways were given a star by their name with the words, “he did what was right in the sight of the Lord.”  Another leadership reflection; this one from Wally Krause.

This is a difficult topic which I have not considered for many years. A quote attributed to John Maxwell:  "Leaders become great, not because of their power, but because of the ability to empower others."  How do we or did I try to do that?

As an Elementary School Principal influences came in many ways. At a seminar Madeline Hunter promoted the concept of "Catch the kids being right." Be that behavior, achievement, or relationships-- accent the positive. This works with students, teachers, co-workers, and the public.

The concept of enhancing self worth is more than just making one feel good. While that is part of it, one wants to feel good because you really did something worthwhile.  (This really happened.-- At our regular Assemblies I took the opportunity to make announcements, recognize someone or something and a comment I frequently used was " You are some of the best students in Saskatoon." After one of these Assemblies a little fellow in Grade Two came to me and said, "Mr Krause, you always say we are the best students in Saskatoon and you know we are not." My response was, "That may be, but if you hear it often enough, you will believe it and you will be the best students in Saskatoon." He just straightened right up and marched off to his class.)

As a principal it didn't matter to me what press report I got-- it mattered what happened in the classroom with the student and the teacher and in turn the student, the teacher, and the parents. My roll was doing whatever possible to enhance the learning process and eliminate things which hindered that.  One has to "walk the talk"-- sitting in the office with the feet up on the desk doesn't cut it. One must be prepared to get involved in all tasks be they high level discussions or cleaning up chairs or helping a child find mitts or boots. You need to get your hands dirty.

Active listening is critical. It means you hear what is being said even if it isn't all pleasant. One doesn't jump in with a quick fix as a better solution may arise from the discussion itself. You don't have all the answers. This should not be confused with inaction. There is a time and place for non debatable, firm decisions in the realm of the responsibility one has. One should strive to deal with the act rather than the individual.   Leadership is not a position or a title-- it is action and example.  Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.  One last quote -- John Quincy Adams said-- "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." [Wally Krause]

Thank you Wally, and other educators of this congregation for the ways in which you lead students to knowledge, wisdom and wholeness through your Christian vocation as educators.

The actions of Jesus have clearly inspired people to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more.  We follow a King from the line of David who pursues love, justice and righteousness.  The king we follow seeks out lost lambs; he breaks rules to heal the hurting; he willingly carries the weight of society’s sin to the cross and buries it in a tomb.  We are not, and never will be saviours of the world as Jesus Christ was, but as his followers we are called to imitate him as best as we can.  In this respect we are kings and queens in the places we serve.   And one day we will be weighed as either having walked in the way of Jesus or in the ways of the bad kings.  I want us to lead well—be it in the setting of church, home, team, school, or work.

We have a choice to lead in the tradition of King Jesus Christ, or pattern ourselves after one of the lesser gods.  This is a personal decision we all need to make.   It is my take that Jesus is the best model, the best saviour, the best advocate we could ever imagine.  When we take his yoke upon ourselves we learn from him.  We hear his words and we are inspired by him.  We abide with other sheep of his pasture and learn from them.  We rest in the shepherd’s love and are restored by him when we go astray.  Jesus is a leader / a prophet / a king who I want to follow.  At the end of my days I don’t expect people to say I was perfect, but like Jotham I want to be identified as a leader who walked in good ways despite my flaws.  Most of us, I think, do.  So let us make a choice for the first time, or again, to seek the good path of Jesus in our relationship with God and with our neighbours and with our family.

For the sake of obituaries which will be written about us in years to come let us surrender our fears to God and the Good Shepherd.  For the sake of the world in which we live where state sponsored torture and terrorism begs an alternative let us courageously follow after God and the Good Shepherd.  For the sake of the next generation, our families and congregational members, who learn a bit about kingship from the way we choose to lead let us surrender our pride practicing patience, fairness, forgiveness, empowerment, trust of God, faithfulness in defeat, humility in victory.   May God be merciful and grant that we develop one or more of these virtues.  May it be so.  Amen.