A Better Leader
The writer to the Hebrews steadily makes the argument through his epistle that Jesus is superior to anyone and anything. He turns his attention to the Israelites’ leader, Moses. It would have been difficult for a Jew to think of anyone greater than Moses, their great leader who led their nation out of slavery in
Pastor Emile J. Burgess Sermon—Hebrews 3:1-6
Midweek Lent A Better Leader
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Timothy 1:2b
Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house, if we hold on to our courage and the hope of which we boast.
Leadership these days is sort of a hot topic. There are lots of gurus out there peddling their books, their methodologies, their principles of leadership. They promise that if you integrate their strategies, you’ll climb the company ladder and take followers with you; others will respect you and your opinions; you’ll feel more in control of your life and it will show; you’ll have more time for yourself and your family. These kinds of things are what most think of when you talk about leadership. Well, we know Jesus was the greatest leader to ever walk this earth. But where do we see his great leadership the last week of his life? Where is his leadership during Holy Week and throughout his passion? We definitely see Jesus’ strong leadership at other times. He literally leads his disciples on his preaching tours. He teaches them his truths and principles—and they listen. He delegates and sends them out with the
needed tools to accomplish their tasks. He stands up to others who get in his way or who promote the wrong things. In fact, the Sundays throughout Lent over and over show Jesus’ strong leadership as he puts his enemies in their place. But where does all that strong leadership of his go?
needed tools to accomplish their tasks. He stands up to others who get in his way or who promote the wrong things. In fact, the Sundays throughout Lent over and over show Jesus’ strong leadership as he puts his enemies in their place. But where does all that strong leadership of his go?
After he gives his disciples his last will and testament, he is arrested and he seems to just give up! No one wants to follow his leadership anymore. His disciples stop heeding his advice. They even abandon him. He loses the respect of the masses and his great following turns against him. And control—he gives up all control to others, to his enemies and adversaries! In fact, if this were a company ladder, he had sunk to the bottom rung. In the eyes of his people, in the eyes of the government, he had become worse than a common criminal, deserving only to be tortured and put to death. What kind of leadership is that? Today, that is the question we wish to answer. Because despite the way things looked, despite worldly notions of leadership in our day, in Jesus we find a better leader.
Moses was the great hero of leadership for the Jewish people. He left the cushy life of Egyptian royalty to stand up for his people, even becoming a fugitive for his cause. He stood up to evil men, leading his people out of slavery. And he continued to be their leader for years to come—through the desert and to the Promised Land. And then he wrote about it all and more in the first five books of the Bible!
Sure, he had a few blemishes on his record, but who doesn’t? Moses was a great leader, a faithful leader. The writer to the Hebrews is quick to acknowledge this. “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future” (3:5). It’s true. Moses faithfully served God and his people. As a faithful leader, his goal was to keep God’s people trusting in God, to keep them away from bowing down to idols of wood, stone, or the idol of self. He was a great leader and member of God’s house.
What was this house of God? It wasn’t the Israelites. God’s house here is all believers. Verse 6 says, “And we are his house.” What an honor to be considered a faithful servant in God’s house! But as great and faithful as Moses was, the writer continues, “Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything” (3:3-4). If you’ve ever watched one of those extreme home makeover shows, you know that the family doesn’t shower their appreciation on the house. But all the honor goes to the builders and designers. Moses, as great a leader as he was, is but a part of the house built by Jesus, just a mere servant in that house.
But Jesus is more than just a servant in God’s house. As we heard, “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house… 6 But Christ is faithful as a son over God’s house. And we are his house” (2:5-6).
It seems strange to us that this would have to be explained to anyone. Jesus is greater than Moses. Seems like a no-brainer. But in some way or another, the recipients of this letter were giving Moses more credit than he deserved, while at the same time diminishing the honor due Jesus. And that does happen in our day. There are church bodies and denominations out there that hold their leaders up so high, that the words of Jesus are ignored in favor of their leader’s word. You might think of the upcoming resignation of one such leader of another church body. You might think of those church leaders who promote the prosperity gospel that says if you have enough faith God will bless you physically, financially, and emotionally. And that clearly contradicts the word of Jesus who says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” But these people put the words of their leader above the words of their Savior.
But we don’t fall into that trap, do we? We follow Jesus our leader and only Jesus. We listen to Jesus our leader and only Jesus. We put our trust in Jesus and only Jesus. Except for the almighty trump card called “me.” Moses had his days when he unfixed his eyes from God and fixed them on himself. The disciples certainly had their days of following their own lead too. It’s no different from us. As members of the same spiritual house as them, our confession of sins is the same. We are our own leader when we want to be. Every day we unfix our eyes from Christ and fix them on me.
Sometimes this follow-my-own-lead inclination comes out in our dealings with each other. Even though we’re all servants together in the house of all believers, we stand on our little hills and fight our little battles so that things can be done right in our eyes, from our perspective. “Other people in the church can accommodate my preferences.” This is our default setting as creatures sinful from birth.
Maybe another leadership pitfall for Christians sometimes is not so much giving leaders too much credit, too much honor at Christ’s expense, but sometimes maybe we expect too much from our leaders. Maybe sometimes we apply a “Jesus” standard to our leaders, whether it’s our pastors or principal, our teachers, our council or board members, or even our volunteers. Perhaps sometimes we expect them to know everything that’s going on on our campus, to have a firm handle on what it all means for our ministry, and to communicate it all with crystal clarity back to you, the members, the partners in this ministry. Sometimes, it seems in church circles that leaders get zero chances to mess up. And when they do mess up, then we want to demand our right be done with them or to move on to someone else. And then the scrutiny is even harsher. But even church leaders are guilty of doing the same to other leaders. It’s tempting to apply a “Jesus” standard to others.
We do well to remember that we all sit here together confessing our sins. We all sit here as one Body, one House, beating our breast and praying, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.” We all show the repentance of our hearts and our need for forgiveness when we kneel or stand together at this table to receive Jesus in the Sacrament.
Thanks be to God that the same standard applies to us all—a grace standard. But that grace standard is all bound up in God’s Jesus standard for us. Yes, he demands perfect holiness from us. But he himself supplies it in Jesus, our Substitute and Savior. As our lesson says, Jesus “was faithful to the one who appointed him” (3:2). He was perfect. He was holy, without a single blemish on his record. And he has declared us holy on the basis of his perfect record. That’s how he has ruled over God’s house faithfully as a Son. That’s why he is “the hope of which we boast” (3:6).
And so, this changes the way we look at Jesus and his leadership, doesn’t it, especially during holy week? When he looked powerless, when he seemed to not be in control at all, when all had ceased following his lead, he was right where he wanted to be. He was still being our better leader, our servant- leader, our Savior-leader. He was going where none of us could go, to accomplish what none us could— the salvation of the world. Great leadership is all about sacrifice. And that’s what Jesus, our better leader was doing for us.
And so, this not only changes the way we look at Jesus, but doesn’t it also change the way we look at each other? If Jesus our leader can look at us in all our sinful misery and still choose to die for us, if he can see the wretchedness of our selfishness and still declare us holy, then surely we can apply the same grace-standard to our brothers and sisters declared holy in Christ. Surely we can follow his lead in laying down our lives and our preferences and our self-serving ways to serve one another in Christian love. Surely we can lay down our personal demands of time and energy and leisure to follow Jesus where he leads us best in Word and Sacrament.
God bless our Lenten journey of repentance and renewal—a journey that we take every day of our lives—a journey of following Christ, our better leader, our better Savior. Amen.
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 15:5-6
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