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Message from Pastor Bill – May 2010
We are Rangers
This past month, I had the fortunate distinction to have attended the Graduation ceremonies of Ranger Class 4-10 at Fort Benning, Georgia. During the ceremony, I was amazed at the dedication, fortitude, and persistence resulting in this distinctive achievement that embodied teamwork. St. Matthew in that spirit of teamwork, I urge us to realize that We are Rangers also.
The price of civilization is the decision to live in community with others. It takes a sophisticated, coordinated dependence upon teamwork to provide all the diverse goods and services required by a large population.
It is hard to work alone. Sometimes the line between rugged independence and sheer exhaustion can grow very thin. In an opera, even the strongest leather-lunged diva sings her aria and then steps back for a breath while someone else take center stage for a while. God never intended any of us to be alone in the spotlight for our entire life.
It is time for us to reread our Bibles. Throughout the Bible, the most successful and obedient models of leadership are found when a dream team of God's faithful men and women undertake a mission.
- Josiah and Hilkiah worked as a team to restore God's law to a forgetful nation.
- Ruth and Naomi worked as a team to find security and a future in the midst of great loss.
- Esther and Mordecai worked as a team to see that the Jews were kept safe and their enemy Haman was destroyed.
- John the Baptist and Jesus worked as a team to bring the Holy Spirit upon the Messiah's ministry.
- The disciples worked as a team as they went out two-by-two to fulfill the mission of the 70.
- Paul and Barnabas worked as a team ... Paul and Silas worked as a team ... Paul and Timothy worked as a team so that the message of salvation continued to be spread even while Paul sat in prison.
The transition of leadership in the life of Israelites occurred when Moses dies and Joshua, the son of Nun was given the mantle of spiritual leadership. That a change in spiritual leadership was waiting in the wings is foreshadowed by Joshua's subtle presence in that reality. Although still basically an "unknown" at this point in the Exodus story, the young Joshua is introduced as Moses' "assistant," "servant" or even "minister." God's kabod was no longer going to remain accessible only to Moses—the Spirit's presence was moving on to a different kind of team model.
When Joshua finally inherited Moses' leadership position, however, he was not expected also to be the sole spiritual spokesman to the Israelites. By this time Yahweh's kabod had established itself in residence in the tabernacle. Ever since that transition, there have been continual changes in the way God's presence has been manifested with new power in the midst of the world.
- From Moses to the tabernacle "team."
- From the moving tabernacle to the tag-team of the judges.
- From the sporadic play of the judges to the constant reign of David.
- From David's camps to the central temple.
- From the team-rituals of the temple to the incarnation of Jesus.
- From Jesus' leadership to the ragtag team of the disciples.
- From the disciples' continued team efforts to the Pentecost body of Christ, the church.
- From the church as a Christbody to the hierarchy of a magisterium.
- From an institutionalized magisterium to a team-spirit Reformation.
- From a Reformed church to a revitalized clergy.
- From less formalized clergy teams to an empowered laity and every-member ministry.
If you look at these various incarnations in the history of the Christian church, it appears there is an ebb and flow of the Spirit's presence in these various forms. The power of a Spirit-led leader is transferred to the creativity of a Spirit-led team. The earliest priesthood of Jesus' own disciples, the Spirit-infused team of the Reformers, the Spirit-empowered lay movements—all represent teams of faithful, creative, Spirit-fired incarnations of God's kabod.
St. Matthew the Spirit of God is on the move. We must remember that we are Rangers. At the end of the graduation ceremony the new class of Rangers affirmed a Ranger Creed and like them there is a portion of that creed that speaks to us "Never shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physically strong, and morally straight and I will shoulder more than my share of the task whatever it may be, one hundred percent and then some."
Peace and Power,
Pastor Bill
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