"Obey Your Pastor"

22-May-2011

“Obey Your Pastor”

Robert M. Thompson, Pastor

Corinth Reformed Church
150 Sixteenth Avenue NW
Hickory, North Carolina 28601

828.328.6196 corinthtoday.org

The biggest problem with churches is that they’re full of sinners.

Hebrews 15:15-25
May 22, 2011

Power from the pulpit

You can probably imagine that this is a sermon I’ve looked forward to all week. There’s a lot of power in the phrase, “Obey Your Pastor.”

The sermon title is, of course, from verse 17 of our text. Unfortunately, different translations render the phrase differently. None of them really say, “Obey Your Pastor,” but if you put them together, that’s obviously the meaning.

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.” (NIV, 1984)
“Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say.” (NLT)
“Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel.” (Message)
“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority.” (NIV, 2011)

That he’s talking about pastors is clear from the fact that they “keep watch over your souls.” They are the same ones who speak the Word of God to you (v. 7).

“Obey” is an interesting word, not the usual one for “obey.” It means to let yourself be persuaded by someone – thus, to listen to, comply with, trust, have confidence in, obey, follow. “Obey your pastor” works for me.

There are, of course, limits to pastoral obedience. Not even in jest do I want to suggest that pastors who abuse their spiritual authority, manipulate people for their own purposes, or teach contrary to God’s Word should be “obeyed.” A power-drunk culture doesn’t need excuses for abuse of power with the cover of spiritual leadership. Pastors who abuse should be hog-tied and whipped, but that’s a different sermon.

So let’s get started with what your pastor wants you to obey. I have four commands for you today based on Hebrews 13:15-25.

Sacrifice yourself (15-16)

Being a pastor in a narcissistic age is sometimes a challenge. In a book for pastors titled Working the Angles, Eugene Peterson reminds pastors that “most of the people we deal with most of the time are dominated by a sense of self, not a sense of God. Insofar as we also deal with their primary concern, the self – directing, counseling, instructing, encouraging – they give us good marks in our jobs as pastors. Whether we deal with God or not, they don’t care overly much. Flannery O’Connor describes one pastor in such circumstances as one part minister and three parts masseuse.” (11).

Nobody wants to think of himself as a person “dominated by a sense of self.” The truth is that all of can be described by that phrase, yours truly certainly not excepted. I’m not at all sure we’ll root that out of us this side of heaven.

The opposite of self-centeredness is self-denial. The opposite of self-service is self-sacrifice. As the writer of Hebrews brings his letter to a close, he twice uses the word “sacrifice” to describe a Christian’s response to what God has done for us.

“Sacrifice” is a theme of this letter, written to warn Jewish Christians against abandoning Christ and going back to Judaism. If it sounds arrogant to say that “Jesus is better,” I remind you that the temple was still intact as this writer wrote his words, and he’s saying that the system of sacrifices in the temple is based on a flawed, human priest repeatedly slaughtering animals to salve the guilty consciences of those who sins over and over again.

Jesus, he argues, is better because he is a perfect priest – sinless, and yet fully human. He empathizes with our struggles and temptations, but he became a better sacrifice because he gave himself up “once for all” to pay for our sins.

The writer understands, however, that there is a human need to keep doing something religious. If I sin daily, isn’t there something I can do daily – not to atone for my sin, but to show my gratitude for Christ’s once-for-all atonement? Yes, there is. Sacrifice yourself.

“Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess his name” (15). When you are aware of your sins, don’t wallow in them. Confess them and then say again, “Merciful Father, thank you for the sacrifice of Jesus that forgives this one as well.” A “sacrifice of praise” might be a prayer, a song, or even a “thankoffering” (Psalm 116:17). Paul tells the Philippians that their financial gifts are “a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice” (4:18). Your sacrifice could also be just telling someone else about the Lord – “the fruit of lips that confess his name.”

The second place the word “sacrifice” appears is in verse 16. “And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

Your bulletin today includes an insert about serving. One of the pastoral challenges is that whenever we issue a call to sacrifice through service, often those who are already overcommitted hear us saying, “Oh, I need to do one more thing,” while those who are not serving at all seem unfazed. So I’ve included some thoughts on whether you should serve “more” or “less.” (The insert is also appended to this sermon manuscript.) As your pastor, I don’t really want you literally to “sacrifice yourself” – i.e., die serving, or even kill your family.

Don’t be a pain in the pastor (17)

I love verse 17. Let me read it again, because it is where I found the sermon title and theme: “Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.”

You also see The Message paraphrase on your bulletin: “Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?”

Pastors are hardly the only ones who have to deal with unhealthy conflict, but there’s something about the nature of churches that breeds destructive criticism. Good training for pastors prepares them to respond with maturity.

What I’m not saying is that pastors should have absolute power or that no one should ever provide constructive criticism. Churches where the pastor grabs or holds on to unhealthy power inevitably crumble. Pastors become the abusers. So pastors need the feedback loop, and need a system in place where they must be responsive to the concerns and controls of others. That’s healthy.

But as Ray Anderson says, sometimes churches and church members abuse pastors. “’Conflict exists inside of people not between them,’ says psychologist Newton Malony. Conflict (results)…from insatiable desires and unmet needs. These needs are themselves often due to experience of previous abuse….A church that abuses is a church with members who carry, deep within, unresolved anger, unhealed pain, and untouched feelings. Conflict becomes an addiction because it is a stimulant that creates its own need.” (Ray S. Anderson, The Soul of Ministry, 86)

The biggest problem with churches is that they’re full of sinners – not the least of which is the pastor. Still, some people do have a way of making pastors’ lives miserable. I will never forget the day the pastoral honeymoon ended in my first church after seminary. About a year after I came, a man named Joe asked if he could see me on a Friday. It was (and still is) my day off, but he said it was urgent.

We met at the church, and Joe began to tick off his concerns. Church attendance was declining, he said. (The numbers were actually going up.). He had other complaints as well, but it didn’t take him long to get to the real issue.

“You just handpick the members of the Consistory.”

“Actually, Joe,” I corrected him, “I haven’t had any input at all into the nominating process. I haven’t even met with the Nominating Committee.”

“Well, why not? You should be more involved in these matters.”

Bottom line: Joe wanted to be on Consistory. If I was keeping him off, or not pushing him on, he didn’t like it. Years later when Joe died, his son told me that Joe said after that conversation, “You know, I think he’s going to do OK. He took that pretty well.” Churches can, indeed, abuse pastors. And often it’s about petty power games and a destructive sense of self.

One of the remarkable things about the letter of Hebrews is that the writer twice makes very strong warnings to his readers about those who fall away, then turns right around and assures them, “But I’m not talking about you. You’re better than that.” (See Hebrews 6:4-9; 10:26-39.)

Like the writer of Hebrews, I’m not at all sure this charge of pastor abuse can be leveled at Corinth. Early on, maybe so. But it’s rare now. Whether this judgment of being “dominated by a sense of self” with God only as a side show applies to you individually you will have to decide. But when the writer of Hebrews speaks of those who turn their pastors’ work into a burden, I can tell you have to deal with very little of that. I love being a pastor, and love being a pastor to you.

I would, however, remind you that although we provide you with a feedback loop (yellow pew card), it is really helpful when you sign your name. Recently someone sent in a card that made a good point, but others feel differently. I would love the chance to talk through the feedback and gain a better understanding.

Pray for us (18)

Verse 18 gives yet another angle on supporting your spiritual leaders. “Pray for us,” he writes. This is a present tense verb, meaning continuous action. “Keep praying for us,” or, “Never stop praying for us.”

He continues, giving content to the prayers for leaders. “We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way. I particularly urge you to pray so that I may be restored to you soon.”

As the writer asks for prayer, two requests are on his mind. The first is for godly character. Not only are the temptations of leadership greater, the ripple effect for the sins of leaders is wide – whether those sins are moral failure or the sin of pride.

The second prayer request is for a reunion, since in this case the writer of Hebrews is absent from his readers. He wants to be with them. I hope you know that although it’s impossible for me to be actively ministering to all my sheep whenever any of them needs a pastor, I really do wish I could. I ask you to give me the benefit of the doubt that if I’m not ministering to you at the moment when you need a pastor, I’m trying to minister to someone else.

When you pray for Linda and me, and for the other pastors and staff, pray for (1) a life that honors the Lord, and (2) for using our time well. I love what I do, but when you work in the church, you never, ever go home at the end of the day and say, “I got it all done. Everybody who needed a pastor today was ministered to. All the tasks were done.”

I had an interesting conversation this week about prayer with one of you. A church member asked me, “How does prayer work? Are we really supposed to think God is up there like Bruce Almighty managing requests from a computer desk saying, ‘Yes-Yes-No-Yes-No-No-No’? Does it matter how many people pray or whether they use the right formula and have the right heart?”

We agreed that every kind of prayer is primarily about humility – adoration is about what God is that I’m not, confession is about what I did that is not Godlike, thanks is about what God did and I can’t take credit for, and supplication is about what I’m asking God to do that because it’s beyond me. Humility.

We also agreed that there is a mystery to prayer, and that God indeed does change things when we pray. But prayer also changes me. When I pray for you, I am often prompted to pick up the phone or drop an e-mail and say, “How are you? I’ve been praying for you today?” Prayers for you turn into concern for you.

The same thing happens when you pray for me. You’re less likely to be critical and more likely to ask how you can partner in the work of the ministry.

Follow the Shepherd (19-20)

I love the blessing in vv. 19-20. Let me read it to you phrase by phrase.

“May the God of peace…” These Christians were being tested by outside threats and internal conflicts. They needed encouragement that God creates peace, whether or not they could see it at the moment.

“…who through the blood of the eternal covenant….” The writer is once again contrasting the old system of blood sacrifices that ended had with the covenant God has made through Jesus once and for all. This covenant is eternal and will not be replaced.

“…brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus….” This is his first direct reference in the whole book to the resurrection, although he has spoken much of Jesus’ death. He has said that Jesus lives to intercede for us (Hebrews 7:25).

“…that great Shepherd of the sheep….” You would have expected him to say, “that great High Priest,” but his view of Jesus is broader than that. A shepherd provides, protects, and guides, and he sees Jesus living to do all three.

“…equip you with everything good for doing his will….” The word equip means “to make complete.” The longing is that God will bring out your full potential.

“…and may he work in us what is pleasing to him….” The writer includes himself (“us”) as someone in whom he wants to see God at work.

“…through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” The doxology expresses his motive. He wants Christ to receive the glory.

This is the final command from your pastor: follow the Shepherd. That’s with a capital “S.” I’m very aware that I have shortcomings and blind spots, and that when I’m long gone you will be able to name, maybe even better then than now, some ways in which my life was out of balance and I led you astray. So don’t follow me. Follow the Shepherd. I command you in this, so obey your pastor.

In conclusion

The last few verses of Hebrews have led some to believe Paul wrote Hebrews, especially because of the reference to Timothy. I’m inclined to see evidence that Paul didn’t write it. First, this author thinks 13 chapters is a “short letter” (v. 22), and Paul wrote many letters much shorter than this. Second, Paul tends to name people he’s with or writing to, and this writer mentions only Timothy. In order not to leave anyone out among his readers, he says, “Greet all your leaders and all God’s people” (v. 24).

But he ends the way Paul usually ends, with grace, so if you think Paul wrote it, I’m not going to argue. “Grace” is the one-word summary of everything Christians hold on to. If you don’t remember anything else, remember you are saved by God’s grace through Christ, and you live and breathe every day only because of grace. You don’t deserve it. Because you are a grace work in progress, leave room for grace in the lives of others, including your pastor.

Grace be with you all. Amen.

Today’s Bulletin Insert

Ministry Teams: More or Less?

As we continue to expand our “Ministry Teams” at Corinth, here’s how to tell if you should serve more or less.

Step up and serve more if….

…God has been tugging on your heart that you have more to give than you’re giving.
…you keep thinking, “somebody should take care of that” – or do it better.
…you’re new to Corinth, or want a fresh start.
…much of your time, energy, thought, and money are currently invested in yourself.
…your pendulum swung from overcommitment to zero due to burnout.
…you hear yourself saying, “I don’t know anyone at this church anymore.”

Serve less (or at least not more) if….

…you’ve lost your joy in serving.
…you have a hard time saying no to anything.
…your marriage, health, or life is in crisis.
…you serve out of guilt, not calling.
…your children think 150 Sixteenth Avenue NW is their home address.

Current opportunities to step into service –

Vacation Bible School, June 19-23, Sunday afternoon and weekday mornings
Project HOPE (Community Garden)
Stephen Ministry (one on one caring; training is this fall)
Adoption Ministry (welcoming children into your home or supporting those who do)
Children’s, Youth, Men’s, and Women’s ministries

To learn more about these or other opportunities to serve, contact Charissa Loftin, Volunteer Coordinator, at stafloftin@charter.net or 828.324.6047.

To have Charissa contact you, fill out this form and place it in the offering plate.

Name: ________________________ E-mail: ______________________________ Phone: __________