LEADERS OR SERVANTS

LEADERS OR SERVANTS?

I. Introduction

When I first wrote this, our neighbour of 18 years passed away recently. He was someone who had taught himself to play violin. He went on to establish quite a reputation among violin players in this country. Of course, he and his friends referred to the instrument more often as a fiddle. At his funeral it was said that he was a man who was content to play second fiddle.

That sentiment is just the opposite of what was once said about violinists of whom the famous conductor Leonard Bernstein once spoke. When he was asked what was the hardest part of being an orchestra conductor he said, “Getting people to play second fiddle”.

II. Leadership

We hear a lot about leadership these days. It seems to be important in education and business. Now it even seems to be important in the Church.  You can open any Christian magazine and see ad after ad about leadership seminars and schools that will turn out better leaders. Somehow this makes me uncomfortable. I suspect if I convey that discomfort to the people who are putting out these ads they will say something like “You just need to get with the times. Leadership is where it’s at”. They would tell you that you need to discern what your gifts are, and if they include leadership, you need to develop that. Of course, they are there to help you do that – and if I wanted to be cynical about that I could add, ‘for a fee’.  Furthermore, if you follow those steps, they would give you the impression that you will be so much better off as a person spiritually, and so will be your Church. I am not sure I agree with entirely with these sentiments.  I believe Jesus’ teachings told us otherwise.

So, why am I concerned about leadership?

1. In the first place leadership is important because we all have leaders.  Moreover, our congregation is again looking at changes in leadership.  Not only are we going to fill our church positions again, we are also going to have to look at what we are going to do in the very near future in terms of our Pastoral leadership.

2.  Secondly, we all have a responsibility to look at the people we nominate or elect to see whether they have the qualities of leadership. Leadership is important because we all choose leaders.

3. Thirdly, most of us do have a position of leadership in some area in our lives.

READ Our Daily Bread (Radio Bible Class devotional) MARCH 27, 2000

So, leadership is important because we may all be leaders.

Getting back to my dis-ease with what I see as the current emphasis on leadership. In my understanding of the Kingdom of God, the accent is on servanthood. Yet, we now have a leadership commission in our conference. Can one be a servant and a leader at the same time?                                                             

There is a time for leaders and leadership.  We as a congregation need to look at what we have and want in leadership. I think the old saying, ‘You get the government you deserve’ could just as soon be applied to the Church to say, ‘You get the leadership you deserve’.   

III. Definition

So, where do we as Christians turn for our definition of leadership?  The word ‘leadership’ doesn't even occur in The Bible. The word ‘lead’ occurs some 50 times, referring often to God’s leading of the Children of Israel. The word leader occurs only three times: references to leaders of Israel and it’s enemies. None of these references were to Jesus, or even his followers.

This might make one think that the Bible doesn’t say much about leadership. We can probably come up with a number of examples of persons in the Bible who were leaders. Was Jesus one of them?  What words did Jesus and his followers talk about when they talked about their role?  They used the word servant. Look at what Paul wrote in Phil. chapter 2 vss. 7 to 8 when he was talking about Jesus:

“He made himself of no reputation, and took upon himself the form of a servant, and being made in the likeness of man, humbling himself and becoming obedient to death, even the death of the cross.”  

In fact, Jesus was even spoken of as a servant in the prophecies that foretold his coming.  Look at Isaiah chapter 42:1:

“Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my elect, in whom my soul delights".

And what did Jesus say to his followers in Matthew chapter 20 vs. 25:

“You know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.  But it shall not be so among you: whoever will be great among you, that one shall be a minister; and whoever will be chief among you, that one shall be your servant: even as the Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister".

In another place, he told his disciples that he was “among them as one who serves”: Luke 22 vs. 27.

He also said that "He that is greatest among you shall be your servant”: Matthew 23 vs. 11.

Is servanthood something we can equate with leadership? I believe it is.

Leadership has been described as the process of: "enabling a group to engage together in the process of developing, sharing and moving into vision, and then living it out."  Leaders are individuals who fulfil six functions. When they do this there is movement. We could say we TRAVEL:

Let’s review these six functions:

1.    Leaders are teachers.

They have something which they want to pass on to their followers.  This could be knowledge.  It could be skills. The buzzword here today is 'equippers'. Leaders, including especially pastors, are expected to be able to teach their followers so that they will be able to carry out the tasks they are called to. We need to be equipped to make the vision reality.

2.    Leaders develop relationships.

To teach and influence, you have to get to know your followers. Leaders have to know their followers. We have the image of the shepherd knowing his flock. Jesus knows us; as the Good Shepherd, He calls us by our name, and we know His voice. You can’t serve well if you don’t know your flock, your followers.

3.    Leaders exhibit attraction.

Leaders need followers. Particularly with the Christian model for leadership, the servant model I believe Jesus portrayed, we are looking for followers. Do we know those we would like to get on board with us in pursuit of the fulfilment of that vision? What are we doing to bring them on side? Are they attracted by what they can see of our vision? By our character and enthusiasm for what we are doing?

4.    Leaders have vision.

Leaders need to be persons with a vision, an idea, a goal, a plan. You can’t lead if you don’t know where you’re going. Do we know our leaders’ vision? Do we have a vision we wish others had? Is the vision being developed and shared? Is it being lived out?

5.    Leaders are examples.

Servant leaders, as we all should be as followers of our Leader, our Lord, are only seeking to influence others to catch the vision Christ planted in his ministry on earth. This vision is not only for this earth, but for eternity. So much leadership focus seems to be on structure, building a church of a certain ideal here on earth. We look for a Kingdom where lives are changed, whose origins and centre are heavenly, not earthly. This is a Kingdom where there is no room for striving for power and authority, no room for titles. We are looking for leaders who themselves are followers of Christ and exemplify that in their lives.

6.    Leaders love.

Behind all of this, to get to first base to begin with, and to be effective in the end, Christian leaders have to be known to their Leader and Lord. They have to be individuals of faith in God who spend time with Him in the study of His Word. They have to spend time in prayer. Leaders have to know and love their God. They also have to love their followers.

 

So, did you get that mnemonic about leaders who T-R-A-V-E-L? T for teachers, R for relationships, A for attraction, V for vision, E for example, and L for love. Does Jesus show us all these criteria? Of course he does.

IV. Characteristics of a Servant Leader

Servant leadership is at the heart of Christian leadership. All Christians are called to be servants, serving each other, following Jesus' example in washing his disciples' feet, and loving our neighbours as ourselves. Servant leadership is not a particular style of leadership, but rather relates to the motivation behind a leader's thoughts, words and actions. I have grouped the characteristics of Christian Leadership under six Cs.

1. Calling

Christian leaders must be called. It is not enough for themselves to have a feeling or an opinion that they are called.  The people whom they believe they are called to be a leader amongst must also accept that this potential leader has been called.  This calls for the process of discernment.

2. Comprehension

Leaders must know what leadership is.  As George Barna put it in his book about leadership, A

FishOut of Water: "Authentic leadership is not about position, power, popularity, or perks; it is about  

obedience and servanthood, resulting in transformation". Leaders must understand that.

3. Character

READ ODB 2004/2/23 PAR. 1-3

Leaders must possess character, the type of that moves people to trust them to take them to places - spiritual, emotional, relational, and intellectual - that they otherwise would not go… such character demands intense and lifelong commitment". Without it, leaders are just actors, leading people into the following them by “an illusion of trustworthiness”.

4. Competency or Capability

Leaders must be competent, capable.  They must be able to "moves people toward meaningful outcomes".  This does take skills, and these are things that can be learned if we’re not born with them. A true leader will also understand his strengths and weaknesses and gather others around him or her who will make up for these deficiencies.

READ ODB JULY 31, 1994          “Dwight D. Eisenhower – for the younger of you who may not

remember that name; he was the president of the United States before John F. Kennedy – used to demonstrate…           

5. Compliant

Christian leaders must be compliant. They must be obedient to their ultimate leader, our Lord Jesus. Servant leaders are not leaders on the basis of their position or leadership role, but rather lead according to their calling, vision and principles. What underpins servant leadership is the motivation behind our actions as leaders. It is not personal desire. Servant leadership will require us also to set aside personal gain, to make sacrifices, and to put the needs of others above the direction we may prefer for ourselves. You've probably met people who are highly career minded, people whose main motivation is to get themselves in a position where they will gain some reward. This is the complete opposite of servant leadership.

READ ODB June 17, 2002 Par. 1-4

So there we also have reference to an Old Testament character, Nehemiah, who modeled leadership as Christ did.

6. Consequences

Leaders must accept the consequences of their actions.  They must learn to take responsibility for the results of their choices.  They must be able to evaluate outcomes.  They must also be able to handle resistance and conflict that their attempts to move others and make changes will undoubtedly bring about.

Whilst serving others as the heart of leadership may not appear easy, it is perhaps in one sense easier for a leader to be consistent with the vision and values that they hold for themselves, rather than always

seeking to live upto an image, to constantly seek opportunities to sell themselves, or to be for ever trying to read the political signals sent out by others. This reminds me of a statement of a politically active friend about our elected representatives, whether to Ottawa or Winnipeg, maybe even to city hall. ‘From the moment they are elected’, he said, ‘they are working on their re-election’. That’s all about power and position, not service.

READ ODB JULY 19, 1993

 ODB November 25, 2001   "Leadership has its God-given privileges, but more important - it comes with huge responsibilities.” We know that neither we nor our leaders are always perfect. “That's why it's so important for every Christian in a leadership position to strive daily to keep his heart attuned to God and his word".            

VI. Conclusion

When we think about people, particularly in our congregation, who appear to be in positions of leadership: before we evaluate them we should ask ourselves: How close are we to God? We all need to give him the glory and honor due his name, obey his word, and worship him in spirit and truth. Leadership is not a vehicle for seeking recognition.  We are always to point to our Lord. We need to make it our prayer that to lead people more effectively, we and our leaders will have a real and deep faith in Christ.  Let us learn from the models, the characters that have gone before us.  Let them guide us in how we ought to develop the character necessary to be servants and/or leaders. Let us learn to use skills that work. As a daily devotional for this month put it: “The only leaders qualified to lead are those who have learned to serve”.  Let's not be ‘fish out of water’. The best leaders are those who are good followers and servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. Good leaders know the way, show the way, and go the way.  Let's follow, let's be the leader who follows and serves Christ. Only in that way can we serve as good leaders.  Good leaders are good servants.

*******

Lorne Brandt, 2004/2/1

NOT JUST FRIENDS

Scripture Reading:Luke 14:12 – 24

I. INTRODUCTION

What the Church is is an important topic and I think some of the difficulties the church has been facing call for a look at some aspects of what the church is that we may not have addressed adequately. I want to speak about some things the church is not, or shouldn’t be, but maybe has become.  In a sense that is a negative approach, but I hope I can help us look beyond that at changing these things if we are serious about following our Lord’s so-called Great Commission, about missions, outreach and church growth.

II. PEOPLE OF GOD – OLD TESTAMENT LESSON - 1

We often talk about the church as the People of God. This is a term used for those who believe in and follow God from Old Testament times already. I think that leads the way for us to learn some lessons from what happened to God’s chosen people, the Jews. The Apostle Paul actually spells out that lesson in chapters 9 – 1l of Romans. 

God calls us to be a people set apart from the world. Sometimes it seems we have taken that too far. We have isolated ourselves and become a people that perpetuates itself biologically more than by any other means. We have made ourselves into an ethnic group, almost a race. That is not what God intended. The Bible tells us over and over that God called us to reach out to others. God’s people are to grow in number by our outreach efforts, our witness, not just by how many children we have. Our confession of faith refers to us being called to commit ourselves to a life of discipleship and witness as empowered by the Holy Spirit”.

What happened when the first people God called, the descendants of Abraham, the Israelites, Hebrews, Jews became too inward-focussed and self-centred? God sent them plagues and famines and invading armies. Eventually he sent them into exile. More than once – the last time being AD 70, some say as a punishment for rejecting his Son the Messiah. What will God have to do to us to get us to see what he failed in the past to get Israel to see? God sent the Children of Israel into exile for becoming ethnic and disobedient. Maybe there's a reason we've been running from country to country. Will we learn?

III. NOT AN ETHNIC PEOPLE - OLD TESTAMENT LESSON – 2

I would like to propose to Mennonite churches that we can still be Mennonite, retain the true essence of Anabaptism, but delete all German/ethnic references in all church functions. We don't know how that
makes people feel left out unless we've been there. Unless we really don't want anyone but Mennonites of German ethnic background to be members of our churches. What about the majority of Mennonites in Africa, India, South America and Indonesia then??? Referring to vaspa, so-called Mennonite foods,
and throwing in German songs and German expressions in our church services and meetings has nothing to do with the gospel, with being Mennonite, but everything to do with being ethnic.

III. THE BODY OF CHRIST

Not just friends

I think part of our isolationism and ethnocentricity is our having become little more than groups of friends of common background banding together to form a congregation. Most of us want and need friends. The church is a good place to find them.

READ Radio Bible Class’s devotional Our Daily Bread 2004-11-14

However, even Jesus told us to make sure we had friends outside the church.

An Intentional Community With a Mission

The church is nowhere in the Bible described as a group of friends. We join it because of our commitment to Jesus Christ, not because of our relationships with people in it. It is a body with a purpose.

Part of this being with intent involves accountability. In a recent Sunday School lesson based on the Confession of Faith our High School class is studying it was agreed that we should never talk about others behind their backs. Are we guilty of too much of that? Do we spend more time doing that than praying about one another? What about talking to one another when we have a problem with something that we’ve done? Can we listen to one another without getting too hurt, without getting angry? We are instructed in the New Testament to admonish and correct one another for continuing in sin. Can we do that in the spirit of love and gentleness without it sounding judgmental, without it sounding that we are superior, self-righteous and fault-finding? I wonder if too often we aren’t critical of one another not so much because it’s a matter of sin but because we just disagree on an opinion or on how something should be done. If we don’t want to talk to the other person about it perhaps we should just be quiet rather than talk behind their back. On the other hand, if we are dealing with actual sin, we are to forgive and restore those who repent, although if they do not, there is a place for discipline and exclusion.

Activities not just inside these four walls

Nor is the Church something whose activities are limited to what goes on or is planned within these four walls. If we think that, someday the Holy Spirit is going to blow them out, or let us die and move elsewhere. The Church got along for decades, maybe even a century or more, without church buildings. It grew a lot faster than once it got confined to buildings.

Like the Early Church, we need to get out where the people are – where we go to school, where we work, where we do our sports. Some writers who are experienced in outreach say that what we really need to do is go where the poor and needy are. These are the folks that are hurting, need a friend, know they are lost. We are mostly so middle class. Many of our peers are doing just fine, thank you very much. They don’t see that they are missing anything. However, if we re going to reach out to the needy, we have to be prepared to accept them not our midst. Can we do that?

Indeed, isn’t this what Jesus taught?

Luke 14:12 Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

13  But when thou makest a feast, call the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind:

14  And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

…and talked of in a parable?

16  Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many:

17  And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

18  And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused.

19  And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused.

20  And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

21  So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

22  And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.

23  And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

24  For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.

We need to move beyond our comfort zone. READ ODB 2001-6-24, 1999-2-11, 2000-8-5

Activities not just those carried out by virtue of position

Nor is the Church something whose activities are limited to those who have been appointed or voted into a position. We have done a great job of creating structure. Structures can be lifeless.

Not musically perfect

I think we've also made a god out of what some of us like to refer to as our choral tradition and four part harmony etc. Those who can't sing that well often feel left out there too. My Bible talks about making a joyful noise etc., no mention of choral necessities, four part harmony etc.

Don't get me wrong, I like that kind of music very much. I have enjoyed singing in such groups and choirs from when I was a child. I also like what we call Mennonite food - which is basically Ukrainian and Russian, a little more German for some.

However, if we want to celebrate that part of our heritage, let's do it outside the church like most ethnic peoples do. It's something to be thankful for, but it's not something to continue to keep us and them apart, and continue to reduce the growth potential of our churches. And don't even get me started
about so-called Mennonite writers and artists. Again, I like a lot of their work, I have subscribed and contributed to things like the Mennonite literary magazine 'Rhubarb', but many of them are not members of a Mennonite church, or if they were, are no longer practicing.

                                                                       

Lorne Brandt, 2005-3-13

WHEN GOD HATES – A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF OBADIAH

I. Introduction

1 The burden of the word of the LORD to Israel by Malachi. 2 I love you, says the LORD. You ask,

How have you shown love to us? Is not Esau Jacob’s brother? answers the LORD: I love Jacob,

3 but I hate Esau: I have turned his mountains into waste and his ancestral home into a lodging in the

 wilderness.

1. Obadiah

This Scripture is from Malachi 1:1-3.  However, the book I want to focus on is Obadiah, because Obadiah takes these concepts and expands on them moreso than any other prophet. The name Obadiah means “the one who serves the Lord”, or "worshiper of YHWH". We really don't know who wrote this small book. However, this writer fulfills the position of a servant as his name implies. He comes, does his work and fades into the background.             

Obadiah is one of the few books in the Old Testament that initially does not appear to be about The Children of Israel. It is addressed to Edom.

2. Edom

Who is Edom? If we turn back to Genesis we read in 25:30:

And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray you, with that same

 red pottage; for I am faint: therefore his name was  called Edom,

 and Genesis 32:3:

And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother

into the land of Seir, the country of Edom.

Esau was the older twin brother of Jacob, born to Isaac and Rebecca.  He later became known as Edom (Genesis 25:30), which means ‘red’, because he traded his birthright to Jacob for some red stew, possibly also because when he was born his skin was described as red (Genesis 25:25).

3. The Prophecy Against Edom

What had Obadiah been called to say about Edom?  Look at vss. 1, 2, 4 & 9:

“Thus says the Lord God concerning Edom: we have heard a rumour… an

 ambassador is sent among the heathen,” saying, "Arise… let us rise up against

 her in battle. 2 Behold, I have made you small among the heathen: you are

 greatly despised…4.  I will bring you down, says the LORD...

9.     And you mighty men, O Teman, shall be dismayed, to the end that every one

 of the mount of Esau may be cut off by slaughter.

Obadiah has been given the message, the prophesy, of the downfall and destruction of Edom.

4. The Error of Edom

Why is this being prophesied against Edom?  There were at least three things God had against Esau and his descendants the Edomites because of what they had done:

1.     In the first place, God was not happy with Esau because he did not have proper respect and

      appreciation for God’s promises to him, for the covenant he should have been an heir to.

You recall Pastor George talking last Sunday about the serious covenant God had established with Esau's grandfather Abraham.  It involved the sacrifice of animals, blood, and even the symbol of circumcision. It was a covenant that came with a great price. What had Esau done? He was rather famished one day when he came home from hunting and sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a bowl of stew. That was how lightly Esau regarded the great promises made to his ancestors Abraham and Isaac. As the eldest son, according to custom, he should have been the bearer of the covenant, the one to be most blessed from it. Now it was his younger brother Jacob’s. Esau was just living to fulfil the desires of the flesh, living for the present.

2. The second failure on Esau’s part was that he again seemed to show his disregard for the

     faith of his fathers by marrying outside the faith. His taking Hittites as wives was described in Genesis "a grief of mind to Isaac and Rebecca", his parents.

3.   For the third item look through verses 10 – 14:

"For your violence against your brother Jacob shame shall cover you, and you shall be cut off for ever... thou should not have looked on the day of your brother in the day that he became a stranger; neither should you have rejoiced over the children of Judah in the day of their destruction;

The sin of the Edomites was their failure to uphold the covenant of brotherhood. What God is so upset about here is that the Edomites didn’t act like brothers to Jacob in their time of trouble. Instead of coming to their aid they helped the aggressors against Jacob. Instead of being hospitable they turned their backs on their brother’s descendants. They seemed to be actually encouraging and joining in on the destruction of Jacob.

God was already punishing the descendants of Jacob by sending them into exile, probably to Babylonia, in the events referred to here. But God seems to be saying, no matter what I am doing, in my righteousness and justice, that doesn’t give you, Edom, brothers of Jacob, the right to gloat. We must never exult over others’ misfortune and say they had it coming.

These then were the errors of Edom:  1. despising the God-given birthright, the covenant made with their

    ancestors

                                                            2. marrying outside the faith

                                                            3. being unkind, unbrotherly, to family

5. The Lesson of Edom

Obadiah thus tells the story of two nations, Israel and Edom, behind which is this story of two brothers, Jacob and Esau.

The conflict between these two brothers began before they were born. God had told Rebecca when she inquired about the struggle in her womb that two nations were warring there, that the older would be servant to the younger, Jacob. 

We remember the feelings of ill will between the two brothers after the trading of the birthright that led to Jacob having to leave his home for many years (Genesis 27:41-45). Even 400 years later, when Jacob's descendants returned from Egypt, the book of Numbers tells us the Edomites refused to let The Children of Israel, of Jacob, pass through their land, which meant a considerable detour.    This animosity continued for a long time.     

All the way from Genesis through Malachi there is the threat of struggle and unbroken antagonism between Israel and Edom, Jacob and Esau. Genesis records the beginning of these nations and the enmity between them. Obadiah and then Malachi, being the last book of the Old Testament, seem to bring and end to the story. God is a great illustrator. He has taken these two men and the subsequent nations that came from them and used them through the Bible as a consistent picture of the conflict between the flesh and the spirit - Jacob and Esau, Israel and Edom. Esau simply wanted to satisfy the longings of the flesh. Jacob was the one who wrestled with God, who wrestled with spiritual things. He was the one in the end who kept the faith and through whom God was able to carry out his promises and fulfil the covenant made with him and his ancestors.

Why did Edom make the mistakes that brought the judgment of God upon it?  

1. The trouble with Esau, with the flesh, is pride. Pride is the root of all human evil, the basic characteristic of what the Bible calls the flesh. The flesh wars against the Spirit, against God's purposes, continually defying what God is trying to accomplish. Each of us has this struggle within us, and its basic characteristic is pride, the number one identifying mark of the flesh.  This is the satanic nature implanted in the human race since The Fall of Adam and Eve. Our corrupted universe centers around the rival god, self. That is pride - Esau - Edom.

This pride is referred to in Obadiah (verses 12, 13):

“But you should not have gloated over the day of your brother
in the day of his misfortune; you should not have rejoiced over the people of Judah in the day of their ruin; you should not have boasted in the day of distress.”

God charges Edom with the sin of gloating as a manifestation of pride. Did you ever say in your own heart? "You had it coming." When someone fails and you say, "Well, I told you so. I knew that would happen. I expected it all along"? That is gloating. It’s pride. It’s like the hypochondriac who had written on his tombstone the words, "I told you I was sick." In our pride and unconcern we don't care what happens to someone else, as long as everything is all right with us.

2. Pride can be expressed secondly in a feeling of reliance on self or self-sufficiency (verses 3, 4), God

    quoting Edom here:

...who say in your heart, “Who will bring me down to the ground?"

To which the Lord replies:                                                                                                                                                    "though you soar aloft like the eagle, though your nest is set among

 the stars, yet I am able to bring you down."

This is a very literal reference to the nation of Edom whose people felt that because of their natural defenses they were impregnable. They lived way up on those steep, seemingly impassable red rock mountains of Seir southeast of the Dead Sea, and they thought that made them safe.

They thought that nothing could overthrow them, but God said it would be done. Years even before our Lord's days on earth, the Jews under the Maccabees went in and destroyed the cities of Edom and took those apparently impregnable fortresses, fulfilling vss. 17 & 18:

“the House of Jacob shall possess their own possessions…for the Lord has

 spoken…those wwo find safety on Mount Zion shall rule over Mount Esau;

and the Kingdom shall be the Lord’s.

Edom has been in ruins ever since.

3. Here is another form of pride - verse 11:

“On the day that you stood aloof, on the day that strangers carried

 off his wealth, and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem,

you were like one of them.” 

                                                                                                              

Indifference is a form of pride. Some say this is by far one of the major causes of marital difficulty. When it comes to marital difficulties, almost invariably, somewhere along the line, you hear: "Well, he is simply indifferent to me. He doesn't care about me. He ignores me." Or, "She pays no attention to me. She isn't interested in the things that I am interested in." How quickly this can start after courtship. During the courtship it is, "What are you thinking about? Tell me what you would like?" But when marriage comes, it is, "Where's dinner? Where is the paper? What's on TV?" And the concern is entirely different. Esau is at work again.

4. Then, we come to the form of pride that seemed most reprehensible, in (verse 10):

For the violence done to your brother Jacob, shame shall cover you,
and you shall be cut off for ever.

This is destructiveness, or violence - the man who strikes his wife, the parent who beats their child. What is behind this violence of the human heart? Pride - centered only on itself strikes out against anything that dares to challenge its supreme reign in life. Where does this violence come from? It is the pride of the flesh. It is Edom.

5. Another manifestation of pride is exploitation (verse 14):

“You should not have stood at the parting of the ways to cut off his fugitives;

you should not have delivered up his survivors in the day of distress”

When calamity fell, Edom took advantage of it. They moved in on a fallen people, fugitives, and used their trouble and misery to their own advantage. They delivered up the survivors in the day of Israel's distress. God hates it when we utilize another's weakness or bad luck to our advantage.

Perhaps the worst thing about all of this, the real tragedy of Esau, is already given way back in verse 3, where God says,

                        The pride of your heart has deceived you...

That is the awful thing about pride. It is inherently self-deceiving. It is like the patients I see who are in an episode of mania. They think they know everything. They are above everyone. They don’t have to listen to anyone. That’s the way it is with pride. We don't recognize it until we are too late. Everyone        

else can see the trouble we are having, but we go blissfully on, sawing away on the limb, totally unaware that the limb we are sawing through is the limb we are sitting on, until it falls down and we are suddenly exposed for who we really are.

The lesson of Edom begins with a denunciation of the sin of pride and arrogance, the feelings of

superiority that can lead to taking advantage of others.  It is a message from God about the flesh. He will never make peace with it. It is a story rather of God's judgment on it, personified as unbelieving Edomites, Gentiles, who oppressed his chosen and beloved people Israel. It is about the justice of God. His loving righteousness demanded vengeance on Edom, Israel's perennial enemy, for what it had done regarding its brother Israel.  Judgment against Edom is mentioned 14 times in the Old Testament, more than against any other foreign nation. That is understandable in the light of the relationship between the two nations. The expectations for brothers to get along would obviously be higher.

V. The Hope of Obadiah

This book begins with an address to Edom. However, from verse 17 to the end there is a message for Israel. As with most books of prophecy, this book does contain a note of hope for the Children of Israel. There is a reminder of God's grace to those who believe as we already read in verses 17, 18):

“But in Mount Zion there shall be those that escape, and it shall be holy;

 and the house of Jacob shall possess their own possessions… for the LORD

 has spoken.”

It reassures the descendants of Jacob, even in the despair and desolation of their being in captivity in Babylon and Assyria, that justice will be done.

Unrepentant stubborn Esau had to be destroyed. That is the whole story of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the human heart; he has come to destroy Esau and all these characteristics of the flesh. He will destroy them in those who are his and bring his people Jacob into the full inheritance of all his possessions - and the weapon he uses is the judgment of the cross.

Yes, Obadiah, like many prophets also pointed forward into the New Testament. There you find these same two principles personified again in two persons who meet in the pages of the Gospels. In the last week of our Lord's sufferings, He stands before Herod the Idumean, which is simply another spelling of Edom: Jesus, a prisoner - the representative of Jacob and King Herod, the representative of Esau, face to face. Herod plied Jesus with many questions, but for the son of Esau there is no answer from the son of Jacob. God has nothing to say to the flesh, nothing except judgment, which comes in God’s time.

VI.  Application

The question for us is, Are we, like the children of Edom, guilty of sins against our brothers and sisters? Who are our brothers and sisters?  Are they just fellow Mennonites, people of the same race? The teachings of Jesus tell us that everyone is our neighbor.  If so, are we standing by while the forces of evil are destroying our neighbors, whether those forces be the pleasures of affluence, the suffering of poverty, the loss of being a refugee, the victim of war, prejudice, discrimination or other form of abuse?  Are we guilty of self-righteously condemning and thereby promoting the downfall of our neighbors? What are we doing to help our neighbors?

We who believe are God's people. Where are we going to be on the judgment day with respect to God’s

anger? When God’s hatred is expressed in all its terrible finality? Will we be cast out for treating the faith of our ancestors as lightly as Esau? Have we sold our birthright, our inheritance in the Kingdom of Heaven for some fleeting and temporary earthly desire of the flesh, like Esau? Are we just living for today, not thinking of tomorrow, of an eternity that we need to be ready for? Have we joined our bodies unfaithfully to a bridegroom other than the Christ? Are we guilty of the sins of pride?

Are we a king like Herod the Edomite or a prisoner like the Messiah of Israel ? Is Esau or Jacob ruling? The cross that together with the resurrection and ascension set that prisoner free to be the King of Kings denies us any right to pride and gloating, to reliance on self, to indifference, to the use of the forces of destructiveness and exploitation. Have we learned to reign with Christ, not only in heaven, but right now? Have we learned to possess our possessions - as Jacob is intended to do - so that the kingdom of our life shall be the Lord's? Or are we still prisoners, like Herod, fancying ourselves to be free, on a throne in authority, but still bound by unbreakable chains because we refuse to pass with the Lord through the punishment of death into the resurrection that sets us free?

How can we escape When God Hates? We know the answer. The only way is through coming to realize first of all that we too have been guilty of not seeing God for whom he is. The God who in justice punishes evil is also the God who extends grace to us. This grace has come in the person of His Son, who died and rose for us. Let us not therefore, as we read in II Corinthians 6:2:

                        “Let it go for nothing. God’s own words are: In the hour of my favour

                        I gave heed to you; on the Day of Deliverance I came to your aid”.

God himself provides a way out from the wrath of his anger. Let us not ignore that invitation.

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Lorne Brandt, 2004-5-23