Ordinary Time

Pause

What makes a leader worthy to follow? Relevance? Intelligence? Vision?

All of that misses the point.

Instead:

Why don’t we follow “people with an ardent desire

to dwell in God's presence,
to listen to God's voice,
to look at God's beauty,
to touch God's incarnate Word
and to taste fully God's infinite goodness?”

quotation from Henri Nouwen, In the Name of Jesus (1989)

Listen

Hear this, leaders of the house of Jacob, rulers of the house of Israel, you who reject justice and make crooked all that is straight, who build Zion with bloodshed and Jerusalem with injustice! Her officials give justice for a bribe, and her priests teach for hire. Her prophets offer divination for silver, yet they rely on the Lord, saying, “Isn’t the Lord in our midst? Evil won’t come upon us!” Therefore, because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become piles of rubble, and the temple mount will become an overgrown mound.

Micah 3:9-12

Think

The prophets speak truth to power. Micah calls out wrongdoings, injustice, and the corruption and hypocrisy of the leaders of the Hebrew people. These are some hard words!

When we read the prophets, we tend to look at where the finger is pointing in judgment. But what if we were to read this and self-reflect instead?

Do we pray for justice for victims or do we pile on and increase their pain? Do we give people the benefit of the doubt or do we believe every rumor we hear? Are we quick to see the evil in others and fail to see it in ourselves? Do we help people or only look at what we can get out of it? Do we believe we are always correct? Do we only hear what we want to hear? Do we follow others into saying hurtful things about others?

Are we just followers to fit in? Or do we lean on the teachings of Jesus to guide our thoughts and actions? Jesus is the Leader who brings us to Life.

Deborah Guy

Pray

Lord, may I always follow and lead in ways that give you glory. Lead me into life through your ways. Amen.

Go

May I see the opportunities to lead and have the humility to follow the leaders who are following the Lord's path.