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Take a moment to imagine the person or people who have affected your life by giving you an example of who you wanted to be. (It’s even okay if the person you imagine is the person sitting next you at this moment.)
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Whether you imagined one or multiple people in that moment, I’m sure, if you took the time to compare your examples with others, certain themes would emerge. My hope is that for many of you your parents might be one of these examples as that is the sign of a stable home. For example, in my life I was fortunate enough to have parents who both taught Sunday School when I was growing up and both serve actively in the church still.
It could be that you recalled a leader in the church, lay or ordained. While I personally can think of many in the church who led me to where I am today, some who I have even spoken of in the past such as Bishop Parsley who confirmed me and Paul Walker who was a chaplain to me, the person I have remained connected with the most is my longtime mentor Heidi Kinner. I remember wanting to preach like her as she helped me through the discernment process and as I worked for her for a year out in Montana. She is still the preacher I learn the most from.
Then there are those examples we come to know in our life outside the church. Sam Jones was one of those for me. As a non-denominational pastor and a world class fencer, he taught me how to be a better fencer while being a better Christian doing it.
There are those examples who come at formative years in our lives. Tom May was that for me as my paper advisor at St. John’s College. From him I saw how I could better use my Faith in the search for Truth.
There are also those examples we find along the way. Jeff Akamatsu was that for me as I gained my certification in Spiritual Direction. He always demonstrated a calm, listening presence centered forever in our Lord Jesus Christ.
There are many more I could name from my own life, as I hope you can from yours. These examples help form and shape us because they show us the kind of people we want to be. They demonstrate to us how to live our Faith and values in the world as we serve Christ Jesus.
Hebrews reminds us of that today. The author of this epistle tells us, “Remember your leaders, those who spoke the word of God to you; consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.”
These are key words for a parish in the midst of a search process to hold on to. They are words for the search committee to live by. As clergy, we cannot help you develop your Faith if we are not already strongly formed in our relationship with God. A deep and abiding connection to our Lord from the start of ministry is all the more important because the work of parishes often means we have to get creative in how we maintain our relationship with Christ Jesus since it can be all too easy not to find time to do so.
Yet our clergy aren’t our only leaders, and certainly the author of Hebrews wouldn’t want us to limit ourselves there. The leaders whose examples we are to look after and follow are not just those who are ordained. Those leaders are everyone, lay and ordained, who serve God’s church.
In essence, everyone here should be a leader because we are all called in our Baptism to proclaim the Good News of our Lord Jesus Christ to all the world. That makes us all leaders, and we need all of your gifts. The church, as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12, is the Body of Christ, and that Body is made up of all who are Baptized into it. We need our legs to stand, our eyes to see, our hears to hear, our noses to smell, and our arms to lift and bend. We need all your gifts. Even if they seem small and insignificant to you, your gifts could be exactly what we need to better share the Gospel with all that we meet.
The examples you thought of at the beginning of this time of ours together helped bring you to where you are today. Hopefully, they helped you know Jesus all that much better. Now it is your turn, whether young or old, experienced or new. You are called to be that example to others, the example Hebrews calls you to be. You are to live your life in a way that others may come to know Christ Jesus all that much more. Whether you are example to one or a million, it is enough. You will have done the work God has given you to do.
Hebrews also reminds us that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Help us remember that. Continue the great tradition of the church. Be a leader. Be that example someone needs to be brought as close to Christ Jesus as your examples helped you to be, and in this way help us continue to build up the Body of Christ in this world and the next.