Leadership Is Investing in Others: Gen. 19: 15-29; John 17: 1-19
Investing can be a tricky, risky business. Whether it’s retirement funds, playing the stock market, or just trying to spin a buck or two, investing can be a risky and costly adventure for us. As we continue our series Christian Leadership in Present Times, we look at this idea of investing, not in stocks or bonds, but in people and in God’s beloved children around us. We have to ask from the very get-go of this sermon, “Is it worth the risk to invest in other people?” Not to spoil the whole sermon, but the answer is yes. God has invested in us, and so, we are called to invest in others in ways that show grace but also which preserve our safety and boundaries.
In the Old Testament for today we read the story of Lot’s escape from Sodom and Gomorrah. Because of Abraham’s prayer, God sent angels to see if the cities were worth saving. The conclusion was that there was not even ten righteous persons within the cities to have them preserved, so the angels prepared Lot and his family to escape the coming doom. Even the escape proved to be difficult. Lot dawdled around taking his sweet time. He complained about going to the mountains till God promised he could go to the village of Zoar. Sadly, though, Lot was not the only difficult one. His wife disobeyed the order to not look back, and as a result, she lost her life turning to a pillar of salt.
Let’s focus in on her for a moment. God knew her heart. God knew that her heart was still in Sodom and Gomorrah, and that she couldn’t leave it behind her. It wasn’t necessarily that she disobeyed by looking back. It was that she continued to long for a place that was unrighteous. God knew her heart. Even though she may not have been evil herself, she was still very much charmed by the wickedness of the two cities. Even though God knew her heart, God still offered her the opportunity to find grace and to be saved from the destruction. God knew she would look back, but God still invested the time and energy to give her the opportunity for grace.
That’s one of the things I love best about God: grace is present even in our times of brokenness. God is still working and re-working in each of us to invest grace, power, and the Holy Spirit in us to strengthen us, to save us from our own selves. It’s a grace that is present even in the midst of our faults. That’s because God doesn’t say, “You have to be perfect to come.” Instead God says, “Come as you are,” even when that includes all our faults and brokenness. God still invests in us and works through us.
We often struggle with that idea of being okay with or investing in people who may be broken or messy. Society has a long history of shortcomings in this area. In part of my legal work, I get to help people with disabilities, and studies show that people with disabilities are victimized by assault, robbery, or sex crimes at a rate of double or triple the non-disabled population. But sometimes it’s not just a physical or intellectual disability that makes all of society nervous.
Some may struggle from a mental health condition or a mental illness. Some may have a physical shortcoming. Some may have past prejudices or beliefs to work out. Some may still wrestle day in and day out with good, old-fashioned sin. We tend to look at the worst as individuals and society, and we can quickly and easily point out that something is wrong.
That, however, is not how God sees people. God doesn’t see the worst in us—the messiness, the worry, the struggle, the feelings we push down and hide away for fear that they will make us appear to be the messy ones. In every person who stands in need of grace, God invests everything available—redemption, resurrection, hope eternal, and a holy, unfailing love. We need to look no further than the cross to see that God invested everything, absolutely everything for us to have that kind of relationship with God which loves us beyond the brokenness. God sees not the mess within, but the opportunity for God’s kingdom to grow within us. God sees the inherent value and dignity within each one of us—created by God, loved by God, and redeemed by that grace.
We can even look to the Gospel of John and Jesus’s prayer to see how Jesus invested in his own disciples. These are just a few examples: Jesus says he gives eternal life to each one given to him. He gave his followers God’s message. Jesus prays, “Now protect them by the power of your name, so that they will be united just as we are.” Jesus speaks of protecting the disciples, prays for God to keep them safe from the evil one, and to make them holy. All throughout this chapter is Jesus’s awe-inspiring prayer, pouring out his love for his disciples and pleading with God to keep them safe and strong.
Jesus invested in them. He taught them to heal, to preach. He showed them signs and miracles. He revealed to them holy truths coming down from the very wisdom of God. For their part, they were not perfect. They deserted him in the garden. Peter denied him over and over. They hid in fear after the crucifixion. The fussed amongst themselves over who would be the first in the kingdom, so by no means were they perfect. They were broken, messy people. But Jesus loved them, and Jesus invested in them all along the way until they came alive and burst forth with the power of the Holy Spirit empowering them like never before.
How do we, then, invest in others like God does? First, we have to realize that when we invest our time and energy into other people, we are really investing God’s grace working through us. When you speak, the Spirit of God speaks through you. When you help, it is with the hands and feet of Christ. When you pray, it is backed by the power of the Almighty. Investing may be too costly for you or me, but nothing is ever too much or too costly for God. But we must have faith that God can work.
We must also remember that it’s not our job to fix the people around us. We can help, certainly, but we cannot heal and restore all by ourselves. That has to be God’s work. Our job is to provide the opportunity for God’s grace to work. But investing is still risky, and people may cling to their brokenness. Love them anyway. Pray for them anyway. Continue to provide opportunities for grace anyway. God never turned a cold shoulder to Lot or Lot’s wife—the opportunity to be saved from the destruction and to find God’s grace was always there.
Our faith calls us to invest in others, yes even the messy and broken, even the ones who hide in the appearance of perfection, even the ones who may let us down. The church is intended to provide the tools and space for people to have a relationship with God and to know God’s love in their lives. Invest, regardless of the risk, but always make sure that what you invest is the grace of God to heal and to restore even those who appear to be the most broken.
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