The Joshua Victor Theory

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Serving as a religious leader comes with its own particular bag of temptations, as Jesus makes clear in today’s gospel reading. Temptations to pride and ego, towards seeking and often receiving honor and the praise of others, temptations to the abuse of power, and temptations to prop up an artificially perfect image of oneself—and therefore fall subject to the charge of hypocrisy. They are spiritually deadly temptations, as the teacher of God’s Word may be tempted to use the appearance of religion or holiness, to disguise their own sin. In a parallel passage in Matthew, Jesus confronts the scribes for not practicing as they preach. Jesus ends His warning to the scribes, by saying “ They will receive the greater condemnation.” Why the greater condemnation? Why are these temptations particular to religious leaders, myself of course, included? First of all, the greater condemnation owes ...

Sermon Outline: ·          Congregation doesn’t often get to hear what the responsibilities of the pastor are toward the congregation—usually just performed and assumed. Occasions when it’s made explicit, like an ordination or installation of a pastor, are rare, and not always attended by the entire congregation. Acts 20, Paul gives a “farewell address” to the elders of the church of Ephesus. Elders (“presbuterous”—the term was not used in the NT to describe lay people, but the pastors of the church, also called “episcopous”—bishops or overseers, and given the task of “shepherding”—no rankings in these terms). As a congregation of God, what have you the right to expect of us as pastors? Doesn’t lay out the complete task, but what does it tell? ·          First and foremost: to preach and teach the whole counsel of God, not adding or subtracting. The temptation of every preacher is to add their own idea...