I have walked with many
local congregations and other ministries as they transitioned from one leader
to the next. I won’t say I have any expertise in the matter, but I do have some
experience. It’s a subject I think about quite a bit.
Leadership transition can
be a delicate matter. There are many egos at play, various agendas, fears of
change, yet opportunities to press on in Gospel labor is the goal that we
really desire and it’s exactly what lies before us today. After we pray
together, I will share with you some thoughts on leadership transition through
the wisdom of Moses, and how we can embrace this transition and affirm it with
spiritual strength, unity, and dignity.
This prayer
comes from from The Valley of Vision
(a prayer entitled “Humility in Service,” pages 326-327). Let’s each of us take
a moment and make this prayer our own:
I
humble myself for faculties misused, opportunities neglected, words
ill-advised,
I repent of my folly and inconsiderate ways, my broken resolutions, untrue
service, my
backsliding steps, my vain
thoughts.
O bury my sins in the ocean of Jesus’ blood and let no evil result from my
fretful temper,
unseemly behavior, provoking
pettiness.
If by unkindness I have wounded or hurt another, do thou pour in the balm of
heavenly
consolation;
If I have turned coldly from need, misery, grief, do not in just anger forsake
me;
If I have withheld relief from penury and pain, do not withhold thy gracious
bounty from
me.
If I have shunned those who have offended me, keep open the door of thy heart
to my
need.
Fill me with and over-flowing ocean of compassion, the reign of love my motive,
the law
of love my rule.
O thou God of all grace, make me more thankful, more humble;
Inspire me with a deep sense of my unworthiness arising from the depravity of
my nature,
my omitted duties, my
unimproved advantages, thy commands violated by me.
With all my calls to gratitude and joy may I remember that I have reason for
sorrow and
humiliation;
O give me repentance unto life;
Cement my oneness with my blessed Lord, that faith may adhere to him more
immovably, that love may
entwine itself round him more tightly, that his Spirit
may pervade every fiber of my
being.
Then send me out to make him known to my fellow-men.
Now, let’s turn our
attention to Numbers 27:12–23:
[12] The LORD said to
Moses, “Go up into this mountain of Abarim and see the land that I have given
to the people of Israel. [13] When you have seen it, you also shall be gathered
to your people, as your brother Aaron was, [14] because you rebelled against my
word in the wilderness of Zin when the congregation quarreled, failing to
uphold me as holy at the waters before their eyes.” (These are the waters of
Meribah of Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.) [15] Moses spoke to the LORD,
saying, [16] “Let the LORD, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man
over the congregation [17] who shall go out before them and come in before them,
who shall lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the LORD
may not be as sheep that have no shepherd.” [18] So the LORD said to Moses,
“Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on
him. [19] Make him stand before Eleazar the priest and all the congregation,
and you shall commission him in their sight. [20] You shall invest him with
some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may
obey. [21] And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire for
him by the judgment of the Urim before the LORD. At his word they shall go out,
and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with
him, the whole congregation.” [22] And Moses did as the LORD commanded him. He
took Joshua and made him stand before Eleazar the priest and the whole
congregation, [23] and he laid his hands on him and commissioned him as the
LORD directed through Moses. (ESV)
When you look at the life
of Moses, he seems like one of those irreplaceable leaders. It seems like no
one could fill his shoes. Here’s the thing, more than most, when it came to
filling Moses’ shoes, no one knew better than Moses that his feet were made of
clay.
Think about how others
would have viewed the situation. It was Moses who answered God’s call to bring
the Israelites out of Egypt. It was Moses who challenged Pharaoh – and let’s
not forget, Pharaoh was most likely the most powerful ruler in the world. It
was Moses who went on top of Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments from
God Himself.
Could anyone else do all
of that? Could anyone else do ANY of that? I’m sure people would’ve thought
that way.
What did Moses do to (1)
embrace transition, (2) lead others to embrace transition, and (3) affirm the
next leader?
I. (1) To embrace
transition, Moses did three things:
a.
He listened to God
when God called him aside to receive instruction. (see verse 12)
b.
After hearing from
God, Moses himself initiates the transition process. (see verses 15-17)
c.
He humbly accepts
God’s chosen man. (see verse 18)
II. (2) To help others
embrace transition, Moses communicates openly and firmly with the people. (see
verses 19-22)
a.
They made Joshua’s
calling and affirmation public; they did it out in front of people.
b.
They made sure it
was spiritual, commanding the priest to affirm Joshua.
c.
Note: I think it was important for the people to
affirm Joshua AND for them to see Moses affirming Joshua too. Public;
corporate; communal.
III. (3) To affirm the next
leader, Moses laid hands on Joshua. This laying on of hands was to pronounce
blessing, affirm calling, confer transition of authority, and speak words of
commission to Joshua -- through Joshua’s ears, but TO Joshua’s heart. (see
verse 23)
In our work places, in
our community organizations, and especially in our local churches, we often see
leadership transitions. We can emulate Moses. We can emulate the wisdom of his
mind, the love of his heart, and the affirmation of his hands and voice.
We can emulate Moses; the
question is whether we will.
