Bible Text: 1 Peter 5:1-7 | Preacher: Pastor Dorry Newcomer | Series: Living Hope | I’m not a huge football fan, but I admire the coaching philosophy of Vince Lombardi, who coached the Green Bay Packers from 1959 to 1967,  He used to say, “If you’re not fired with enthusiasm, you’ll be fired, with enthusiasm!”  Lombardi was looking for spirited, inspired, committed players.  And if they turned out to be otherwise, well, he would demonstrate to them the passion he was looking for as he enthusiastically cut them from the team!

Enthusiasm is one of my favorite words.  It comes from the Greek “en theos”, which means “in God”.  We think of enthusiasm as a word that can be applied to anyone about anything—you can be an enthusiastic football player, an enthusiastic NASCAR fan, an enthusiastic chef or musician.  You can be enthusiastic about shopping or travelling or being with (or away from!) your family for a while.  But originally, the word enthusiasm was used strictly to describe someone’s religious experience and devotion.  En theos.  In God.  Filled with the Spirit.  Inspired.  Committed.  Connected.  Christ-like.

That is what Peter is looking for in people who have leadership roles in the early church.  He wants leaders who are enthusiastic—filled with God, who can serve eagerly and cheerfully.  He doesn’t want leaders to serve begrudgingly.  He doesn’t want people to serve with an eye as to what’s in it for them.  He is calling leaders, and everyone in the flock, to humble service.

I imagine when Peter wrote this section of his letter, he was thinking about his experience with Jesus washing his feet.  If you look at John chapter 13, you can find the story.  The disciples were gathered together in the Upper Room to celebrate the Passover feast.  Jesus knew it was just a matter of hours before he would be arrested and begin his journey to the cross.  He knew he, and the disciples, were on the brink of the most challenging night of their lives.  So he did everything he could to strengthen them and prepare them, and to strengthen and prepare himself.  He blessed the meal and out of that comes our sacrament of communion.  He took them to the garden to pray.  He gave them a new commandment, to love one another.

But before doing any of those things, Jesus wrapped a towel around his waist, and washed the feet of all twelve disciples.  He even washed the feet of Judas, who would betray him!  And he washed Peter’s feet.  At first, Peter was appalled at the idea of Jesus washing his feet.  Foot washing was a service every host wanted to offer to his guests, because roads in antiquity were dusty and dirty.  Foot washing was a gift.  It made people feel better, and it made for a more pleasing atmosphere for the meal.  But foot washing was considered such an unpleasant task, that if the only servant available was Jewish, the guests’ feet would not be washed.  No Jew was expected to stoop that low so to speak.

So it shocked the disciples to have Jesus wash their feet.  First, Jesus was Jewish, and thus would never be expected to perform that service for anyone.  But second, even if he wasn’t Jewish, Jesus wasn’t their servant!  He was their teacher!  If anything, the disciples were his servants!  Peter refused to have his feet washed because he could not imagine his Lord being asked to do such a humiliating task.  But Jesus was adamant, that unless Peter allowed him to wash his feet, Peter would have no part with Jesus.  So Peter agreed, saying, “Then Lord, not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”  I think it’s safe to say, Peter responded with enthusiasm.  But by dawn the next morning, Peter’s enthusiasm had not only waned, it had soured to denying he even knew Jesus three times.

It must have been such a profound experience for Peter as he looked back on that last night with Jesus.  Peter witnessed Jesus cheerfully, willingly, eagerly washing the feet of his disciples.  Peter witnessed Jesus humbly washing the feet of even the disciple who would betray him, and the disciples who would fall asleep on him, run away from him, and deny him.  Peter witnessed Jesus serving with enthusiasm the very people who would fail him.  Remembering how Jesus washed his feet must have been very humbling for Peter.

Peter has spent the last thirty years or so trying to follow Jesus’ example.  And now he is telling others, this is what you are to do, too.  Leaders, don’t lord your authority over your people.  Don’t ever forget, you are a sinner in need of having your feet washed just as much as anyone else.  Lead with humility.  Lead by example.  Lead so that others will be inspired to serve with enthusiasm, too.

Like he has done several other times in this book, Peter calls the new church to mutuality and equality.  Remember how he said, “Wives, submit to your husbands; husbands, honor your wives”?  Now, in our lesson today, he is saying, elders, lead with tenderness, so that the youngsters will want to be like you.  Everyone, humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Peter is painting a picture of how he wants each congregation to operate.  Like a winning football coach, Peter is giving his people a formula for success, a “formula” based on the revolutionary notion that all members of the household of faith are equal.

But we know that anytime anyone gets called to do something revolutionary, it’s going to be scary.  So Peter goes on to say, “Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.”  Creating a community based on the equal worth of every person?  In Peter’s day, people who read his letter would have fully understood that struggle.  Women were “less than”.  Poor people were “less than”.  Those with no children or land were “less than”.  The people in the early church surely had anxiety about what they were trying to accomplish.  They were a holy nation, a royal priesthood—people who were supposed to be living VISIBLY DIFFERENT lives from everyone around them!  They had anxiety coming from internal concerns, from wanting to get it right for each other.  How are they going to create a whole new culture of mutuality, so that everyone was cared for as Jesus would have them to be cared for?   And they had anxiety coming from external concerns.  How would their commitment to seeing everyone as equals set them up for persecution and ridicule from outsiders?

Rather than worry about all of that, Peter tells them to cast all their anxiety of God, because God cares for them.  If you ask me, Peter is just using different words to once again call them to ENTHUSIASM!  En theos.  In God.  Cast your cares on God.  Connect to God.  Commit to God.  Lean in toward God.  Trust God.  Allow God’s passion and energy and wisdom to flow from God into you…what do you think?  Is enthusiasm becoming one of your favorite words, too?

I’m not sure if I ever told you this or not, but several years ago, I had a church member lodge a complaint about me, saying I am too enthusiastic.  By this he meant, I am too eager, too cheerful, too excited, too positive.  He wanted me to be more REALISTIC.  But I told him, enthusiasm and realism are the same thing, if we understand them right.  Enthusiasm means we are relying on God’s energy and strength to do the work that God realistically knows we can do.  Enthusiasm and realism are the same thing, if we remember that what is realistic for God to accomplish through us is not realistic for us to accomplish without God!  Serving God with enthusiasm does not mean that we will FEEL cheerful, positive, and eager all the time.  If that were the requirement, I would have been fired from ministry a long time ago!  But I think what Peter wants is for us to consistently choose to serve, knowing and trusting that God will bring to completion the good work God has begun.  God will bring about that kingdom of mutuality, the kingdom of peace and joy and love.  As Paul wrote, “So let us not grow weary of doing what is right, for we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  (Galatians 6:9).  Serving with enthusiasm means remembering and trusting that nothing, not even Jesus’ death on the cross, can keep God from accomplishing the good God has planned.

This week I was reminded of a story Martin Luther King Jr. told, about a time when he had to struggle to claim his enthusiasm.  It was during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, 1955-1956.  He received yet another threatening phone call and was very upset.  He went into his kitchen and prayed, “Lord, I am taking a stand for what I believe is right.  The people are looking to me for leadership, and if I stand before them without strength and courage, they will falter.  I am at the end of my powers.  I have nothing left.  I have come to the point where I can’t face it alone.”  His wife Coretta witnessed this prayer and later wrote, “When Martin stood up from the table, he was imbued with a new sense of confidence, and he was ready to face anything.”

That’s enthusiasm.  What a model of serving with eagerness, humility and trust.  Eventually we are all called to serve in challenging ways, maybe even serving with cheerfulness in the face of danger!  From prison the apostle Paul wrote, “Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice!”  The bedrock of enthusiastic service is not a belief in our own abilities.  It is a belief that God is faithful, and God will accomplish God’s purposes in due time.  It is a hope that says, “Someday we are going to look back on this.  We are going to look back on this tumultuous time and say that we knew all along God would make a way.  We knew all along God would use this for good. We knew all along God would use us in some small way to accomplish what seemed impossible!”  Enthusiasm and realism are the same thing, if we understand them right.

This week the United Methodist Church launched a campaign against racism.  You may have seen the bold black, white and red graphic that says, “United Methodists Stand Against Racism”.  But standing against racism isn’t going to be enough to build the community of equality and mutuality Peter envisioned for his people so long ago.  That is why on Friday, Junetenth, our denomination has launched what they are calling “a multi-level effort throughout the church to initiate a sustained and coordinated effort to dismantle racism and promote collective action to work toward racial justice.”  Hmmm…dismantling a system that has been operating and adapting for over two hundred years?  That’s a tall order.  It might even seem impossible.  But if we are willing to serve with eagerness and humility, what seems impossible will become possible with God in due time.  Enthusiasm and realism are the same thing, if we understand them right.  Someday, we will be able to look back and say, “We knew all along God would make a way.”

I guess that’s why they call it faith!  And faith fosters hope.  We have just learned that Delaware County will soon be going green.  At Church Council on Monday night, we voted to resume in person worship on Sunday, August 2nd.  We plan to still produce an online worship video every week, even after people start coming back to Lima on Sunday mornings, so don’t worry if online is working for you.  We have no plans to stop doing what we’re doing!  But we want to add back in person worship starting August 2nd, and that means between now and then, figuring out a lot of details so we can gather safely.  Honestly, it’s exciting—but it’s scary, too!  It’s hard to be cheerful and eager when reading various expert opinions as to what best practices for worshipping in a pandemic are!

But I know God is guiding us step by step, and I am confident that one day we will look back on all this and say, “We knew all along God would make a way.”  What seems impossible right now will someday be done and done if we continue to faithfully serve.  So, as Paul says, do not grow weary of doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time if we do not give up.  Let us serve with eagerness and humility, and work to bring about the Kingdom of Heaven, right here on earth.  Let’s get fired with enthusiasm, so we don’t have to worry about getting fired with enthusiasm! 😊 Because after all, enthusiasm and realism are the same thing, if we understand them right.  In the name of Jesus, who loves us, serves us, and calls us friends, Amen.