There was a time when gas stations were called service stations.

When you pulled in next to the pump, someone would come out to fill your fuel tank,
check your oil and coolant levels, and check the air pressure in your tires.

Long ago, this was important because engines, radiators, and tires were somewhat leaky.

Over time cars became more reliable, drivers became more aware of how to maintain their vehicles, and those who owned these stations sought to cut costs.

Full service was exchanged for mini service, where the attendant would only fill the tank, and then self service, where the drivers would fill their own tanks.

On August 4 last year, Oregon rescinded its law requiring that only attendants may pump gasoline, a rule that existed since 1951.

New Jersey still has such a law. But in most of the United Stares, we are free to be self-serving, at least in terms of fuel.

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Let’s go to God in prayer.
God of wisdom, may the words that I speak, and the ways they are received by each of our hearts and minds, help us to continue to grow into the people, and the church, that you have dreamed us to be.
Amen.

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Organizations have various structures that make them work.
An organization without any structure would be – unorganized.

Many Christian denominations have what is called an episcopal system. This means a system based on bishops, who are part of the top-down organization of the church.

Examples of episcopal denominations include the Roman Catholic Church, the Church of England, which is called the Episcopal Church in the USA, and the Methodist Church.

Another way to organize a church is a congregational system,
where the congregation is the basic unit of organization.

In such systems, the congregation calls its pastors and sends delegates to other, larger bodies so that they take their direction from the churches.

Both the United Church of Christ and the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) are examples of congregational polity.

Most denominations are not purely episcopal or congregational: local churches may have a voice in nominally episcopal denominations while congregational denominations usually have some global, national, and/or regional authority.

You can see the influence of church polity in national governance as well.
For instance, many governments have ministers of various areas,
such as a Home Minister, Minister of the Exchequer, or Prime Minister.

There was a group of Puritans who came to North America. They called themselves Pilgrims. Rejecting both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England, they would have no bishops.

Instead, their congregations would make the decisions for the church.

Among the verses that informed this polity was:

You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.

But it is not so among you; instead,
whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

– Mark 10:42-43, NRSVue

Their model would influence the government of the United States of America. This is why we do not have a king or lords who inherit their power, rather, we have representatives, senators, and a president elected by the people.

And their church, the Congregational Church, would become part of the United Church of Christ. That’s why, in our church, I don’t get to hand-pick the council or team leaders.

That’s why the Golden Gate Association, Northern California/Nevada Conference, and UCC leadership in Cleveland don’t pick your pastors, and neither do the Christian Church of Northern California-Nevada or the DOC leadership.

The basic unit of governance in both our denominations is the local church. In order for this to work, the congregations must be involved.

It means members willing to be on our councils. It means members being willing to be delegates to our UCC association, UCC conference, and DOC region.

You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.

But it is not so among you; instead,
whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

– Mark 10:42-43, NRSVue

If our nation, state, county, and city are to be governed in the same spirit, we need leaders who will represent the people and not leaders who will rule. We need leaders who are willing to serve the people, not people with a quest for greater power.

Service means working for the benefit of others. Servants whose first interest is in their own power, prestige, and pockets are not really servants at all.

You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.

But it is not so among you; instead,
whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

– Mark 10:42-43, NRSVue

And this is what makes service complicated: The person who would hold the power must not want the power for themselves, but for the good of all.

It’s a difficult thing to seek something that could give ourselves more, but to do it to give more to others.

As Christians, we are called to service. That service means working for the greater good, with special attention and care for those with the least power and the fewest resources.

It’s challenging to put our needs aside for the moment to care for the needs of others.

But that’s the service to which we are called.

So my challenge to each of us this week is to consider how we serve others: is it a means of climbing the social ladder? Or is it a means of helping our neighbors?

We might even consider these ideas when voting.

You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them.

But it is not so among you; instead,
whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,

– Mark 10:42-43, NRSVue

Amen.

• Scripture quotations marked NRSVue are taken from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. https://www.friendshippress.org/pages/about-the-nrsvue
• Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James version of the Bible.