Requiem Grace

by Carol Plueddemann

Music is one of the most significant “means of grace” in my life and I’m glad for the rich variety of hymn styles that nurture my heart—ancient, contemporary, country, Black gospel, jazz and all varieties of ethnic expression . I’m no expert when it comes to classical music, but the Brahms’ Requiem has become one of my favorite pieces.

Why this Requiem? I first sang this piece with the Jos Community Choir when we lived in Nigeria. We weren’t a polished group, but we sang from our hearts. Though still in my twenties, I had begun to experience the sorrows of death in the loss of two close friends just our age. Later I sang this work with the Wheaton Choral Union on the first-year anniversary of my father’s death. Last weekend Jim and I listened to the Requiem again at the Divine Word Chapel where the lovely sounds surrounded us with comfort in the recent death of my mother.

Unlike other requiems, the text of Brahms’ Requiem is all Scripture. The piece begins slowly with a somber melody: Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall have comfort and soon moves to the glad reminder that Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Then an ominous pounding of drums announces, Behold all flesh is as the grass. The grass withers and the flower decays. In contrast, The Word of the Lord endures forevermore. Here the music becomes bright, solid and hopeful and transitions to the joyful parade of the redeemed as they come to Zion. Joy and gladness, these shall be their portion. Pain and sighing shall flee.

"As I turn the pages of my score, I see margin notes penciled in during the many rehearsals I attended. I smile as I note that these musical reminders are also appropriate life challenges: Watch! Sustain—don’t fade. Don’t rush. Support—breathe! Sing sweetly."

Lord, make me to know the measure of my days on earth—to consider my frailty—that I must perish…Now, Lord, O, what do I wait for? My hope is in Thee. And then the sweet music of the well-known piece How lovely is thy dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs for the courts of the Lord. My soul and body cry out for the living God. These words from Psalm 84 resonate with my longings for our true Home. The subject and counter-subject weave a glorious blend as They praise thy name evermore.

The fifth movement is written in memory of Brahms’ mother. I will comfort you as one whom his own mother comforts. The soaring, sorrowful soprano solo is among the loveliest music composed by mortals. It is almost too exquisite to bear and fills me with homesickness for heaven where we will experience music in brand new dimensions.

Here on earth we have no continuing place. The music is foreboding at this point but becomes brighter as pilgrims are assured, Howbeit, we seek one to come. And then, Lo, I unfold unto you a mystery… (Brahms’ music here rivals any mystery soundtrack.) We shall not all sleep—We shall all be changed in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the sound of a trumpet. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. (in-cor-RUPT-ible!) For death shall be swallowed in victory! (Can you hear the blast of the trumpets?) Death—where is thy sting? Grave—where is thy triumph?

Now the music explodes in a glorious chorale: Lord, Thou art worthy to be praised! And then a confident, calm affirmation: Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. They rest from their labors and their works follow after them. Those who live and die in the Lord have eternal significance. Though their earthly lives are like grass, they will be raised—incorruptible-- to praise God forever. Brahms’ Requiem is a foretaste of that praise.

The Quandary of Missionary Leadership

Missionaries are people who are not afraid to take bold risks. They often march to a different drummer, and have an entrepreneurial spirit. Missionaries are a delightful yet peculiar people.

When it comes to leadership they face a quandary:
1. Individualistic missionaries are often called to work under the direction of missionaries or nationals with widely different cultural views of leadership.
2. Missionaries may be called to lead multi-cultural teams of fellow missionaries and nationals who have radically different cultural expectations of leadership.
3. Missionaries teach in pastoral training institutions in cultures with dissimilar ideas about the leadership role of the pastor.
4. The dominant worldwide assumption is that leaders have the responsibility and power to control people. The North American corporate CEO, the South American caudillo, the Asian Confucian elder brother, the Middle-Eastern paternalistic father-figure or the traditional African chief, all fit the model of leadership as power and control.
5. Missionaries in a post-modern culture react against a domineering view of leadership, feeling called to “do their own thing.” They often see leadership as a service function with little or no authority.

The Quandary

So here is the quandary. Many post-modern missionaries have an egalitarian view of leadership, while the rest of the world assumes that leadership is control. Yet today’s missionaries working with bottom-up leadership styles are expected to work under leaders and to develop leaders in cultures with top-down assumptions about leadership.

A Possible Solution

Leadership is a spiritual gift mentioned in Romans 12:8, but footnotes show that the word means to “provide for others” or to “give aid.” The list of spiritual gifts in 1 Corinthians 12:28 uses the word “administration” in some translations, but in others it is translated “guidance” or “those who can get others to work together.” A biblical understanding of “the gift of leadership” challenges most cultural assumptions.

In one sense all believer have spiritual gifts and are responsible to use their gifts to influence the Body of Christ. In this sense, influence is leadership and thus all believers are leaders. But some believers have the gift of fanning into flame the gifts of others, coordinating gifted people and helping them to move in the same direction. This is the likely meaning of the gift of leadership in Romans 12:8. Maybe a way to describe the difference is to suggest that all believers are leaders with a lower-case l, while some are Leaders, upper-case L. In God’s eyes coordinating Leaders are no more or less important than leaders with general gifts.

Here is a tentative definition: Good leadership is the spiritual gift of proactively harmonizing, enhancing and focusing the spiritual gifts of others toward a common vision of the Kingdom of God.

Often leaders are thought to be either task-oriented or people-oriented. This definition assumes neither “leader as controller” or “leader as cheerleader.” The model takes the task of the Kingdom seriously and assumes that the leader will be proactive and take initiative, while being an encourager and a developer of people.

Mission Leaders are not servant door-mats, watching everyone to do what is right in their own eyes. But neither are they servant dictators, paternalistically making decisions for ignorant missionaries.

I’m hopeful that this model of leadership will allow missionaries to be more effective in multi-cultural settings.
* It brings out the best of the controller and the encourager models while overcoming the weaknesses of both.
* It allows missionaries to be proactive, to take initiative and to keep focused on the vision, while working under people with diverse leadership styles.
* It has the potential of being a bridge between the dominant modern view of leadership as power and the post-modern passive view of leadership.
* It provides a starting point and a goal for developing leaders in other cultures.

Few things in life are more rewarding than working with missionaries and church leaders of other cultures. I often say I am working with a “dream team” of mission leadership. I pray that the Lord will continue to show us how to harmonize and enhance the spiritual gifts He has given believers in every culture so that we may be used to fulfill a vision of His worldwide Kingdom.