This morning we’re taking a look at our last broken
signpost. This series has been all about how our faith guides
us. Miroslav Volk writes, “Faith does its most proper work when it sets us
on a journey, guides us along the way, and gives meaning to each step we take.
When we embrace faith—when God embraces us—we become new creatures constituted
and called to be part of the people of God… faith guides us by offering itself
as a way of life that indicates paths to be taken and dark alleys or dead-end
streets to be avoided, and tells us what our specific tasks are in the great
story of which we are part.”
Jesus is on trial before Pilate after being condemned by the Jewish court. Jesus tells Pilate that he is a
king, but that his kingdom is not of this world. To Pilate and all those
listening in, Jesus’ claim sounds weak and foolish. Jesus is in a position of
weakness without any visible power. He’s at the mercy others. The Jewish
leaders have power over Pilate and over Jesus, the soldiers have power over
Jesus, Pilate has power over Jesus, and in their own ways, they force Jesus to
bend to their will and Jesus accepts it. Pilate even has the power of life and
death over Jesus, ultimately handing Jesus over to death on a cross, even
though he declares Jesus innocent three times.
Power is a funny thing; funny strange, not funny ha
ha. It raises a lot of questions: what is power, how
should it be used, and if you have power, do you have to use it? How does God’s
power and the power he gives us fit together—how much initiative and
responsibility do we take to make things happen and how much do we leave in
God’s hands? Power’s addictive. Many people seek power so they can impose their
will on others. It's difficult to hold power and be humble at the same time; it
can be done, but it’s hard to do. Power is easily abused, we see examples of it
regularly in places like the Middle East, North Korea, Russia, but even in our
own country and province. A friend in Quebec City was abused in the church as a
child and has a hard time with the power church leaders have and how they use
it. It was only after we studied Jesus and his power and how Jesus uses his
power to serve, how power to Jesus looks like sacrifice, that he was able to
accept Jesus again as his Saviour and Lord, to trust Jesus.
Jesus is mocked with the symbols of power. Soldiers twist thorns into a crown and place it on
Jesus’ head. They put a purple robe on him and verbally mock him, “Hail, king of the Jews!” Then they turn around and
slap him in the face. Jesus lives out his own teaching and turns the other
cheek rather than striking back. They have no idea who they’re mocking and the
power Jesus actually holds. Not all power is visible, power doesn’t always have
to be used right in the moment; self-discipline and wisdom are important.
This is a story of power. Pilate is threatened by the Jewish leaders who tell him what Jesus has
claimed and how this goes against their laws, but when Pilate tries to set
Jesus free, they push back hard, “If you let this man
go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar.”
They use Pilate’s past failures to keep peace in Israel against him by
threatening him with Caesar, using the power of Caesar against Pilate. Pilate’s
afraid and so he goes back to Jesus. He asks Jesus, “Where
do you come from?” but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to
me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to
crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me
if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over
to you is guilty of a greater sin.” Jesus challenges Pilate’s power and
where it comes from, pointing Pilate to God, his Father.
N.T Wright reflects on how we were given power by God back at creation, “Human beings are given power in
the very first page of the Bible. In Genesis 1, various features of the newly
made world – vegetation, birds, and animals – are given instructions to
multiply, to flourish, and to get on with being themselves and with propagating
their own species. When humans are made, however, there is an extra dimension.
Humans too are commanded to be fruitful and multiple, but they are given an
extra awesome and responsible vocation: to have dominion over the fish of the
sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild
animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the
earth.” Power, in other words, comes from God and is given to human beings.”
This power is to be used to help creation flourish, helping us to know who God
is through the book of creation, as the Belgic Confession describes it. God
delegates his power to us, but we’re called to use it to imitate God who is a
generous God who pours out his love to his people, even showing love through
the giving of gifts to those who don’t believe in him, something we call common
grace. God shares his power with his people; he chooses to work through broken,
fallen, weak humans and even becomes human and uses his power to die so that we
can have eternal life.
We’re God’s ambassadors to creation; stewards over his creation, called to serve God’s
desire and plans for his creation, whether it’s over the creatures of the sea,
land, or air, and even over the land and the things of the land. It’s a huge
responsibility, and a sign of God’s trust in us to use the power he’s given us
to bring glory to him and not ourselves. It’s humbling and uplifting, both at
the same time.
So how are we to use this power God has given us? When we look closely at Jesus’ life, one of the things
that jumps out to me is how Jesus connects the use of power with humility,
grace, servanthood, compassion, and justice in powerful ways. Jesus makes his
position on the use of power clear in Matthew 20:28, “just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Paul gets it in his
second letter to the church in Corinth, “But he, Jesus,
said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is
made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly
about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
This
is why followers of Jesus, and the church as a whole, need to be aware
of the dangers of how power can be used in hurtful ways and how power quickly
corrupts people. History, including Bible and church history, give us countless
examples of power wrongly used; how power was too often used for personal
advantage. This is why we celebrated Remembrance Day yesterday, as men and
women recognized abusive power and fought against it, sacrificing their lives
for us. David and Solomon are two examples of how even godly men, blessed by
God used power in dangerous and self-serving ways that led to deep hurt and
brokenness.
What does it look like to use the power you have in a way that is healthy and blesses rather than
hurts? King David gives us a good picture of what a healthy use of power looks
like in Psalm 72. David asks for power to bring justice, especially for those
who are afflicted or in distress, “Endow the king with
your justice, O God, the royal son with your righteousness. May he judge your
people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice… he will defend the
afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush
the oppressor.” He goes on to recognize that his role as king is to be
there to as a deliverer, someone who places the needs of the people ahead of
his own, who looks to God’s example of what it looks like to be the protector
of the people, “For he will deliver the needy who cry
out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and
the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression
and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.” The king serves
his people, as Jesus does.
Leadership and power are for serving and sacrifice. Just before Jesus’ death, just after his disciples
argue about having places of power in his kingdom, Jesus gives them a living
parable of how they’re to use the power he’s going to give them as his
disciples, “When he had finished washing their feet, he
put on his clothes and returned to his place. “Do you understand what I have
done for you?” he asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly
so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your
feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that
you should do as I have done for you.”
Matthew Bridges writes, “Because
Jesus humbled himself, because he endured the humiliation of the cross,
including the crown of thorns, therefore God exalted him to the highest place.
For Jesus, the path to glory as King of kings included the path of disgrace.
Because he wore the crown of thorns, Jesus would receive the crown of universal
worship.”
Jesus uses his power as God and creator of the universe to save us from our
slavery to sin and the oppression our sin puts us under. Jesus frees us by
coming to serve instead of rule, and because of his humility and obedience to
God, God has now made him King of kings. In Jesus, we see a kingdom shaped by
humility, mercy, grace, forgiveness and sacrificial love; a completely upside-down
kind of power designed to change people’s hearts and relationships with God and
each other.
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