Who Do You Say That I Am
September 28th 2014
Matthew 21: 23-32
16th Sunday After Pentecost
Peached at Holy Trinity Lutheran (SE) Portland
Grace Mercy and Peace to you from our Risen Savior,
I heard a piece on NPR just a few weeks ago that came to mind while I was working on the texts for this weeks service. Two half brothers, Henry McCollum and Leon Brown were recently released after serving more than 30 years in prison for a crime they did not commit. New DNA testing acquitted these two men of the rape and murder of an 11 year old girl in 1983. With every case and trial there is always the possibility of human error working into the equation, this is a fact. There is no perfect system but this situations and countless others raises the question for me of authority, who has it and where does it come from…
So who should be trusted when they speak? How do you make those decisions, it is not as easy as it once was and it is getting harder by the day to decide whose opinion to trust. So, what is it that stands out to you in a person, news source, faith based conversation or online posting that makes you trust and believe information? Where does their authority come from and what is it point towards? Does the author have some sort of self serving authority or point of view or are they pointing to something greater.
This past spring I traveled back to Gettysburg to take a class with Dr. C.S. Brown who was a visiting professor from Payne Theological Seminary. He is a gentleman in his 70s that had worked in the civil rights movement and has continued to teach and preach a curriculum based off of the life and work of Dr. King. The course was titled the Theology and Ethics of Dr. King. Now when Dr. Brown spoke, you paid attention.
He did not speak as if he read it in a book or saw a news report on the subject, but he spoke with a passion and fervor that one could only do if they had been there and witnessed a movement. They way that he told stories, broke down the many facets of a moment and related the significance of the event made you know and see that he was there and spoke with a passion that you cannot fake. He was real and authentic in his words because he had an authority of something beyond that moment.
Jesus teaching in the temple was something beyond what the normal rabbi could have said, it was different from what people had heard prior and made people wonder with what authority he was able to say such things. He was speaking with a first hand knowledge of God and what life with God was like. It was not fake and he was not reading it off a script but Jesus was being real with them and teaching with an authority that they had never heard before.
This was vasty different from what the people had been used to hearing. Because the focus was on something greater and something bigger. The focus was on building the kingdom and creating disciples rather than keeping the status quo. This caused problems with the authorities because it was not the message that they had been teaching and preaching. Their message was one of keeping peace with the Roman empire, keeping ones head down and following the laws of the temple but Jesus message was one that reached beyond what had been heard before. This is a message that we are still trying to spread today.
The difference is that the message Jesus was preaching was one of love and forgiveness, which was vastly different from the message the people were used to hearing. Forgiveness and grace are free for all and are accessible to everyone, it is not something that needs to be proven or earned but rather it is a free gift that has been given to us.
This maybe shocking or hard to hear but that is what Jesus came into the world to do. He came to redeem the world. However, for those in authority it was hard to see and hard to image that grace was that readily available to all. Maybe it is easier to see that grace and forgiveness for those that are new to the faith and have not gotten bogged down in the authority of the world. We were all once new and young in our faith and we might have lost some of that awe and wonder surrounding grace.
You see the authority of this world is seeking to gain and add power to their ranks. Authority in the human realm all lies with power, who has it, how they display it and what control that gives them. Authority in the world is based off of charismatic leaders that are able to convince people that they have authority and power, but Jesus authority does not come from humans and does not remain in that world.
We as followers of Jesus are not on a mission for power and authority in the world but rather we are working for the greater kingdom. We are making that transformation from authority and power in the world to heavenly authority. We are not in competition for authority in the world, or trying to work against other churches or entities. But, rather we are in the business of sharing God’s grace, love and forgiveness in the world and creating disciples of all nations.
Like last week, the business that God is in is mercy and we are the hands and feet that make that happen and make it known. We are not chasing the way of the world, but rather we are following the call of Jesus to go and make disciples of all nations. We are taking an active part in the heavenly authority that calls all sinners in to be a part of the kingdom. Regardless of who we are or where we have been we are all forgiven and are eligible to be a part of that kingdom and it is our mission to the world to transform it from the way of power to the way of grace.
Amen.
