Jesus’
last words to the apostles were:
Spiritual
power is energy.
We
cannot empower others
We
need Christians who pray until they radiate spirit,
“You will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes upon you
and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, in all Judea,
in Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth.”
This
is Jesus’ last will and testament, his legacy to us.
His
parting words threaten to change our lives.
Jesus
hands over his mission to us.
To
carry out his mission, we need his power.
That
makes us distinctly uncomfortable.
No
one admits to wanting power.
So
what are we doing in a religion that promises power?
Talking
about power conjures up images of tyrants, dictators,
political wheeler dealers, and
financial robber barons.
Put
it together with religion and you get one those double chinned bishops
who’s always eating turkey drumsticks
in Renaissance movies.
Nice
people don’t talk about power, especially in church.
What
has power to do with Christianity?
As
Christians we are supposed to be simpering, pusillanimous, dispensers
of charity and pious
platitudes, are we not?
But
is that kind of Christianity honest?
Does
it have any place in the real world?
Sociologist
of religion, James Davison Hunter says,
“Human relations are inherently
power relations.
Power saturates all of social
reality . . . .
How people engage the world is at
least implicitly
a question of how they
relate to power.”
To
truly have nothing to do with power
is to disengage from the world.
To
pretend we have nothing to do with power is
to deal with the world, and with our
selves, deceitfully.
So
we might start by talking about power honestly.
Jesus
said, “You will receive power.”
2nd
Timothy says, “God did not give us a spirit of fear,
but of power . . . .”
Ephesians
says, “Glory to God whose power working in us
can do infinitely more than we can
ask or imagine.”
Paul
said, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection.”
Jesus
wants to give us power for his mission.
If
we don’t claim that power, we remain spiritual parasites,
not partners with Christ in mission.
So
what is this spiritual power Christ offers?
Is
it something we might dare claim for ourselves
and put to use in his mission?
First,
forget what you know about worldly power.
This
is another thing altogether.
Spiritual
power is not dominating power.
Jesus
always resisted dominating power.
Spiritual
power is relational.
It
is the ability to influence others
out of something deep and authentic.
If
you are a stranger to me, then you cannot influence me.
If
you are a fool, you cannot influence me
unless I’m a bigger fool than you
are.
But
suppose we get to know each other.
Suppose
I come to trust that you mean me well.
And
suppose I believe you know something worth knowing.
Suppose
I experience you as sane, wise, honest, and decent.
Then
I will believe in you and what you say.
Then
you can influence me for good.
Worldly
power, dominating power is one person
diminishing the power of another
person
– trying to make himself more by making
someone else less.
It
flows between people to make them both stronger.
Relational
power, spiritual power, can heal, encourage, inspire.
Look
at any interpersonal transaction, be it in Scripture, current events,
or your personal life, and check the
power dynamics.
Does
one person exert power to diminish someone else?
Or
does one person share power, empower the other person?
That’s
how we distinguish the world’s power from the Jesus power.
unless we claim and cultivate our
own spiritual power first.
There
are three ways to receive the spiritual power Christ offers.
First,
it takes prayer.
After
Jesus told the apostles they were to receive power for the mission,
the Bible says, they constantly
devoted themselves to prayer.
Prayer
connects the circuit for Christ’s power to flow through us.
Second
it takes study.
Remember
that you gain the power to influence me
only if two thing come together.
One,
I can tell you mean me well.
Two,
I can tell you know something.
2nd
Peter says, “His divine power has given us
everything we need for life and
godliness.
This power was given to us through
knowledge. . . .”
Proverbs
24 verse 5:
“A person of knowledge increases
power.”
We
do not grow in spiritual power unless we value our faith
seriously enough to study it.
Finally,
spiritual power is relational.
Its
roots are in Christ-centered relationships with each other.
Spiritual
power grows through the intentional discipline
of paying attention to each other,
caring for each other,
and finding things to appreciate in
each other.
We
grow in spiritual power when we do three things:
Pray, study, and befriend each other
in Christ.
When
we do that, we cease to be spiritual parasites
and become partners -- powerful
agents for the kingdom.
But
do we dare to claim the power Christ wants to give us?
I
see several signs that make me wonder if we are that bold.
Some
are a bit delicate.
The
least sensitive examples are in our music.
The
basic hymn for ordinations in the Episcopal Church
is the old Celtic song, St.
Patrick’s Breastplate.
It’s
so normative for ordinations and common for confirmations
that most bishops have heard enough
of it for a lifetime.
It’s
the basic strap on your gun belt song from every Western movie.
The
words are an incantation St. Patrick prayed on the plain of Tara
before doing battle with the army of
wizards of King Laoghaire.
It
goes:
“I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity . . .
.
I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim . . .
.
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, his might to stay
. . . .”
It’s
what we sing at confirmations before the bishop prays,
“Strengthen O Lord your servant. . .
.”
My
question is: why have I never once in our diocese,
in any church large or small, high
or low, traditional or hip,
not once anywhere in our diocese
ever heard that song?[i]
Example
2:
Three
of Nevada’s last 4 bishops all attended the same seminary.
That
seminary has a theme song, a bit of a fight song actually.
It’s
called Chelsea Square named for the seminary’s location
in New York City.
It’s
a vigorous song, a marching into mission song.
The
opening lines are:
“Put forth O God thy Spirit’s might
And bid thy church increase. . . .”
You
can guess my question.
Why
have I never heard it in Nevada?
I
am not really worried about holes in our musical repertoire per se.
I
am wondering what this might say about our gumption
– our willingness to be strong in
faith, powerful in mission.
Eucharistic
Prayer C says,
“Deliver us from the presumption of
coming to this table
for solace only and not
for strength.”
Is
strength part of what we mean by the
word Christian?
Are
we willing as Christians to claim and exercise spiritual power?
If
not, why am I about to pray for the confirmands
“empower them for your service”?
The
Body of Christ needs a backbone.
The
Body of Christ needs some fire in its belly.
The
Body of Christ needs a steady eye, a firm hand,
and strong right arm.
who study their way into holy
wisdom,
who have the relational power to
hold fast to a friend
in the strongest storms
of life.
When
we have that kind of religion, brothers and sisters,
we’ll have the faith of the
apostles.
When
we have that kind of religion,
our faith will not be an aid to
ordinary life
lived in an ordinary
environment.
It
will be the driving force of extraordinary life
that transforms our environment with
justice and mercy.
We
will be change agents for the kingdom of God.
When
we have that kind of religion,
we will have been baptized with fire
as the Bible promises
and the world will feel our
transforming energy.
[i]
Sicne I delivered this sermon in 2011 (this is a reprint as I did not preach on
the Ascension this year), one of our congregations actually played St. Patrick’s
Breastplate once. I believe it was St. John’s, Glenbrook.
