We are now fully in the 2024 election cycle. So, naturally, we are hearing a lot about power. Who has it. Who wants it. Who wants to keep it. Who wants to reclaim it. Most of that talk centers on a specific candidate,sometimes more broadly on a political party. Why they want power, and what they intend to do with it once they have it.
When I was trained in the dynamics of faith based community organizing, I was taught that power is the ability to act on our values and to reshape the world around us in keeping with those values. We were further taught that power comes from organized money and organized power. Money + people = power/the ability to act on our values. And we can definitely see that dynamic of power at play in the political sphere. The sheer amount of money it takes to successfully mount a campaign is, in my opinion, obscene. But politicians know that it takes money, and a large amount of it, to be competitive. They also know that they have to work hard at building and expanding their base and getting people to turn out to vote for them.
There is a tendency in the church to view power as something that is bad, something secular people may pursue but that we are somehow supposed to actively avoid. But that could not be further from the truth. In our text today, Jesus promises the apostles that they will receive power. Jesus knows that they will need power to do all that he is commissioning them to do and all that God needs them to do. But there is a difference between the power that Jesus promises and the power that politicians strive to achieve.
Let’s look at some of those differences. The power promised to us by Jesus:
- Is not something, we grab or obtain on our own,
Rather it is given to us, indeed bestowed upon us, by God. - It is not for our own glorification of self-aggrandizement.
Rather it is given for the glory of God. - It is not given to us so that we can advance our own agenda,
Rather it is given so that we can advance God’s kin-dom on earth - It is not given to an individual to raise that person to elevated status,
Rather it is given to the community for the common good of all
There are other differences, but you get the idea. The power that Jesus speaks about and promises to his followers, the power that God bestows on God’s people, TRUE POWER, is VERY different from the political power that is consuming so much of our airwaves and attention these days.
The church needs the power Jesus promises. Indeed, there would be no church without the Holy Spirit bestowing power on the disciples. The church needs the power that Jesus promised, not on that day of Pentecost so long ago, but in this very moment as well.
The mission statement of the UMC tells us that we are to make disciples for the transformation of the world. This statement acknowledges that we need power.
We need to organize a collective effort to transform the world, to reshape it, not according to our personal values and desires, but according to the will of God as made manifest in Christ Jesus our Lord. Organized disciples, focused on carrying out the will of God, living into and out of God’s vision for the world, following the example and teaching of Jesus, trusting in the Holy Spirit to sustain and strengthen their resolve, do have the collective to power to change the world. The church also knows that it takes organized money and people to live it out our mandate to partner with God in bringing a better world to birth. Simply put, if we are to be the church, if we are to live out our sacred calling, we need the power that the Risen Christ promises to give to us.
Baptism and profession of faith vow: Do you promise to use the POWER God gives you to resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever forms they present themselves?
So, you see, power is not a bad thing and it is not inherently a good thing. Power is a neutral force, but it is where we look for that power and what we want to do with that power that makes all the difference.
So, in this age of heightened focus and chatter about power, let us, as Christians, as followers of Jesus, be crystal clear: Our power comes from God and God alone. Our power is to be used to transform the world around us according to the vision and will of God. Our power is to be directed to resisting evil, injustice, and oppression in all its forms. Our power is to be used for the common good.
And mostly, our power is to be used to glorify God, to witness to God’s love, grace, mercy, and justice, and to invite others to join us in bringing God’s kin-dom to birth so that all persons will know and live the abundant life that Christ came to bring to all.
So, people of God, let us claim the power Christ promises us and that God, through the work of the Holy Spirit, bestows upon us, and then use that power to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.
Amen.
Sending and Blessing:
People of power, go forth to be God’s people in God’s world.
Go forth to proclaim that Christ, and Christ alone, is Lord.
Go forth to show the world that there is a better for us to live as one.
Gof forth to fight evil, injustice, and oppression and create a world
that is just, equitable and fair.
Go forth to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the
world.
In the name of the Father who created us, the Son who has redeemed and saved us, and the Holy Spirit who fill us with power.
Amen,
