Sermon Notes for September 25th
September 25, 2005
“By What Authority?”
Mathew 21:23-32
1. Perhaps one of the greatest issues in human society is the whole question of authority. So, when the chief priests and elders confront Jesus by asking “who gave you this authority?” they are raising a legitimate and yet troubling question.
For instance, we see this matter before us in the recent hurricane in Louisiana where there was confusion in the governmental response. It was not always clear who was in charge. Or, who had authority to make decisions. Was it the federal government, was it the state government, was it the mayor of New Orleans? Or was it the authorities in other states such as Mississippi. Even today, fingers are pointed and blame is given out as people try to understand what happened.
And of course there is the whole question of whether or not people will listen or obey authority or simply refuse and take matters into their own hands.
2. Sociologists have pointed out that there are basically three kinds of authority.
One is what is called ASCRIBED authority. This is based on generally agreed upon rules and gives authority to those who are appointed or elected to positions of authority. Hence we have the mayor, the governor, the Bishop of the Methodist Church, the teacher in the classroom, the manager or CEO of the business and so on. By virtue of being the king, ruler or the leader or whatever, the person so designated is expected to exercise his/her authority to provide order and to direct the actions of the people. Often this authority is backed up by laws and policies or military power. Ultimately, if you don’t obey the legal authorities, you can be arrested and put in jail. In the case of Jesus, the chief priests and elders were given ascribed authority. This is why they asked this question of Jesus … “how dare you act as you do upon your own authority?” Obviously, Jesus was acting in ways that cast doubt on their authority – as John Baptist had done as well.
3. Another kind of authority is that which is based on particular knowledge or skill or training. This we would call specialized authority.
Doctors, teachers, engineers, ministers, and all kinds of people have to one degree or another – certain levels of authority based on their specialized training.
For instance, if you had a religious question you would likely not go to a doctor for the answer, you would go to a minister who has been trained in biblical studies, theology, and all the rest. On the other hand, you would likely not expect me to have expert knowledge in matters of health care. I might, for instance, advise or pray for your spiritual health as it pertains to a particular medical condition … but I would not want to offer an opinion as to whether you should have your appendix removed.
One position that crosses over this line are our parish nurses – Elaine Hazard and Virginia Youndahl who are medically trained but also minister to patients and church members in spiritual matters. In order to do this, they receive some specialized training in parish nursing.
In our scripture today … we might sat that the Chief Priests and the Elders also had some kind of specialized authority … namely they were thought to be “learned” in interpreting the scriptures
4. The third, and most troublesome of all forms of authority is that of Charismatic Authority. This is a hard to define concept and yet a very very important one in human life and affairs.
Charisma – which originally related primarily to spiritual gifts –
Is often used in a variety of ways which indicate that a person has some rare quality of charm, good looks, intelligence, a commanding presence, which all seem to create a kind of aura
which attracts others to them and gives them a certain credibility and authority.
Tell story about the Southern Baptist preacher … 3 things you need to be successful:
quote the bible
powerful preaching ability
sex appeal
What he meant by sex appeal, of course, is charisma. While it is a bit humorous … one might pause to notice that it describes Billy Graham quite well! It is probably no small factor, that Billy has always had a kind of Charleton Heston movie start appearance which undoubtedly attracts people to him. Whether Jerry Falwell, on the other hand, quite fits that category I am not so sure!
5. But, regardless of current ideas about charisma, the original meaning of the term had less to do with good looks and more to do with the Holy Spirit.
Charismatic leadership as it appears in the Bible … is understood
As pertaining to those rare persons who were called by God through the Spirit … to speak on his behalf.
Most of them … if we understand the Bible correctly … did not even choose to become spokespersons for God. Sometimes they even received their gift against their will or their better judgment.
Moses, if you remember, asked God “Why send me?”
Elijah – fear for his life and ran away … only to have God
Follow him …into the cave where he was hiding … “What are you doing here, Elijah” Said the Lord.
When the Lord called Jeremiah … he protested, saying “I am too young, I don’t know how to speak.” But the Lord replied, “Do no say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say. Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord have spoken.”
And then, we read that the Lod reached out and touched Jermiah’s lips and said,
“Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak. Today I give you authority over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
You noticed, did you not? That word which we have been struggling with this morning …”I give you authority.”
6. Now, let us go back then to the scripture reading for today … and ask the question of Jesus … which the Elders and the Chief Priests asked …
“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
And, of course, Jesus refuses to answer directly.
Why, because they might grab him and put him in prison and even kill him … as they would do later on … and as they had already done to John the Baptist.
So, Jesus calls them out by asking them about John the Baptist’s baptism … and because they feared the antagonism of the crowd … and so they try to duck the question by saying “We don’t know.”
A most disengenous statement, to say the least.
Reminds me of my former boss who was confronted in a meeting about something he said that contradicted something he had said before … to which he answered, “I didn’t say that, did I?”
And so they scribes and elders all reply, “We just don’t know.”
7. It ought to be clear by now that what the scriptures are saying is that Jesus’ authority is clearly charismatic in the tradition of the great biblical prophets. After all, he was not appointed to leadership because he was not scribe or and Elder. He was also not a chief priest …because he was not he possessed of any specialized training – at least as far as we know. (Unlike St. Paul, for instance, who was a very highly trained Pharisee who studied under Gamaliel in Jeruselum.)
To use, our previous criteria … we might ask if Jesus knew the Bible
Backwards and forwards … and while there is no clear evidence … it does seem that Jesus was able to interpret scripture with extraordinary skill … especially in his many encounters with the chief priests and scribes who were always trying to trick him.
Was Jesus a great public speaker … we don’t know for sure. Quite often he preferred to speak in smaller groups and settings. He wasn’t probably wasn’t really a tel-evangelist in the sense that we think of today or even in the days of John Wesley and George Whitfield. Although he did on a few occasions address large crowds. On the other hand, he was a very clever communicator who could devise very original parables with which to get his message across to very uneducated audiences. In fact, I think Jesus parables are one of the most unique thing about Jesus. Most clearly, they are evidence of a very original and creative mind.
Was Jesus good looking? No one knows. The Bible says nothing. All the paintings of Jesus – from Leonardo DaVinci’s last supper on down are all made from thin air. No one knows what he looked like. Probably a good thing, really. For the Bible is not concerned to make a idol out of Jesus. In fact, growing out of the Old Testament experience with other primitive religions … much of the Bible is concerned with the dangers of idolatry.
“Do not make any graven images,” say the Ten Commandments
8. And yet we are often, without realizing it, all idolators of one sort or another … choosing to worship charismatic individuals in our society who capture our attention … like politicians, movie stars, the rich and famous … (I always think of that show that used to be on … about fancy homes … “This is Robin Leach with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!”
And sometimes, I think we are even apt to make Jesus into an idol. Someone or something we can pray to and who will answer all our prayers.
Or even the Bible itself can be an object of idolatry. A sacred book that everyone has in their possession. But few ever read and even fewer understand correctly. Recently, in fact, I was reading about how after the Reformation, what was called Protestant Orthodoxy arose which allowed for the Bible to be the literal word of God. It is something we are still dealing with today in America.
It was not, actually, the intention of either Luther and Calvin who, while they believed that the Bible contained the word of God, also understood that God’s word in the Scriptures actually became real only through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, when we read the scriptures today we are not actually reading the literal words of God but rather it is the Holy spirit who interprets them for us so that when we read them God speaks to us in our hearts and minds. Which is why I think that the Bible should always be read in a prayerful way as we ask God to open our hearts to its real message. Do you follow that?
Well, the way some people try to get around this … is by saying that the Holy Spirit inspired the original writers of the Gospel which therefore makes it the literal word of God. Nice try! But, if you take that position, you leave no room for the Holy Spirit in our own lives - let alone our God given ability to use our minds and reason … and as a result you have reduced the Scriptures to a rigid document that is can only be interpreted in one and only one way.
9. Why do people do this? Well, because of fear. It is fear that drives us to try to define God in a certain absolute way - which allows for only one interpretation. In effect, it seeks to limit God to our own personal interpretation to the exclusion of all others. This is also the fear that drives us to try to prevent change by going back to the security of the past. The same fear that opposes scientific advances because they contradict certain preconceptions about the universe and how it was created. Unfortunately, there is a strong desire in all of us in the face of change, because of fear, to go back to what we knew in the past and which seemed stable and certain and gave us security.
Tell about the “burning barn syndrome.” Which is what happens when the barn catches fire you have to take the horses out of the barn and tie them up because otherwise they will go back into the burning barn because of fear. Which is what happens to most people when things go wrong we go back to what we know because it makes us feel secure even if it isn't working.
I am not picking on any one group or individual. We all do it. In fact, all religions, unfortunately, do it. Whether it is the Catholic Church with its belief in Papal infallibility, or the fundamentalist reliance on the infallability of the Bible or the Pentecostal churches demand that one has to experience speaking in tongues as a sign of salvation.
Tell about minister at Riverside Church in New York.
10. And - what about us Methodists? Well, John Wesley, too, called for a spiritual regeneration of the heart as he opposed the rigidities of the Anglican Church. But he did stop short of expecting full and absolute perfection – not that many Methodists later on would go down that path! Instead, Wesley retained the teachings of the English Church that allowed for God to be interpreted in light of theology, tradition, reason and the Bible and so he left us with a broad based approach to understanding God and God’s authority in our life.
At the same time … Wesley called for the Christian life to be lived … not merely believed.
As in Jesus parable … Wesley certainly would have applauded the Christian who while objecting to God’s laws …goes and obeys them nevertheless … rather than the Christian who makes a show of going to church and does not take Jesus words to heart.
10. And this was the problem with the scribes and Elders wasn’t it? They spoke with authority … because of their positions and because they possessed specialized knowledge of scripture and yet they interpreted it in ways that put people down for they lacked openness to God’s true spirit in their hearts and minds.
As a result, their authority was hollow and empty because they used it to lord it over others. That’s the temptation always, isn’t it? We all, in one way or another, aspire to have some greater power or control in our lives … and many seek to weald authority over others through popularity or wealth … whether as leaders, experts, or even just as parents … and if only for a brief time it makes us feel important …
And having enjoyed this power we wish to have more and more and to hold on to it – sometimes at all cost.
Tom Wolfe’s famous novel about the stock market gurus of the l980’s – Bonfire of the Vanities … called such people “Masters of the Universe.”
In fact, in the story of the great temptations of Jesus – doesn’t the devil offer this kind of authority to Jesus? Doesn‘t he offer to make him the “Mastor of the Universe?”
But the price of this kind of authority is that it is very unstable because it is based on the always constantly shifting circumstances of human life. Just look at politics. One day you are a Hero … the next day you get blamed for everything that went wrong. No wonder people are afraid of change and will go to great lengths to preserve what they have achieved even it involves dishonesty and cheating.
I am always remind of how in Ancient Rome the triumphant geneals as they returned from their victories battles were always given a victory parade and wore the laurel leaves in their hair. And yet, all the while, a person next to them whispered in their ear “sic transit gloria mundi” – thus passes the glory of the word.
11. “Thus passeth away the gloria of the world.” Certainly, the scribes and Elders were all too aware of Jesus growing authority and the threat it presented to their authority … for it was clear that he spoke to people from the heart … and the people could clearly see that the spirit of God was within him … and the people who heard him knew it …in their own hearts and minds.
And so the leaders were afraid of Jesus … just as they were afraid of John the Baptist and had him put to death … and so they would put Jesus to death as well … to get him out of the way …
But God cannot be put to death … and God’s spirit continues …in the world today and always … and that is the meaning of the Resurrection … for having once come into the world … the spirit of Jesus … the spirit of Christ … is always present … and is everlasting … And it is the power of that spirit which is God’s word for today and each and every day.
A power that gives authority to the church … to the Scriptures … and to our hearts and minds … as we open ourselves today to understanding God’s will for our lives.
Today, let us not be like the scribes and Elders … let us not answer in a disengenous way … and say “I don’t know.”
Let us answer, “Yes, yes, so be it … let your word be a lamp unto my feet …… and a light unto my path...
“By What Authority?”
Mathew 21:23-32
1. Perhaps one of the greatest issues in human society is the whole question of authority. So, when the chief priests and elders confront Jesus by asking “who gave you this authority?” they are raising a legitimate and yet troubling question.
For instance, we see this matter before us in the recent hurricane in Louisiana where there was confusion in the governmental response. It was not always clear who was in charge. Or, who had authority to make decisions. Was it the federal government, was it the state government, was it the mayor of New Orleans? Or was it the authorities in other states such as Mississippi. Even today, fingers are pointed and blame is given out as people try to understand what happened.
And of course there is the whole question of whether or not people will listen or obey authority or simply refuse and take matters into their own hands.
2. Sociologists have pointed out that there are basically three kinds of authority.
One is what is called ASCRIBED authority. This is based on generally agreed upon rules and gives authority to those who are appointed or elected to positions of authority. Hence we have the mayor, the governor, the Bishop of the Methodist Church, the teacher in the classroom, the manager or CEO of the business and so on. By virtue of being the king, ruler or the leader or whatever, the person so designated is expected to exercise his/her authority to provide order and to direct the actions of the people. Often this authority is backed up by laws and policies or military power. Ultimately, if you don’t obey the legal authorities, you can be arrested and put in jail. In the case of Jesus, the chief priests and elders were given ascribed authority. This is why they asked this question of Jesus … “how dare you act as you do upon your own authority?” Obviously, Jesus was acting in ways that cast doubt on their authority – as John Baptist had done as well.
3. Another kind of authority is that which is based on particular knowledge or skill or training. This we would call specialized authority.
Doctors, teachers, engineers, ministers, and all kinds of people have to one degree or another – certain levels of authority based on their specialized training.
For instance, if you had a religious question you would likely not go to a doctor for the answer, you would go to a minister who has been trained in biblical studies, theology, and all the rest. On the other hand, you would likely not expect me to have expert knowledge in matters of health care. I might, for instance, advise or pray for your spiritual health as it pertains to a particular medical condition … but I would not want to offer an opinion as to whether you should have your appendix removed.
One position that crosses over this line are our parish nurses – Elaine Hazard and Virginia Youndahl who are medically trained but also minister to patients and church members in spiritual matters. In order to do this, they receive some specialized training in parish nursing.
In our scripture today … we might sat that the Chief Priests and the Elders also had some kind of specialized authority … namely they were thought to be “learned” in interpreting the scriptures
4. The third, and most troublesome of all forms of authority is that of Charismatic Authority. This is a hard to define concept and yet a very very important one in human life and affairs.
Charisma – which originally related primarily to spiritual gifts –
Is often used in a variety of ways which indicate that a person has some rare quality of charm, good looks, intelligence, a commanding presence, which all seem to create a kind of aura
which attracts others to them and gives them a certain credibility and authority.
Tell story about the Southern Baptist preacher … 3 things you need to be successful:
quote the bible
powerful preaching ability
sex appeal
What he meant by sex appeal, of course, is charisma. While it is a bit humorous … one might pause to notice that it describes Billy Graham quite well! It is probably no small factor, that Billy has always had a kind of Charleton Heston movie start appearance which undoubtedly attracts people to him. Whether Jerry Falwell, on the other hand, quite fits that category I am not so sure!
5. But, regardless of current ideas about charisma, the original meaning of the term had less to do with good looks and more to do with the Holy Spirit.
Charismatic leadership as it appears in the Bible … is understood
As pertaining to those rare persons who were called by God through the Spirit … to speak on his behalf.
Most of them … if we understand the Bible correctly … did not even choose to become spokespersons for God. Sometimes they even received their gift against their will or their better judgment.
Moses, if you remember, asked God “Why send me?”
Elijah – fear for his life and ran away … only to have God
Follow him …into the cave where he was hiding … “What are you doing here, Elijah” Said the Lord.
When the Lord called Jeremiah … he protested, saying “I am too young, I don’t know how to speak.” But the Lord replied, “Do no say that you are too young, but go to the people I send you to, and tell them everything I command you to say. Do not be afraid of them, for I will be with you to protect you. I, the Lord have spoken.”
And then, we read that the Lod reached out and touched Jermiah’s lips and said,
“Listen, I am giving you the words you must speak. Today I give you authority over nations and kingdoms to uproot and to pull down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.”
You noticed, did you not? That word which we have been struggling with this morning …”I give you authority.”
6. Now, let us go back then to the scripture reading for today … and ask the question of Jesus … which the Elders and the Chief Priests asked …
“By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”
And, of course, Jesus refuses to answer directly.
Why, because they might grab him and put him in prison and even kill him … as they would do later on … and as they had already done to John the Baptist.
So, Jesus calls them out by asking them about John the Baptist’s baptism … and because they feared the antagonism of the crowd … and so they try to duck the question by saying “We don’t know.”
A most disengenous statement, to say the least.
Reminds me of my former boss who was confronted in a meeting about something he said that contradicted something he had said before … to which he answered, “I didn’t say that, did I?”
And so they scribes and elders all reply, “We just don’t know.”
7. It ought to be clear by now that what the scriptures are saying is that Jesus’ authority is clearly charismatic in the tradition of the great biblical prophets. After all, he was not appointed to leadership because he was not scribe or and Elder. He was also not a chief priest …because he was not he possessed of any specialized training – at least as far as we know. (Unlike St. Paul, for instance, who was a very highly trained Pharisee who studied under Gamaliel in Jeruselum.)
To use, our previous criteria … we might ask if Jesus knew the Bible
Backwards and forwards … and while there is no clear evidence … it does seem that Jesus was able to interpret scripture with extraordinary skill … especially in his many encounters with the chief priests and scribes who were always trying to trick him.
Was Jesus a great public speaker … we don’t know for sure. Quite often he preferred to speak in smaller groups and settings. He wasn’t probably wasn’t really a tel-evangelist in the sense that we think of today or even in the days of John Wesley and George Whitfield. Although he did on a few occasions address large crowds. On the other hand, he was a very clever communicator who could devise very original parables with which to get his message across to very uneducated audiences. In fact, I think Jesus parables are one of the most unique thing about Jesus. Most clearly, they are evidence of a very original and creative mind.
Was Jesus good looking? No one knows. The Bible says nothing. All the paintings of Jesus – from Leonardo DaVinci’s last supper on down are all made from thin air. No one knows what he looked like. Probably a good thing, really. For the Bible is not concerned to make a idol out of Jesus. In fact, growing out of the Old Testament experience with other primitive religions … much of the Bible is concerned with the dangers of idolatry.
“Do not make any graven images,” say the Ten Commandments
8. And yet we are often, without realizing it, all idolators of one sort or another … choosing to worship charismatic individuals in our society who capture our attention … like politicians, movie stars, the rich and famous … (I always think of that show that used to be on … about fancy homes … “This is Robin Leach with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!”
And sometimes, I think we are even apt to make Jesus into an idol. Someone or something we can pray to and who will answer all our prayers.
Or even the Bible itself can be an object of idolatry. A sacred book that everyone has in their possession. But few ever read and even fewer understand correctly. Recently, in fact, I was reading about how after the Reformation, what was called Protestant Orthodoxy arose which allowed for the Bible to be the literal word of God. It is something we are still dealing with today in America.
It was not, actually, the intention of either Luther and Calvin who, while they believed that the Bible contained the word of God, also understood that God’s word in the Scriptures actually became real only through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
In other words, when we read the scriptures today we are not actually reading the literal words of God but rather it is the Holy spirit who interprets them for us so that when we read them God speaks to us in our hearts and minds. Which is why I think that the Bible should always be read in a prayerful way as we ask God to open our hearts to its real message. Do you follow that?
Well, the way some people try to get around this … is by saying that the Holy Spirit inspired the original writers of the Gospel which therefore makes it the literal word of God. Nice try! But, if you take that position, you leave no room for the Holy Spirit in our own lives - let alone our God given ability to use our minds and reason … and as a result you have reduced the Scriptures to a rigid document that is can only be interpreted in one and only one way.
9. Why do people do this? Well, because of fear. It is fear that drives us to try to define God in a certain absolute way - which allows for only one interpretation. In effect, it seeks to limit God to our own personal interpretation to the exclusion of all others. This is also the fear that drives us to try to prevent change by going back to the security of the past. The same fear that opposes scientific advances because they contradict certain preconceptions about the universe and how it was created. Unfortunately, there is a strong desire in all of us in the face of change, because of fear, to go back to what we knew in the past and which seemed stable and certain and gave us security.
Tell about the “burning barn syndrome.” Which is what happens when the barn catches fire you have to take the horses out of the barn and tie them up because otherwise they will go back into the burning barn because of fear. Which is what happens to most people when things go wrong we go back to what we know because it makes us feel secure even if it isn't working.
I am not picking on any one group or individual. We all do it. In fact, all religions, unfortunately, do it. Whether it is the Catholic Church with its belief in Papal infallibility, or the fundamentalist reliance on the infallability of the Bible or the Pentecostal churches demand that one has to experience speaking in tongues as a sign of salvation.
Tell about minister at Riverside Church in New York.
10. And - what about us Methodists? Well, John Wesley, too, called for a spiritual regeneration of the heart as he opposed the rigidities of the Anglican Church. But he did stop short of expecting full and absolute perfection – not that many Methodists later on would go down that path! Instead, Wesley retained the teachings of the English Church that allowed for God to be interpreted in light of theology, tradition, reason and the Bible and so he left us with a broad based approach to understanding God and God’s authority in our life.
At the same time … Wesley called for the Christian life to be lived … not merely believed.
As in Jesus parable … Wesley certainly would have applauded the Christian who while objecting to God’s laws …goes and obeys them nevertheless … rather than the Christian who makes a show of going to church and does not take Jesus words to heart.
10. And this was the problem with the scribes and Elders wasn’t it? They spoke with authority … because of their positions and because they possessed specialized knowledge of scripture and yet they interpreted it in ways that put people down for they lacked openness to God’s true spirit in their hearts and minds.
As a result, their authority was hollow and empty because they used it to lord it over others. That’s the temptation always, isn’t it? We all, in one way or another, aspire to have some greater power or control in our lives … and many seek to weald authority over others through popularity or wealth … whether as leaders, experts, or even just as parents … and if only for a brief time it makes us feel important …
And having enjoyed this power we wish to have more and more and to hold on to it – sometimes at all cost.
Tom Wolfe’s famous novel about the stock market gurus of the l980’s – Bonfire of the Vanities … called such people “Masters of the Universe.”
In fact, in the story of the great temptations of Jesus – doesn’t the devil offer this kind of authority to Jesus? Doesn‘t he offer to make him the “Mastor of the Universe?”
But the price of this kind of authority is that it is very unstable because it is based on the always constantly shifting circumstances of human life. Just look at politics. One day you are a Hero … the next day you get blamed for everything that went wrong. No wonder people are afraid of change and will go to great lengths to preserve what they have achieved even it involves dishonesty and cheating.
I am always remind of how in Ancient Rome the triumphant geneals as they returned from their victories battles were always given a victory parade and wore the laurel leaves in their hair. And yet, all the while, a person next to them whispered in their ear “sic transit gloria mundi” – thus passes the glory of the word.
11. “Thus passeth away the gloria of the world.” Certainly, the scribes and Elders were all too aware of Jesus growing authority and the threat it presented to their authority … for it was clear that he spoke to people from the heart … and the people could clearly see that the spirit of God was within him … and the people who heard him knew it …in their own hearts and minds.
And so the leaders were afraid of Jesus … just as they were afraid of John the Baptist and had him put to death … and so they would put Jesus to death as well … to get him out of the way …
But God cannot be put to death … and God’s spirit continues …in the world today and always … and that is the meaning of the Resurrection … for having once come into the world … the spirit of Jesus … the spirit of Christ … is always present … and is everlasting … And it is the power of that spirit which is God’s word for today and each and every day.
A power that gives authority to the church … to the Scriptures … and to our hearts and minds … as we open ourselves today to understanding God’s will for our lives.
Today, let us not be like the scribes and Elders … let us not answer in a disengenous way … and say “I don’t know.”
Let us answer, “Yes, yes, so be it … let your word be a lamp unto my feet …… and a light unto my path...
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