Reflection: "Authority"We are in the church’s season of Epiphany (which means “a sudden insight, or understanding”)
and this time is when we reflect upon how we have been touched by the presence of God - through the human manifestation in Jesus Christ, just as the Magi, or wise men, were, thousands of years ago. Our reading from Deuteronomy tells us that the Lord (YHWH), would raise up prophets, and as we look through the various books of the Old Testament, we see that the prophets were, almost exclusively, people without office, not of high rank, not high priests, not judges. They were generally farmers, or other manual labourers, until the Spirit of the Lord came upon them. And then they were able to speak with authority - and the people listened. There are actually two kinds of authority. There's the authority that comes with an office – e.g. a judge, or Prime Minister, or priest, has authority through the law - or by the office they hold and their ability to influence, to increase, to cause something to happen. But there's another kind - and that's an innate, inner type of authority – with which Jesus spoke. When he came to the synagogue at Capernaum, it was clear that there were those present who had been appointed to positions of religious authority and civil power. But Jesus came into the synagogue and began to teach “as one having authority” - and the people were amazed, because his teaching seemed, somehow, different. It had authority, but not because of his position (for he had none) and he wasn’t a member of the Sanhedrin. He wasn’t a judge or a priest and yet he spoke as one who knew the truth. Jesus surprised people with his note of authority. When he spoke, people found something powerful happening in their lives. When Jesus spoke, people said, "Ah-hah...yes, that's true, that's true about me." We read often in the scriptures that Jesus would speak to a person, and they would respond with words like: "How did you know that about me?" When Jesus saw a person, he really looked inside them to reveal their inner self - he was aware of who they were and seemed to know them better than they knew themselves. Yes, Jesus had this amazing authority, but it wasn’t because of any office that he held, or any educational degrees that he'd been given. He had a unique kind of authority, as the son of the creator of the universe. Even the unclean spirit, from our reading in Mark’s gospel, recognised this authority – it was scared that it would be changed if it listened to Jesus. Of course, it did become changed, as the authority of Jesus healed the man, and he was whole again. As people of faith, for two thousand years we’ve come to understand that this authority in the person Jesus is uniquely powerful, because it’s intertwined with God. Paul said, "God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself." Even the centurion who stood guard at the time of the crucifixion, who had probably never seen or heard Jesus before, was so filled with awe and wonder at this man as he died, said, "Truly, this was a godly man." And Thomas, who like most of us couldn’t really believe until he had strong evidence, when he was able to touch the manifestation of God's presence, said, "My Lord and my God." Jesus spoke with authority and, as believers, we see that authority rooted in his relationship with God, the Creator. In Jesus, we are touched by the divine. So how do we relate this understanding of Jesus, as one speaking with authority, to our daily lives? With the understanding that each of us also has some innate authority. We all have influence - on family, friends and neighbours, work colleagues, etc. So, what authorities influence us? We know that some authorities are givens. We live under the authority of the constitution and the laws of this nation and these influence and impact our lives. But many of the authorities, under which we live, are chosen. I have chosen to be married and so I live under the vows of marriage. I have also been baptised and I choose to live under the covenant of the baptism. Some of us may even give up our lives to the authority of addiction. An addiction, whether it's to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, or whatever, is when we allow that substance to have great authority and influence over our lives. So today, as we meditate on Jesus and the authority with which he spoke, let's ask ourselves, "What authorities rule my life?" Money? Family? A job, a boss, or maybe friends? In fact, a good discipline for each of us, is to write on a sheet of paper the various authorities and the various influences they have on our lives, and then try to put them in some sort of priority. What's the highest authority? Most of us would not like to admit it, but money will be very high on most lists, higher than we’d like to admit. So, I encourage you to look at that list and ask yourself “How do we need to change it?” What’s on that list that makes us uncomfortable? And then we should ask ourselves, "How do I use my authority with others? How do I use my authority with my family, in my workplace, in my neighbourhood? Do I use my influence to control people, to frighten people? Or do I use it to raise up people when they're lost or weak? Do I use my authority to support and affirm other people?" And also, what does it mean for me to accept Jesus as the primary authority in my life? Not just attending church once a week, but giving our lives wholly to his authority, resisting all others. Millions of peoples, over thousands of years, have found their lives radically changed for the good, by accepting Jesus Christ as their primary authority. We offer ourselves, our souls, to God. This is who we are. Today's Gospel shows us Jesus teaching people who were gathered together. The decision to accept Jesus as the primary authority in our lives is an individual decision, but the spiritual journey to make that authority real, is a community journey. I therefore urge you to meditate on this powerful reading from the Gospel of Mark and ask yourselves the question about authority and how important God’s authority is in your everyday life. Ask yourselves “How do I use the authority that I have?” You know, we all have much more authority than we believe. Many of us are prone to say, "Oh, I don't have any influence. I don't have any authority." - Yes, you do. You have major authority upon the people you live with, your neighbours, your family, your friends, your fellow workers, the people you know and meet on the street. Even today, our appointed leaders still get threatened by the teaching of Jesus, which can turn upside down all our ideas of who is important and valuable. Jesus shows us that the seemingly least important are valued by God as much as the person in highest authority. He shows us that the greatest leader is the servant of all, not the one with the highest position or most money. He shows us that the greatest force in the world is not the greatest army, but love. We believe that God has touched us through the person of Jesus Christ, made us aware of the divine presence. I encourage you to meditate on how to accept that divine word and how it will affect your daily actions. Then make a plan of how you will use your own personal authority, given to you by God, to influence others to listen to his word, too. Pastor Rick
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