February 1, 2015
Amazing Authority
- Mark 1:21-28
- Rev Ruth Chadwick Moore
When our son John played soccer my husband Mark and I tried to be at most of his games and tournaments. Mark went to more of them than I did because many of the tournaments were held on weekends out of town and I had to be here on Sundays. But going to soccer games actually taught me a lot about life. I learned, or relearned, that just like our son I am very competitive. I also learned that I could not sit next to some of the other parents during soccer games. I especially could not sit next to Chuck. During games Chuck was always on his feet yelling at the team to do something – run faster, play harder, change the defense or shouting at them to score. When I sat next to Chuck I found myself doing the same thing. And what did I know about soccer? Shoot, I still can’t figure out when someone is off sides on the field, but there I was yelling at John or some other boy to do this, or do that. And there was the coach on the other side of the field probably telling the players to do just the opposite. Parents should not try to outcoach the coach. And their children usually tell them that with a look or a shake of the head and do what the coach tells them to do. The child is telling the parent, “You are not the authority here. You need to be quiet so I can hear my coach’s voice.”
I’m not too sure I like the word authority. It’s kind of like the word obey – I need to know the context before I’m comfortable with it. My two bible study groups have given me some positive synonyms for the word authority – like leadership, expertise, and knowledge. And then we came up with words that have more negative connotations, at least for me – power, boss, (but of course not my boss!) dictator, and control. Authority figures for these bible study groups were parents, teachers, school principals, mentors, law enforcement officials, and for some, husbands. I might bristle at the idea of my husband being an authority figure, but these women are from a generation that vowed to obey their husbands when they got married. Needless to say that was not a part of my marriage vows!
But I do look to Mark for guidance and expertise in certain areas. He is very smart, he is well read and he has a fantastic memory. He is a good listener and he helps me make decisions. He is my helpmate. I can ask him for advice about so many things and I respect his opinion – so he has authority – just not authority “over” me in terms of telling me what to do and how to do it. Although of course we both have tried to tell each other what to do and how to do it; but that has usually been a disaster!
So how do you get authority? Do you just know you have it? Does it come from the privilege of your birth or ethnic/socioeconomic background? Does it come from learning something or being elected to an office or because you have accomplished something? What does the word authority really mean?
When you are in seminary you are encouraged to explore your pastoral authority – whatever that means in this day and age. I don’t believe pastors have the same authority they had a generation or so ago. A lot of people don’t attend church anymore and so a pastor is someone foreign to them or might be a negative when it comes to hypocrisy. I might have more bible knowledge than some of you, but certainly not all of you, and I might be more comfortable praying out loud than many of you, but that does not make me an authority on prayer. I am rarely comfortable being the authority on anything because the more I learn the more I realize how little I know!
As part of my seminary training I was a chaplain intern at St. Vincent Hospital. I had some incredible experiences with people I met in the hospital. I got to meet people who welcomed me into their lives during a difficult time and I also got to meet people who didn’t want to have anything to do with me. One night around midnight I was called to the room of a man who was having heart surgery the next day. The surgery was risky and the man thought he might not survive the operation. He was Roman Catholic and had asked for a priest to hear his confession. But none of the priests were on call that night so he got the female, Presbyterian, seminary student – poor guy! He wanted to make his confession to me and asked me to give him absolution from his sin. I wasn’t even sure if I knew what that was, but I figured he wanted to hear and know that somehow he would be forgiven. I told him that since I was not a priest, that in fact I believed in a priesthood of all believers, I did not have the authority to forgive him, but that God did and I would be more than willing to pray with him and ask God to forgive him. I don’t think he liked that answer. He wanted me right then and there to forgive him, but that was not something I felt like I could do. But he did share his confession with me – he had been having an affair and was worried if he died that he wouldn’t get into heaven – another whole issue really – and we prayed together. And we asked God to forgive him. Because this is the authority, the power, that God has. I did not have that kind of authority and I did not want that kind of authority. We, of course have the power and responsibility to forgive others who have hurt us, but the forgiveness and love of God is the ultimate authority isn’t it. The amazing authority of God, who we see in Jesus Christ, is about love and forgiveness and healing. It’s not about control, enforcement or intimidation. Which is why I don’t bristle when I hear a story about the amazing authority of Jesus Christ.
The Greek word for authority used in Mark is related to the verb meaning “it is free” or it is permitted.” In other words Jesus’ authority is the sovereign freedom of one who acts without hindrance. Jesus’ teaching in sovereign freedom is contrasted with the teaching of the scribes whose authority depends on their knowledge of and adherence to tradition – especially the traditional interpretation of the Torah. That does not make the scribe’s teaching wrong; it just means Jesus’ teaching is different. The scribes are bound by tradition, but Jesus teaches with an independent authority – the authority of God. Jesus is free to teach in the way that only one who lives directly from and to God’s authority is free.
In Mark the first public act that Jesus does is to teach and then exorcise an unclean spirit from a man in the synagogue. The first story of his ministry is about him teaching and healing – which is what an exorcism really is. If we want to know who this Jesus is and what kind of authority he has, all we have to do is read the first chapter of Mark. After Jesus calls his disciples he goes into the synagogue and begins to teach something new – a new teaching with authority. His powerful exorcism is the confirmation of that authority. An authority that brings something radically new into the world. But what make Jesus’ teaching authoritative is not the words that he says, but what he does. His authority to teach is confirmed by his deeds of power. In the other gospels we hear the teaching of Jesus. In this gospel we see the teachings of Jesus.
In a worldly sense Jesus didn’t have any power at all. He was not a worldly king with political or military power. He was not a scribe with the authority of Jewish tradition. He did not exercise power over people. The only authority he had was the confidence that what he did and said was God’s will and God’s truth. That’s what makes it amazing authority! Jesus’ authority lay in the power of his words and in the example of his deeds. That authority brought blessings to people – health and healing. His authority possessed an irresistible power that drew people to him and his ministry not through manipulation, but simply by the person he was (the Son of God) and the gifts he gave. His authority was the freedom, the right, the desire, and the confidence to share the love and healing power of God
The question of authority is an important one for those of us who seek to follow Christ. Power issues are daily realities in every relationship, every family, every organization, every community and every nation. We live in an age that questions most forms of authority. Many of us are skeptical of authority. I know I am. But as people of faith we too have authority. Every one of us exerts authority in some way, however small, even if it is only over ourselves. The challenge is to embrace Christ’s way of doing authority that is so different from that of our human systems. The challenge is to realize that authority is derived not by climbing corporate ladders of power in our world, but by submitting to the purposes and values of the Kingdom of God. Jesus used his authority to empower others through liberating them, healing them and serving them. The authority of Jesus is collaborative and shared. It is a willingness to give up freedom in order to bring freedom and life to others. It is a rejection of the temptation to cling to power because you’re afraid you might lose it, but to try instead to discover true authority from within by living with radical integrity. Can we like Christ commit ourselves to liberating and healing our companions and our communities? It is a lot to ask of us selfish and often fragile human beings. But then Jesus’s authority and kingdom ministry invites us to imagine a different world and then to live towards it. And that I believe we can do. May it be so. Amen.
Resources:
Feasting on the Word, Year B, Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany.
Patheos.com, “Real Authority,” by Alyce M. McKenzie.
Sacredise.com, “Who’s the Boss,” by John van de Laar.
Workingpreacher.com, “Commentary on Mark 1: 21-28," by Stephen Hultgren.