Choosing Power Over Love

 Mark 10:35-45

Stewardship

October 20, 2024

 

Henri Nouwen who was a wonderful

priest and author wrote a very wise thing

"The long painful history of the church

Greatest In the Kingdom
J. Kirk Richards

is the history of people ever and again tempted

to choose power over love, 

control over the cross,

being the leader over being led by God."

 

This has been the churches temptation

and the people of Christ have given into it:

the Spanish Inquisition, 

Christians continuous persecution

of Jewish people, Early Calvinism, burning people at the stake,  

even our own Martin Luther gave into this temptation:

when he was asked what to do about the peasant uprising in 1525

a large group of laborers protesting unfair conditions

he told the governors that they had the right, 

and even the obligation to kill the protesting peasants outright, 

and they did kill them

some say up to 10,000 people were killed.

 

The temptation to take control over facing the cross.

This was James and John’s temptation too.

 

Jesus has just told the disciples that he’s going to be

arrested, tortured and killed by the authorities 

like he does a few times in Mark’s gospel. And almost in response to that,

James and John, the Sons of Thunder,

come up to Jesus and ask Jesus if he can promise 

them the corner office and the best parking spaces in God’s Kingdom.

They want to use their position as Jesus diciple

for their own beneift and privledge.

  

They hear about Jesus own sacrifice death and resurrection

and they don’t think about the implications for the world,

or the implications for Jesus, or how they need to carry their

own cross (like Jesus told them they did.)

And all they could think about about their own position

and claiming the power of Jesus for themsevles.

 

It might seem like a small, harmless request,

but that’s how these temptations work.

One innocent thing leads to another.

And then things are no longer innocent.

 

People often do terrible things with the excuse that

they‘re protecting themselves or their families or their memory,

or heaven forbid, they are protecting God –who needs no protecting.

 

Barbra Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest and author said:

“As a general rule, I would say that human beings never 

behave more badly toward one another 

than when they believe they are protecting God.”

 

Lots of Christians are have political power in the US today.

It has almost been a requirement in this country to be

a Christian to be elected in some places.

Thankfull that is changing slowly and people of different faiths

or no faiths are being elected to offices.

 

There is nothing wrong with people of faith holding political office,

and absolutely nothing wrong with people’s faith informing

how they govern and the things they vote for.

 

But there are a lot of Christians in political office,

who believe they are protecting God, who, as I said,

needs no protecting. They use their power to advance Christianity

and particular ideologies of Christianity, 

and their intent is to make those beliefs into law 

for other people regardless of their faith.

 

They use their political office to secure privileged status for Christians 

in our society, and to impose and imbed Christian beliefs onto everyone. 

I’m sure they believe they are protecting God –

who does not need their protection.

 

The people who support this kind of thing, 

usually have a very narrow understanding of Christianity 

that is authoritative and punitive, and that, I believe, is contrary to Jesus way.

Although it claims some of the same images and characteristics

of the story of Jesus, I think that this ideology is diametrically

opposed to Christ and to the point of Jesus minsitry.

 

For instance, and this is just one instance of many instances

going on right now in politics, the state superintendent 

of schools in Oklahoma, Ryan Walters, 

made a state-wide mandate that every classroom 

in the state of Oklahoma incorporate the Bible

into lessons in public schools for students to grades 5-12.

Like even in classes like Math and Chemistry.

 

Every classroom must have a bible in it and it has to be the King James Version. 

They’re proposing spending $3million dollars of the budget 

to get bibles into every classroom and there is no clear curriculum 

to teach it, so it would be up to each school district, school, 

or even individual teachers. 

I’m sure Ryan Walters thinks he is protecting God, 

who does not need Ryan‘s protection.

 

Now, I love the bible. It’s a treasure trove of information, history,

and insight for my faith and for many other people’s faith,

and you might think as a Christian pastor I would support this idea.

But I don’t. I think it’s horrible. For many reasons.

 

There are some practical reasons I think this is bad.

As a citizen of the US, I believe that people should

have the right to worship or not worship as they want,

and forcing a specific book of religion on students in public school

does not align with our constitution.

If you would not be comfortable with the Quran or the

Book of Mormon being incorportated into every classroom,

then you should not be comfortable with this.

And if I were a parent, even a Christian parent,

I would not want random teachers with no religious training,

teaching my children their own versions of how to

interpret the bible. There are some very far-out understandings

of the scriptures, it’s been used to support slavery,

murder, hatred, segregation, inqisitions, wars, genocide

and other things that are opposed to Jesus message.

 

As I said, the people who want to enforce this kind of thing,

have a very narrow understanding of Christianity,

that is often very authoritative and punishing.

I wouldn’t want my children learning that interpertation

of the bible in their public school classroom.

And what if someone who hated Jesus was teaching the bible?

I wouldn’t want my children learning that either.

Faith is best taught in church or at home or maybe

at a private school.

  

But  my biggest objection is that this kind of thing is

forcing the ministry and teaching of Jesus on people is contrary to

Jesus ministry and teaching.  It’s contrary to everything 

that Jesus taught, and lived, and hoped for his disciples to follow. Jesus said:

 

You know that among the gentiles those whom 

they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, 

and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you.

 

It is not so among us.

Christ’s Way was never meant to be a mandate or a demand.

And as soon as we make it that, it stops being Christ’s Way,

and becomes some crude caricature of it.

We never achieve God’s vision by lording it over people

or forcing them to learn, or convert,

or do things that we do out of spiritual convictions.

Once you make a law demanding that people

or children or anyone else learn about, or become Christian,

or enforce Christian beliefs or practices on other people,

then you are not teaching them about Jesus way,

you’re teaching another way entirely.

 

Jesus said, whoever wishes to become great among you

must be your servant, and whoever wishes

to be first among you must be slave of all.

 

This is how we bring people to Jesus: by serving others.

We bring the Kingdom of God is through helping and

understanding, through tolerance and love of others.

Not through mandates.

 

Now I do believe there is a place in politics for Christians,

and that our faith should inform our votes

and the votes of the politicans in power.

  

But when a Christian is motivated to let their political voice

and power be put in effect, it is to follow Jesus way

to help and serve others people. Not to protect God or Christianity.

Wheover wishes to be first among you must serve all.

 

Our goal as Christians in the political arena is always to help others.

Specifically those who are under-represented 

and have less money and power, and are often forgotten by the world:

like the poor, the homeless, the immigrant, the stranger, 

the elderly, the disabled, the sick, the unloved.

 

When we vote for, or enact laws that help others,

then we are bringing Christ’s kingdom into this kingdom.

 

On the other hand, If we enact laws that just support,

defend, or further the institution of Christianity,

or make mandates of Christian beliefs,

then we are not bringing Christ’s kingdom to earth.

We are not doing God’s will. And we are not following Jesus.

We are following some other messiah entierly.

 

We follow the one who went to the cross,

to show us exactly what happens when 

authoritarian political power and religion get together:

 

As, again, Barbara Brown Taylor wrote:

“Jesus was not killed by atheism and anarchy. 

He was brought down by law and order allied with religion, 

which is always a deadly mix. 

Beware those who claim to know the mind of God 

and who are prepared to use force, if necessary, to make others conform.

  

We follow the one who could have had

all the power in the world, who could have lived in a palace,

who could have had all the priveledges he wanted,

with riches, and comfort.

He could have had every person of every nation

bow to him and live under is rule if he wanted to.

 

But instead he used his power for the good of thers,

he used his power to heal, to forgive,

to set captives like us free from our own prisons

we make for ourselves. He used his power to show

us how to live, and then he gave his ministry to us to take care of.

Jesus could have had anything in the world,

but he gave his whole life to serve us.

 

We follow the one who didn’t lord his power

over others, but on the night before he died,

knelt down before his friends and washed their feet.

Even the feet of the one who would betray him

and turn him in to be killed.

 

In God’s kingdom, real power is found in giving our power to others.

May we always choose love of others over the love of power.

May we always choose the way of Christ’s cross.