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November 25, 2007 Rev. Steve Gehlert I'd like you to pretend with me, that we're just ordinary people, living in the Roman Empire, about 2000 years ago. That's who we are, and this is what I've done this morning, just to get here. I got up, said a prayer to the spirits of my ancestors, to let em know they still had my respect. Then I gave thanks to Ceres the goddess of harvests for the grain I had for breakfast, and to Neptune, the sea god, for allowing it to get here from across the sea. Then, because I valued my home, as I left, I gave a nod to Janus, the god of doors, and to Vesta the goddess of home. Because I hoped for a safe journey, I prayed to Mercury the god of travel, and to Fortuna, the goddess of fate and fortune. Because I wanted to share a meaningful message, stopped at the temple of Minerva the goddess of wisdom. Because I didn't want it to run too long I also made an offering to Saturn the god of time. Last, but certainly not least, I paid my respects at the Emperor's shrine, he is, after all, lord of lords. That's how it was for the people of the ancient world. They believed there were many gods, they lived in the grip of many powers who controlled all of life, and therefore, controlled their destinies. Now, before you dismiss this talk about powers, ask yourself, "Who runs our world?" Politicians? We think they're powerful. But they say, "We're victims of forces beyond our control." That, for example, the economy is to blame. What's that? Ever seen the economy? Can't see it, but it determines our well-being. We can't touch or see the economy, capital trends, or the global market but these "powers" shape our lives. So, do the visible ones, like peer groups, corporations, or the media. So do more personal ones, like images of beauty or success. These powers powerfully effect us, and because they do, we defer to them, sometimes fear them, often serve them. Ask yourself, what has power in your life? What do you worry about, try to figure out and manage? Or what stirs your passion; what do you give your time to? What do they offer you that you think you can't live without: a job, a promotion, a chance to play, a scholarship? Those things are the powers in your life. The ancients called them gods, named them Mars, Jupiter, or Venus and told amazing stories about them. We call them politics, economics, addictions, or hormones, and have theories about how to deal with them, but really we don't know much more about how to deal with these powers than our ancestors. We feel powerless before forces we can't control. We've got problems with the powers. That's why the letter Paul wrote from prison, to Christians in a little town called Colossae, to talk about the powers, has much to say to us. Much to say about who we should trust and serve. It's interesting how he opens the letter. He starts by giving thanks simply that there's a church at all in Colossae. Given the powers working against them, all the things they had to turn away from, all the things they had to fear when they proclaimed Jesus as their lord, that's something to celebrate. "Give thanks," he says, "that God's rescued you from the power of darkness, and transferred you into the kingdom of his son." The words are reminders of the Exodus. Just as the Hebrews were freed from slavery, to live in covenant with God, now, through Jesus, we've been transferred from the grip of the powers into the kingdom of God, living under God's love, rather than the world's false powers Paul says something else about the powers. "All things were made in Christ, through Christ, and for Christ." All things, including the powers! The world's not divided into a good part that belongs to God and a bad part that's ruled by the powers. All of it was created by God and belongs to God. So what went wrong? Paul says that humans abandoned their God-given responsibility for God's world to the powers. If you serve the god of wealth, rather than the God who calls you to care for others and for creation, you can expect that others and the creation are going to suffer. If you serve the god of popularity and success, rather than the God who calls you to trust, honesty, and service, you can expect that your sense of security, your self-respect, and your integrity will suffer. But Jesus took on the powers, showed a way of being human that challenged them. The powers say, "Live and die for money;" he says you can't serve God and wealth. The powers say get a gun and use it; he says those who take the sword perish by the sword. The powers say Caesar rules; Jesus says God does. The powers whip us into line by force; he ruled as a bleeding lamb on a cross. So, what happens to people like Jesus who stand up to the powers? Well, the powers can't stand being challenged. They rule by the illusion that they're in control. So if someone breaks loose, speaks of a different world, an alternative rule, they get nervous, they get angry, they get even. When the powers nailed the sign saying, "King of the Jews" over Jesus' head, they were expressing their anger about what he'd done; he'd acted like he was in charge. So, they stripped him naked and humiliated him in his trial and crucifixion. Then they celebrated their victory over the would-be king. And Jesus hung there, till he died, and was laid in a tomb. Nobody beats the system! Or so they thought! Listen to how Paul stands all this on its head: "He stripped the powers naked; he made a public example of them; he celebrated his triumph over them!" The powers want to pretend they're still in charge, that they still dominate and control us. But Jesus stripped them naked, made an example of 'em, first by submitting to death, then by rising from it. Surprise! The powers didn't defeat Christ with the cross. He defeated them! In Jesus Christ Superstar as Jesus nears Jerusalem, Peter urges him to start a revolution and become king. That's how Jesus'll get the power and the glory. But Jesus responds, "You don't know what true power and glory are." Then he goes the way of the cross, a way that unmasks and subverts all earthly powers. The power of the suffering love of God is stronger than Ceasar's power. That's the reason for Paul's gratitude. The battle's been won! Christ is victorious! Therefore, so are we. The powers - like lust, greed, fear, convenience, apathy, and all the rest, and all the powers they create - nationalism, religious intolerance, racism, militarism, economic exploitation, and all the rest - try to tell you that they're unbeatable, that you can't resist them. Go along to get along. Get a gun, a fat bank account, and work with them. But Paul says that all these powers were defeated on the cross. They have no power over us. Christ has defeated them! The battle's been won. Paul's challenging us to grant allegiance where it belongs - to God alone. He's calling us to challenge the powers that rule our lives. It takes faith to do that, to believe we can overcome the powers, faith that finds hope in Christ, who faced them with courage, willingly bearing their hate. The decisive battle's been won; what's ahead now is a mopping-up operation to secure that victory. Meanwhile, we're to live as those who know that the decisive battle's over, the war's been won, and we've been freed to live as those who know who's in charge. Now there's only one power to obey, in life and death, and beyond death. That power has a human face, a face once crowned with thorns. How can we live the victory of the cross? How can live in this new reign, with a new King? I'll tell you. Every time you pray the prayer Jesus taught us, you're saying, in joyful defiance, that he is Lord and the powers aren't. Thy kingdom come! When you roll out of your driveway to go to worship rather than where the world wants you to go, you're proclaiming your allegiance to him. When you say a blessing at a meal, you're making a political statement - that the food's God's gift, not your achievement. When you gather to study our faith, rather than things the world says are important, you're rebuking the "powers" that still resist God's rule. When you remember the promises of baptism, to welcome, nurture, and include the child on the way of discipleship, your saying "no" to the powers that would have you dismiss, ignore, and exclude for all kinds of reasons. I want to lift up the courage of one of our confirmands and his family in doing that this morning. He's involved in a sport that's decided to move to Sunday mornings for practice. He and his parents said that was unacceptable. His coach said that the only other time he could practice would be with the girls. That's what he's doing. That's the kind of courage we need to find at school, at work, with our friends, with our families. Having heard Paul's victory proclamation, we're to live as those who now know who's really in charge - and who's not. Jesus is; the powers aren't!. Remember the story, The Emperor's New Clothes? Two scoundrels tell the emperor they can weave cloth so fine that the stupid won't even be able to see it. They trust that fear will keep everyone from saying there's nothing there. So, the kings officials, sent to check on their work, fearing to say there's nothing there, come back saying that the cloth is, indeed, extremely fine. Then, the emperor himself, takes a look, and nearly faints because sees nothing, but having heard his officials' positive comments, he says nothing, and put on the "garment" that these "weavers" have made. So, word went out that the emperor would go on parade in his "new clothes," along, of course, with a warning that the stupid and incompetent would not be able to see them. And so the emperor marched in the procession and everybody on the street and in the windows cried out: "The Emperor's new clothes are peerless! What a beautiful train! How wonderfully they fit!" No one would let it slip that he or she saw nothing; that would've meant they were stupid. Then a little boy shouted, "He has nothing on!" "He's just a child!" said his father. But one person whispered to another what the child had said . . . "But he really hasn't anything on!" at last shouted all the people. The Emperor had a creepy feeling that they were right. But thought, "I must still lead the parade." So he walked yet more proudly, as his officials walked behind carrying a train that wasn't even there The powers want to play the scoundrel's game with us. Want to use fear, fear of looking bad, not fitting in, being persecuted, of not being popular, of never getting ahead, of not having enough, of being to burdened, of whatever, to make us think there's something, some power we need to be afraid of, when there isn't. They want us to be like those who, in fear went along, telling others they're stupid if they don't too, or like the officials "carrying a train that's not even there." But Jesus has overcome the powers, defeated them. We need to be like the innocent child who shouted that out, and got others whispering, and finally shouting the truth. There's nothing there. It's all a sham! Our job is to keep telling the truth: the powers are no longer powerful. Christ is Lord; Venus, Mars, Caesar, and mammon aren't. The battle's won. Victory's ours. Now, let's celebrate and live it! |
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