Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
Notes
Transcript
Intro
Intro
The authority of the Christian
False Authority
The source of all our authority
An introduction to authority
An introduction to authority
=book=
A few players in this idea of authority
A surprising amount of weight is given to the stature of a woodpile
Those who confer the information
The woman who is actually seeking
Surprisingly little authority is given to the yet unknown man!
Today we see an encounter Jesus has with several different authorities in the synagogue of Capernaum.
The disciples, the crowd, the scribes, and the demons
The Authority of the Christian
The Authority of the Christian
You may be surprised to hear that as Citizens of the kingdom of heaven you, like Jesus have a huge amount of authority that is not available to the rest of the created order including:
Judging angels (1 Cor 6:3)
The right to judge others without hypocrisy (Mt 7:15, Jn 7:24)
To confer the forgiveness of sins (John 20, Mt 16 & 18)
Membership in the Holy Ark of the church (eph 2:19)
I know not a few pastors who dread the congregational meeting because of the very real possibility that at any meeting there may be a motion from the floor to retract the pastor’s call. You have very real authority.
4. You have the ability and charge to make peace (Mark 9:50, Luke 10:5)
Really this is a job description for what it means to live in the Kingdom of God)- Repent and believe, now what?
He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the Lord is gracious and merciful.
What does it look like to remember God’s works? It is more than standing against something, the primary occupation of the Christian is to show Grace and Mercy.
It is not enough to stand against something. We must work towards something.
There are some things that are appear to be authoritative but end up manufacturing conflict:
False Authority
False Authority
As I mentioned earlier there are a few groups who are trying to assert their position in the gospel of Mark 1.
The crowd
Crowds seem to regularly assemble AGAINST something (abortion, the election) even if they say they’re marching for something you can almost bet that the regular language is negative. (Turned against Jesus)
The Pharisees -Joint Commission (another manifestation of the crowd)
Jc is a current major voice of authority but it really matters who is on the commission. All the same professional people we’ll easily arrive at the same conclusion.
The point of a joint commission is to gather a variety of views and then make recommendations for a whole group. CTCR and education boards. Exacerbated by groups who then translate these thoughts into platitudes like we trust the bible- the scripture doesn’t tell you how much to save for retirement or to wear or not wear a mask. (Joint commission of Pharisees -council condemned)
3. Self - the battle within. The man who shows up is possessed by demons but if we pay attention to the pronouns it reveals the demons we all struggle with. The battle of being pronounced ‘unclean’.
The man speaks but it’s not his voice. It is the words of the demon that come out.
And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.”
Isn’t this just it in some way or another there is a way that when we talk about ourselves we most often adopt the language that someone else has decided about us? Telling us how we should feel about or think about ourselves?
Whether it is an unseen thing, your education level or a past sin, or a seen thing like your clothes or body type
Somehow the chief of demons, the father of all lies, the devil is telling you and all of creation that nothing will ever be holy, worthy or good again. That whatever harm or suffering you exist in now is all there ever will be.
*** PAUSE ***
This question of the demons is literally “What is it to you?” What does it matter to you Jesus that we haunt this person?
Jesus is the Lord of Heaven and Earth and as Lord he is claiming and cleansing what is rightfully His.
But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!”
Jesus does all this out of His own authority. This authority is then used to make you and I holy, not just clean and pure but empowered.
As Christians when we speak about ourselves we speak through the authority of Jesus not through any other minor power.
Your new authority
Your new authority
John said to him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” But Jesus said, “Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.
The name and authority of Jesus cannot be diluted. It is imparted unto you in your baptism, in your membership of the church, in the reading of the word, in the gracious words “You are forgiven” that we hear each week.
There are a lot of authorities out in the world that are telling stories about why we are divided:
Because we’re racists, Elitists, outdated or uneducated.
Those things may very well be true, but the real root of our divisions is that we are all sinners and separated from a Holy God.
Tell me how you solve those problems without mercy. You cannot.
Where else in the world, do you find mercy as the primary credential for any authority?
In Jesus, our Holy God has shown mercy to the world and Christians are now equipped with that unique gift to enact justice, peace, and life itself.
The source of our authority is Christ and His mercy towards all mankind.
This is a call for you and I to recognize that everything and everyone else in this world is powerless until Christ claims it as His own. He has claimed you and won you back from all loss, harm, and damnation.
What this matters is that Jesus is Lord over all. He alone has the power to alleviate the bonds of death. He alone has the authority to make the cross, an instrument that portrays the authority of sin and death, and defeat look like a pile of sticks. Amen.