What Will It Be - Control or Power?
David C. Myers
May 3, 2009
Communion and Baptism
Acts 4:8b - 10
John 11:,14f,18
Luke12:16 - 20
Matthew 25:14-15, 19, 24 - 28
(used within the sermon)
Text: "No one takes My life from Me, but I lay it down on My own accord." (John 10:18)
Some time ago, Louise Degrafinried of Mason, Tennessee, astounded that state when she persuaded an escaped convict from a Tennessee prison to surrender. He had the gun, and with his gun, he thought he had control. He had surprised Nathan Degrafinreid, her husband, outside their modest home and forced him inside.
But Louise was not afraid of the gun. The short, black, grandmotherly woman told him to put down his gun while she fixed him some breakfast. She spoke of her faith and how a young man such as he should behave. In no time at all, he was on his way back to the Tennessee prison.
The escaped convict thought he had control, but Louise Degrafinreid had power.
Control. It is a big issue, if not the big issue in our times. This morning, with the help of Scripture and some stories and anecdotes, I hope to help us understand that our deep desire for control is not as important as we may think and is ultimately bankrupt.
Control is not a new issue; nearly some 20 centuries ago there was a group of religious leaders that had trouble with control so they arrested the apostle Peter and some of his friends. They did not like the fact that Peter was teaching about Jesus being resurrected - to say nothing that Peter had just healed a lame man. Speaking before the Jewish courts, the Sanhedrin, Peter said in his defense:
Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick, and are asked how this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified, Whom God raised from the dead." (Acts 4:8b-10)
Peter points out to the religious leaders that their attempts at control were futile. They had tried to control God at work amongst them in the person of Jesus. They rejected Jesus, they misunderstood Him, they maligned Him, and finally, they were able to crucify and put Jesus to death; the ultimate in control - or so they thought. Not being able to control Jesus' teachings the religious leaders tried death as they crucified Jesus. All in an attempt to gain the security and control from threat that Jesus posed to their authority and beliefs. Death seemed so strong. And yet, what an illusion of safety that was! Like the escaped criminal in Tennessee who had a gun, the religious leaders thought they had control.
But in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the apostles had the power.
I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. . . . I am the Good Shepherd; I know My own and they know Me, . . . and I lay down My life for the sheep. . . . No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. . . John 10:11, 14f, 18
Death's strong bonds took quite a beating from Jesus. Jesus did not fear death, and choose to lay His life down. And that power to remove the ultimate sting from death came from God. In 1944 Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote these words from a German prison camp. They were written just before Easter and about one year before his execution for plotting to kill Hitler.
Easter? We're paying more attention to dying than to death. We're more concerned to get over the act of dying than to overcome death. Socrates mastered the art of dying; Christ overcame death "as the last enemy." (I Cor. 15:26) There is a real difference between the two things; the one is within the scope of human possibilities, the other means resurrection. It's not from the art of dying, but from the resurrection of Christ, that a new and purifying wind can blow through our present world. If a few people really believe that and acted on it in their daily lives, a great deal would be changed. To live in the light of the resurrection - that is what Easter means.
About 20-some years ago, prior to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall, some Christian youth were holding a rally in East Germany. Their meeting was held in the Town Hall which was dominated by two large pictures - one of Lenin, the other of Stalin. By political decree, these could not be removed, so they hung their banner with these words: "The earth is the Lord's and the fullness therein," (Psalm 24:1) beneath the pictures. Suddenly, they saw how compelling the Word of God becomes in the context of weakness. No matter how hard the East Germans tried to control the thoughts and philosophy of their political system, the power of God, "and the fullness therein" revealed the final bankruptcy of their attempts.
And on a personal level, how much energy do we spend trying to control our lives? We attend personal growth workshops for that purpose. We buy insurance policies to control or losses (better be careful here, my wife sells insurance!). We lock up our belongings to control who has access to them and build bigger and better locks. We install climate control in our houses, work places and in our cars. In a search for our own security we do all things imaginable to secure our wealth and status. So we can have charge over our lives, we seek control.
And Jesus told them a parable saying, "the land of a rich man brought forth plentifully; and he thought to himself, "What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?" And he said, "I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones; and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, 'Soul, you have ample good laid up for many years; take your ease, east, drink and merry.'" But God said to him, "Fool! This night your soul is required of you; and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?" . . . Luke 12:16-20
Not only this parable, but in fact many places in the Bible make it quite clear that we have no way of understanding God's power. God sends sun and rain to the just and to the unjust. God called all creation good. And Jesus reminds us that God will come to us when we least expect it, like a thief in the night. Indeed, our efforts to have total control would seem to be beyond our control, yet in God's power.
And that's the rub. That's the clue we're given. Instead of trying to be in charge or to try to have total control so that there will be no surprises, perhaps we could try to better align ourselves with God's power; or, as Bonhoeffer put it, "to live in light of the resurrection."
So how do we do that? How do we apply these thoughts? How do we apply the ancient teachings about a rabble-rousing rabbi who would speak out against those who were in control seeking to extend their own control? There is one more Scripture reading to hear.
For it is as if a man, going on a journey, summoned his servants and entrusted his property to them; to one he gave five talents, to another he gave two and to the third he gave one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. . . . After a long time the master of the servants came back and settled accounts with the servants. . . . The one who had received the one talent also came forward, saying, "Master, I knew you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; so I was afraid, and I went out and hid your talent in the ground. Here, have what is yours." But the master replied, "You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? Then ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. So take this talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents." . . . Matthew25:14 - 15, 19, 24 - 28
In a world where control is from God, how can we be with Jesus, so as not to be against Him? How do we live in light of the resurrection? The Parable of the Talents is revealing. The one talent servant used as his defense, fear. And isn't that the motivation for having control? Isn't a desire for control motivated by fear?
Some years ago, Henry Kissinger, in speaking at President Richard Nixon's funeral, made an interesting distinction between our nation's dominance on the one hand, and leadership on the other. "Dominance," he said, "came from shear force, whereas leadership is something we have to earn." I think it is a similar distinction between control and power. Our efforts to control the world have been bankrupt, but leadership is still possible, for our nation has considerable power. We have a democracy which still recognizes the fallibility of human leadership and works through a series of checks and balances. We have the right to challenge our government when we believe it is wrong. And perhaps most importantly, we are a people who respond readily to others in need. The power of our compassion has made us strong in the past and could be our power in the future.
And much in the same way, when we look at our church, we need to see our resources and investments as instruments of power and ministry instead of instruments of control and insurance. For I am convinced that it is out of the power of God - and not out of a desire for control - that we will be instruments of God's peace and faithful disciples of God's will. When we concentrate on building bigger barns we will find that we will be like the one talent servant who, rather than risk that talent, decided to be conservative and not only had the talent taken away from him, but even worse, incurred his master's wrath.
We are in the season of Eastertide, and during this season we come face to face with a Savior Who gave up control of His life, and unleashed a power that still changes lives today. That power has been promised to us. We know it worked for those, who, like Louise Degrafinreid, have the faith to use it.
After all, Jesus showed us the ultimate in giving up control when He said, "No one takes My life from Me, but I lay it down on My own accord."
This morning we can share in that freeing power as we partake in the ultimate gifts that God gave us - the sacraments of Baptism and Communion. We will welcome people as our Christian brothers and sisters; and we will share a common meal; a meal that sets us free of our fears, and unleashes in us the power of the One Who can even overcome death.
You are invited to taste the power of the resurrection as we share together the Sacrament of Communion.