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Hubris and Genuine Power John 6: 1- 21; II Samuel 11:1 – 15 In the early 1980s I was privileged to serve with the Commission on Ministry in Michigan. One young woman came through our process that seemed to be especially and genuinely gifted for compassionate ministry. Her ordination was one of the first I helped plan and in which I shared. More than 20 years later, as I served as Regional Minister in Ohio, the woman was one of ‘my’ pastors in that Region. She asked me to be present and participate in the service when her congregation would worship for the last time in their old building. It is a tough task to help a congregation leave a building that has been their home for more than 100 years, but they had decided to build in the growing suburbs of their community and leave the business district and dilapidated building behind. Watching how this pastor cared tenderly for all the emotions and needs of the congregation was a gift. She and her UCC colleague had orchestrated the two congregations worshipping together for several months — in the UCC building — which would also allow the UCC pastor to take a sabbatical. At the end of the worship service members of the Disciples congregation were going to walk (two blocks) to the United Church of Christ building with the important symbols of their sanctuary — cross, candlesticks, communion ware — and then join with their sister congregation for prayer and the beginning of some life together. What they did not know was that their UCC partners were lining the street (on a frigid winter day) to enfold the Disciples with love and care as they weepingly left their old building. Months later I was also present in worship the Sunday the Disciples would leave the UCC congregation and move into their new place. As excited as they were to get into their brand new building, it was clearly very difficult for the parting of what had become one congregation. This time everyone was filled with emotion. Those people had found reservoirs of love within themselves they had never known. They learned in a significant way what it was like to share the depth of their lives — not just to sit together through the same liturgy, but also to worship together, to love God together, and to know what it means to be one family of God. The pastor sang a children’s song to them, “I love you forever, I like you for always,” so they would remember how intertwined their lives and ministry had become. Again, I was amazed at how she loved and empowered them through the process of gratefulness and grief and at the same time sharing a genuine thanks offering. This gentle pastor knew her congregation so well that she was able to serve them, discerning their needs. And as they experienced her love and support they were able to withstand major change, crises and become an outpouring congregation of service and love. I thought of her and her ministry as I began working with the text of the day. Jesus was surrounded by a huge crowd of people …people that had been following him because they were hungry for his teaching and healing ministry. The crowd was also hungry for some food. In his gentle but assuring fashion, Jesus orchestrated the feeding of this large crowd. Step-by-step he gave the disciples instructions on how they would manage the situation, asking questions, suggesting instructions, making the distribution of food into a worshipful experience. Our Gospel writer makes it sound like a smooth — without ripples — event. But everyone knows that feeding any number of people can be an overwhelming exercise. Jesus’ gift was assessing what needed to be done and realizing there was power to get it done. Then he allowed everyone to get involved in the work of that effort. That is true, genuine, real power. That is the power Jesus always used, always shared, always engendered. That is also the kind of power I saw in that Disciples pastor I was privileged to watch. The caveat for Jesus is that as soon as the crowds who swarmed him wanted to glorify him…wanted to raise him up as a savior, king, ruler…wanted to give him credit for his abilities, he would slip through their numbers, get out of sight, or swear them to secrecy. For Jesus it was NEVER about his own recognition, his own ego, his own power, but always assessing the situation and working to make sure others’ needs were cared for and, as much as possible, helping all people to give out of whatever resources they had. And then there is David. It is amazing to have these two men — David and Jesus — stand together in scripture with the passages of today showing forth their true character. Both called kings. Both WERE kings. Both had power to get what they wanted. But what they wanted was very different — one from the other. The stories of their beginnings are both humble: one born in a stable; one discovered while he was tending the sheep (and because none of his older brothers were the chosen one). But in the height of their powerful days their choices could not have been more different. David saw what he wanted, and he got it, stepping on whomever might be in the way. Was it because he was the king that he believed his lust could be satisfied however he chose? Was it because he was king that he believed he could do away with the life of his lover’s husband? Was it because he was king that he thought the world was his for the taking? Hubris in modern usage is overconfident pride; arrogance — often associated with the lack of knowledge and interest in history and certainly the lack of humility. David, in this tale about him, is, unfortunately, the living embodiment of hubris. There is a broad spectrum between Jesus and David — between hubris and genuine power. We live on that spectrum, and we move along that spectrum. Amazingly and thankfully, God never seemed to lose hope in David, and continually held out the possibilities for him to change, to develop into the leader God needed. God still needs all of us — and maintains hope in us — and needs all of us to move closer to the end of the spectrum where Jesus lives. The world, in fact, is starving for Jesus and his followers to help empower others to open their lunch boxes, to provide food to share, to find ways to have the resources we have be amplified, to develop opportunities for the crowds of the world to have their needs met, to sit down as a global neighborhood for an afternoon of delightful instruction and peaceful existence. The way of Jesus Christ allows, teaches, informs, empowers people to do just that. All of God’s children — when they know they are loved, when they know they are affirmed, when they know of the place they have secured in God’s heart (all of which is what Jesus Christ has taught us) — are able, then, to open their hands, hearts, souls to help feed this starving world. We may not have fish or bread to bring to the mountainside gathering —or to the world in need — but every one of us has something to bring, something to share, some resource to help in the feeding. It may only be sentences of love; aA stroke of compassion; a tender smile; a listening ear — even to wearisome and oft repeated stories; a casserole; a flower; one trip to Jeff City to lobby or demonstrate or speak to a senator or representative; one letter in support of justice; one phone call to city hall; one statement or action that stops racist talk or activity; one song from the heart. Most all of those would be done through genuine power – power that is affirming and loving – power that will not only help feed starving people, but help them find ways to give out of their own giftedness. These are the ways of Jesus Christ. These are the ways he has taught us to give, to love and to tap into the power God has given us. Genuine power — we all have it. We don’t always use it, but it is easily identified because it gives glory to God (and not ourselves). And it feeds a world in need of all that we have to offer, and a world that has been loved into existence by the power of God. SW |
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