Contrasting Political Powers.
Deuteronomy 17: 14 – 20; Luke 23: 32 – 43
The Cross frees us from the fantasy that our power is like God’s.
Deuteronomy 17: 14 – 20; Luke 23: 32 – 43
The Cross frees us from the fantasy that our power is like God’s.
‘Remember me when you come into your kingdom’ says the most unlikely of characters in this enduring crucifixion scene. Jesus crucified depicts Rome’s supreme power. Political activist and criminal alike are crucified. That’s the power!
We have just witnessed a superpower choose who they want to represent their power. The drama has dominated our news media. We loosely speak about our politicians and the power they desire. It is almost amusing to hear people talk about politicians desiring power forgetting who has put them there – the people. You! Me! Power is something we all seek. Let a little honesty prevail, please. We vote for the party or person we want to hold power, because we share their views that we want these views promoted through influence, coercion and compulsion. We want others to conform to our view, or at least let our views dominate. Political power is about influence, coercion and compulsion. It is false to label the politicians as the ones wanting power. We vote for them so that we can have our views influence the future direction of our country in law. When our views are enshrined in law people are coerced and compelled to live with them. In a democratic system power can be shifted in time to another party. In autocracies the power shifts when those in power become weakened and other autocrats build up their power base to take over.
Our political leaders most often work with what is expedient. Expediency is a key principle. Will x produce y in the most effective and efficient way? That is the prevailing question. The reality is that when expediency is the principle of operation it usually involves a moral loss. For example, Australians believe that it is imperative to protect the country’s borders. In fact we would all agree. Border protection is important. When we place it as an absolute then the cost is justified. The current way we protect our borders is to limit the migration of people to what we think is reasonable. This too is an acceptable point. This view leads to desperate people, who have been forcibly displaced from their homes through political unrest, being herded into virtual prison camps at a great cost to their mental health and dignity. The financial cost is huge. But it is expedient to protect our borders at all costs even if fellow human beings suffer intolerably. I don’t know how many of you share my view that what we are doing is immoral and further to the point, I don’t believe we have fully exhausted other ways of protecting our borders and controlling migration. But let us be clear we – the people of Australia – support the current situation. Now I am using this as an example to illustrate not only how politicians use the principle of expediency to carry out their policies, but that the electorate shares the power of the politicians. This power, our votes, is exercised through influence, coercion and compulsion.
When we develop a better understanding of our political power a number of things will take place. We will recognise where the power lies and its nature, and have a better understanding of God’s power. I want in this sermon to remind us of God’s power, its nature, and its call on us, and how this illuminates our perception of God. It hopefully may throw some light on local, national and global politics as well. My big concern is two-fold. I think we miss seeing God because we are looking for God in the wrong places and with the wrong concepts. Secondly, I wish to de-bunk the fantasy that God’s power is like ours. That is, when we speak of power with respect to humans and then speak of God’s power we are not speaking about the same thing.
We have come to the end of the Liturgical year – the worship calendar of Christianity. We begin the new liturgical year next week with Advent 1. Every year the liturgical calendar ends with the theme of Christ Jesus the King. Kingship is about power – the power to rule. So to speak of King Jesus is to speak also of his power.
Luke’s account, consistent with the other Gospel writers, highlights the contrast between God’s power and the world’s power. Jesus is nailed to a cross and crucified. Two other criminals are crucified with him. The Jewish leaders insult him saying; “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers make fun of Jesus saying, ‘If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself’. One of the criminals also says; ‘If you’re the Messiah save yourself and us’.
All the actors in the scene bar one taunt Jesus with the question about his lack of power to save himself. This taunting, scoffing and derision is explicit in the Roman Governor’s inscription on the cross, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’ And so all scorn Jesus except one person. It’s the other criminal who remonstrates with the first criminal saying that they deserve to be there, but Jesus doesn’t. He also says to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.
The Crucifixion is all about power. We see clearly the power of the World’s way. There is the government’s power to execute political dissenters and criminals. In fact it is the government’s responsibility to do so. There is the Jewish leadership, a political group, with the power to influence the trial of Jesus. And if there is a little misinformation about Jesus it all goes for the good of keeping things orderly and the tradition in place. Jesus has been accused of perverting the nation, advocating a tax revolt and setting himself up as ruler in place of Caesar. These are half-truths. Yes, Jesus does have a message that sees the way of life differently to the norm. Jesus speaks about loving the unlovable and accepting the unclean. Jesus does call in question our use of money saying give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and give to God what is God’s. Yes, Jesus does claim to be our ruler, but a ruler of such a different kind that it begs the question what kind of ruler is he. His concept of ruling and power is so different that the majority miss it and even his disciples don’t quite get it. Remember John and James arguing over who will sit on Jesus’ right hand when Jesus comes to rule? Do you recall Jesus saying that if you want to be great you must serve and the last will be first and the first last? Do you recall that baffling illogical nonsense about loving your enemies, and Jesus also radically defines our neighbour as the stranger in need. You see there is another power present at the Crucifixion. On that day it looked as if the government and political interest groups had won!
Paradoxically the scoffers highlight the nature of Jesus’ power and kingship. You see, Jesus will save others by not saving himself. We see our power exercised in self-protection, self-preservation and self-fulfilment. Self-promotion, confidence and success mark the world’s power. Jesus sees the real power to change the world in vulnerability, sacrificial giving and service. Who then will win? Certainly at Golgotha it looked as if the government and a political power block had won.
Ironically the one who recognises who Jesus is, is not Pilate the Governor, nor the religious leaders, not the officers of the state, nor the common people, nor the criminals, but a criminal. I don’t think the disciples were much better. They seemed disappointed, full of despair and frightened. One person amongst the many, one person who is the least amongst the crowd – the criminal on the cross next to Jesus – recognises Jesus’ power. What did he see in this beaten and humiliated crucified man? Was it that this criminal actually listened and heard, amongst the noise of the scoffing and anxiety of the crowd, Jesus saying; “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing”? Was it intuition that saw in Jesus the presence of God?
I want to say that at the Crucifixion of Jesus the vast majority of those present, if not all, read the situation through the eyes of their culture. Rome’s power had prevailed. Jesus was weak. They saw the religious leaders’ power prevailing as they manipulated information to cling to the little power they had. They saw the crucifixion marking the end of Jesus’ ministry. The criminal saw the crucifixion marking the beginning of Jesus’ kingly rule. It seems that only one person sees this. Is Luke saying to us that this is the way things are? The majority see, understand and conclude through the lens of their limiting culture, whereas only a minority see and understand the divine in life. This scene says so much about us as humans. We live with a fantasy that our concept of power is like God’s power. It is not.
Immediately before the sermon we sung the song, ‘The power of his love’ [TiS 685], now at the end I invite you to sing the song, ‘Christ be our light’ [ATO 313]. When Jesus becomes our light we will be strengthened to act for the good; we will know what the good is; we will take on the weapons of Jesus’ power – humility, forgiveness and love; and, we will have hope for the future.
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Peter C Whitaker, Leighmoor UC: 20/11/2016
pgwhitaker@tpg.com.au
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au
pgwhitaker@tpg.com.au
/ www.leighmoorunitingchurch.org.au