Tonight I want to talk about different kinds of power…just for a little bit.
What we have in front of us this evening is how Luke (the Evangelist) attempts to describe Jesus’ beginning public ministry.
I want you to know “first things” matter in the Gospels – as they “set the tone” and “name the priorities” for the rest of the narrative to come.
So clearly it’s important to Luke for us to know that Jesus comes “filled with power” and, perhaps more, it’s important to Luke … for us to know just “what this kind of power looks like.”
Right away we should expect this power to be “different.”
If the scriptures have taught us anything it should be “to expect the unexpected,” “the unanticipated.”
Jesus is bold. He comes with his own sense of style and power. He is brazen.
Jesus states from the onset that he is bringing good news to the poor, the captive, the blind, and the oppressed…
That is his motivation that is his mission.
These people are not the powerful, they are the outcasts, “the ones you’ve been trained to feel sorry for” as you pass them by at the street corner even as you give a prayer of thanks that “their lot” is not “yours.”
These are the folks, you may have pity on, but never admire. Yet Jesus says he comes for them. He comes “in power…”
All of which challenges our “typical or usual notion of what power is.”
Power – at least the power of the Holy Spirit, the power, that is, “of God” – is demonstrated not by any “accomplishments” or “attributes” one claims for “one’s own self” but rather it is all about what “it” accomplishes “for others.”
Power is power “only when” it sets others free, “only when” it builds up others, “only when” it is used for the betterment of those around you.
Now, that’s power! And yet, sadly…
When I think of power – I think of Herb Kohl, I think of Donald Trump, I think about our major sports athletes. I think of money and prestige, the A-List of Hollywood. I think of medical doctors…especially – the experts in their fields. I think about the rich and the famous! I think about the movers and the shakers… I think about those in the spotlight who “command our attention.”
And you have to think about the major CEO’s of this nation and the big Financial Officers. I am talking here the 1percent.
In my mind’s eye – these are the powerful people…the people of power.
But that is “not at all” what Jesus represents. His power is a different kind of power…his power is “other centered” “other dominated” and “other concerned.”
It is almost weird to consider such a power! Because it is so different from the “notion of power” that surrounds us…
Indeed, the “power of God” at work in Jesus pushes us to reconsider our notions of power and to re-orient – or to “refocus” our attention away from “our selves” to those “around us.”
God functions “differently” than us…and as far as anybody can tell he always has!
He is not concerned with the size of your bank account. He is not concerned with who is impressed by you. He does not care about the size of your entourage.
God functions differently and it comes across loud and clear – right from the beginning of the gospel.
According to Jesus – and his first sermon – God sees “all of us” – not just those – the world sees, but each and every one of us.
The very fact that Jesus’ sermon is all about “what God will do” – for the “least of those in the world” tells us that God gives “special attention” to those whom the world “does not want to see.”
The ignored… The downtrodden… The lost… The alone… Those without any and all resources…
God apparently has great concern for those in the margins, those on the sidelines, those who are ignored and not seen….those who seemingly do not matter….those whom the world by-passes and forgets.
God’s power is different.
God’s power is always seen as peculiar, odd, and uncomfortable by the world -because it focuses on those the world has overlooked, forgotten, or discarded.
God sees all, loves all, and intends and promises to redeem all. As the scriptures say, “God is love!”
God loves us enough to see us, God loves us enough to forgive us, God loves us enough to challenge us, and God loves us enough to send us out “to see and to love others” – especially “those” the world – does not see.
This is “good news” for those who heard it then – and for those who hear it today.
God is concerned about the plight of each and every man, woman and child on the face of the globe.
We are “all” important in his sight.