Power’s Seduction
Easter Reflection Series
Mark 15:1-32
A. The Fallacy of Power
Ever seen an abacus? U know those centipede-like things with wooden beads in rows. It’s a Chinese adding machine, calculator and PC even before the PC was invented. Still in use today in Asia, and perhaps u may still see it in Chinatowns here in Canada. They’ve been already for at least a couple thousand years. Apparently they are every effective and practical. Should see them in use, it’s as if these guys using this tool could count coffee beans, they go so fast! Furthermore, they’re very nice to look at, played with it as a kid. Older they get, the better they look. Last a lifetime, never needs updating, all the software needed to run it is between your ears. Even if they break, it is usually easily repaired.
A while ago, Japanese/American Co. wanted to moved into the Chinese market. So they arranged a contest to demonstrate the value of pocket calculators. Imagine the scene on the day of that contest. Big corporate types, with their powerful pocket calculators, with macho ozzing out, like a scene out of the Matrix, modern sophisticated machine/electronics versus a Chinese man with a wooden abacus. Guess who won? HK chap by the name of Chan Kai Kit (senior clerk for a shipping co.)!
Similarly, the world is seduced by this imagery of power! From power suits to Power Rangers... We think using our human smarts and our modern equipment, with technologies that can clone human beings, manipulate genes, with our power to destroy life at any moment with a single bomb that will make Hiroshima look like an XT compared to a Pentium 4, we think we have evolved into a better society. But the past week’s news will jolt us back to reality.
Friday, I heard in the news, reports coming from GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) - On the deadliest day of the 17-month-old conflict, Israeli troops killed 32 Palestinians, including two children and a general, in raids of villages and refugee camps today. A Palestinian shot dead five Israeli teen-agers in an attack on dormitories and a Bible study hall in a Jewish settlement.
The past week has been the bloodiest since fighting erupted in September 2000, with 104 Palestinians and 35 Israelis killed. The deaths came in a string of Palestinian shooting and bombing attacks on Israeli civilians, and intense Israeli retaliation, with tanks and helicopters often firing at populated Palestinian areas.
We think we can handle life as if it was a Croc. Dundee movie – classic scene punk with a switchblade, comes at him and he says “You call that a knife?” and shows his humongous bayonet. There seems to be an idea that the bigger you are, the more powerful you are, the more intimidation you can bring to the table, the more secure in life you can be. With more power, you will come out on top. That’s why in hockey, you have a power play, take advantage of other team when they’re one or two player short, exploit their weakness, go for the kill and you will be on top! Most people translate that into real life – get the powerful cars out on the roads and race, let’s see who’s more powerful, get the computer etc… who’s gonna come out on top. With all their carpet bombing, and so-called smart bombs that can destroy underground caves, with all their firepower from their bombers, still the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces could not be destroyed. This past week, we’ve heard of the tragedies that could’ve been avoided, but for the seduction of power. Some American, Israeli, Palestinian, Vancouver teenagers lives would still be around, but oh the seduction of power.
O the awful price of power, it seduces us to believe that real thrills, real joys, real life when u have the power. Charles Colson, a person who once tasted power of politics in the White House, once said: “Power is like saltwater; the more you drink the thirstier you get.” Some also said: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
And it was this felt power that fuelled the events that led to Jesus’ crucifixion. The power of the mob (v.8-16) that demanded “Crucify Him.” It was power of Rome that finally approved that Jesus be hung on the cross It was the power of the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin that decided to accuse Jesus of treason as the king of the Jews opposed to Roman rule.
It was the power of the Roman soldier thought they had that they put a purple robe on Jesus and a crown of thorns and mocked Him. It was their sense of power over Jesus that they struck him and spat on him, and when they had finished doing their thing to his body , they led him out to be nailed to the cross! It was power that they felt over Jesus, that those on that day insulted Jesus, “come down and save yourself!” Read v.31-32
B. Our Disappointment with God
This cry, “come down you Messiah, you”, echoes through the ages… if you can save yourself, with power demo, then it will all be cool. As u may know, when Jesus the Messiah first came on the scene, there were high hopes from the Jews that day, that He would restore the glory of the Davidic kingdom in all of it political splendor. Bring back heaven on earth! That with Him as the King of the Jews, he would restore them to power and drive off the alien invaders, the hated Romans! But Jesus did not choose the route that most think would solve their problems, the route of power, because He knew that it did not work. So there was this cry show the power, do your stuff, come down from the cross… great disappointment!
We too have our ideas of heaven on earth… too often we are disappointed that God does not show His stuff the way we figure He would. We too demand like the mob, come down, Messiah! Searching for heaven, we devised genetic engineering to make perfect babies, we do all we can to figure out life without God!
Philip Yancey wrote: "Some Christians long for a world well-stocked with miracles and spectacular signs of God’s presence (i.e. POWER STUFF). I hear wistful sermons on the parting of the Red Sea and the 10 plagues and the daily manna in the wilderness, as if the speakers yearn for God to unleash his power like that today. But the follow-the-dots journey of the Israelites should give us pause. Would a burst of miracles nourish faith? Not the kind of faith God seems interested in, evidently. The Israelites give ample proof that signs may only addict us to signs, not to God."
Philip Yancey, Disappointment With God (Grand Rapids, Mich.:Zondervan,
1988), 48.
Isn’t that the truth? Are we not addicted to signs, not to God? Dazzled by the signs? This leads me to the next point.
C. The temptation of Power
It was this same temptation to manipulate with power that led humanity down, that led to the first human sin! Adam and Eve were tempted to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order to acquire God-like power, the power that’s reserved only for God. Ever since then, people have inherited this strange addiction to power, Since then, humanity has never seen real peace. It is somehow not enough to depend on God, we want to be in control, in power to have life figured out heaven on earth… and what a mess we find ourselves in, as the events of the week has shown us! Bono, of rock and roll band, U2, fame – sing “peace on earth” - “heaven on earth we need it now, I am sick of all of this, hanging around, sick of sorrow, sick of pain, sick of hearing again and again, that there’s gonna be peace on earth…” Heaven on earth, in each human heart beats this longing for heaven on earth, we want peace now… That’s good, isn’t it?
The thrill of driving the fast car… feels like heaven, the rush…, the firing of missiles and bombs… the intimidation tactics… all of it … we want peace now, heaven on earth… We devise life-coping strategies to make life work, make life heaven on earth… but our strategies stink, it stinks to high heaven. To control a life out of control, a life that’s hurting, damaged by the sin of others, we use power… Manipulate life, play with life, thinking we can manage life… but it goes out of control, like a speeding car, we crash! But this is how we think we can have our longings met or satisfied, and hat gets us in trouble.
D. The Power of Love
As we think about the Easter story, we can see God’s tremendous restraint. He could’ve wipe away His enemies, His opponents with the wave of His hand, but He would hide His power. He would not use it just to show how powerful He is. So He allowed His own Son to suffer the taunts, jeers, the pain of humiliating death as he identified Himself with the world’s wounded, the world that hurts, choosing not to run away from it. He would let us know that power is not the answer, power was never the answer to life’s problems, He has ample power yet He chose not to use it. Because there is something more at stake… something more beautiful, more wonderful….
James W. Moore of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church in Houston tells a
story about one of his minister friends. His name is Tom and he does a
fascinating thing each month. Even though he has an extremely busy schedule(because he serves as pastor of one of the finest churches in our nation)…still he makes the time each month to go down to the homeless shelter in his city to work in their soup kitchen.
After the homeless people have been fed, he then invites them to join him in a service of Holy Communion and many of them will come with him to the little chapel in the homeless shelter… and join in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. They have shared soup together in the soup kitchen and then they come to share the bread and the cup together at the altar in the chapel.
One day, Tom had an unforgettable experience in the communion service. As he was moving down the altar serving communion, he came to a man kneeling there who looked like he had been out on the streets for quite some time.
The man looked up at Tom and whispered: “Skip me.” “What? Pardon me?” Tom said. In a louder whisper, the man said again, “Skip me.” “Why?” Tom asked. “Because,” the man said, “I’m not worthy.” Tom said: “Neither am I.” Then Tom added: “I’ll tell you what. I’m going to serve communion to these other people. Then, I’m going to come back and serve communion to you and then I would like you to serve it to me.” The man blinked and said to Tom: “Father, is that legal?” “Yes, it’s legal; it’s beautiful and that’s what we are going to do!” Tom answered.
Tom went on down the altar and served all the other people kneeling there… and then he came back to the reluctant man and said: “What’s your name?” And the man said, “Josh.” Tom placed the elements of the Lord’s Supper before him and said:
“Josh, here is the Body of Christ and here is the Blood of Christ given for you. Eat this and drink this in the remembrance that Christ came for you and Christ died for you. Amen.”
Josh blinked back the tears in his eyes… and he received Holy Communion. Then, Tom knelt and handed Josh the trays of bread and wine and said: “Now, you serve me.” Josh nervously took the trays and again he said: “Father, are you sure this is legal?” “Yes, it’s legal. Just do it.”
Josh’s eyes were darting from side to side as he looked over this shoulder and then the other… as if he expected (at any moment) the police, the FBI, the CIA or the Pope to come rushing in to arrest him.
Finally, he held the trays toward Tom and as Tom received the Sacrament Josh muttered: “Body – Blood – for you, Hang in There!”
Tom said later: “Of all the communion rituals I have ever heard, I don’t recall the words ‘Hang in There’ in any of them… but at that moment for me, Holy Communion had never been more ‘Holy.’
And Josh walked out of the homeless shelter that day with an extra ‘spring in his step,’ and it was reported that he went everywhere saying: ‘You won’t believe what I did today.’ In fact, the story became so widespread that from that day Josh became known on the streets as ‘The Rev.’
What a remarkable story this is… the story of grace, love, acceptance,
forgiveness, reconciliation, bridge-building – and holy communion.
Body and Blood for you! God chose the Body and Blood, he tells us hang in there! Jesus comes not in power, but in love, as a sacrifice, to woo, to win over, to tell that God so loved the world, and not for so God ruled the world… God chose love not power…
Let me share with you a parable, …Suppose there was a king who loved a humble maiden. The king was like no other king. Every statesmen trembled before his power. No one dared breathe a word against him, for he had the strength to crush all his opponents. And yet this mighty king was melted by love for a humble maiden.
How could he declare his love for her? In an odd sort of way, his very kingliness tied his hands. If he brought her to the palace and crowned her head with jewels and clothed her body in royal robes, she would surely not resist- no one dared resist him. But would she love him?
She would say she loved him of course, but would she truly? Or would she live with him in fear, nursing a private grief for the life she left behind. Would she be happy at his side? How could he know?
If he rode to her forest cottage in his royal carriage, with an armed escort waving bright banners, that too would overwhelm her. He did not want a cringing subject. He wanted a lover, an equal. He wanted her to forget that he was a king and she a humble maiden and to let shared love cross over the gulf between them.
The king, convinced he could not elevate the maiden without crushing her freedom, resolved to descend. He clothed himself as a beggar and approached her cottage incognito, with a worn cloak fluttering loosely about him. He renounced the throne to win her hand.
As we reflect on Easter, when Jesus submitted under the power of the mob, the Roman soldiers, Pilate, chief priests… resisting the urge to use power to solve His problems, we see clearer the love of God, the strange love of the Lord Jesus Christ, the amazing love of one who determined love not power is the answer!
Today you may say “Skip me Jesus, I am not worthy” Oh, yes u are worth it, it was worth the pain, body and blood for u! Do u hear?
31What can we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32Since God did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?
33Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? Will God? No! He is the one who has given us right standing with himself. 34Who then will condemn us? Will Christ Jesus? No, for he is the one who died for us and was raised to life for us and is sitting at the place of highest honor next to God, pleading for us.
35Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?… 37No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
38And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. 39Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So heaven is available once again through the body and the blood of Jesus because Jesus chose to love, not overpower, not condemn us. Message is simple will u trust and follow Him, not your own strategies to find heaven on earth and demands that life works apart from Him. Apart from Him, there is no peace!
E. Action Points to Consider
1. Refuse to believe that power is everything!
Don’t’ believe for a moment that power is everything.
It is not. The first shall be the last, and the last shall be the first. Want to get everything that heaven promises - be the greatest - by serving not overpowering. For Jesus came serving, not lording it over all and he tells us the greatest is one who serves. Who gets to inherit the the kingdom of heaven and earth according to Jesus? Did he say the poor in spirit and the meek or the power hungry?
For the most part power is the cause for much human suffering. Only being who can handle power lovingly, rightly and carefully is God.
2. Long for heaven!
We were created for heaven, but sin and our choices made a mess of it. In our hearts there is pure and holy longing to get home to God, for heaven, recognize it for what it is, bring that longing for perfection, for heaven to God! Jesus: “Blessed are those who are poor in spirit for there is the kingdom of heaven.” Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.”
3. When life confuses you, trust God!
Choose to follow Christ who chose to love rather than quick and easy way, the way of power... Expose your demandingness that life must work now, on your own terms, heaven must be now, I want feel good now, feel better now, be rid of my problems now. That’s why power is so seductive, it promises if we can gain control of our confusion, we’ve got it made! But our shattered world and dreams point to us, …NO way! Expose the dependency on your self-made solutions, strategies to make life work apart from God for that is sin!
4. Fall in love with God.
Worship God, reflect on Easter’s message: body blood for YOU, hang in there, hang on to God’s love, by putting your trust in Jesus today. That He will bring the new heaven, the new earth we long for! Believe that nothing can separate you from God. Make a decision to trust His love for you especially when sinful impact of others hit you!
5. Give thanks to God!
Realize you matter to God deeply. Easter’s message is loud and clear – no more condemnation for my sins. Instead of “skip me, Jesus” say from now “Thank you Jesus for loving me, dying for me, for the blood and the body!”
