1. Title: Start At The Top
2. Text: Matthew 8:5-13; Matthew 9:2-8; Matthew 21:23-27; Mark 1:22; Luke 7:1-10; John 19:8-11; Rom 13:1-4; 2 Corinthians 10:8, 13:10
3. Audience: Villa Heights Christian Church, AM crowd, April 23, 2006, First in the series “Family Made For Heaven”
4. Objectives:
-for the people to understand the nature and source of authority, how it is different from power, and how it is to be properly used in our homes
-for the people to feel good about authority – that it is not only good and useful, but necessary for productive and peaceful living in any facet of life; for them to feel that it is a God-given responsibility, rather than some enemy of what they want from life
-for the people to show appreciation for those who are in positions of authority, for people in positions of authority to take on their responsibility as something they must carry out well, and for families to show deeper understanding of how their homes are to work
5. When I finish my sermon I want my audience to understand and appreciate authority, upholding it in their homes in a way that’s obvious to non-believers
6. Type: topical
7. Dominant Thought: authority comes from God and is a necessary part of the world for us to live in peace, especially in our homes
8. Outline:
Intro - (Skit – about Satan’s planned attack on the family) Maybe Satan doesn’t work exactly like that, but you can be sure that he has launched an attack against the family.
Today we’re introducing a new series called Family Made for Heaven. You might notice right away it’s not “Family made in heaven.” There’s a reason for that - there aren’t any of those. Some of you are thinking, “Especially not where I live!”
Take heart. Even the very first couple was made out of dirt and borrowed parts. They had problems with passing the buck on each other. They struggled with budgeting – didn’t make the best choices about how to dress or what to eat. Can’t you hear Eve: “Adam, does this fig leaf make me look fat?” They were evicted from their first house. When they sinned, they didn’t just estrange themselves from God, they also strained their relationship with each other. The first sibling jealousy and rivalry ended up in murder. Only 4 people on the earth, and there’s a murder! We get 4 people, and ½ of them are either murdered or a fugitive! At least it was easy to figure out who did it!
So I don’t want to talk about families “made in heaven” as if there’s such a thing as a family with no struggles. But I do want to take a few weeks to talk about helping our families be made for heaven. I say that ironically, because when we get there, those family relationships are going to be superseded somehow by even greater relationships in heaven. But I have a firm conviction that families here on planet earth were designed by God and intended to fulfill God’s purposes to help people come into contact and relationship with their Creator.
Our homes aren’t here as an end in themselves. Have you noticed that? Right after He created the woman and presented her to Adam, God said, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother.” Children grow up and move away. Husbands and wives die. Families come apart – by design. They aren’t made just to be self-perpetuating places of refuge and reclusive-ness. There’s something higher for our homes to be and do. They’re supposed to be units that prepare people for heaven. They’re supposed to be child-nurturing, adult-edifying, hospitality-showing, service-giving, great commission-fulfilling, servant-sending outlets of the grace of God.
Now, that may not be all that’s on your heart this morning. It may be that you’re thinking, “I’d just like to graduate from high-school right now.” Or “I’d just like to get married right now.” Or “I’d just like to get my kids graduated right now.” Or “I’d just like to get on to being a grandparent right now.” Maybe you’d just like to be able to go home and sit down for 30 minutes without feeling guilty right now. Here’s the deal – having our homes following after God’s design – having them be what I just described a minute ago – is also the way for our homes to be all that we hope for them to be for ourselves personally.
When a home is structured after God’s design, with right priorities, and fulfilling what God wants it to be first, those other things you’re hoping for will happen too. I want that for my home. I want that for your home too. Whether you’ve been at homemaking for a long time, or you’re just looking forward to it, or you seem to have passed that in your life, every one of us should have interest in this.
So that’s where we’re headed for the next few weeks. We’re going to devote some attention to being families that aren’t perfect, but that are preparing people for heaven.
This morning, I want us to begin at the top – literally.
There’s a dynamic in the home that’s not just about success in our homes, but in civilization and in the Church as well. It’s an intangible. I can’t show you a picture of it. You can’t handle it, smell it, taste it, or describe what color it is. Oh, it has a certain sound about it, and most of us can identify it when we see what it does. But for a whole upcoming generation, it’s an elusive little pixie. It suffered a lot of neglect and opposition in our country about 40 years ago too. It’s often misunderstood, sometimes misused, and sometimes neglected. But it’s something the every one of us depends on every day just to be able to have order and peace around us. Without it, there’s no real freedom. That dynamic is authority. Say it with me AUTHORITY.
Now, I could have some ideas from the audience about what it really means, but I’d rather get some ideas from God about what it is. Let’s start in Lk 7.
I. Faith And Understanding Authority Go Together
Jesus is in Capernaum. A centurion sends some elders of the Jews to ask Jesus for help. He has a sick servant. Before Jesus arrives at his house, he sends a message by friends:
Luke 7:6b-10 "Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ’Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ’Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ’Do this,’ and he does it." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, "I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel." Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.
Jesus is amazed at the faith of a Roman Centurion! And the way he amazes Jesus is by his understanding of and appreciation for authority. He knows what it means to have authority, and he knows what it means to have people in authority over him.
The centurion got his authority from Caesar. When he spoke, it was like Caesar was speaking. To defy him was to defy Caesar. He understood this. He also understood that he answered to Caesar. What Caesar told him, he must do. He also understood that Jesus was given the Father’s authority. Jesus spoke on behalf of the Father. To defy Jesus was to defy God. Now, apply that to you and the civil authority, or to kids and their parents, or to any other authority relationship God has established.
Romans 13:2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
Understanding authority demonstrates great faith. It takes believing that God is real, and believing that Jesus is in fact Who He claimed to be. That’s what this Centurion was doing, and Jesus was impressed. “What great faith! You understand authority!”
II. Authority and Power are Distinct from Each Other
The older I get, the more I realize that understanding the difference between these 2 is key to a lot of our attitudes and thinking about life.
When a 5’ mom shakes her finger in her 6’ 3”, 17 yr old son’s face and tells him, “You will finish your supper and you will do your chores before there’s any time with your friends,” what makes it happen? She’s not big enough to make him do what she says. Still, a lot of 17 yr old sons will do what their mom tells them. It won’t be because she has the power. It has to be because of something else – and that something else is authority – the moral right to tell someone what to do. That’s what authority is. Power is the ability to enforce it. There’s a difference.
There’s a difference between power and authority.
Let’s look at a policeman. He has both. He has a uniform and badge. That badge might cause you to behave right – if you respect authority. Those are symbols of the authority that has been entrusted to him by the local government. On the other hand if you’re a criminal, it won’t stop you at all. But the policeman has something else too. There, at his side, is a 9mm Glock automatic service pistol. He may also be carrying a little beauty called a Tazer. Either of those are for him to use to enforce his authority if he needs to. That’s called power. Bad guys may have a gun too, but they don’t have the right to use it. They both have power, but one will get arrested if he uses it, and the other will even get into trouble if he uses it wrongly. So what gives a policeman the right to use that power in certain situations, but not the criminal? The answer is authority. They both have power, but only one has authority.
I’m running through the channels on TV a couple nights ago. There is Matt Damon, an actor. In a few seconds, I hear him explaining to me about global warming and the way the environment is changing. Now, why did they bring in Matt Damon to explain to me about global warming? You know, he was pretty good in “The Bourne Identity” and “The Bourne Supremacy,” but why is he now here telling me about the environment? I’ll tell you why – not because he’s an authority on the subject, but because he’s a celebrity – he has a certain power with people. It doesn’t matter that some professor somewhere could tell you 10X more about the subject and document all he says. Matt Damon has power, you see – power without authority.
One more: Mt. 9. Some men bring their paralyzed friend to Jesus to be healed. They lower him through the roof right in front of Jesus. So Jesus looks down at this paralyzed guy and says, “Take heart, son. Your sins are forgiven!” Really? How do you tell? Does he suddenly look less, I don’t know, “sinful”? So the skeptical teachers of the Law standing around are thinking, “Sins are forgiven? What? Anyone can say that! Only God can forgive sins! Who’s this guy think He is?! Where’s His sin-forgiving license?” In other words, they didn’t think Jesus had the authority to forgive sins. And how can He prove He does, anyway? So Jesus says,
Matthew 9:4b-8 "Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ’Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ’Get up and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins. . . ." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get up, take your mat and go home." And the man got up and went home. When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had given such authority to men.
You see, forgiving sin isn’t just a power issue. You can’t see it. It has to do with justice, with what’s right and wrong. It’s an authority issue. Jesus could have just left it at that. He did have the right to forgive a man his sins. But to silence the mouths of the scribes before they opened, He also demonstrated His power.
There’s a difference between power and authority.
Just because someone has a bigger gun or bigger muscles or bigger friends doesn’t mean they have authority. They may have just found a big gun, or bought it with drug money. They may have just had big parents, so they’re big. That doesn’t give them the moral right to be in charge of someone.
And when someone has authority, that doesn’t always mean they’ll have the power to back up that authority. One woman in a classroom of 30 high school students needs more than just her own power to keep control, unless all of the kids in the classroom completely respect the authority the school has given her. Without the power to send a student to the principle, chaos will happen.
III. Authority Starts With God and is Distributed From There
OK, authority doesn’t come from being bigger, faster, stronger, all that. That’s not what it’s about. I don’t get authority by taking steroids or learning verbal judo. Where does it come from?
Authority starts with God. God is the One with the moral right to command any aspect of creation because He created it, from nothing. He doesn’t owe anything to anyone. It all starts with His decision, His power, His creation. He didn’t use some pre-existing materials to make earth. He didn’t have someone assist Him with advice or help. He made it all from nothing. Everything that is exists through Him, by Him, and for Him – so He’s the first and last Authority concerning all created things. What He says, goes. No one can change that.
That means that any genuine authority in this creation comes from God.
Romans 13:1-4 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
The next time you feel critical of the government, remember this: Human government has been established by God. He has delegated some of His authority to our lawmakers and enforcers. It’s not because they’re better people or more powerful. It’s because there has to be a civil authority for us to have peace and freedom. Authority has its beginning in God.
So is it any surprise that when Jesus teaches, He speaks as One who has authority?
Mark 1:22 - The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.
The teachers of the law had no authority. Why not? Because their teaching was just the words of men instead of from God’s word. Take God out of the picture, take a clear word from the Supreme Ruler of the Universe out of the mix, and there’s no longer a basis for us to know what we’re supposed to do. There’s no longer authority. But when Jesus spoke, He said, “You have heard that it was said, but I say to you…” Why could Jesus speak that way? One word: authority. He represented God. He was speaking on behalf of God. He was sent by God. He had authority from God. He is God.
Parents, do you hear what this is saying? Church do you hear what this is saying? Our instruction to our children, our instruction to anyone regarding what’s right and wrong, is completely empty of value unless it is an authoritative voice. We can’t expect to say any word about morals until it begins with The Word. If all we’re doing is sharing opinions and feelings and the latest book someone wrote, we’d just as well sit down and be quiet. Let’s bear that in mind in our small groups, our SS classrooms, our time with our children, and when we share our beliefs with our friends.
IV. Authority is Given By God to Do Good
OK, we’ve talked about what it is and where it comes from. Now, what do you do with it?
Obviously, God wants people with authority to use it for good. Paul speaks about his authority as an Apostle and says God gave it to him to build them up, not tear them down.
I know there have been corrupt people in positions of authority. I know there have been people who have neglected or misused their authority – but that doesn’t make authority bad! it just means that some people are bad. Authority exists to do good things today.
Romans 13:4a …he is God’s servant to do you good…
Now, before time is up, let’s put some feet to this whole thing. Authority comes from God. It’s there to do good. What good is it supposed to accomplish for a family?
I’m so glad you asked that! Kids, here’s one for you:
Ephesians 6:1-3 - Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. "Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise--"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth."
Why? This is right. Not because you’ll be grounded. Not because they’re in a position of power, but because it’s right. And, this even comes with a promise. If you turn to the 10 Commandments, you’ll see that this commandment, #5, is the first in the list that has a promise after it: you’ll live longer, and your life will go better in the land the Lord is giving you.
Think that one through and notice how true and practical this is. The Jews are out in the desert. Little Benjamin wants to go out and play. His mom tells him, “OK, but make sure you drink enough water and make sure you don’t wander far off from the camp.” Now, he can choose to obey his mother, or he can disobey. If he obeys, he’ll not only be protected from dehydration in the desert, he’ll also be less likely to be lost or eaten by some animal. He’ll live longer, in other words. Now, if little Benjamin has reached an age where he decides his mother’s word really doesn’t matter to him, and he runs off too far, without water, and gets lost, little Benjamin isn’t going to live as long in the land the Lord is giving him. The same thing is true today for little Hector whose mom tells him not to play on the highway.
So, children, here are 2 good reasons to obey your parents. It’s right, and your life will go better…and longer. “Yeah, but I just turned 13 and my parents are going to be the stupidest people on the face of the earth for 6 years!” OK. Refer to #1 – obey them because it’s right. Later on, once they’re smart again, you’ll get to the part of about how it helps your life go better.
Conclusion:
Now let me address some more of this authority talk to all family members:
Fathers, understand that there’s a place to act based on authority, not just who’s the biggest. There’s a reason for you as husbands to exercise leadership, not just brawn, but to humbly take the role that has been delegated by God to you for the good of your wife, and for your kids.
Mothers, you have this parental authority. Don’t throw up your hands. Use it. And place yourself under the leadership of your husband not because he’s perfect, not because he’s always going to handle it just right, but because God has designated someone in the family to be the head, and that authority isn’t in-born, it’s God-granted.
Grandparents, reinforce this authority when you have a chance. I know it’s your job to feed the kids sugar and have fun with them. Just make sure that along the way you use the opportunities you have to encourage respect for Mom and Dad’s authority in the eyes of their children, and to encourage their right attitude toward authority in general.
Children, respect it. Authority isn’t about having perfect parents. It’s about what God has entrusted to them. It may look like a pretty sweet gig to you. The fact is, that authority is a huge burden to carry. You’re already a lot of work! The day is going to come when you’ll look back and say, “Boy, I sure put my parents through it!” Help them now by appreciating their authority and not just their power. Their authority over you doesn’t stop where their power ends. You’re alone somewhere in the car – they can’t do anything, but are they still your authority?
Now, for every person here, here’s another place to apply all this: your relationship with Jesus. It’s a matter of submitting to His authority…
