‘By
What Authority
Matthew
21:23-32
I’ll never forget Bishop
Violet Fisher’s words to me at my ordination, “Elder Baez, take your
authority. Bishop Fisher was talking
about pastoral authority. She was
talking about taking charge of what I was given charge of. When Bishop Fisher laid her hands on me and
spoke those words to me she affirmed what had already become true in me. I was
an Elder in the United Methodist Church.
“Take your authority.” What does that mean? I received two kinds of
authority that day from Bishop Fisher.
One kind of authority was ecclesiastical authority. The other was spiritual authority. Ecclesiastical authority was
granted by the Clergy session of the annual conference and the UMC. It was
institutional authority. It was made official by Bishop Fisher. I was glad to have accomplished all the steps
they required of me. Theirs was an
authority they could give and that they could take away. This was an important authority, but a
surface, outer authority and a secondary authority.
The second kind of authority
was divine authority. It was given to me
by God through Jesus Christ and through the power of the Holy Spirit. This was a deep, inner authority and a
primary authority. No person could give
me this authority and no person could take this authority from me. My clergy
credentials can be taken from me, through due process as they are given by the
UMC. But my authority cannot be taken
away from me because it is given to me by God.
My responsibility cannot be taken away from me.
Ecclesiastical authority and
Divine authority can be aligned and more often than not are aligned. But Ecclesiastical and Divine Authority can
come into conflict.
Ecclesiastical and Divine
authority came into conflict over race.
A group of African Americans were praying before a worship event at the
altar in their church, St. George’s’ Methodist Episcopal Church in
Philadelphia, Pa. The Trustees of the
Church demanded that they immediately to the balcony where they belonged. The Black members pleaded to be allowed to
finish their prayers before going to the balcony. The Trustees refused and dragged the Blacks
away from the altar. Richard Allen and
Absolam Jones led a walkout and formed the African Methodist Episcopal Church. They rejected the Ecclesiastical authority
because they referred to a higher authority. They took their authority.
Approaching the time of the
Civil War, to avoid upsetting the Southern membership of the church, it was
forbidden for Methodist Episcopal Pastors to preach against slavery.
Two pastors, spoke against
slavery in the North Chili and Albion Churches and were sanctioned for doing
so. B. P. Roberts and others left the
MEC and began the Free Methodist Church.
He rejected the Ecclesiastical authority because he referred to a higher
authority. He took his authority.
The Reverends Jimmy Creech,
Frank Schaeffer, Stephen Heiss, Thomas Oglivie and Melvin Talbert performed
homosexual marriages, breaking church law in doing so. They rejected the Ecclesiastical authority
because they referred to a higher authority. They took their authority.
Jesus had authority. His authority was recognized by others as
different from the authority of the Scribes and Pharisees, the Temple
Priesthood, King Herod and Rome.
What made it different? Like others, Jesus drew authority from his
religion, its Holy Books, its traditions and from the Temple and its
priests. This was good and as it should
be. But first and foremost, Jesus
derived his authority from God. Jesus
even wrestled with this authority and responsibility, but in the end aligned
his will with God’s, saying “Not my will God, your will.” He even taught his disciples to pray, “Your
rule come. Your will be done on earth as
it is in heaven.”
Jesus took his authority in
the Temple. He was teaching in the
Temple. But he wasn’t a Temple
priest. What was he doing teaching in
the Temple? That was the responsibility
of the Temple priests. If not from the Temple Priests where was Jesus deriving
his authority?
The Temple Priests believed
that they had authority over the Temple.
But Jesus was claiming a higher authority. Jesus was holding the Temple authorities
accountable to their covenant and to their primary authority, God, whose
authority they were rejecting. They were
citing the Torah to make their claim to authority but they were no attuned to
God’s voice. They ignored God’s voice
because it did not fit their own set opinions.
The Temple Priests, Scribes
and Pharisees and the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leadership council had lost sight
of what their true authority was. They
were leading by fear instead of love.
What were they afraid of? They were afraid of Rome. They were afraid of Pilate. They were afraid
of Herod. They were afraid of the
crowds. They were afraid of losing
power, privilege and profit. What weren’t they afraid of? They were not afraid of the only thing the
scripture said they should be afraid of.
They were not afraid of God. They were leading by
selfishness rather than by compassion.
Where did they derive their
authority from? What were they trusting
and obeying? They were trusting worldly powers.
They were obeying worldly authorities. They were not ruled by God’s
commandments; love of God and love of neighbor.
They were ruled by fear.
Take your authority. Take your responsibility. Who am I talking to? You can stop looking around. I’m talking to you. Take your authority. Take your responsibility. God is still talking. God is still calling disciples. God is still sending disciples. And God is still equipping disciples.
God has given you authority.
God has given you responsibility. God
has given you power. It’s up to you to say “Yes” to that authority and to
follow through or say “No” to it and follow some other authority. Bob Dylan wrote a song after becoming
Christian. In it he declares, “You‘ve got to serve somebody. You’ve got to serve somebody. It may be the devil, it may be the Lord, but
you’ve got to serve somebody.”
It is interesting to me that
the fastest growing churches in the world are conservative and
evangelical. In the United States it’s
the Mormons, Pentecostals and Islam.
These are all conservative and evangelical. At the same time, the world is saying: “No to
racism, no to sexism, no to homo-phobia” and “Yes to justice, yes to diversity
and yes to gay marriage.”
What are the conservative
faith communities doing? They are taking
their authority. They are taking their
responsibility. They are picking up
their crosses and carrying them. What
are secular groups doing? They are
taking their authority. They are taking
responsibility. They are picking up
their crosses and suffering for the right.
Why are the mainline
churches declining in the United States? We are not taking our authority. We are not taking our responsibility. We’re waiting for God to act. God has already acted. God’s given us authority! God’s given us responsibility! Jesus has told us, pick up your crosses and
carry them after my example.
Take your authority/responsibility
for your life. Take your authority/
responsibility for your attitude. It’s your attitude. Take your responsibility for your health,
your weight and your well-being. It’s your body and your mind. Eat well, exercise and read. Take your authority for your finances. It’s your income. It’s your choice when, where and how to spend
it. Budget, save, invest and give. Take
your authority for your marriage, your family and relationships. It’s your spouse, your children, your
parents, your siblings and your friends.
Spent time together, obtain counseling and talk. Take your authority for
your job, your career and your education. It’s your future. Plan for and invest in your future. Take that course or training. Take your
authority for your church, your denomination and your religion. You are the
Body of Christ. Serve. You make a difference. Take your responsibility for your
neighborhood, community and nation. Ours
is a government of the people, for the people and by the people. Take your
authority for your faith. Pray. Read the Bible and other spiritual
books. Meditate. Live what you
believe. Take your authority for the
gospel.
The gospel is the Good News
that the reign of God is near or here. It is within our reach, within our
grasp, now: God’s will on earth as in heaven.
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