Sermon 1/29/06
Authority Issues - Mark 1:21-28
(view lectionary notes for this text)
In less than two weeks, I will undertake one of the final parts of the process towards ordination as an elder in the United Methodist Church – a day of interviews with the Board of Ordained Ministry. On February 8th, I, along with 5 other candidates who are, like me, Probationary Elders, will be asked by the Board about our theology, our call to ministry, and our understanding of the sacraments, particularly as it relates to the practice of ministry. In other words, how has being a pastor for two and a half years changed me and my relationship with God. Naturally, I’m anxious to complete this step. After these interviews, I will in essence be recommended for ordination. I will covet your prayers and thoughts during this time, and have felt blessed by your support and encouragement throughout my journey in ministry with you.
But today I want to tell you about part of the beginning of the process toward ordination. Before a candidate is allowed to get too far along in the process of becoming a pastor, she must undergo a battery of psychological tests, including a review of the results of these tests with the conference psychologist. The tests involve hundreds of questions as specific as whether you preferred President Washington or President Lincoln, and as vague as whether you hear “voices” – always a tricky question for those answering a call from God! I’ll admit I was suspicious of the testing process – wondering what some of these questions could possibly tell anyone about me. When I met with the conference psychologist to review my results, my skepticism shone through – the test revealed among other things that I was a defensive test-taker, guarded in my answers! Another thing it revealed was that I also have a tendency to question authority figures. Apparently, I have authority issues. My reaction to the news, was, as revealed, to be a bit defensive and skeptical. Oh please. I don’t have issues with authority figures. What does this psychologist know?
But, my mother might tell you a different story. Not about issues between the two of us, but about my relationship with my sixth grade teacher, for example. Apparently, though I barely have a recollection of it myself, apparently I had gotten into the habit in sixth grade of correcting my teacher when he was wrong. Surprisingly, he didn’t like this, and I got a note home about it. Now, I liked my sixth grade teacher a lot. But I figured he was into sharing authority since he left the answer book out for us to check our own homework responses. I figured he wouldn’t mind a little help when I saw him giving a wrong response. Turns out, I was the one who was wrong in that situation! OK. Maybe I have a small issue with authority figures.
But it all makes a lot of sense to me. Should someone have authority solely because of the position he holds? Does someone earn our respect and deference just because she is in charge of something? Over the years, I have had a deep admiration for some of my professors and teachers and mentors – but not because of their titles. Instead, I’ve admired and respected them because of an authority earned by intelligence, scholarship, compassion, dedication. Still, though, I certainly have learned since sixth grade that some authority figures simply have to be followed, obeyed, simply because of the position they hold, and that’s that. It won’t do me any good to argue with a police officer because I don’t respect her authority, right? In the church, it wouldn’t help my case to argue with the Board of Ordained Ministry because I don’t think it has earned its authority, right? The reality is that in our society, some people have authority simply because of the position they hold, and because we, as a community – a social community or a faith community – we have decided together to give them such authority for the good of the whole. So, I have authority in this church on some matters, not because of who I am personally, but because of the role I fill – I am the pastor. Committee chairs are selected because of their gifts and graces, but they have authority over the committee because they are its chair, and committee members are led by the chair’s leadership. So many authority issues. But authority makes our society function.
These authority issues aren’t new, however. In our gospel lesson today authority issues are front and center. We find ourselves yet again in the first chapter of Mark, and Jesus and the disciples have traveled to Capernaum. On the Sabbath, Jesus enters a synagogue and teaches, not in itself an unusual practice. All adult males who were elders in the community would have been permitted and even expected to occasionally teach on the Word of God in the synagogue. But we read that Jesus’ teaching stood out: “The were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” Right after this, a man appears in the synagogue with “an unclean spirit.” He cries out to Jesus, “what have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.?” But Jesus rebukes the unclean spirit and orders him out of the man, and the spirit obeys Jesus’ command and leaves the man. Witnessing the scene, the synagogue occupants are all amazed and said to one another, “What is this? A new teaching – with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” And news about Jesus begins to spread through the region. Authority issues.
My first response to this passage is to wonder exactly what the people saw or heard in Jesus’ teaching that made them marvel at his authority. After all, none of what Jesus actually teaches is recorded here for us – we just know that he does teach. And I wonder what kind of scholars the scribes were if it seems the community did not really think much of their authority after all. What is so special about Jesus’ authority?
The scribes, along with the Sadducees and Pharisees, often opposing characters in conversation with Jesus throughout the gospels, were interpreters of the Law of Moses. In other words, they would read the laws in the scriptures and interpret to others what the laws meant – how the laws were to be carried out. Their authority was given by the community and by the texts themselves – by the scriptures they interpreted. Without texts to interpret, the scribes would have been out of a job. But something about the way Jesus teaches in the temple inspires people to comment that he teaches not like the scribes, but as one with authority. We can gather, then, that they mean Jesus has his own authority – not authority that comes simply from interpreting for others the law that is already given. Jesus has a new message, a new teaching. Is Jesus’ teaching grounded in the law? Of course – Jesus came to fulfill the law, not to abolish it. But his authority is from within – because of who he is – because his authority is a God-given part of his identity.
When the unclean man comes before Jesus, and Jesus drives out the unclean spirit, he again exhibits authority that is so surprising it causes the people to comment aloud about it. When the man meets Jesus, the spirits within him cry out in recognition – “What have to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” One so troubled recognizes one so holy. Jesus cleanses the man, freeing him from the unclean spirit, and the people remark on his authority again, his new teaching, and the fact that he commands the unclean spirits and they obey. Healers in Jesus day would have used magic words and spells and concoctions to drive out unclean spirits. Like with the scribes, they would draw their authority from something else to perform the ritual. But Jesus needs nothing else – his authority is from within. The unclean spirits recognize his authority as quickly as the crowds do. A new teaching – with authority.
Jesus’ authority is a part of his very being. The Holy One of God is God with us – Emmanuel come to live and be with us. His authority comes from being fully open to following God’s will. His authority comes from being 100%-ready to pour himself out for us. His authority comes in his ability to understand the heart and spirit of the law. His authority comes with his proclamation of the good news of God’s love and grace. Jesus is one whose authority we cannot deny.
In my own life, I’ve learned by now how to deal with and accept the authority figures that are a part of my everyday life. I understand that I’m not always in charge. I understand that to be part of a community means sharing authority. But I’m not ready to completely give up my authority issues. I still want to wriggle a little bit when I feel burdened by unfair or unearned authority. I’m afraid we get so used to submitting to authority sometimes that we don’t recognize the true authority of God when we see it. We settle for artificial authority when God is trying to offer us the real thing – the authority of a new, astounding, spread-the-word kind of authority. It seems we are ready to let everything in our lives control us except God. We let ourselves be controlled by our money and our possessions. Or we let ourselves be controlled by our worries about our lack of these things. We let ourselves be controlled by unhealthy addictions – by alcohol or drugs or gambling or food or TV or the internet. We let ourselves be controlled by calendars and clocks and schedules and alarms. We let ourselves be controlled by fear and anxiety and doubt. We let ourselves by controlled by the expectations of others, of society. We are controlled by our prejudices and stereotypes.
Jesus offers us a new authority, a one-of-a-kind authority of the most authentic kind, offered by God, our creator. Why would we choose cheap substitutes instead of the real thing? Why settle for authority that has no foundation? God wants to have authority over our lives and to be the one who guides us, the one who demands our obedience, even as God is the one who loves us and showers us with grace. We can’t live our lives without submitting to authority. But we do have a choice about what authority demands priority in our lives. As one with authority issues, I’m ready to demand only the best in those who ask my obedience. And you? Who is in charge of your life?
“They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, ‘What is this? A new teaching – with authority!’”
Amen.