Power Yet Again

Yes, I'm hung up on power. This is maybe my fourth blog focusing on this word, and my third in a week or so.

I blame my father-in-law for this posting, at least in part. The Book of Common Prayer (BCP) does not escape my pointing finger either.

The BCP first...

Acts 1:8
"...But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The BCP has Acts 1:8 as an Easter reading in its Morning Prayer liturgy, so I recite it often at this time of year. And of course there is that word Power all over again.

I may not have said this explicitly yet, but one reason I gravitate toward this word nowadays is driven by personal history. Between the age of maybe 20 and 40 (roughly) I kept waiting to see God do "exciting stuff" and wanting to be "in on it too"...

...and found myself disappointed on both counts.

Now it must be said that I was disappointed not because God had failed to deliver, but because I was watching for the wrong results. I'm picturing an alchemist busy trying to figure out how to turn lead into gold who doesn't notice that in one of his experiments diamonds are popping out of ordinary water.

I was watching for gold, so to speak. God was producing diamonds. God has always been doing exciting stuff. But do I have eyes to see it?

And as for me being "in on it too", well, it's hard to be in on the game if you're playing the wrong game. For two decades I thought we were in the business of creating gold. I wasn't much help to a God busily creating diamonds. I feel like I've worn out this analogy, but in any case the point is made.

All that to say... Call me slow, but I get there. God's not defeated. But I am. I must not be playing the same game. Or not the same rules. Or something...

So over recent years (as part of the BCP Easter-time liturgy) I find myself repeatedly reading Acts 1:8. And wondering at the word power that I find there. What does it mean for the power of God to be residing in me? Well (no shock) it seems rather clear in this verse that I'm empowered... to be a witness.

A witness.

Witnesses are called in court not to make things happen. They are called to bear testimony. So that's an odd conjunction. The power of God comes upon us, and we... bear testimony. Go figure.

Enter my father-in-law, who shared a wonderful insight with me a few days ago. He pointed out the simple fact (how could I have missed it?) that Samaria was not exactly Disneyland.

Duh.

Going to Samaria. Jews almost universally despised Samaria. To the Jewish mindset, Samaritans were scum of the earth. To whom can I compare this ancient people that without insulting the living? Let's go with a leper colony. "...and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and in a leper colony, and to the ends of the earth.”

For me, that simple substitution does wonders for the modern eye. It makes it obvious that the power promised was not a ticket to Disneyland. For those hoping to make gold, these words are not encouraging. But God is not making gold. He's making diamonds.

But let's leave diamonds behind and get to the point. If the power of God takes us to leper colonies, what exactly is God doing? What is God's power accomplishing through us?

I think it's all about enabling us (per my prior postings) to have superhuman patience and endurance. Patience and endurance are not required survival traits for victors lolling about eating bon-bons.

But patience and endurance may be the most important weapons you carry into a leper colony.

The problem God faces seems not to have changed over the past few thousand years. His people (even those who claim to know him well) seem never to grasp a simple fact: He's giving us power not to vanquish pathetic foes so much as he is equipping us to survive mortifying conditions.

For twenty years of adulthood I kept wanting to jump on some victory bandwagon. And for twenty years I never heard God's gentle voice... calling me to a death march.

Why do I say that this problem hasn't changed in a few thousand years? Well, for starters there is Acts 1:6.

Acts 1:6
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Acts 1:8 is the answer Jesus gives to his precious disciples. They weren't looking for a leper colony either. They were excited to see Jesus "kick some ass", to be quite frank. The disciples were pointedly asking Jesus if he was finally going to lead Israel to military victory over the cursed Romans. Note the hint of impatience in their words. "We've waited three years now, Jesus. Now are you going to lead us to victory?"

Jesus crushed their plans with no less finality than God has crushed a few of mine. In modern parlance, the exchange between him and the disciples went like this:

Disciples: So Jesus, are we finally going to Disneyland?
Jesus: Wait here for the money you'll need for your trip to...
[the disciples draw in a collective breath of eager anticipation...]
Jesus (continuing): ...India. Where you'll care for lepers.

I swapped money in for the word power because money is what talks in Disneyland. Power is, so to speak, what talks to the Romans.

The disciples were talking power, and Jesus responded to them on their own terms. Power is what they wanted, and power is what he promised to deliver... but for a purpose diametrically opposed to everything they had in mind.

Well I think I've probably taken a thousand words to get out a hundred-word idea. So I'll end with this second set of verses which I think underscore how universally the broader church has failed to grasp the simple plan of God. Failed out of the starting blocks, as seen in the very first verses of Acts.

And a few years later?

The same story.

Never mind the fact that (Jesus' instructions notwithstanding) the disciples didn't bother to leave Jerusalem in any real numbers until...

Acts 8:1
On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.

God has a way of getting his way. Another thousand words could easily be spent just comparing Acts 1:8 to Acts 8:1.

But I digress.

So. Persecutions begin... time passes... The church has spread beyond Jerusalem. Beyond Judea. Beyond Samaria. There is now a church in Corinth, a Greek city...

And the Apostle Paul is dealing with what?

The exact same problem Jesus faced....

1 Corinthians 4:8-13
Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! You have begun to reign—and that without us! How I wish that you really had begun to reign so that we also might reign with you! For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment.

There is a short translation for the above paragraph. In modern parlance it goes like this...

1 Corinthians 4:8-13
You guys went to Disneyland. We're living out our last days in a leper colony!

Paul didn't envy the Mickey Mouse ears. He'd bought into Jesus' plan. His frustration was not with the fact that he wasn't in Disneyland. His frustration lay with a church under his care that refused to leave Disneyland.

Has anything changed in 2,000 years?

Not really.

The American church, broadly speaking, refuses to leave Disneyland. And, frankly, most of the time... I'm not itching to leave either.

But I'm trying to listen.

And I'm not worried, either.

God has a way of getting his way.

Nice Girls Don't Change The World

So I had just finished a reflection on the word Power and shortly thereafter headed off to the local swimming pool for a lazy Memorial Day afternoon with the family and friends.

I sat down next to the wife of a dear friend and asked her what she was reading. She smiled and said, "Have you ever had that situation where someone gave you a book and told you that you should read it?" Then she flipped the cover over and I read the following title: Nice Girls Don't Change The World.

And... how ironic is that? I had just gotten myself to the point where I was ready to accept the notion that God's greatest power shows up in people who are, well, to quote myself verbatim, "Female and frail."

Do I retract everything? I was definitely forced to rethink my fresh new thoughts. Here before me was a very godly woman who seemed to be connecting with a book that encourages her to go out and be strong. And do something more male-ish... Change the world.

Well I did give it a bit of thought, because the circumstances demanded it of me. I didn't say too much to my poolside friend, but the thought rattled around in my head a fair bit.

And here is my conclusion: while I definitely felt it was good counterbalance to my radical notions of the day, I think this book (whose contents I've never read) is yet more of what I no longer believe.

Nice girls don't change the world. Agreed.

But the other girls don't either. And neither do pushy men change change the world. I'm inclined to say that God changes the world, or no one does.

And what, in the end, does it mean to "change the world", anyway? I don't like the phrase anymore. I'd rather focus on blessing the world, but this is equally beyond my reach. God can bless the world. I can bless a few people.

And once I'm down to something a little more possible, and a little more do-able, all of a sudden I am back in the realm where nice girls suit the task very well, thank you.

This is no quibble about the doubtlessly good intentions of the author of this book I speak of. And of course behind the phrase "nice girl" is surely some notions that we'd do well to dispose of as quickly as possible. God's prophets were anything but "nice boys". If by nice we mean "useless", "milquetoast" or "not one to rock the boat" or other such things of that nature, then "being nice" is indeed not the goal.

But if by "nice girls" we mean children who grow up to be "nice women", the sort of women who pours themselves into loving their husbands, their children, their neighbors, and indeed demonstrating compassion for needs beyond their community, then for myself I hope to raise two "nice girls" and two "nice boys".

If God's power is to be revealed in patient endurance, per Paul's prayer for the Colossians, I don't have any immediate problems with the word nice. I do, however, see immediate red flags in the phrase "Change the world".

Why? because that phrase begs me and entices me back to that mindset in which I believe again that by force of will and exertion I can fix the world and make it better. That, I think, is God's job, and one that is done (mysteriously) more through my patient endurance than through my might and great deeds.

So a toast again to Mother Teresa, whose quiet service left a mark that endures yet in the minds of people like myself. I suppose God did indeed change the world through Mother Teresa.

But I sincerely doubt that was the goal she had in mind when she headed to the slums of Calcutta to minister to dying, nameless souls.



[Post-Note: A few hours after posting this reflection I found myself googling Mother Teresa and reading a bit more about her in Wikipedia. How delightful to run into this quote there...

When Mother Teresa received the Nobel Peace Prize, she was asked, "What can we do to promote world peace?" she answered "Go home and love your family."

Amen, dear Teresa. Amen.]

Power Revisited

I knew that I wrote a blog entry on Power once before, but my how time flies. It was two years ago, nearly to the day. And yet here I am again, noodling over the same word.

It doesn't really look like I have that much to say here that is terribly different from what I wrote then. Once again, the Apostle Paul has me running hard (to catch up with him). Be that as it may, I think it's worth repeating the experience, so that these words will linger in my heart and maybe the idea sink in a bit deeper.

Here's what set my mind into motion. Our pastor shared a benediction yesterday which consisted of this reading:

Colossians 1:9-12
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

My ears perked up at the mention of (yes, you guessed it) Power.

Because, as I mentioned earlier, I've been noodling over what is meant by that word for literally several years now. What does a really powerful man do? What does a really powerful man of God do?

Sidebar question #1: Are they different questions? In practice of course they are... Powerful men run Washington, D.C. and powerful men of God run soup kitchens. Right? But from the eyes of eternity I'm pretty sure both questions have only one answer. Many men who look powerful to our earth-clad eyeballs are as nothing on God's scales. I don't actually think that there are many powerful men in Washington, D.C.

But what does a really powerful man of God do?

Sidebar question #2: I've been saying "man" because I'm male. What about women? Pressed on the point, I'd in fact hazard a guess that, from eternity's perspective, the balance of true power lies more with women than with men. But here I get ahead of myself again, because I've not yet gotten to what really powerful people do. We kinda need that part worked out before we can look around and see who's doing it.

So, again, to the original question. What does a really powerful man of God do? Ah, but that's what make this set of verses so much fodder for reflection.

…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might…

Right about now we’re ready for the 3-D special effects movie, waiting for the power to do amazing things and leave the world in awe of our POWERFUL God… and yet what does the rest of the verse indicate all this power will enable us to do?

“…so that you man have great endurance and patience…”

Endurance and patience. Those are not the first words that come to mind, are they? Infinite power of God within me… so that I can bear up and be patient.

Not the stuff of movies.

But maybe it’s time that my vision of “what God’s up to” be more divorced from western notions of power (and entertainment).

Endurance and patience. You know, if we were forced to pick a person to embody those traits, who might we remember?

Well, to be honest? Mother Teresa comes to mind for me.

And I don't think that's a fluke. Not a fluke on either count. She's the living embodiment of non-Washington and non-male. A woman with no earthly trappings of power.

Female and frail.

It's not what I had in mind when I hoped to be a man of God twenty years ago. Or ten years ago. Or five. But more and more I believe that my great calling... my highest calling... the way God wants to show His almighty power through me... lies in how I bear my crosses.

My heart wants to make a difference for God by throwing off crosses. Not simply my own, of course (how noble of me...) but also the crosses of others.

And of course God does want us to pursue justice and mercy. He does want us to work to make the world a better place. To speak for those who have no voice.

But a little voice in my head says that the most powerful witness to God, and the most powerful testimony I can give to men of his work in my life, is not in how I do all these wonderful things for other people.

No. The most powerful witness I can bear is how I bear my crosses. And thanks to four gospels I know how Jesus carried his cross.

There is a time for words. A time for argument. A time for civil disobedience. A time to take a stand.

But then there is a time to carry one's cross. And speak no words. The world has never been the same since Jesus carried his cross. Now that was power.

Power

Power. It's a strong word! But I was struck this morning by how Paul uses the word in his prayer for the church of Ephesus.

Ephesians 3:16-21

I pray that out of his glorious riches God may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

That's not the kind of power that gets much press these days. Hollywood-style power involves, inevitably, some combination of money, physical strength, and/or control over others. Furthermore, in Hollywood and in our popular imagination power is used to do things. Usually to beat up the bad guys.

Paul is clearly talking about something else. In this passage, power does not enable us to do anything at all. No baddies get wiped out. What kind of power is Paul talking about? Well, I'm not going to win any sleuthing awards here, but just from the text it is clear to see that through this power:

1. Christ dwells in our hearts, and
2. we can grasp how great Christ's love for us is

And... that's it. That's it. That's it for us, that is to say.

But we mustn't miss item #3. By this power which enables Christ to live in us and which enables us to know Christ's love.... by this power which is at work within us:

3. God is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

Now the action is beginning to kick in. Here comes the action? Well, not quite. God himself (not us!) is "doing the doing."

So this is a different sort of power. It's not Hollywood power, not military power, not physical prowess, not monetary power... but on the other hand, given how these resources have been squandered and how many evils have been wrought by these means – no wonder God prefers to still be in control of this kind of power. Because this power is his power. Only God can be trusted to wield the power of God.

And therein lies the mystery, because God has chosen to do great things through us. If our deeds and words accomplish more than can be explained in human terms, then indeed it can be said that the power of God was at work within us.

So we face two choices. We can either accomplish nothing of eternal significance, and have the pleasure of pulling off that feat on our own, or we can allow God to include us in on his plans to accomplish immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine.

As I write these words, I think of the scoffers of this world. Great empires, of course, have been built by godless souls. But these empires are destined for dust. God is building an eternal kingdom, and it is toward this end that all his power is being exerted. Paul's words here cannot be improved upon...

1 Corinthians 3:10-15
Because of God’s grace to me, I have laid the foundation like an expert builder. Now others are building on it. But whoever is building on this foundation must be very careful. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ.
Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

God, let your power through me bring glory to yourself. May my work be empowered by you, that the fruits of my labor be deemed worthy of eternity.