Celebration worship
Today, I want to talk about Christ as our authority. Ask any person, and they will tell you that while they prize freedom and the power to make their own choices, they also really want someone who is in charge and worth following. I saw this firsthand when I was in High school in Lubbock. Most of my experiences with teachers have been really good. The Principals and admins I was around hired great staff who loved their job, loved kids, and loved the process of molding them into men and women who could be productive members of society. My experience changed on day 1 of Math class my Junior year of High School. As my wife will tell you, math is not my speciality at all. So for me, a Math teacher not only has to be clear, but also in command of the room, cause Math is one of those subjects that many struggle with, and many react differently to it. That year was not a good year for me in Math. My teacher was horrible at classroom discipline, he tried his best to teach, but the students he had in class made teaching difficult for him. I remember days when kids would say “Hey John!! We need some answers!!” Did they really want to go there?! Such was the life in a room that no one was in charge.
Nationally, people seem to want direction over a “free to do whatever you want” leader in a business, community, and other areas of public life. In 2004, Pew Research Center was created. However, its roots go back almost 14 years before that, when the Times Mirror Company created the “Times Mirror Center for the People & the Press”. In 1996, Pew became the primary sponsor, renaming it the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. It was officially consolidated into the standalone subsidiary we know today in 2004. It is a nonpartisan “think tank” that informs the public about social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends shaping the world. It provides data-driven research—including polling and content analysis—without taking policy or advocacy positions for Republicans or Democrats. In 2023, consider some of the polls they produced. A small percentage of the nation has confidence that Big Business is doing a good job in their respective fields. Only half of the nation trust CEO’s as credible voices in American life. In an interesting poll, more than half of the nation wants CEO’s to do better to lead society in making good business decisions. A part of this massive number is that many in the country are tired of thinking about politicians who try to lead but can’t do it, or whose vision is not compelling enough to do so. These polls and more, tell a story of a high demand for principled, long-term–
As our authority, Jesus offers assurance: “Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”-Matthew 28:16-18. I love this text, mainly because Jesus responds to doubts with assurance. He didn’t chastise the disciples for their doubts and anxiety, he simply assured them that he was in charge and that it was going to be ok. And it is not the first time this has been done in the Gospels. In John 14, Jesus tells a troubled group of disciples who see bad times coming “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.”-John 14:1, 3. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus responds to the tired and weary needs of those He is teaching, saying “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”-Matthew 11:28-30.
(NOTE!!! In light of a tragedy in the church this week, the illustration I had planned to use has been deleted. Since it was so recent, I did not have time to do a formal write up of my remarks, since I will be talking about said tragedy in this section of the sermon. I will upload the audio and tag it at the bottom of the sermon this afternoon.) In the same way, when followers of Jesus suffer adversity, and leadership seems lacking, There is a lesson here: Death, is God’s enemy, and followers of Jesus crave a strong presence when things go wrong. When the chips are down and things don’t look good in our marriages, our jobs, our schools, and our communities, we want to know if someone, anyone has our back. The Book of Hebrews addresses exiles who felt just that: who is with us as we seek to flourish in the ways God wants for us? What has God done about death? The writer assures them they don’t have to look far: “Be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”-Hebrews 13:5-6. The Apostle Paul, echoes this promise in Romans 8:31 “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”-Romans 8:31-39. As our authority, Jesus assures us with His presence!
In light of our assurance that is ours in Christ: I have 2 invitations for you to consider. Number 1, claim the authority Jesus shares with us. “All authority has been given to me, go therefore…”. If Jesus says all authority has been given to Him, He is not going to look at your marriage, your job, sudden tragedy, or your community and say “I can’t handle this!!” Is it possible, because of Jesus, we can do the same in our own lives? Try not to worry that college will wreck your faith, your business might flounder, or relationship won’t work cause you might fail. That college should be worried, that busisness should be encouraged, and those you love should be in awe, because you are not under the authority of a man or prince, you are not a boss, or ceo, you are a slave of Christ, and you answer to Jesus alone, our Lord and friend! I would say it like this: Submitting to the authority of Jesus is letting Him do and accomplish by His efforts through you that we never could do on our own efforts. That meeting you are stressing out about this week, Jesus already knows what is going to go down, and is already working on hearts to make it as merciful and productive as possible. There is nothing you can say or do that will make the meeting go better or worse. Trust God, be prepared, and let Jesus lead, let Him set the agenda.
The same goes for your relationships. Let Jesus lead them! He is a better servant than we are. Waiting on the community, or your spouse, or neighbor, or church member to take the initiative without Jesus leading never works. I hear it all the time: “Well, my neighbors, my church, doesn’t like me. Or, my personal favorite, “is that my job?” Friends, our obligation is to Christ and let Him lead. What does He say? “The Son of Man, did not come to be served, but to serve!” Because we have been assured in Christ, that should empower us to pray for a person who needs our prayers, or better yet, to love and serve them! Because all authority is in Christ, we can let His teaching and actions set the agenda in our relationships.
Number 2, I invite you to remember you are not alone. “I am with you always” is not just “they lived happily ever after”, in the Gospels, it’s not an ending, it is a promise, to the audience reading Matthew, and to us, we don’t just have a friend who supports us, we have a King who loves us!! So much so that He came in flesh to give us life and life abundantly. A King who died, rose again, and sits at the right hand of the Father who reigns over our lives! I don’t know about you, but if I had to choose one friend in the world to stay with me in a bad season, I would choose Jesus. In Christ, stressful situations don’t cease to be stressful, they just become more manageable. Why? You have someone carrying the load with you. Paul writes to the Galatian church to “Bear one another’s burdens, in doing so, you will fulfill the law of Christ.”-Galatians 6:2. It is the law of Jesus because, to quote the Hymn, “my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin.”
Don’t get me wrong. Feeling alone is a very real experience for some. Don’t ignore them, and think it’s a sign of weakness to feel alone. Remember, the invitation is to remember Jesus sees how you feel, and will walk you through every step of the season you are in: “Come to me all you that labor and are heavy laden, come to me and I will give you rest.”-Matthew 11:28. Sometimes Christ gives rest through people such as close friends and licensed therapists and Christian practices like prayer, other times through moments you and I do not expect. For example, when Corrie ten Boom was imprisoned in a Nazi prison camp for hiding Jews. One night she lay in her lice-infested barracks, utterly alone. She whispered, “Jesus, I am so alone.” In that moment, in an awful environment, she recalled a presence filled the space—so real she felt she could touch it. She later wrote, “I was not alone, and realized I had never been!” She realized Jesus was with her in that cell, in her fear, in her exhaustion. It wasn’t a feeling, or little angel on her shoulders, —it was a knowing, Jesus was still with her! From then on, she carried the presence of Christ with her, out of the camp later, and into a lifetime of offering hope to others through her book, talks, etc. It was that experience that formed her thoughts to say things like “Never be afraid to trust an unknown future, to a known Jesus!”
Do you feel like no one is listening? Do you feel alone? Friends, hear the good news! All authority has been given to Christ! Jesus is listening, and even now stands with you. You are not alone. Jesus wants to take control of your life, not to judge it, or limit it, but to give you life and redeem it! The Bible calls that grace, and through it, Christ can lead your life, and change your it. Will you let Him? In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.