Until we gather again as a community, CTK will release a daily devotional each morning. Each devotional will include a song to sing, a short devotional (to be read alone or with your family), questions for discussion or reflection, and a prayer. See the rest of our series on our blog. To sign up for our daily email, fill out your contact info here.
Devotional
The past few days we meditated on the concept of apocalypse as a revealing or unveiling. Coronavirus has exposed the difference between power and authority- and the consequences that result when those in power have no authority.
To be powerful is to be in a position which commands respect. The police officer with the badge, the politician with the platform, the parent with the small child- all of us are in positions of power, and are underneath those who have power over us. Power can be taken by fear or by force; it can be claimed by capturing the symbols of power. But power also runs in the background; we only really notice power when the person who has it is wielding poorly. All of us have been in situations where someone with power is a bully; all of us have been that person at one time or another.
Authority is something different. Authority cannot be taken; it can only be earned. To have authority is to have other people's trust. Authority is power plus goodness plus integrity. When someone speaks with authority, we believe that they know what they are talking about, and that there is alignment between what they say, do and feel. When someone has authority, we believe that they are for us, and that they tell the truth. Authority cannot be taken, but it can be given away: when those in power act in self-interest or out of hypocrisy, they may retain their power, but they lose their authority, and the trust of the people that depend on them. To be underneath someone in power who has lost authority is to lose confidence in the collective, to stop believing that someone is looking out for you, to feel like you are totally on your own. When we receive a constant stream of information (some of it true, and some of it not) which undercuts the story told by those in power, it becomes more difficult to trust their authority. Perhaps this is why our most digitally native generation (millenials) are the group that are most infected in the United States... by virtue of their constant exposure to information, it becomes difficult to trust ANY authority. So we go on about our lives, looking out for number one. Sound familiar?
The good news is this: that though the kings of the earth wield power but lack authority, the king of the cosmos retains his authority, even as his power grows. Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life" (John 14:6). And everybody rolled their eyes. Big talk, Jesus. Sounds like another populist, making promises he can't keep. The scoffing got louder throughout his ministry. Surely this "King of the Jews" was only in it for himself. The cynical response was as popular then as it is now. "What is truth?" said Pilate. "What is truth?" says the smartphone. Jesus' will be exposed, will lose authority, eventually- we just haven't found the skeletons in the closet. And on and on.
Right up until the cross ("Father forgive them, they know not what they do). Right up until Easter. Right up until the empty tomb.
Right up until death was swallowed up in victory, the grave could not hold the King. The Way and the Truth brought us Life. To him be the power and glory forever and ever. Amen.
As you struggle to trust those in power, place your trust in the one who has demonstrated his goodness, his integrity, his truthfulness in history. You can trust him in the darkest nights. You can trust him in the face of death. He has conquered it already. Believe it.
A quote:
“The world is indeed full of peril, and in it there are many dark places; but still there is much that is fair. And though in all lands love is now mingled with grief, love grows perhaps the stronger." - J.R.R. Tolkein
For discussion:
1. What authorities do you find yourself trusting? Where do you turn for actionable information? Why do you trust them?
2. Read 1 Cor. 15:1-28.
3. What is Paul's good news?
4. What if its true? How would it change your emotional experience of this pandemic?
5. How does this definition of the gospel compare and contrast with the definition you are living out?
A prayer for confidence in God, from the Lorica of St. Patrick:
I arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
Amen.
“O Praise the Name” celebrates the power and authority of Jesus, purchased by his life, death, and resurrection.