Redefining Power

April 2, 2023

We wave the branches in the spirit of hailing a conquering King and we do so for a king unlike our inherited imaginations have given.

What Rini read this morning and what we celebrate today on Palm Sunday represents the climax of Jesus’ conflict with the ruling religious hierarchy. If you were to ask any Biblical scholar, why did Jesus die, they would point to the unfolding of these and the following events as the groundwork and cause. This is Jesus’ statement piece, a statement of authority.

-       Jesus is proclaimed a conquering hero under the nose of Rome,

-       turns over the money changers in the Temple,

-       chastises the religious elite,

-       and destabilizes the fragile social order by suggesting a God higher than even Ceasar. We’ll follow Jesus’ journey this coming week as we celebrate

These are power moves that get that undoubtedly land him in conflict with Rome and the religious authorities. Jesus does not eschew power or shrink his voice to accommodate the social traditions or ruling establishment. He is quite bold with his voice. We’ll later consider how he challenges that which gives one authority, but for now, let’s just acknowledge that Jesus does nothing but hide his voice, opinion, or his power.

PAUSE

I encounter many good people, who shirk their power and shrink their voice… often because they believe it to be the Christian thing to do!

A friend of mine whom I’ve worked with in the past started a new job several years ago at a large out-of-state hospital. At the start of her job, she noted that she wanted to observe and learn. One year into her work, she learned the territories and different perspectives. She kept her opinions to herself. Yet in the subsequent years, she confessed to remaining quiet and even changing her perspective to accommodate her predominately male counterparts. She found herself being polite, not making a scene, and trying not to speak up for herself. Instead of speaking up about what she saw as possible areas for improvement, she, and I quote, “tiptoed around the male egos in the room.”

Meekness is a virtue as is humility and servanthood – but none of these mean subservience or silence. To quote one of my favorite singer/songwriters, “never be so polite you forget your power.”

Can anyone guess the artist?

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A British social scientist, Michale Marmot, conducted a study in the 1970s to understand the connection between workplace environments and one’s physical health. At the time, it was a pretty novel idea to think that our environment could impact our physical systems and I believe his findings have something to offer us today, even in 2023. Wanting to discern whether there was a link between one’s vocation and one’s health, Michael needed to first isolate the millions of variables. He acknowledged that a nurse will have different demands and needs than an electrician and so on and so on. So, Michael focused on a single entity in British society, British civil servants – aka, the British government.  

British civil servants worked in offices running along Whitehall Street, they worked similar hours, sat about the same amount, shared similar conditions at work with similar stability of retirement, etc., etc. The difference, in Michael’s first test, was in their status level and work expectations within the civil service.

Initially, the hypothesis was that the higher levels of stress would have a parallel relationship to higher incidents of medical issues. Such maladies as high blood pressure, heart attacks, diabetes, etc. After conducting interviews and researching the medical history of some 18,000 British civil servants, what Michael and other researchers discovered was the opposite of their initial hypothesis. If you were to work in the lower status of civil service, still with retirement, a decent to live, and security in your work – you were 4x more likely to have a heart attack than if you were working in a higher status level with more stress and more expectation. Something about their jobs – employees called it – turning off - was making them depressed, isolated, and less involved.

Drilling down even further, Michael isolated the participants to those on the same rung of civil service. Among these workers, variables were nearly constant: they were paid the same, worked in almost the same areas, had the same hours, and had similar lifestyles outside of work. The only difference was the amount of control and voice they had within their work. What came shining clear in the studies was that those with more control, more voice, and more capacity to affect change – had higher levels of satisfaction and physical health. After Michael’s study, he wrote this which I want us to hear today, “Disempowerment is at the heart of poor health.” 

Jesus does not ask us to avoid power or maintain the status quo. He does nothing of the sort.  Silence is not a virtue, powerlessness is not morality.

 PAUSE

As I’ve noted, Jesus' entry has parallels with the shape of contemporary power, but his values, when we look carefully, turn the cultural norms that would imbue one with power up on their head. In so doing, I believe he invites us to deconstruct where our power comes from.

In Matthew 21, we encounter the conquering hero motif. The hero’s power is derived principally from battle, as one scholar writes, “This ritual of ceremonial entry displayed central Roman values: imperial greatness; supremacy over enemies; military domination and conquest; “power over” as the basis of social interactions as well as violence, submission, enslavement, and subjugation of the enemy.” 

Jesus' entry may take its shape from the Roman military conquest, but his message is not of a power derived from conquest or subjugation but from healing, liberation, forgiveness,

How does Jesus subvert these claims to power?  

• Jesus enters on a donkey, a beast of burden.

• Jesus is unheralded by any person of significance, rather only the crowds outside of the established city see his value.  

• He enters Jerusalem, not as a conqueror but to offer himself as a victim to Rome’s oppressive apparatus – silence or you’ll be silenced.

• He is heralded by the crowd not for his acts of violence but for his works of healing.

• He has conquered no territory or subjugated any people – in fact, he’s taught that our neighbor extends beyond tribe or territory.

Power, in this sense, is not derived from might, prestige, or status but from a deep connection to God and the life of healing, offering, and love.

Jesus’ entry may carry the symbols of modern 1st-century power, it’s just that Jesus has a very different view of what gives one real power.

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As a side note and perhaps not too far aside - What troubles me is how 21st-century Protestant culture has seemed to prefer the Roman forms of dominion over the message of healing and neighbor. Even dominant strands of Christianity have fallen in love with increasing our territory, silencing women, and disassociating from anyone who does not agree with us.  

We have inherited a dominant Christian culture that wants its men to be armed, women to be pure, and mother earth to be subdued. This has nothing to do with the good news, message, or power of Jesus, which proclaimed connection rather than dominion and kinship over any tribalism. Still, we find ourselves lost and grabbing for power that’s already been hollowed out by the message of Jesus.

 PAUSE

So, if you’d permit me, may I ask you a series of questions? (Yes, that was my first).

What gives you power? If you don’t have it, are you looking for power or its true source – which is a connection with God and neighbor.

Perhaps you’ve found a voice of authority, but it's not your voice – it’s a voice that society values but is not your voice.

And for those who have found their power, how will you use it?  

I recall during my time as a Chaplain working with one of the first employees of Nationwide Insurance, what was at the time called, Farm Bureau Mutual. He started sometime in the early 1940s as the company was expanding. Raising through the ranks, he become the Sr. Vice President – a post which he held for the remainder of his life. My first visit was at his house, I could not help but see the myriad of accolades and honors he had received. Later, I would visit him in Skilled Nursing Facilities as his needs became too great, I asked him what he valued about his work. He told me that there was one thing that he held truly dear – it was for him, the most important part of his work. “Adam,” he said, “I was in charge of making sure that everyone, and at the time, I mean everyone at Nationwide was paid on time. Making sure families had what they needed was more important to me than just about anything else.”  

What gives us power may be very different from what society recognizes. What gave Jesus power was not might, status, or position but his commitment to healing and proclaiming good news to those who were

If you are the type of person that has either been quieted by the prevailing establishment or seek to accommodate the egos around you – please hear this, we need your voice! The world needs your power.

And if you are in charge of sectors within your industry, make space for other voices. I recognize that even as I stand here, a white educated cis-gendered male, I need to make space for others to share their voice, their power, their opinion, insight, and leadership! I do not hold the keys to this place of prayer – it is yours. Your voice is welcome here.

Written and compiled by Rev. Adam Davis