1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,000 Howdy. 2 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:02,000 Howdy. 3 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:09,520 So, for those of you who haven't got a chance to know me a bit, I'm Pastor Jason Moreno. 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:15,440 I've had a chance to be able to do discipleship here for four years and got the chance to 5 00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:19,160 these last two months to start up as the lead pastor. 6 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:24,560 And we've been looking at these last few Sundays about how they're building up toward the way 7 00:00:24,560 --> 00:00:29,280 that we're going to view transfiguration Sunday next week. 8 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,840 And today we're going to be talking about the distinction between authority and power 9 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:39,920 and why it is that that is supposed to be different and how that changes the way that 10 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:44,720 we understand serving in our world today. 11 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:49,960 And I wanted to start off telling you there was an assignment that I had to complete. 12 00:00:49,960 --> 00:00:52,120 This was during seminary. 13 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:55,720 One of our classes was a church history class. 14 00:00:55,720 --> 00:01:00,560 Now we were supposed to go back to our home congregation and we were supposed to do a history 15 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:02,560 of that home congregation. 16 00:01:02,560 --> 00:01:07,120 Any major events, celebrations, people who had been there, all sorts of things. 17 00:01:07,120 --> 00:01:09,440 Well I became Lutheran in college. 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:16,080 So my home congregation was the college church up at Texas A&M. 19 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:17,080 Thank you. 20 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:18,080 Sorry. 21 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:24,520 With it though is in doing so, I wasn't quite sure what to put down. 22 00:01:24,520 --> 00:01:30,120 I was trying hard to figure out what was the earliest person that had been there. 23 00:01:30,120 --> 00:01:35,000 But the very first pastor that had been there, he'd already passed away. 24 00:01:35,000 --> 00:01:37,040 So how was I going to get some information on that? 25 00:01:37,040 --> 00:01:42,280 And I tried to find out if anyone had gone to the chapel back in the late 60s, early 26 00:01:42,280 --> 00:01:48,760 70s, but I found out that apparently the president of our denomination, Reverend Dr. 27 00:01:48,760 --> 00:01:54,000 Gerald Kieschnik, had gone to Texas A&M and been there at the start of our chapel. 28 00:01:54,000 --> 00:02:00,320 And I'm over there thinking of myself, I mean, chances are he's not going to reply. 29 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:01,960 But I thought, I'm going to give it a shot anyway. 30 00:02:01,960 --> 00:02:08,200 So I sent the president of the denomination an email and I said, hey, would you be interested 31 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:11,560 in telling me a little bit about your time at the church? 32 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:17,680 Well, it turned out my confirmation pastor was now his assistant and so I kind of got 33 00:02:17,680 --> 00:02:19,040 my way in there. 34 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:20,200 And so he did. 35 00:02:20,200 --> 00:02:24,520 And he sent me about like two pages of different accounts of different things from the church. 36 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:27,960 So of course I managed to squeeze those into the report. 37 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:32,400 And with every single thing that he said, I made sure to follow it up with, said Reverend 38 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:35,840 Dr. Gerald Kieschnik, president of the Lutheran Church of Missouri, send it. 39 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:37,640 And I did not abbreviate once. 40 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:40,800 I put the whole thing every single time. 41 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:44,720 Oh, I felt like I had the best report in the world. 42 00:02:44,720 --> 00:02:46,280 It was awesome. 43 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:50,160 And I did get an A. And then the following election, he lost 44 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:51,160 the presidency. 45 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:52,160 So I don't know. 46 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:56,160 I just, you know, just when you think you have it figured out, just when you think you 47 00:02:56,160 --> 00:02:57,720 have it figured out. 48 00:02:57,720 --> 00:03:03,360 But the thing that stood out to me about it was that his authority, he was still willing 49 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:04,680 to help. 50 00:03:04,680 --> 00:03:09,040 He was still willing to do something for somebody else. 51 00:03:09,040 --> 00:03:15,520 Now I bring that up when we're looking at our Isaiah passage, our Isaiah passage chapter 52 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:16,520 40. 53 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:20,480 We're looking a little bit at what happened with the times of the exile. 54 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:21,480 Okay. 55 00:03:21,480 --> 00:03:26,040 So just a quick reminder, the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, 56 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:27,440 they'd split. 57 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:36,120 And right around the, you know, 702, 701 BC, that northern part got exiled by Assyria. 58 00:03:36,120 --> 00:03:41,480 Now Isaiah, the first 39 chapters, it's kind of talking about all these different things. 59 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,400 And it gets up to the part where Assyria is about to fall. 60 00:03:44,400 --> 00:03:47,360 And Babylon is about to take over. 61 00:03:47,360 --> 00:03:53,680 And the reason why that stands out is because Babylon is who eventually exiled Judah from 62 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:54,680 the south. 63 00:03:54,680 --> 00:04:00,960 But you see, Isaiah in chapter 40, where we're at, he's looking to the future and he's 64 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:04,880 looking to what is going to happen to the people of Judah and the fact that they are 65 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:10,280 going to be in a strange land and they're going to feel abandoned and they're going 66 00:04:10,280 --> 00:04:14,380 to wonder, with God even remembers them anymore. 67 00:04:14,380 --> 00:04:20,000 And that's the part that we end up seeing in Isaiah 40, where it says things like, 68 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:25,880 lift up your eyes on high and see who created these by the greatness of his might. 69 00:04:25,880 --> 00:04:31,720 And because he is strong in power, not one is missing. 70 00:04:31,720 --> 00:04:35,600 And even later, he does not faint or grow weary. 71 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:41,600 He gives power to the faint and to him who has no might, he increases strength. 72 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:44,440 They shall mount up with wings like eagles. 73 00:04:44,440 --> 00:04:45,760 They shall run and not be weary. 74 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:49,320 They shall walk and not faint. 75 00:04:49,320 --> 00:04:53,880 See this part is talking about God being above all gods. 76 00:04:53,880 --> 00:05:00,960 But even though God is so powerful and so mighty, Isaiah is pointing out that he is still there 77 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:08,320 to give you strength, to love you, to be there, to be your strength in the midst of weakness, 78 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:13,240 that power that only comes from God. 79 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:18,560 But when we try to understand that, how does God show us the way that we use power? 80 00:05:18,560 --> 00:05:24,160 And what does God show us about his authority? 81 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:31,720 And that ends up pointing in my mind to what I've seen in regard to my mom. 82 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:33,840 My parents, they live up on the north side of Houston. 83 00:05:33,840 --> 00:05:40,400 If you go from my place to theirs, it's about 45, 50 minute drive because Houston's a behemoth. 84 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:48,720 But with it is whenever I get a chance to get over there, my mom always has to feed me. 85 00:05:48,720 --> 00:05:49,720 It's important. 86 00:05:49,720 --> 00:05:53,920 She's got to make sure that I'm not starving because apparently, you know, 43 year olds 87 00:05:53,920 --> 00:05:56,600 can't feed themselves. 88 00:05:56,600 --> 00:06:01,160 But when I get there, it's not just that there's food available. 89 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:05,360 It's that she is going out of her way to make sure that I have anything and everything that 90 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:07,560 I could need or want. 91 00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,800 So it's like they've cooked enchiladas that's sitting over here. 92 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,200 Maybe there's some beans and some rice and so I'm over there and I serve everything and 93 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,640 I go to sit down and she's like, wait, wait, wait, wait, do you need salsa? 94 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:19,640 I think I have some salsa. 95 00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:21,280 Let me go grab that for you. 96 00:06:21,280 --> 00:06:22,280 Okay, sure. 97 00:06:22,280 --> 00:06:24,200 Do you need an avocado? 98 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:25,200 I think I have an avocado. 99 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:27,680 I'll go grab an avocado and slice it up. 100 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:29,800 I didn't need the avocado. 101 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:30,800 It's okay. 102 00:06:30,800 --> 00:06:32,560 I'm like, do you have what you need to drink? 103 00:06:32,560 --> 00:06:33,880 Well, I've got some water. 104 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:34,880 I've got sodas. 105 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:35,880 I've got sweet tea. 106 00:06:35,880 --> 00:06:40,440 I'm just sitting there like she is just going out of her. 107 00:06:40,440 --> 00:06:43,680 Now this is the woman who gave birth to me. 108 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:49,840 So technically she could be like, you know, I was in labor for so long with you and you 109 00:06:49,840 --> 00:06:56,120 should totally be feeding me and taking care of my needs and she probably wouldn't like 110 00:06:56,120 --> 00:06:57,200 my cooking anyway. 111 00:06:57,200 --> 00:07:03,720 But instead the woman who gave birth to me is over there still wanting to do something 112 00:07:03,720 --> 00:07:04,720 for me. 113 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:13,800 And it stood out to me that this idea of wanting to go out of your way to serve. 114 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:19,560 In our gospel lesson, Jesus, we had just finished the part where Jesus had healed a man on the 115 00:07:19,560 --> 00:07:22,360 Sabbath who was right there in front of him. 116 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:28,400 And he goes over to the house of Peter and Andrew and Peter's mother-in-law is over there 117 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:30,000 and she has a fever. 118 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:34,640 And what you need to keep in mind is that this is not a time when you just give them 119 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:41,040 some Tylenol, you know, make sure that they, you know, stay cool, put a rag on their head. 120 00:07:41,040 --> 00:07:47,360 This is a time when people felt powerless in the midst of physical ailments that only 121 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,560 God could really take care of things like this. 122 00:07:51,560 --> 00:07:55,760 And what does Jesus do? 123 00:07:55,760 --> 00:08:01,560 They're there to eat, but he stops and he goes over to heal her. 124 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:07,760 But what's fascinating is that as soon as she's healed, what is it that she does? 125 00:08:07,760 --> 00:08:11,440 She gets up because she wants to go serve. 126 00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:15,880 Definitely not the whole go make me a sandwich kind of a thing that, no, no, that's not what 127 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:17,240 this is about. 128 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:23,600 But rather, this is someone saying, I want to do something for you. 129 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:30,880 Isn't that completely strange to us as American Christians? 130 00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:35,720 How much have we lost the idea of what it is to serve other people? 131 00:08:35,720 --> 00:08:41,560 Even today, nonprofits, I was at the Memorial Assistance Ministries quarterly meeting, no, 132 00:08:41,560 --> 00:08:49,840 every two bi-monthly meeting, and they were saying that apparently nationwide, every nonprofit 133 00:08:49,840 --> 00:08:54,960 is struggling because volunteering is at a low everywhere. 134 00:08:54,960 --> 00:08:58,240 People just don't want to. 135 00:08:58,240 --> 00:09:06,440 We oftentimes struggle with this idea of what our life means beyond just taking care of 136 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:07,800 what we want to get done. 137 00:09:07,800 --> 00:09:15,280 But you see, that's more of what we end up seeing about Jesus is what it is that he is 138 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:20,040 putting out there with his authority and with his own power. 139 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:26,520 You see, there's Jesus healing people of their illnesses and the people who are, you know, 140 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:27,960 possessed with demons. 141 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:34,160 Did you notice that it says that the people waited until after sunset? 142 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:36,520 Why? 143 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,160 Because you can't carry people on the Sabbath. 144 00:09:40,160 --> 00:09:44,200 So they couldn't carry people to go to Jesus. 145 00:09:44,200 --> 00:09:49,280 Jesus had authority to decide when it was time to heal. 146 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:55,320 But these people were saying, okay, we'll wait until we can get there. 147 00:09:55,320 --> 00:10:01,400 But with it then, as we see that Jesus is not spending his time now glorying over how many 148 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:03,920 people he's taking care of. 149 00:10:03,920 --> 00:10:06,000 This isn't, oh, now I've healed all of you. 150 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:08,480 Okay, can you all get into a row? 151 00:10:08,480 --> 00:10:12,120 I need you to write some referrals for my website. 152 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:14,600 Okay, tell everybody how great of a job I did. 153 00:10:14,600 --> 00:10:19,320 Okay, maybe we'll do a video or two because we need to raise some funds for this ministry 154 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:20,320 thing. 155 00:10:20,320 --> 00:10:21,320 That sounds good. 156 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:25,040 Okay, let's tell everybody how great this is. 157 00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:31,160 Instead he's going off alone because the first thing that's on his mind is I need to spend 158 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:35,040 time with my father in prayer. 159 00:10:35,040 --> 00:10:39,200 Isn't that such a reversal of what we end up seeing? 160 00:10:39,200 --> 00:10:44,960 Is that instead of trying to emphasize his power and trying to get glory right then and 161 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:50,720 there, instead he goes back to get strength from his father away from him. 162 00:10:50,720 --> 00:10:52,880 Even the disciples are trying to find him. 163 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:54,680 Where did you go? 164 00:10:54,680 --> 00:10:58,480 Like everything's picking up. 165 00:10:58,480 --> 00:10:59,480 That's not the point. 166 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:00,480 Why? 167 00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:03,760 Because I'm here to go preach the good news. 168 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:09,000 So heal the sick, to care for those in need, and to let them know that the kingdom of God 169 00:11:09,000 --> 00:11:11,800 is here. 170 00:11:11,800 --> 00:11:14,880 Have we lost sight of that as the church? 171 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:21,360 Have we lost sight that the goal is not to try to feel powerful here as the church. 172 00:11:21,360 --> 00:11:28,160 The goal is to get out there to serve as the church. 173 00:11:28,160 --> 00:11:33,520 And that's the thing that I find so fascinating about the way that Jesus ends up turning this 174 00:11:33,520 --> 00:11:34,520 around. 175 00:11:34,520 --> 00:11:41,440 You see, Jesus kept telling the demons not to say anything. 176 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:44,960 It says in there, it's not just keeping them quiet. 177 00:11:44,960 --> 00:11:50,880 It's actually, in the original language, it actually comes out as muzzled them. 178 00:11:50,880 --> 00:11:57,240 This is as close to shut up as you could possibly get. 179 00:11:57,240 --> 00:11:58,600 Why? 180 00:11:58,600 --> 00:12:03,800 Because Jesus isn't there trying to make sure he shows everyone how powerful he is and get 181 00:12:03,800 --> 00:12:04,800 all those demons. 182 00:12:04,800 --> 00:12:08,600 I'm going to put my foot on your neck, demon, and you're going to make sure everyone knows 183 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:09,920 what it is. 184 00:12:09,920 --> 00:12:10,920 That was never the goal. 185 00:12:10,920 --> 00:12:17,480 The goal was to get the demons out so that the person would be free. 186 00:12:17,480 --> 00:12:21,200 The goal was not to try to puff up Jesus. 187 00:12:21,200 --> 00:12:27,040 The goal was to do his work for his father. 188 00:12:27,040 --> 00:12:32,960 When we end up seeing Jesus changing this perspective is what we realize is that true 189 00:12:32,960 --> 00:12:39,560 power is meant to serve in authority. 190 00:12:39,560 --> 00:12:46,800 The authority that somebody has doesn't come from showing how powerful that they are. 191 00:12:46,800 --> 00:12:52,680 There was, I'll sometimes tell people that one of the sermons I gave in California, 192 00:12:52,680 --> 00:12:58,080 I looked at everybody and I said, if I'm not wearing this white alb or if I don't have 193 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:04,960 Rev behind my name, would anything that I had to say matter? 194 00:13:04,960 --> 00:13:10,120 The irony was that two months later I was no longer pastor at that church. 195 00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:16,160 The thing that we oftentimes do is that we think of what our authority is by how much 196 00:13:16,160 --> 00:13:24,680 power we can wield, but rather is that authority came from who Jesus is. 197 00:13:24,680 --> 00:13:32,040 See, Jesus going to the father, this isn't trying to puff himself up. 198 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:38,200 This is spending time with his father to actually give him the strength to do what he needed 199 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:39,200 to do. 200 00:13:39,200 --> 00:13:42,440 It's a little backwards in our society. 201 00:13:42,440 --> 00:13:48,520 What is it that we oftentimes are teaching the young people or that they oftentimes hear? 202 00:13:48,520 --> 00:13:55,480 Find your power, find your strength, get the things that make you heard, make sure that 203 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:58,760 no one can silence you. 204 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:05,720 We spend so much time making sure that people hear themselves or see themselves in a powerful 205 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:11,320 way and we haven't paused to say, yeah, but is what you're saying actually something with 206 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,600 authority? 207 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:20,520 Is who you are someone who has authority because of who has actually called you his own? 208 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:26,720 In class earlier we were talking about what it is to think of who is the most important 209 00:14:26,720 --> 00:14:32,520 person and when we spend so much time making another person think that they're the most 210 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:40,120 important, then at what point in time do they realize the need to go to the father and ask 211 00:14:40,120 --> 00:14:44,240 for strength to serve others who are in need? 212 00:14:44,240 --> 00:14:50,360 Have we passed that legacy on to others? 213 00:14:50,360 --> 00:14:53,680 And I think that's something that we can do more here. 214 00:14:53,680 --> 00:14:57,400 I think that's more of who we can be. 215 00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:01,960 So what I want to put to you is this. 216 00:15:01,960 --> 00:15:04,560 God served us. 217 00:15:04,560 --> 00:15:09,080 Are we serving other people? 218 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:13,000 Think about the places where God has placed you. 219 00:15:13,000 --> 00:15:16,600 How many times have you paused and said I didn't get the promotion I wanted? 220 00:15:16,600 --> 00:15:20,320 I didn't get the position that I wanted, the salary that I wanted. 221 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:26,240 I didn't get something that I was hoping for and now, well, now I can't do all the things 222 00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:31,000 that I thought God placed me on this earth to do. 223 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,720 But where did God place you? 224 00:15:33,720 --> 00:15:37,040 What has God put into your life? 225 00:15:37,040 --> 00:15:42,480 Because God is the source of the strength, not us, not us trying to assert ourselves, 226 00:15:42,480 --> 00:15:47,800 not us trying to feel powerful and therefore make the world just a little bit better because 227 00:15:47,800 --> 00:15:52,640 somehow we've managed to make it happen. 228 00:15:52,640 --> 00:16:01,320 But instead looking at the opportunities that there are for us to serve those around us. 229 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:04,120 What goals are there in your life? 230 00:16:04,120 --> 00:16:06,800 Think about them for a moment. 231 00:16:06,800 --> 00:16:11,080 Think about the goals that you have in your mind of what you feel you need to accomplish 232 00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:14,800 this month, this year. 233 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:22,080 How many of them are about trying to achieve something that makes you feel safe and strong? 234 00:16:22,080 --> 00:16:28,280 And how many of them are finding opportunities to be that servant in the world that God has 235 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:30,760 called you to be? 236 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:39,080 And maybe let's take this time between now and Lent to ask how can we be the servants 237 00:16:39,080 --> 00:16:42,960 that God is calling us to be? 238 00:16:42,960 --> 00:17:02,800 Thanks be to God.