Luke 22:21-27 | Bridled Power
Notes
Transcript
Introduction to Harvest
Power
Power
Engage
If you were to ask people that you know who have left church why they chose to leave, one of the most common themes you will notice are people fleeing from what they consider an abuse of power. With any authority comes the temptation for those with the authority to abuse the power they have. The more absolute the power, the greater the abuse.
We have seen this play out in many forms: Politicians abusing power, businessmen abusing power, clergy abusing power. I won’t concede the fashionable notion police are some evil institution that need to be abolished, but it is clear that there are some cases where police abuse their power. Really, nobody in any position of authority is given immunity form this temptation. We even have plenty of tragic cases where parents abuse their power.
We come to our passage in Luke today and power is the underlying topic. The Apostles were hoping to hold a position of great authority, but they weren’t yet prepared for the gravity of what was coming.
Turn your Bibles over to Luke 22:21-30 where we will get todays message:
But, behold, the hand of him that betrayeth me is with me on the table. And truly the Son of man goeth, as it was determined: but woe unto that man by whom he is betrayed! And they began to inquire among themselves, which of them it was that should do this thing.
And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.
Today’s message is entitled “Bridled Power”
Pray
Prestige
Prestige
Tension
Old Wounds
Old Wounds
We discussed in a previous message that I don’t think the Apostles would have been nearly as contentious about “who was the greatest” if they had truly understood what was coming. But here they were, arguing about who the greatest of them is. So, Jesus had to step in and get them thinking about their responsibilities and obligations in a different light.
This is a continuation of an argument we find first in Matthew 20 that was started by the mother of James and John. Let’s take a look:
Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him. And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
But now if we look a few verses down to v24
And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the two brethren.
The other 10 Apostles got wind of Mrs. Zebedee’s meddling and were now angry with James and John. This happened on the final Journey back to Jerusalem so it has been festering with Apostles for around a week before Jesus has to address it a second time.
And It wasn’t like it was some debate out of a heart felt drive to be their best for the Kingdom of God. They wanted power and authority. And so repeating a lesson he had already taught them, Jesus draws a picture for them. And he uses the greatest earthly power and authority that they are familiar with. The Roman government. He uses two examples:
Look at Luke 22:25
And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
Kings
Kings
Most of us understand how kings work. What they say goes, there is no check to their authority and so they have absolute power. In the declaration of independence Thomas Jefferson listed 27 abuses of power commited by King George III against the colonies that ultimately lead to the revolution. But, that is how God said a King would be. If you remember when Israel decided that they wanted a King God warned them.
Here is what a King is, they tax and they enslave and the send to war.
Benefactors
Benefactors
But in Luke 22:35 Jesus also says that they aren’t to be like the benefactors either. See there was a tradition in Rome where wealthy people would donate to communities in return for some sort of reward. That thing they donated to would be named after them, or a statue would be erected in their honor. Some of the wealthy would even become competitive at this giving, growing in prestige and creating almost a separate class of citizen even if that wasn’t officially the case.
We can certainly think of this going on today. Marge Schott donated a huge amount of money to the local Boy Scout council and so there is a conference room named after her at the local headquarters and a lake named after her at Camp Friedlander in Loveland, Ohio. The Lindner family has their name all over all sorts of things in town from addiction centers to the Omniax theater at the museum center. Every time you go to Manatee Springs at the Cincinnati Zoo or visit the theater where the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company performs you will find Otto M. Budig’s name.
And so Jesus tells his disciples that you aren’t to be like Kings, ruling over people, but you aren’t going to be like philanthropists, being adored for your great works either. They weren’t going to see statues of Thaddeus going up in town squares.
Humility
Humility
Truth
Jesus instead says this :
But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve. For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.
This is that first last and last first stuff Jesus is always talking about.
I could just see the Apostles standing around trying to come up with methods for determining the who the best apostle was. They are doing sword drills seeing who can get to passages the quickest in their scrolls the fastest. They are probably competing to see who can repeat from memory the most from the Beatitudes. And remember Jesus had earlier given them the power to heal so they are probably comparing notes you know, John heals a deaf guy so James heals a blind guy, Peter comes along and causes someone to walk. And while I joke, you know it’s stuff like this that they are measuring against.
Jesus has to break it up…And he flips what should be an obvious question: Who is the most important person, the person being served or the person serving? Most of the time if a King is at banquette you don’t see them serving the food. Not even the bride and groom at a wedding reception are going from table to table delivering food. But look what Jesus is doing. Jesus is the one serving them. While they are all arguing about who is going to be Jesus’ right hand man, he is serving them. And they are so caught up in bickering that they never got the hint.
Application
Application
Application
Characteristics
Characteristics
There are a lot of dangers in ministry. And as we are intrusted by the church in ministry there is a temptation for whatever power we have to be abused. If the Apostles are struggling with this, howe can we think we will be exempt?
Joseph Mattera, As the his Bio states, is an internationally known author. I don’t know who he is and to be honest looking at some of his books I think he and I wouldn’t see eye to eye on a lot of theology. But I found an article he wrote to be interesting, and something for me to keep in mind in ministry. The Article is entitled 12 signs of Power-Hungry pastors, but I think we can take out the word Pastor and apply it to any ministry position. let’s look at his list:
They only relate to other “power” people
They are constantly dropping names and speaking about their accomplishments
They are in competition with other peer leaders
They change depending on who they are talking to
They are driven by selfish ambition instead of love for people
They love the praises of men
They compromise on ethics
They have few boundaries to protect their families health
They are only loyal to themselves
They serve for stature rather than service
They exaggerate their value
They have a superficial inner life
These things would apply to anyone in any position of authority, weather a politician, a CEO of a company, someone in management or even a Sunday School teacher. I don’t want these things to describe me and how I am serving God and I am sure you don’t either. But it is probably a good idea to honestly evaluate ourselves once and a while to see if any of these things are true for us, and if that quantity of the things here that apply to is are growing.
In Proverbs 6:16-19 we are given 7 things that the Lord hates.
These six things doth the Lord hate:
Yea, seven are an abomination unto him:
A proud look, a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,
An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations,
Feet that be swift in running to mischief,
A false witness that speaketh lies,
And he that soweth discord among brethren.
The first item on that list a is a proud look. The words in the Hebrew literally refer to the appearance of the eye that is high and exalted. It’s something that we can often read on people’s faces. Pride is spoken of like a virtue in our culture but God says
Pride goeth before destruction,
And an haughty spirit before a fall.
Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly,
Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
Inspiration
Inspiration
Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 4828 Sin of Imagination, Instead
After a minister had preached a searching sermon on pride, a woman who had heard the sermon waited upon him and told him that she was in much distress of mind, and that she would like to confess to a great sin. The minister asked her what the sin was.
She answered, “The sin of pride, for I sat for an hour before my mirror some days ago admiring my beauty.”
“Oh,” responded the minister, “that was not a sin of pride—that was a sin of imagination!”
I think often we have a higher view of ourselves than is warranted. The Apostles certainly did. Sure, they were given power to cast out spirits and and to heal the sick but all of that was God. We need to remember that what ever wealth we have; ability, talent we are blessed with; or even our understanding and reasoning ability could be revoked by our God at a moments notice. They are his and just on loan to us for this time.
Action
Action
The evidence in the Bible is that all but one of the Apostles learned their lesson, and I guess even Judas who betrayed Christ eventually learned his lesson in a different way. As you and I grow in our faith I hope that we don’t start thinking that we are better than anyone else for it. I hope we don’t start taking those blessings that God has given us and use it to exercise power and Lordship over those who are younger in the faith or more impressionable. What I really hope for you and for myself is that we grow more dependent on God and it becomes natural and instinctive to humbly serve.
Request
Pray