sermon notes on power Sept 27

Sept. 20 James 3-4  Mk. 9:30-7, Prov. 31

One of the mental cliches we have adopted as a culture is that women were not valued in ancient times. certainly their public or  legal position was often  second-class, but our text today shows it to be  a terrible oversimplification. Prov. 31,the valiant, valorous woman woman warrior fights for her family unarmed-she is an avatar, the physical embodiment of woman wisdom of the first nine chapters of the book, its reason for being.we have made great strides in our lifetime on the role of women in public life. We do well to honor that achievement, even as we know that full equality is  on the horizon.We use the word agency now to indicate that someone can act on their own in the public realm.

James 3 and 4, integrity, conflict (see presentation for elders) ambition,nearness to god-power plays are based on a distant unengaged god.“This commitment to the truth will oblige disciples to make themselves inconvenient to the wealthy players of power games; in this, James echoes the characterization of "the righteous one" in the Book of Wisdom (2:12-20), who "is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions" (and possibly alludes to Jesus as the Righteous One in 5:6). If (as Martin Luther King Jr. taught) the arc of the moral universe is long, James reminds us that we should patiently follow, anticipate, and bear witness to its curve, rather than forcing it to bend according to our specifications.AKM Adam

Mark and power relations in the church-MK 9:30- Oden The good news is that Jesus welcomes us even when we do not understand or do not know. This pericope closes with Jesus embracing a child, the ultimate symbol of not knowing, not understanding, immature and undeveloped.... One may not be rich, or important in the world's eyes, but everyone has the capacity to adhere to truthfulness, peaceableness, and mercy. Our refusal to stoop to the violence that characterizes our oppressors, though, aligns us with God's own power; and our willingness to endure hardship rather than shed blood or pass judgment aligns us with "prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord."

Much of the jostling around is a search for status and  approval-chruch is the last place to look for it-I wonder if we made a mistake in reclaiming the phrase ruling elder when we resurrected the old term, teaching elder for a minister of word and sacrament, as we cannot hear ruling without hearing it as power over another. The church has fallen into step with business models, without stopping to wonder how it is we are different and similar. As Wallace Sayre said about public administration, the church and business are alike in all uninteresting respects.We resist seeing that the work of the church is spiritual. Of course spiritual life has an impact on secular life.Quite simply the church should be better at how we speak to one another. Our meetings should reflect the kind of virtues james wishes to see, so that means not aping other community boards unless their behavior models the best we can do in trying to work together.Humility is about being genuine and not finding you have the need to establish your sense of worth by making others smaller than yourself."Loader-Sometimes power is sought to bolster an uncertain or diminished sense of self, a depleted self. Instead of commitment to the church, we rush to exit our relationships. The guidelines of our church is a good start toward speaking civilly, not only as adults, but as Christians.