As One With Authority

PROPERS: FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER THE EPIPHANY 

TEXT:       MARK 1:21-28                                              

PREACHED AT ST. JOHN’S, PASCAGOULA, ON SUNDAY, JANUARY 28, 2024

 

ONE SENTENCE:        True, given authority comes from Truth.

 

“They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes… What is this? A new teaching—with authority!”

 

One has to wonder how the listeners in that seaside Capernaum synagogue recognized his authority.  I wonder…

 

I have wondered about authority for a long time. I wrestled with that issue as I served as assistant to the bishop. Not just my authority… which stemmed directly from the bishop… but the bishop’s authority.

 

One can find trouble by assuming too much authority – authority which is rightly claimed, but not recognized. I knew a priest who was called to a congregation in another diocese. In his interview with the search committee, he said being rector is about exercising authority. I blanched when I heard that. Sure enough, he tried to exercise authority which no one recognized, and he was gone in a very short time.

 

I watched three of the four meet and greet sessions with the bishop nominees. Many of the questions posed to the nominees danced around the unspoken issue of authority.  The subject was never directly addressed.

 

It seems to me that there is formal authority.  With the bishop, it comes from the canons and the vows made by the people at the bishop’s installation and at clergy ordinations. A priest draws authority from the canons and Prayer Book, as well. There is formal authority parents have over children. There is inherent authority supervisors exercise with employees.

 

Yes, there may be rebellion against that authority, but the authority is there.  It is clear.

 

The greater area of authority is the grey area – the authority given out of respect.  You and I each know someone we have respected because of the integrity with which they live their lives and the manner in which they exercise leadership.  Bishop Duncan Gray, Jr., was one such person for me.  His authority went well beyond the canons and ordination vows I had taken. My respect for him transcended my own preferences and wishes.

 

There are many examples of such given authority.  Most anyone who has served in the military or gone into battle can think of a leader whose authority went well beyond their rank.

 

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            But what was it about this 30-year-old newcomer to town – Jesus – who was seen as one with authority by the villagers?

 

            One aspect of that response seems to stem from what was not said at the bishop nominees’ meet and greet sessions.  Each of the candidates was asked about the role as prophet. Each expressed discomfort or tenuousness with that role.

 

            But Jesus did not shirk the authority which came with being prophetic. His authority – which we acknowledge to this day – came from truth.

 

            If you look at the prophets… even to this day… they are seen as having authority through their willingness tospeak the truth.

 

            That truth – spoken for our own spiritual good – may make us uncomfortable. It may make us squirm. It may offend us. But the authority of truth is what we need to hear.