"Jesus called the Twelve together and he gave them power and authority over all demons and to heal sicknesses. He sent them out to proclaim God's kingdom and to heal the sick..." Luke 9:1-2 (CEB)
"He replied, 'You give them something to eat.' But they said, 'We have no more than ...' " Luke 9:13 (CEB)
" 'I begged your disciples to throw [the spirit] out, but they couldn't.' " Luke 9:40 (CEB)
[Words appearing in italics and emboldened appear so by my own choice.]
As defined by Webster, power is "the ability to do or act; vigor; force; strength." And authority? Permission, invitation, or the right to act. Jesus gave his disciples both. Through Christ, they had the ability and the invitation to act on his behalf, to do things that only Christ could do. I would argue that all Jesus' disciples have been given those two 'things." Ability and permission, invitation.
Funny how the picture of the Twelve reflects the very struggle that you and I live in as modern-day disciples. Having been blessed, empowered, and dispatched, they lived for a short season in that power and authority and, then, forgot who and whose they were. The disciples recognized the people's physical hunger as surely as they witnessed the spiritual hunger being fed in Jesus' presence that day. Jesus says, in essence, YOU do it, YOU feed them ... and all they could see was their lack. "We have no more than ..." Truth is they had much more than fish and bread, but forgot what they'd been given.
Need another example? While Peter, James, and John are with Jesus as he's transfigured before their eyes, the other disciples are with others, maybe even alone at the foot of that mountain. And, one of those others is a man whose son has been tormented maybe his whole life. He begs the disciples to deliver his son from this disease/demon and it just doesn't happen. Truth is they had been given the power and authority (the ability and the permission, even invitation) to heal ... and they just couldn't do it.
Maybe the deeper understanding of the gap we experience in the disciples' faith journeys is found in our own encounters with the world as Jesus-followers. Power is most often defined or lived out in the world as power OVER something or someone. Authority, in cultural perspective, is about being the expert voice ... with little regard, if any, for the invitation or permission to speak into a situation or to a person as if we had authority. We want to exert control, to manage the people and the circumstances of our lives; we want to be powerful, but it is my conviction that we don't see our power as a gift from God for the greater good, for ushering in the kingdom. We want to be strong enough to persevere, yes. But, that's about ourselves, and rarely about anyone else, much less the full kingdom of God.
And, authority. We're experts on everything ... on the self-inflicted plight of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus; on keeping up with the Kardashians and every other celebrity personality; on political squabbles within and beyond our own country; and, certainly on what's wrong with the Church today. We're mouthy but we do not live with authority. As you may have read in my Luke 7 post, I believe our biggest challenge is that we do not live a life of faith in an authoritative way because we have little idea at all what it means to be under authority. We're our own bosses. It's not their own authority that Jesus intended that the disciples live by ... he gave them his. That's the only way healing and wholeness are found, that the Truth is spoken, that those bound and captivated by other than God are set free. Not by our strength, but by God's through us.
Bottom line - you cannot give away what you do not have. The disciples couldn't feed those hungry people because they couldn't see that they had at their disposal (not for their own good, but for the good of the world) the Bread of Life. They couldn't deliver that boy from his demons because they had to be delivered from their own first, that of fear. We think of young David as audacious in his faith as he found his way in front of Goliath, but really he was living into the power and authority given to God's people by their Creator. The promise had already been made, all the Israelite army had to do was step into the promise and pick up their armor. Nobody remembered the promise but David; he was only there to deliver groceries, but seems he was the only agent of God who could pronounce deliverance by defeating Goliath. It was his stone alright, but thrown in God's power and authority that brought Goliath down.
Lord Jesus, I want to live an authoritative, powerful life. Not as if I'm some superhero with my cape flapping in the breeze ready to tackle anything and anyone in life. No, but as a child of yours, standing firm in your tender grace because that's enough. Give me power, not for myself or for my life circumstance, but power for your kingdom, your world because mine is not enough. Not enough to stand against evil, to speak your Truth over the voices of compromise, to remember and claim victory in the uphill battle that is life on this side of glory. But, YOU are enough. And, you are audacious enough to share your power and authority with folks like little ol' me. Help me live a life worthy of your love and mercy, sweet Jesus. Let it be so.
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