If we are given power and authority in our faith journey to what end do we use it and if it is taken away how do we cope? This is the question that the scriptures lay before us today and for us they are extremely important as we begin to progress into the future. They are important at a parish level, at a diocesan level and at the level of our secular communities to which we belong. The latter most particularly as we move into a time of elections within local and national government. It actually boils down to who has power and authority and are they the right people to have it, if not what will happen when we take that power and authority away from them?
The Church overall acts as a community of love or rather it should. We are however only human and bring into our faith groups our own understandings. Yet, one would think that irrespective of our own expectations we would live up to the expectations of our faith having embraced it. This is often not the case, which ultimately means that we do not live out the expectations of others and inevitably cast a disruptive light on the whole community. The classic example here is when we express that we will obey the commandment to love our neighbour and then immediately turn around and deny justice and love to those who are different either because people have said that this group / person is not accepted or because a core belief of ours suggests that they do not belong. This would be like Christ rejecting the pleas of the synagogue leader just because someone has said the child is dead (Mk 5:35). Our core belief should be our faith belief not what others say.
If this is the case, then when we are in positions of power our use of that power should be determined by our core belief, our faith. If it is not then we are in danger or are committing our lives to a life of hypocrisy by stating our faith beliefs. Christ does not allow power to be squandered and yet at the same time he is aware of how costly such power is by being attuned to its loss and the reasons for such loss (Mk 5:30). Yet he is not afraid to lose the power for a worthy result that is consistent with love. If we were to look at a similar situation with ourselves we would undoubtedly complain should we lose one iota of power even if it was for a benefit consistent with our beliefs. We are hoarders of the power given to us by God we are not among those that are free with the power given to them. Unlike Christ we will debate every singly jot of power that has been disseminated within our authority to ensure that it is given to empower our own wants and needs rather than someone else's.
We are rich in the things that God grants to us and yet we so often squander those gifts on our own selves and not on others. The gifts that God gives are not meant for us to hoard and dole out when it suits us or when there is an advantage for us. The gifts that God gives are for us to shower on others so that God will gift us even more with the love that is returned seventy and a hundred fold. It is out of abundance that Paul asks the Corinthians to give (2 Cor 8:10-15) and in giving out of abundance to relieve the poverty of others the abundance will find its way back to us. In this circumstance Paul is referring to financial burdens and how often, if we have been generous, that generosity comes back to us in our time of need. The same applies in the same way to power and authority as it does for the generation and distribution of wealth. If we allow ourselves to give up that which we yearn for the real likelihood exists of such power and authority returning to us. Yet, we hold on to what we have been given and hoard it thinking that if we let it out of our hands we will be worse off.
Christ allows power to flow from him to heal and bring release from suffering. Saul during his reign sought only power for himself, even though Samuel mourns at his death (2 Sam. 1:17-27), not for the sake of the people just as God warned prior to his ascension to the rulership of Israel. The issue is that we succumb to the pleasures that power and authority bring rather than allowing others access. In doing so we die to God's presence as it becomes solely about ourselves and not about our community. Love though is solely about the other and not dependent on the self. In giving of ourselves and letting go of our concerns over power in our small kingdoms we allow the bigger presence and kingdom of God in to flourish.
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