I Will Raise Up for You a Prophet . . .

4th Sunday after Epiphany

Deuteronomy 18:15-20; Mark 1:21-28; 1st Corinthians 8:1-13

I have something of a parable to share with you. Let’s call it the Preacher’s Power Problem.

Many of you know that this last fall, I purchased a new camper for my hunting lease in Texas. I had been thinking about replacing it for some time, and so I began making plans to do so this fall. Well, one afternoon in August, Mickey, the coordinator for our lease, called me to tell me that we had had a flood. We camp on North Morgan Creek, and our landowner had been telling us for some time that when the 100 year flood came, we would be able to find our campers down in Lake Buchannon. Well, this was the 50 year flood, and it devastated our campground. My camper floated about 75 yards downstream, and after the mud and the mold had their way with it, it was rather uninhabitable. No longer was this a plan – it became something of a necessity. So, during my October trip, I purchased a 1983 Wilderness camper – 22 foot, from stem to stern. It’s really quite nice, and gives a whole new meaning to “roughing it.”

The second illustration - You all know how much I love my little pick-up truck. It does just about anything I need it to do. But it is absolutely too small to tow a 22 ft. camper. So, before I purchased this “new to me” camper, I borrowed my brother’s pickup truck – Ford 250 diesel. It has a monster engine, and it towed the camper to Burnet without any problem. This spring, we will be moving the camp off the creek, up the hill, and I will have to borrow his truck again to haul my new camper up the hill. In fact, all the guys on the lease have pickups, but they will all need some kind of truck with this kind of power that can haul a camper up the hill.

The third part of the lesson came when I hooked up the camper to our utility pole – ran my little 14 gauge, 100 ft. cord over to the pole, plugged it in, opened up the camper, turned on a few lights, flipped on the air-conditioner, and “pow!!” It blew a breaker immediately. Over the course of the next couple of days, I went to town and purchased 100 feet of 10 gauge wire, installed the correct plugs, and now I have sufficient power in the camper to do just about anything.

A parable in three parts about power. The incredible power of water rushing down through a West Texas creek bed – the authentic power of a pick-up truck created to tow objects larger than itself – the mysterious power of connection to a source with capacity to sustain power. All in all, this fall was another lesson for me in power.

Our scripture lessons this morning offer to us a lesson in power – Mark actually uses the word “authority” – but this is a lesson in power. Faux power vs. authentic power. Mark said that the statement of those who were listening to Jesus teach for the first time in that Capernaum synagogue centered around their “astonishment” at his teaching, “for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” E.F. Hutton would have done well to have created a commercial take-off on this scene – “when Jesus speaks, people listen.” More than that, when Jesus speaks, people find healing.

Most commentators on this passage take notice that the exercise of this power was first recognized in his teaching, then secondarily in the healing of the man with an unclean spirit. I rather wonder. What we have in this scripture is Mark’s take on the story after the entire story had unfolded. I wonder if this story would have made it into his gospel if Jesus had not addressed the need of this demon possessed man. I wonder if this story would have gotten any press if Jesus had been unsuccessful at exorcising the demons out of this unfortunate fellow. I wonder.

Several years ago, my friend George Mason wrote this in his sermon on this passage. “Anything that wars against our identity as beloved children of God is an unclean spirit in us. It may be a sense that we are unworthy of God’s love. It may be a deep-seated shame that speaks to you as loudly as a separate voice in your head.”[1] I think George was on to something. It is the rare occasion when you or I run across something we would describe as “demon possession.” I have only heard one story of such in my life time that I categorize this way – and I didn’t experience it – I only heard about it. But you and I do run into people who are dealing with their own “demons” – to use the phrase more loosely. We deal with thing which war against our identity as beloved children of God. We deal with feelings of unworthiness. We deal with shame – debilitating shame – that renders us impotent to function consistently in our world, much less to function powerfully. Those are the “demons” of our age – the demons that constrict, negate, and otherwise ineffectuate our sense of self, our feelings of worth, and our usefulness in this world.

There are other examples of faux power all around us. Our good Dr. Pontious is fond of hyperventilating anytime someone mentions the words “pastoral authority.” His reactions come from his long-standing problem with the way pastoral authority has been interpreted, particularly by the Southern Baptist Convention. I was raised in the SBC when the pastoral model that was taught and set forth was one of “servant leader.” But that model changed in 1988 at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in San Antonio.

Couched in new language revising the conventions stance on the Priesthood of all believers came this startling pronouncement – that pastors are the authority in the church. Let me quickly read the entire statement for you.

Whereas, None of the five major writing systematic theologians in Southern Baptist history have given more than a passing reference to the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer in their systematic theologies; and

Whereas, The Baptist Faith and Message preamble refers to the priesthood of the believer, but provides no definition or content to the term; and

Whereas, The high profile emphasis on the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer in Southern Baptist life is a recent historical development; and

Whereas, the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer has been used to justify wrongly the attitude that a Christian may believe whatever he so chooses and still be considered a loyal Southern Baptist; and

Whereas, the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer can been used to justify the undermining of pastoral authority in the local church.

Be it therefore resolved, That the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in San Antonio, Texas, June 14-16, 1988, affirm its belief in the biblical doctrine of the priesthood of the believer (1 Peter 2:9 and Revelation 1:6); and

Be it further resolved, That we affirm that this doctrine in no way gives license to misinterpret, explain away, demythologize, or extrapolate out elements of the supernatural from the Bible; and

Be it further resolved, That the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer in no way contradicts the biblical understanding of the role, responsibility, and authority of the pastor which is seen in the command of the local church in Hebrews 13:17, "Obey your leaders, and submit to them; for they keep watch over your souls, as those who will give an account;" and

Be finally resolved, That we affirm the truth that elders, or pastors, are called of God to lead the local church (Acts 20:28). [2]

Dr. Pontious does well to cringe when this statement is made. We all do well when anyone announces power which they possess. Pronouncements prescribing possession of power are almost always attempts at wrangling more power for the one making the pronouncement. The Southern Baptist statement on pastoral authority is a marvelous example of faux power, exhibited in our world.

There is an interesting idea presented in the Old Testament text for today. The writer of Deuteronomy 18:18 says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command. In God’s eternal plan, power comes from our ranks, and returns to our ranks. God chose to bring this prophet, Jesus the Christ, out from among us. Jesus was born of a woman – a virgin woman – and lived and worked and played and served among us. This was not power that came from a disconnected source. This was power that rose up from among us. Jesus was one of us – fully man, even while being fully God.

But true to His nature, Jesus returns His power to us. In speaking to His disciples at the ascension, Jesus responded to the fears of His disciples, and of every disciple who would ever follow, regarding our seeming powerlessness. He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Jesus exhibited power in teaching, and further exhibited power in healing. His power was limitless, and even our scriptures tell us but a few of the ways in which He exhibited His power while He walked among us. According to Jesus’ statement recorded in Acts, the power that Jesus bestows on us is for purposes of giving it away. Power is meant to be used, and in our case, it is meant to be used not for ourselves, but for others. That is the real difference between faux power and authentic power. The truth of this teaching harkens back to the favorite sermon of our Lord, and His example to us, when He said, “If you want to save your life, you must lose it.” We find God’s power when we give it away. We find God’s power when we expend it on others in the kingdom of God.

Our epistle for today, 1st Corinthians, gives us a wonderful illustration in relation to the freedom we have in Christ. People think freedom is something to possess – to have. Freedom is something to share – to invest in others.

In 1st Corinthians 8, Paul offers three warnings, or sorts. In v.1, he says, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” He was speaking to those Corinthians, and other Christians who continue to read this book, that while we can possess great knowledge, knowledge is best honored when it is used and shared. Possession of knowledge, according to Paul, in no way compares to love exhibited.

Again, in v. 9, Paul says, “Take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak.” He speaks most directly about the eating of meat previously sacrificed to idols. That was a problem for some in the Corinthian church. Not necessarily for Paul – but he knew, as we know, that our license, our liberty, must never hamper or constrain another, especially in matters of faith.

And finally, Paul says in v. 12, “When you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.” Paul equates the way we deal with one another as the way we deal with Christ. We are to treat others, not just as we would want to be treated ourselves, but as we would want to treat Christ.

Let me pose some questions for us this morning. Most of us possess some power in our lives, and at the same time, most of us feel extreme powerlessness from time to time. What would you do with more power? If God invested you with more power, would you use it for your own benefit, or for the benefit of others? Would you be a good steward of more power in your life if God were to so grant it?

Let’s pray.

Richard W. Dunn, PhD.

[1] George Mason, “What Do You Want with Us?” Wilshire Baptist Church, January 30, 2000.
[2] Southern Baptist Convention resolution passed at 1988 Southern Baptist Convention meeting in San Antonio, Texas.