By What Authority?

The word authority can be confusing.  Authority has to do with power, with reliable information, and with knowledge and experience.  A favorite old bumper sticker says simply, “Question authority.”  How do we know that what we are being told or what we are being asked to do is based on legitimate authority?  Is it authentic and trustworthy?  These are important questions.

Institutional authority has been crumbling all around is.  It used to be that people trusted their institutions, but with gridlock and polarization so rampant throughout our culture, the very existence of our institutions has become questionable.  For example, our infrastructure needs rebuilding: highways and bridges, broad-band technology for wireless communication; climate change issues; and energy resources are among the more obvious examples.

During the final week of his life Jesus had to respond to questions about authority.  Where did his authority come from that enabled him to do all that he did,-- heal the sick, cast our demons, dine with outcasts, tax collectors and prostitutes.  Jesus taught in the Temple at Jerusalem.  While he was there some chief priests and the elders of the people asked him, "By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?"  How did Jesus get all the power and authority to do all the things he had done in his ministry?

Jesus’ inquisitors were the legal scholars of his day.  They were the learned chief priests and elders of the community, that is, the ones who should know the answers but they were also testing Jesus.  So in response Jesus said he would tell them if they would first answer his question.  He then asked whether the baptism of John came from heaven, or was it of human origin?"  The chief priests and elders argued with each other:  “If we say, `From heaven,' he will say to us, `Why then did you not believe him?'  But if we say, `Of human origin,' we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet." So they said to Jesus, "We do not know."

Had they said that John was from God, they should have repented as John had urged.  Remember his message, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”  However, if they said that John’s authority was not from God but was of human origin they would be afraid of the crowd because they regarded John as a prophet.

When they finally said they did not know, Jesus told them a parable about the two sons who were to work in the vineyard.  The point he made was that people who were known for being corrupt, that is, tax collectors, had turned to God in the way the first son had repented.  The authorities, however, including some of the chief priests and elders, were like the second son who said he would go and work in the vineyard but then did not.  Jesus said to them, "Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him."

Jesus taught with authority.  He was completely invested in the message of God's kingdom.  God's cause was his cause, and he acted out of God's own love and compassion.  The problem of our time is that we are often like the chief priests and elders who fear the authority of God's freedom.  We are reluctant to take risks and to care as God cares, to bring life to those whom society rejects and despises.  As Jesus' reputation spread, resistance to him and to what he was doing grew more vigorous until he was judged to be unfit and sentenced to death on the cross.

The Rev. Amy Allen, of Vanderbilt University writes, “Jesus doesn’t attribute his authority to any laws or titles (though, perhaps, he could).  He doesn’t call down the powers of heaven to show his superior force (though, perhaps, he could).  He doesn’t even appeal to the crowds of the people who have been following him, or stake his reputation on John to win popular opinion (though, perhaps, he could).  So what is Christian authority staked on?  Where does it come from?  How does it work?  All Jesus leaves us with is a disobedient son, who turns around and does the work of his father anyway.  In American politics and economics, there is plenty of “disobedience” to go around.  But what might it look like if rather than asserting human authority, indeed, rather even than questioning and undermining it, we turned around and did the will of [God]?  How is God calling us to work in this vineyard?  And how do our claims to authority and moves toward power get in the way?”

As I understand the question of authority it is based on and within the community.  It is within the relationships we share in the Church.  In baptism we vow to put our whole trust in Christ’s grace and love, and to follow and obey him as our Lord.  We also seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves. This is the authority we are given by our fellow parishioners in the Sacrament of Baptism.  The same can be said when we ordain a person as deacon or priest.  Our clergy are selected by the community to serve by proclaiming in word and deed the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to love and serve the people, caring alike for young and old, strong and weak, rich and poor.

I also add that for us who are Episcopalians, authority is like a four-legged stool.  One leg stands for Scripture, the sacred text about the God of History who creates, redeems, and cares for all of creation.  Another leg of the stool is Tradition, the way we worship and our Book of Common Prayer that informs our relationships to God and one another through the ages.  A third leg is Reason, how we understand our relationship with God and one another, and how we continue as co-creators with God in all the scientific and technological advances we make.  The fourth and final leg is Experience, the lives we live and what we do as followers of Christ in our communities and throughout the world.

The spirit of God’s compassionate love and the authority that comes with it is alive among the people of God.  It is alive wherever two or three are gathered in God's name.  It is alive here in our midst, in this community, and everywhere throughout the world.  The prophets of old, and the prophets in our day, those with the authority of God's compassion for all people, are alive and well.  The authority they speak about is experienced whenever and wherever life and goodness are fostered and death and suffering are resisted.  If the authority of God's word is to be heard in our world it must find voice in the way we live, in our values and commitments, and in our decisions.  That way is never clear-cut, and we inevitably make some mistakes, but we gain greater insight when we focus on God's compassion for everyone.  It is for us to call upon the same transcendent power that guided John and also enabled Jesus to teach with authority, to heal the sick, to work for peace and the end of violence in all its forms, and to proclaim God's love. Amen.