The authority of love

 

Matthew 21: 23-32
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
October 1, 2023 – World Communion Sunday

Photo of a painting on the side of restaurant or home. Stucco wall painted blue with the figure of Pope Francis seated on a llama. Table with a red checkered tablecloth and a white tablecloth over it set with plates, glasses, and silverware. Bright red door. Light blue bicycle. Bars painted red over the window.

World Communion Sunday originated 90 years ago in 1933 with the Rev. Dr. Hugh Thomson Kerr who was pastor of the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA. He wanted to bring churches together in a spirit of Christian unity, to inspire congregations and remind us that we are all interconnected. It was adopted by the US Presbyterian Church and quickly spread to other denominations. In 1940 it was endorsed by the Federal Council of Churches, now the National Council of Churches, and from there it spread worldwide.

It is also important to acknowledge the reason World Communion Sunday can exist at all is because Christianity joined hands with empire and gave itself the authority to colonize the world. It is a foundational part of church history that we rarely own up to, not unlike our nation’s aversion to being accountable to the painful reality of Columbus Day and Thanksgiving or the generational effects of the trauma of slavery still felt to this day. All of which were supported theologically and funded in part or entirely by the Church.



It is necessary that we acknowledge all of our history because it demonstrates our relationship with authority. By what authority do we do these things, or anything for that matter? In the Christian scriptures the Greek word exousia (ex-oh-see-ah) is most often translated as “authority” and it is the word Matthew uses in his story of Jesus teaching in the temple.



When the elders and chief priests use the word ‘authority’ they speak of something external to ourselves, as in, who gave you permission. It’s as if they are saying, “May we speak with your supervisor?” We may not always like gatekeepers and watchdogs because of the power they wield, but when they do their job well, they hold us all accountable in keeping people safe. My authority as a pastor comes from the United Church of Christ and the Central Atlantic Conference but most importantly it comes from being in covenant and relationship with you, the local church I serve. Our authority as a church comes from our relationships in the community, especially with the most vulnerable.



When Jesus uses the same word, we can rightly assume he is using authority in a larger sense, authority as in author, origin, cooperating with the author, the origin, the creator of the heavens and earth. Too often, human beings have abused that to mean that God is on our side. That whatever power we have, whether it’s land or wealth or information or technology, indicates that we are favored in some way and therefore have the right to do with what we have as we please. Some call this liberty. Yet there are those who enshrine their power by whatever means deemed necessary who then use their power to control the liberty of others. Some think this is government.



Jesus operates out of an authority of love, love that is undeserved, unmerited, unlimited. But we have cheapened and sentimentalized love to a point that we scoff at the idea that love can have authority in community. We have made love conditional and transactional, as though it comes to us as something earned rather than a gift from within us. Love that gives us that sense of belonging and well-being.



Robin Wall Kimmerer in her book Braiding Sweetgrass, tells the story of working with graduate students in a writing workshop on relationships to the land. All of the students said that being in nature is where they experience a sense of belonging and well-being the most. Without hesitating they said that they love the earth. Kimmerer then asked them, “Do you think that the earth loves you in return?” No one answered her. They were stymied. So she rephrased her question: “What do you suppose would happen if people believed this crazy notion that the earth loved them back?” If love had authority in their relationship with the earth. One student put it very well: “You wouldn’t harm what gives you love.”



Many Americans say that they love this country. How would we know this country loves us in return, that this country is governed by an authority grounded in love?



Children would never have to worry about gun violence at school or in their neighborhood or homes ever again.


Trans and non-binary youth would have unfettered access to gender affirming healthcare.


Anyone who needs an abortion would be able to get one.


Disabled people would have the same access and agency in public spaces as everyone else.


Everyone would have clean drinking water, clean air, and the availability of affordable fresh food.


Everyone would have access to affordable housing, education, and healthcare.


Everyone would know that their thriving is inseparable from the thriving of everyone else. Everyone would know a sense of belonging and well-being.



This Table is how we know Jesus’ authority is one of love. The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis at Middle Collegiate Church in New York City tells the story of the first time she had Communion. Her mother gave her a piece of bread and said, “This means that God will always love you.” Then she gave her juice and said, “This means God will never leave you.” Undeserved, unmerited, unlimited love frees us to be the people God created us to be. People who use their power and share it to take care of the land and each other, people who respect each other, are accountable to each other, learn from each other, forgive each other, love each other, no matter what. Inseparable. Belonging and well-being.  Amen.

Benediction – enfleshed.com

The Spirit moves all around us and also within us
May we not be afraid to claim the power God has given us
To recognize the Wisdom of God in our neighbors
And to practice an authority that calls us to brave convictions
That our lives may be guided not by dictations from on high
But by lineages of love and liberation, calling on us to live