There is nothing like a dog to teach you about authority. I have one who is very bull-headed. Snowball is 7 years old, but like some children, she has authority issues. Oh, it's not that she doesn't respect authority, it's that she is forgetful. She has her own ideas about what to do, and she gets involved in them, and she forgets that I am boss. Sometimes around the house I sound like a mean-y. I impose my authority with volume and inflection. And usually, most of the time, she remembers, unless it's particularly clear that my authority at that moment is not backed up by power, such as when she is off leash and out of reach!

It seems there are many in this day and age with authority issues like my dog. Whether it is forgetfulness or willfulness, the behavior is the same. Like my doggie, the demands of those in authority are set aside for those of one's own desires. Authority in the world is a sheathed sword. It is power in potential, but not in action. It commands obedience by its presence, not its use. Authority is vested in one with the power to enforce. The symbols of authority remind us of the power behind the authority, it is the badge on the uniform, or flashing lights in the mirror. It enforces a minimum standard, it is predicated on fear of reprisal or sanction.

Authority in the kingdom of God is different. It is not the sheathed sword so much as the veiled presence. It is predicated on who I am to you, not what I can do to you. Authority in the Kingdom of God is predicated on identity, not fear. If I were to open the door and in walked Archbishop Desmond Tutu and showed him to the pulpit, you would hear him differently than if I ushered in President Barak Obama. One you listen to because he is your commanding officer. The other you listen to because of who He is as a Christian.

So when we talk about authority in the Kingdom we talk about Jesus. In this series of sermons about getting to know Jesus, we see Jesus today as the one who brings the authority of the Kingdom into our lives. And that authority is rooted in who Jesus is, not the power He wields. In today's Gospel lesson we see Jesus as the Creator of the Universe, who has come into His creation to reestablish a broken relationship, by the power of His presence. In the Gospel lesson Jesus goes to Capernaum. Capernaum is the "big city" in the area. It's the place everything happens if it's not in Jerusalem. Jesus teaches in the synagogue. Everyone is there. Everyone has heard of Him. Everyone is watching him. He teaches with authority, not like the Scribes, who, aware of their history, always couched their teaching in the context of their history, and therefore using other sources to support what they said. Jesus, on the other hand, is the fulfillment of something new God is doing. He does not need the support of other sources, He is The Source come to earth. Of course, other sources will reflect His coming, but His authority is not drawn from another. He has it in Himself. He proves it with the demoniac. The demon has capitalized on the brokenness of this human, and alienated him even more from His Creator. Seizing fears, the demon made captive the soul with a power greater than the soul to throw off. In the presence of the Creator the deceitful one has to tell the truth—“Have you come to destroy us?” (Interesting comment, since the end of the demon's work is the destruction of the human soul.) Perhaps he is unable to think outside his own MO. But Jesus has not come to destroy—but to reestablish health and life, and the work of the demon is contrary to that work. The demon continues, “I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” In the day the methods of exorcism involved invoking the name of the demon, in naming it there is power over it. The demon retains its power through hiding its own identity, for there is no real power in the demonic except that which we give it. Paul says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” If you cannot name the demon how can you resist? This is a bid by the demon to gain power of Jesus. But the power of Jesus is not in hiding, nor in forcing, but it being. He IS the presence of God. His presence brings in the presence of all that is true, beautiful and good, all that which is contrary to the demonic. And so He exorcises it. He does not do so as in the day, when people called upon the power of another more powerful than the demon. His presence is the presence of God, the highest authority. He commands, and the demon must obey.

What does this mean to us? We Christians are very well versed in what we should do. We all have a pretty clear sense of the rules, even if it is not very accurate. Proof: We’re excellent at excusing ourselves or beating ourselves up when we fail to follow them! But that is to cast the authority of Jesus in terms of what He can make us do, not who He is. If the authority of Jesus is known in His presence, then we know the authority of Jesus most clearly when we are gathered together. Where two are three are gathered in His name, there He is in the midst of them. When we gather as a people of faith, He is with us, and His authority is known in our midst. When His truth is spoken it is known for truth. When His love is shown it is known as true love. When His beauty is manifest it is known to be a window into heaven. And we know that authority in our individual lives. When gathered we have more power to resist sin. When gathered we have more wisdom to be taught. When gathered we have the support to do the work of the Kingdom. If you want to know the authority of Jesus in your heart and your soul then stay connected to the body.

If the authority of Jesus is known in our gathered midst, then in our midst the world will know it, too. A lot is said these days about the moral authority of the Church in society. But if that moral authority is going to be the authority of Jesus (and for me that’s the only thing that counts) it has little to do with our political processes or religious parties, it has very little to do with our righteous indignation, and it has nothing to do with our religious ranting and rages. It has everything to do with being able to make the presence of Jesus manifest and known in the world.

How do we do that? It’s not so much what you do as how you do it. It is a peaceful yet compelling living of His life in the world, acts of kindness and wisdom that end up revealing His presence, simple and sincere invitations to get close to you, and by default, Him, a deep and glowing inner health that the world respects but cannot achieve, but that you have received because you live in His authority. It is an obvious transparency of life so that people see the One who lives in you.

Jesus’ authority in our lives is by invitation, not coercion. We know His authority as we respond to His invitation into His heart, and we show His authority as we live in His heart.

Fr. Paul Moore+