Sermon for June 13th 2004 The Revd. J. Michael Povey at St. James�s, Cambridge, MA 1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a Psalm 5:1-8 Galatians 2:15-21 Luke 7:36-8:3 POWER IS DANGEROUS We have seen all the trappings of power this week. A President. Former Presidents. A former British Premier, and a former Soviet leader. We�ve seen symbols of power. The Capitol Rotunda. The National Cathedral. The Military parade. All this and a frail widow. And a solemn reminder to all - rich and poor alike, powerful and powerless alike. �Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return�. Power is always dangerous, but never more so than when the powerful forget this: �Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return�. Ahab and Jezebel forgot this. They thought that their power, their authority existed for its own sake. They forgot that Kingship belongs to God. They forgot that the King was to be a Shepherd to the people. They did not understand the meaning of authority, but they knew the meaning of raw power. A little bit of perjury here, and a little bit of murder there, the inconvenient Naboth assassinated, and the King gets what he wants. He did not even need what he got. But the wheels of God grind slow, and God�s justice will prevail. How many Presidents, how many Governments, how many despots, how many petty dictators have believed with Ahab that the end justifies the means? And if the end justifies the means, then what are a few Nuns working for justice? They are simply in the way, so expediency trumps principle, and Nuns are slain. If the end justifies the means, then what is a peasant village? It is simply in the way, so genocide trumps morality. If the end justifies the means, then what is the rule of law? Expediency determines that it is quaint and old fashioned, so the God of justice; The Writ of Habeas Corpus; and the Geneva Conventions can be jettisoned in the name of a new �God� and a new �Convention� whose name is National Security. Power is dangerous. �Remember O man that thou art dust, and to dust you shall return�. Authority mis-used becomes power. Power mis-used becomes despotism. Even God, (if we think of God solely in terms of power), even God can become a mental and spiritual despot. Authority mis-used can also lead to arrogance. Such was the case with Simon the Pharisee. He had the generous authority of being a host. And a host, in middle-Eastern culture had certain responsibilities, the chief of which was to show hospitality. The washing of the feet of a guest, the anointing with oil, and the kiss of peace were all part of this norm. But not for Simon. His arrogance rules his heart. The force of Jesus� words are that Simon refused to wash his feet, refused to give the kiss of peace, refused to anoint Jesus� head. None of this was an oversight on the part of Simon. He had made a deliberate decision to snub Jesus, to patronize him, to let Jesus know that he, Simon, was in charge. The gracious authority of hospitality was forsaken in favour of the arrogance of pride. Simon�s arrogance becomes crystal clear as the woman, �she was a sinner� it says, enters. For she is displaying a truer authority, an inner authority. What within her led her to know that Jesus would receive her with grace? Perhaps it was of what she already knew about Jesus. But even with this knowledge I believe that she had an inner authority, a certain place in her heart from which she could say �yes, yes, I know that I am a sinner, everyone knows that about me. But I also know that I am a daughter of Israel, a woman with an inner dignity which says �I know that I am already forgiven�� This, I believe is the authority which God has already bestowed upon us. For the Gospel flies in the face of any idea of a despot God. The Gospel is all about power abandoned in favour of authority. And the authority of God we see in Jesus Christ is the authority to serve. Simon should have served Jesus, but he is too arrogant to do this. The woman draws out from Jesus something that Simon could never see or experience. She draws out the authority of God in Jesus to break all human rules and regulations; to destroy all human systems of forgiveness; and from his certain inner authority, to forgive. I believe that God is calling the Church to abandon all those systems of power which lead to religious despotism, and religious arrogance. I believe that God is calling the Church to know, and to live, and to proclaim the way of forgiveness. **************************************************** 1 Kings 21:1-10, (11-14), 15-21a 21:1 Later the following events took place: Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of King Ahab of Samaria. 21:2 And Ahab said to Naboth, "Give me your vineyard, so that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house; I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money." 21:3 But Naboth said to Ahab, "The LORD forbid that I should give you my ancestral inheritance." 21:4 Ahab went home resentful and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him; for he had said, "I will not give you my ancestral inheritance." He lay down on his bed, turned away his face, and would not eat. 21:5 His wife Jezebel came to him and said, "Why are you so depressed that you will not eat?" 21:6 He said to her, "Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if you prefer, I will give you another vineyard for it'; but he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'" 21:7 His wife Jezebel said to him, "Do you now govern Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." 21:8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name and sealed them with his seal; she sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who lived with Naboth in his city. 21:9 She wrote in the letters, "Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth at the head of the assembly; 21:10 seat two scoundrels opposite him, and have them bring a charge against him, saying, 'You have cursed God and the king.' Then take him out, and stone him to death." 21:11 The men of his city, the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent word to them. Just as it was written in the letters that she had sent to them, 21:12 they proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth at the head of the assembly. 21:13 The two scoundrels came in and sat opposite him; and the scoundrels brought a charge against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king." So they took him outside the city, and stoned him to death. 21:14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, "Naboth has been stoned; he is dead." 21:15 As soon as Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, Jezebel said to Ahab, "Go, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead." 21:16 As soon as Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, Ahab set out to go down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it. 21:17 Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying: 21:18 Go down to meet King Ahab of Israel, who rules in Samaria; he is now in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. 21:19 You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: Have you killed, and also taken possession?" You shall say to him, "Thus says the LORD: In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, dogs will also lick up your blood." 21:20 Ahab said to Elijah, "Have you found me, O my enemy?" He answered, "I have found you. Because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the LORD, 21:21 I will bring disaster on you; I will consume you, and will cut off from Ahab every male, bond or free, in Israel; Psalm 5:1-8 5:1 Give ear to my words, O LORD; give heed to my sighing. 5:2 Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray. 5:3 O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you, and watch. 5:4 For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil will not sojourn with you. 5:5 The boastful will not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. 5:6 You destroy those who speak lies; the LORD abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful. 5:7 But I, through the abundance of your steadfast love, will enter your house, I will bow down toward your holy temple in awe of you. 5:8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness because of my enemies; make your way straight before me. Galatians 2:15-21 2:15 We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; 2:16 yet we know that a person is justified not by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ. And we have come to believe in Christ Jesus, so that we might be justified by faith in Christ, and not by doing the works of the law, because no one will be justified by the works of the law. 2:17 But if, in our effort to be justified in Christ, we ourselves have been found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! 2:18 But if I build up again the very things that I once tore down, then I demonstrate that I am a transgressor. 2:19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; 2:20 and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 2:21 I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification comes through the law, then Christ died for nothing. Luke 7:36-8:3 7:36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee's house and took his place at the table. 7:37 And a woman in the city, who was a sinner, having learned that he was eating in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment. 7:38 She stood behind him at his feet, weeping, and began to bathe his feet with her tears and to dry them with her hair. Then she continued kissing his feet and anointing them with the ointment. 7:39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw it, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what kind of woman this is who is touching him--that she is a sinner." 7:40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to say to you." "Teacher," he replied, "Speak." 7:41 "A certain creditor had two debtors; one owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 7:42 When they could not pay, he canceled the debts for both of them. Now which of them will love him more?" 7:43 Simon answered, "I suppose the one for whom he canceled the greater debt." And Jesus said to him, "You have judged rightly." 7:44 Then turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has bathed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 7:45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not stopped kissing my feet. 7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 7:47 Therefore, I tell you, her sins, which were many, have been forgiven; hence she has shown great love. But the one to whom little is forgiven, loves little." 7:48 Then he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." 7:49 But those who were at the table with him began to say among themselves, "Who is this who even forgives sins?" 7:50 And he said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." 8:1 Soon afterwards he went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God. The twelve were with him, 8:2 as well as some women who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, 8:3 and Joanna, the wife of Herod's steward Chuza, and Susanna, and many others, who provided for them out of their resources.