Where and what is your power? Are you (living) empowered? By what means (en toi)
Intro:
13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (NRSV)
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (KJV)
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (NIV)
Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am. (MSG)
13 πάντα ἰσχύω ἐν τῷ ἐνδυναμοῦντί με.
IN all things I have power look around…is this seriously true? Strange don’t you think to make such a statement on a day like this…without power. (maybe this isn’t what Paul had in mind)
In all things I have power (strength, wellness, good health) look around…is this true? Or is it also strange to make such a statement on a day like this?
In all things I have power…is this simply an external comment, stating that I only feel like I have power, or it just seems on the outside like I have power)
When in reality…in many things I have neither strength, wellness nor good health. And so Paul how is such a comment possible?
Paul says, “in all of these things I have power” but maybe that’s because he’s never sat freezing his buns off in a building undergoing Power Upgrades that sits literally powerless. He’s never sat beside me…he’s not here right now and he’s never felt powerless as I sometimes do!
Powerless--- routine struggles of everyday life
mental illness, S.P.C.C. Father/Husband/ Parenting
Fears in life like—Death, loneliness, depression
We don’t simply need a power outage like the present one to remind us of how powerless we can feel sometimes.
What things is Paul talking about that seems to have given him life experience that in all things he feels he has power:
If your thinking what does Paul know about being powerless…
Consider his blindness
Consider his imprisonments
Consider his beatings
Consider his weakness of the flesh
Consider his life
And we find a man speaking from a wealth of experience and practice (see Greek word below)
Contextually Paul is talking about his physical needs in this passage:
Being Fed/Being hungry
IN abundance and in want
IN humble conditions and in extravagant conditions
It is these things that Paul says he has strength or power
(not walking on water as we sometimes jokingly wish we had the power to do—consider how many times you’ve used this passage to mean more than our simple living conditions—I can do all things through him who gives me strength)
But Paul says two very important things:
ἔμαθον (μαvθavw) I have learned/been taught
acquired the habit/custom from experience/practice
αὐτάρκης (άρκew) to be satisfied/content/adequate in myself
μεμύημαι (μuεw) be disciplined in a practical way (I have learned the lesson)
(μuw) (to shut—the mouth)
What lesson I have power by means of (based on) that which empowers me
An important distinction in this lesson that must be applied:
An electrical tool (rendered useless today) has power, but it is not the power! Power given based on what we plug into—or today in the world or wireless and re-chargeable and renewable energy…depending on what the power source is (battery, solar, hydro, wind, wood)
Eg. TV, computer, fridge, power tool, stove, heater, etc…
***Sometimes we struggle when I am trying to be the power or when we make statements like I have power…in these situations what do we do when power is taken from us (like today) or in those brief moments of honesty when we feel helpless/powerless (see above examples)
Other “powerful” churches would be brought to it’s knees on such a day wouldn’t it…No power. What would they do…no lights, no music, no way to re-create the power, the feeling, the momentum…can you have power points without power? Can you be a powerful church without electricity?
Church in persecuted countries like china?
Churches in 3rd world countries?
Church of the NT?
Most people in bigger cities would be outraged at the thought of power taken from them for a period of time wouldn’t they?
Until coming North/to the Island…I had never experienced regular, routine power outages to maintain the power we need for the rest of the year (I’ve been without power) but not planned power outages on a regular basis.
Interesting what day is chosen though isn’t it?
Not Monday to Friday our business world could not function without power
Not Saturday What would run our toys!
But Sunday without much thought given to church going folks (and what restaurant the church going folks will eat at) the decision is made to render our churches powerless (Is this possible)—is it possible to render a church powerless with the flick of a switch? Think about it?
And then return to Paul’s words—IN All these things—I have power!
I believe Paul today would say….You can take our electricity but you can’t take our power! This is the day we plug back in to something greater…something fresher, something more beautiful, something more real, something more powerful!
(EXPAND)
But what about Monday to Friday….when the other power returns (what about in a few hours when the other power returns?) The question remains when we have electricity do we still have power as Paul promises? When the world is back to it’s regular routine…trusting in it’s own power that has returned…where and what is my power? Have I maintained Paul’s bold statement of faith that states :in all things, I have power by means of the one who is empowering me.
Can you have this power and still not have power?
It is a true statement…we are only as powerful as the things we let empower us!
Negative/discouraging comments someone else makes
Physical, emotional and possibly sexual abuse from your past
Peers, your job, your family,
All of these things have the potential to have power over you…control you and make you feel helpless, weak and without power…like you just want to sit in a dark building and never turn the lights back on. Yet Paul says that in all these things I have power through the one empowering me!
How does the empowering take place
Active Verbs: I am the subject, I am in power…I do, I have, I go, I play, etc… SELFISH Power…not Godly nor Christian power…in this scenario…Jesus doesn’t go to the cross…he just kills himself before anyone else has a chance to.
Passive Verbs: I am the object, (powerless)…he plays me, I am fed, I am cleaned, I am taken, etc…This is not power at all…this is weakness…this also is not Godly nor Christian power…in this scenario…Jesus had no power and was over powered by something stronger…this would only demonstrate that whoever was the meanest, cruelest, strongest…would always be the most powerful…might is right!
Middle Verb: I am not the subject nor the object….but the subject is using me to accomplish/act upon the object….what a perfect description of this passage…of this grace, of this love of the freedom and power we experience when empowered in faith….a true description of the cross and of Godly Christian power…
I have power by means of that which is empowering me!
IN all these things…I have strength/power by means of the one who is empowering/invigorating me!
There is Power in the Blood
Would you be free from the burden of sin?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you o’er evil a victory win?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
Refrain
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the blood of the Lamb;
There is power, power, wonder working power
In the precious blood of the Lamb.
Would you be free from your passion and pride?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Come for a cleansing to Calvary’s tide;
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
Refrain
Would you be whiter, much whiter than snow?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Sin stains are lost in its life giving flow.
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
Refrain
Would you do service for Jesus your King?
There’s power in the blood, power in the blood;
Would you live daily His praises to sing?
There’s wonderful power in the blood.
Refrain
Power to do what?
Power to offer (turn) the other cheek
Power to live the “disciplined life” of integrity, prayer, fasting, meditation, righteousness, holiness, etc.
Power to…
Power to…
Power to…
It can sometimes just seem like I have power (see introduction)…
While the powers that decide have rendered us powerless…the choice is still up to us (not to simply rely on what is external and beyond our control)….but rather be empowered by the only one who is able to empower us!
You can walk in and out of these doors….sit, stand, leave, go, and comeback…whether the electricity is on or off and still feel powerless.
We can have power (electricity) next Sunday and every Sunday following and still have never experienced the power Paul is talking about…having No Power
Regardless of the external power situation we gather here each week to proclaim that our internal power situation all depends on who you hand your life over to….and who will empower you so that in all things you have power!
