The Power of God’s Love
Psalm 8, Matthew 28:16-20[1]
We have a complicated relationship with power.
On the one hand, we seem to be fascinated with those whom we consider to be the
most “powerful” people. Even to the point that our admiration can at times
approach a kind of “worship.” There are many powerful people in this world who
have an almost “cult” like following among their fans. On the other hand, we
seem to be inherently distrusting of power. Especially when we believe someone
is abusing their power. Anytime someone in power “bullies” those who are more
vulnerable, we think of it as an abuse of power. And in our world we may see
that kind of thing so often that we become distrusting of all power, regardless
of how it’s used.
Our Scripture lessons for today speak to us
about God’s power. The creation story in Genesis portrays God’s power to simply
“speak” all things into existence. That’s a kind of power that most of us may
want, but I dare say none of us would use well. But God most certainly used it
well. That’s the point of the refrain that occurs throughout the creation story:
“and God saw that it was good.” God used his extraordinary power to create a
world and all the living things in it that was not only “good,” but indeed
“very good,” as God observes at the end of the process (Gen 1:31). It may be
hard for some people to imagine even God using that magnitude of power for
good, but that’s precisely what the Bible teaches us! God always uses his power
for good!
In our reading from the Psalms, we find this
perspective on God’s power confirmed. Like many of us, the Psalmsinger found
himself confronted by the majestic power of the God who created all the heavens
and the earth simply with a word. I would say that the more we understand about
how vast this cosmos really is, the more we are confronted by God’s majesty and
power in creation. Even in ancient times, a simple glance at the night sky led
the Psalmsinger to wonder, “what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
mortals that you care for them?” (Psalm 8:4). And yet, despite the fact that he
frames his faith in the form of a question, we shouldn’t overlook the
affirmation that lies behind it: God is
mindful of us all; God does care for
us, both deeply and continually. That is also the nature of God’s power!
The Psalmsinger had good reason to believe
this. It’s the heart of what Hebrew Bible affirms about God: “I am the Lord
God. I am merciful and very patient with my people. I show great love, and I
can be trusted” (Exodus 34:6, CEV).
It is the revelation God gave to Moses in the “cleft of the rock” when he asked
to see God’s glory. And it echoes like a refrain throughout the Hebrew
Scriptures, because it is the truth that serves as the foundation for biblical
faith. The message of the Scriptures is that God’s power points us to the fact
that God loves us with a love that will never let us go. It may be difficult
for us to grasp, but the truth of our Scripture lesson is that we are
constantly surrounded by the love of the God who is powerful enough to create
all things simply by speaking the word. As one of our affirmations of faith
puts it, the Bible leads us to believe in a God whose love for us is “powerful
beyond measure.”
We see this theme of power
reflected a little differently in our Gospel reading for today. It’s the story
of Jesus’ final appearance to his disciples according to Matthew. When he
appeared to them on a mountain in Galilee, he said something that would have
been startling for them. And it should still catch our attention today: “All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Mt 28:18). We’re used
to hearing that language because it’s part of the “Great Commission.” But in
that day, “all authority” belonged to God. Any human being claiming “all
authority in heaven and on earth” would have been viewed as directly
contradicting God’s authority. In fact, there are many in our world to this day
who struggle with the image Jesus as having “all authority in heaven and on
earth.”
I think what made the difference is that it
was the risen and living Jesus who made this startling claim. They had seen him
die, and they had seen him alive more than once after he rose from the dead. It
was the resurrection that confirmed that this authority had come from God. I think
we could say that Jesus received this authority in response to the fact that he
had “fulfilled all righteousness” as Matthew’s Gospel puts it (Mt 3:15), or in
other words that he had carried out God’s plan to “set right” all things and
all people by his death and resurrection. Because of that, God himself gave
this authority to Jesus. So it is that, in the New Testament, there is no
contradiction whatsoever between the affirmation that all authority belongs to
God, and that God has given that authority to Jesus Christ.
One reason for that is because Jesus uses that
authority to carry out God’s purpose in the world. That’s not something we
expect these days. It goes against the norm in our day. In our world, “power
tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”[2] That’s the way we view power. Many of those who have the most power in our day
use it to benefit themselves. But Jesus used the authority given to him by God
not for his own benefit, but to extend the peace, justice, and freedom of God’s
kingdom to all people. And he continues to use that authority to fulfill God’s
work of “making all things new” (Rev 21:5). And at the end of it all, Paul said
that Jesus would surrender all authority back to God, so that God “will be
utterly supreme over everything everywhere” (1 Cor 15:28, NLT), bringing
the new life of God’s kingdom to everyone and everything!
I think the point of all this was to inspire
confidence in those of us who follow Jesus in a world that is set against God’s
authority and power, in a world that remains set against the peace, justice,
and freedom of God’s kingdom to this day. We see that opposition almost daily.
Part of the assurance that God’s love triumphs in this world through Jesus lies
in the promise that “I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Mt 28:20). Yes,
we live in a world where the work of God’s kingdom isn’t complete. Yes, we live
in a world where people continue to abuse power for their own benefit, and they
hurt innocent people in the process. But rather than letting that cause us to doubt
God’s purpose, or cause us to question Jesus’ power and authority, we can be
confident because Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord is the one to whom God has
entrusted “authority, honor, and sovereignty over all the nations of the world”
(Dan 7:13, NLT). And with that authority, Jesus Christ our Savior and
Lord rules right now over “everything in heaven and on earth, everything seen
and unseen” (Col 1:16, NLT). And the promise is that “His rule is
eternal—it will never end” (Dan 7:14, NLT).
When we get caught up in what’s happening
around us in this world, we can easily lose sight of all this. We can wonder
where God’s rule, God’s power, and God’s authority are in this world. It’s
still there! Jesus the Christ and our Savior and Lord is reigning with “all
authority” at the right hand of God, right now! And he promised that he would be
with us until the end of the age, continuing to fulfill the promise of God’s
kingdom with the authority and power that God has given him. And part of the
promise is that the power of God’s love will never fade. The promise is that the
rule of love that Jesus carries out in our lives now will never end. One day, the
power of God’s love, the rule of love that Jesus carries out in our lives now
will extend to all people and encompass everything. On that day, then the whole
creation will return to where it was in the beginning, when God “spoke” it into
being, and everything was “very good.”
[1]
© 2026 Alan Brehm. A sermon delivered by Rev. Alan Brehm PhD on 5/31/2026 for
Hickman Presbyterian Church, Hickman, NE.
[2]
Famously penned by Lord John Dalberg-Acton, Letter to Mandell Creighton (5 April
1887), referring to the declaration by Pope Pius IX of the Roman Catholic dogma
of papal infallibility. He said, “I cannot accept your canon that we are to
judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a
favorable presumption that they did no wrong. If there is any
presumption it is the other way against holders of power, increasing as the
power increases. … Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts
absolutely. … There is no worse heresy than that the office sanctifies the
holder of it. That is the point at which … the end learns to justify
the means.” Cf. Historical Essays and Studies, by John Emerich Edward
Dalberg-Acton (1907), edited by John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere
Laurence, Appendix, p. 504. Accessed at http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lord_Acton.
No comments:
Post a Comment