The Power of Kings
Sermon by Pr. Sharai Jacob on the Tenth Sunday after Pentecost, Lectionary 17 + July 28, 2024
Our gospel reading today starts with Jesus feeding about 5000 people. When he sees them approaching, Jesus doesn’t ask, “Where will all those people buy bread for themselves?,” he asks, “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?” It is clear that they don’t have the funding to feed all of these people, but Jesus was able to use the generosity of one boy to feed 5000 people with food to spare! And because of what they saw Jesus do - these people wanted to put him in a position of power over them. They saw that he would be a great leader, so they wanted to make him their king.
But Jesus runs away from that role. He actually goes back up the mountain - abandoning his disciples. Throughout the Bible mountains are treated as sacred places where people go to pray and to meet with God. In Exodus, it was at Mount Horeb where Moses saw the burning bush and God named God’s self “I Am.” Jesus retreated to a place where he could meet with God. When we see Jesus again, he is walking on water in a storm at night. He sees the disciples in their boat and says to them, “It is I Am. Do not be afraid.”
This week, the upcoming election has been on many of our minds. There is a power struggle between the parties at every election, but this year seems like a pivotal moment for the United States. This week was also when the leader of the Israeli government visited and addressed congress. The International Court of Justice announced that Israel is enacting apartheid in its illegal settlements in Palestine. Not to mention that the death toll in Gaza has reached over 39,000 people including over 15,oo0 children. Power and corruption have been incredibly bold themes in the news, on our social media feeds, in daily conversations.
Our reading highlights two kinds of power. The power of a king and the power that God gives. Here Jesus shows us that God’s power is not just greater than the power of any King, but inherently different. God’s power isn’t here to belittle and oppress and control. God’s power is freeing - it allows Jesus to respond to 5000 people with generosity and not scarcity. It allows Moses - a lowly shepherd to free his people from slavery. God’s power doesn’t act the way a King’s power would. Both kinds of power could show up in the world through justice, freedom, love and empathy. But, only a King’s power can work through fear and greed; God’s power is incompatible with those methods.
We can see in our world today, that these two kinds of power continue to show up. The Power of Kings could be used to create peace and stability for all people, but recently it seems like it has been used to create destruction and pain. We see the Power of Kings abused in the way a police officer killed Sonya Massey in her home after responding to her call for help. We see it abused in Israel’s continued destruction of Gaza, and in the support that its destruction has garnered. We also see the Power of Kings being used by those who are looking to save Gaza, and by those who continue to work to create justice even through broken and failing systems.
But where do we see the Power that God gives? Maybe we catch a glimpse of it in the resilience and unity of the oppressed? Maybe we see it in the solidarity between everyday people around the world who are willing to protest for the sake of humanity. Do you feel it in uplifting conversations with loved ones? Do you see it in the miraculous way people are able to change their minds and open their hearts?
When I heard Sonya Massey’s story, it was painful and painfully familiar. Just before she was killed, she said, “I rebuke you in Jesus’ name,” but I don’t think it was the police officer she was rebuking. I think it was his fear. She rebuked the prejudice in his heart that drove him to believe that she was a threat. The power she called upon is not limited by death, and there is something about that power that is infectious.
The disciples, at the end of our reading, are in a boat in the middle of a storm. They are struggling against wind and waves, and Jesus is not there. Maybe you feel like the disciples, struggling in the dark during a storm hoping for Jesus to show up? Maybe you feel like the crowds? Hoping for someone to lead; desperate for someone to use the Power of Kings in a way that is just. Or do you feel like Philip? Staring at the unending need in the world and thinking, “Do we even have the resources to fix this?” No matter which character you relate to, we are all in this boat together and we all have to work to brave the storm. When Jesus does appear, the disciples rush to get him into the boat with them. But in their chasing after Jesus, in their longing to be close to I Am, and in their working to sail their little boat towards Jesus in the storm - they found that they had already reached the shore.
God's Grace is still here even in the storm. And the promises of abundant life and victory over death are still here for us to hold on to. As we navigate our boat towards Jesus, may we remember that each time we pick up an oar, we are already living into those promises. May we remember that as we do the work, we are already in communion with Jesus.
