Humiliated Authority

Monday, September 21, 2009 -- Week of Proper 20, Year One
Saint Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Today's Readings for the Daily Office (Book of Common Prayer)

EITHER, the readings for Monday of Proper 20, p. 984
Psalms 80 (morning) 77, 79 (evening)
2 Kings 5:1-19
1 Corinthians 4:8-21
Matthew 5:21-26

OR, the readings for St. Matthew, p. 999
Morning Prayer: Psalm 119:41-64; Isaiah 8:11-20; Romans 10:1-15
Evening Prayer: Psalms 19, 112; Job 28:12-28; Matthew 13:44-52

I chose the readings for Monday of Proper 20

Paul's voice is full of irony today. He is probably writing from Ephesus -- an ocean away from the congregation he had founded in Corinth. Word has come to him of divisions and conflicts. His authority has been challenged. There are some "spiritual people" who claim to have superior wisdom. They are acting arrogantly and claiming authority and power within the congregation.

At the heart of Paul's vision for the church is an attitude of equality. In Christ we are all equal, he insists. In Christ, all divisions are broken down. In Christ, we all imitate his example of humility. We are to be slaves and servants to one another.

But these who challenge Paul in his absence are putting on airs and projecting an inflated self-image. They act like kings, Paul taunts. Paul contrasts their self-image with his own standing. Paul is an apostle. He stands in the Christian community on an equal footing with Peter and the other founding disciples. Yet he says, "I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, as though sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels and to mortals."

Paul taunts his challengers, "We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we are hungry and thirsty, we are poorly clothed and beaten and homeless, and we grow weary from the work of our hands." There are several accounts which reinforce the representation of Paul living in miserable circumstances and working to exhaustion.

He continues to pour it on. "When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we speak kindly. We have become like the rubbish of the world, the dregs of all things, to this very day."

That is Paul's self-definition. He sees himself as walking in imitation of Christ, who poured out his life for others also.

Then Paul exerts his authority. "I am your father in Christ," he says. He founded the church in Corinth. There may be many who might exercise authority as "guardians" of the congregation, but they have only one father -- Paul. So like an angry father, Paul tells them -- I'm sending Timothy. You'd better listen to him. But if you don't... Well, what do you want? "Am I to come to you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?" ("Don't make me spank you!")

I think what has most angered Paul is the boasting and prideful behavior. Egalitarianism and servanthood are cornerstone characteristics of life in Christ. We are equal and we are all one in Christ, Paul insists. And it is an equality in humility. Often he uses the word "slave" to describe our demeanor toward others. We are to enslave ourselves to our neighbors. Paul really hates displays of pride or arrogance.

But he knows about power. He exercises power. Deeds of power. It is Christ's power being manifest through him. We assume this includes the power to heal. It is also the power to speak authoritatively of life in Christ.

So this father in the faith will continue to write. He will instruct the congregation with authority. But he does so from a life that is under constant threat and which looks a lot like disreputable misery. He invites us to live by his example. But he does so only because he is living following the example of Christ, the humiliated disreputable Savior.

Lowell

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About Morning Reflections
Morning Reflections is a brief thought about the scripture readings from the Daily Office of Morning and Evening Prayer according to the practice found in the Book of Common Prayer of the Episcopal Church.

Morning Prayer begins on p. 80 of the Book of Common Prayer.
Evening Prayer begins on p. 117

An online resource for praying the Daily Office is found at www.missionstclare.com
Another form of the office from Phyllis Tickle's "Divine Hours" is available on our partner web site www.ExploreFaith.org at this location -- http://explorefaith.org/prayer/fixed/index.html


The Mission of St. Paul's Episcopal Church
is to explore and celebrate
God's infinite grace, acceptance, and love.

Visit our web site at www.stpaulsfay.org

Our Rule of Life

We aspire to...
worship weekly
pray daily
learn constantly
serve joyfully
live generously.

Lowell Grisham, Rector

St. Paul's Episcopal Church
Fayetteville, Arkansas