Power Redefined
Isaiah 2:1-4
Axiom 7: God's love always reckons with power.
Exodus 23:1-9
1 “You must not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked to be a malicious witness.
2 “You must not follow a crowd in wrongdoing. Do not testify in a lawsuit and go along with a crowd to pervert justice. 3 Do not show favoritism to a poor person in his lawsuit.
4 “If you come across your enemy’s stray ox or donkey, you must return it to him.
5 “If you see the donkey of someone who hates you lying helpless under its load, and you want to refrain from helping it, you must help with it.
6 “You must not deny justice to a poor person among you in his lawsuit. 7 Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty. 8 You must not take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the clear-sighted and corrupts the words of the righteous. 9 You must not oppress a resident alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be a resident alien because you were resident aliens in the land of Egypt.
Psalm 103:6 The Lord executes acts of righteousnessand justice for all the oppressed.
Psalm 140:12 I know that the Lord upholds the just cause of the poor,justice for the needy.
Isaiah 1:17 Learn to do what is good.Pursue justice.Correct the oppressor.Defend the rights of the fatherless.Plead the widow’s cause.
Justice is not something that God does. It is who God is. God is just.
God is Just:
• God loves everyone.
• God sees those who society overlooks.
• God comes to the aid of those mistreated.
• God's power is not the power to control, but the power to love.
Mark 9:35-37
35 Sitting down, he called the Twelve and said to them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.” 36 He took a child, had him stand among them, and taking him in his arms, he said to them, 37 “Whoever welcomes one little child such as this in my name welcomes me. And whoever welcomes me does not welcome me, but him who sent me.”
Mark 10:35-37
35 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, approached him and said, “Teacher, we want you to do whatever we ask you.”
36 “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked them.
37 They answered him, “Allow us to sit at your right and at your left in your glory.”
Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 2:1-6
1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them.
5 Now there were Jews staying in Jerusalem, devout people from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
Acts 2:6 NRSV And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each.
"Native language"
"Mother tongue"
What do we learn about God's power in these passages?
• God's power aligns itself with the last, the servant.
• God's power is seen in valuing people.
• God's power is seen in the intimacy of the relationship.
