sermon slide deck: "the newborn king & your quest for power" (matthew 20:17-28)

God Gives Us His Words of Eternal LifeMatthew 20:17-28

Found on page 825 in our guest Bibles.

Today’s Scripture:

I had no idea who I was, or what I could be away from tennis. I was depressed and afraid because so much of

my life had been defined by my being a tennis champion. I was

completely lost.

“

”~ Chris Evert

Winning made me feel like I was somebody.

It made me feel pretty. It was like being

hooked on a drug. I needed the wins, the applause, in order to

have an identity.

“

”~ Chris Evert

To what do I look for

a sense of power

?

17 And as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside, and on the way he said to them, 18 “See, we are going up to Jerusalem. And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Matthew 20:17-28

20 Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21 And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.”

Matthew 20:17-28

23 He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.” 24 And when the ten heard it, they were indignant at the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.

Matthew 20:17-19

26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Leader: This is the Word of the Lord.Unison: Thanks be to God!

Matthew 20:17-28

Power is a good thing1

Power corrupts. And absolute power

_________ ___________.“

”~ Lord Acton

Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely.“

”~ Lord Acton

My idea is that every specific body strives to become master over all space and to extend its force (its will to power) and to thrust back all

that resists its extension.

Friedrich Nietzche, Will to Power

“

”

Every agenda is only a ploy to get power and oppress others.

Postmodernism

“Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion

over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every other creeping thing that

creeps on the earth.’ So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him;

male and female he created them.

And God blessed them. And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”

~ The Prophet Moses in Genesis 1:26-29

“Made in God’s image, man has the unique

responsibility to ‘subdue’ the earth and rule over every living creature.

This subduing involves the bringing out of all the

potential within the creation which might offer

glory to the Creator.”

Power is good. Dangerously good.

Key Point

Power can be a

blinding thing2

“…the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them….”

~ Matthew 20:25

“A dispute also arose among them, as to which

of them was to be regarded as the greatest. And he said to them….

“Who is greater, one who reclines at table or one

who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table?

But I am among you as the one who serves.”

~ Jesus of Nazareth in the Gospel of Luke, ch. 22

“Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands….

“If I then, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you. Truly, truly, I say to you, a servant is

not greater than his master…”

Power should be a

redeemed thing3

26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Matthew 20:17-28

image: Christopher Brown

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he

was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of

men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

image: Christopher Brown

Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on

earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the

glory of God the Father.

~ The Apostle Paul in Philippians 2:5-11

The quest for power must be pursued in line with God’s design

& in the service of others. IOW, it must be selfless.

Key Point

1 Take some time to do some soul-searching.

Receive power as a gift to serve others2

Don’t forget your

Power Supply

3

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be

my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the

earth.”

~ Jesus of Nazareth in Acts 1:8

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chiceaux/7981947

flickr images courtesy of:

Christopher Brown: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7853490@N07/3531948937/

Pablo Fernandez: http://www.flickr.com/photos/hadock/9377824124

Tony Gladvin George: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drtonygeorge/3215773584

Marie Coleman: http://www.flickr.com/photos/drtonygeorge/3215773584