Redeemer Devotions for January 14, 2013

God as love has been the direction I have been going - what about God as all powerful.

Here we go:



In some ways, everything I have written that puts Jesus up on the cross as an act

of love and an act of all hopefulness and an act of imagination has something to

do with God as all powerful. I heard someone commenting about all the craziness

in congress over the many items concerned with money and even the confirmation

hearings. The person said it had to do with power - not the good of the country

or real action on the issues at hand. People - individual politicians want to be

able to be seen as people who have power and can command respect and attention

by exercising their notion of power.



Well, within the faithful imagination of God's people, this is everything but power.

It is all an act of maintaining a facade so that others can be over ruled or put

down or used in order for the 'powerful' one to gain more power. God as all powerful

becomes visible among us as one who serves - one who gives up life in order to bring

life - one who sides with the least but lives a life that is so authentically human

it is filled with power beyond the comprehension of the world.



This kind of power - that transcends the images of power that is so often accepted

as power - comes from a center filled with nothing but love. The truly human one

is born into the domain of God as love and becomes a part of that love that is

able to be expressed and shared within ordinary human relationships. And yet, most

folks would acknowledge that love - self-giving love - love that let's no one go

- doesn't often feel like power. It often feels like the beginning of death or

the loss of control. Power wants and needs to control - unless it is power that

comes from love. The power here is a power that becomes known as we enter the act

of love. There, power become a sense of wholeness - not a way to defeat or overcome

or rule others. Power becomes an ability to take a breath and rest and allow vulnerability

to help shape the moment at hand. That is a power-filled moment of love.



O God of love and new life, fill us with the power of your Spirit that is always

able to transform us into your loving presence for one another. We long to be known

by such power. Amen.



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