The Power Within Us (Ephesians 3:14-21)

It sounds good: being strengthened with power, using that power to accomplish more than we can ask or even imagine. In fact, it has become, for me, one of those passages from scripture that keeps getting played over and over in my mind. It’s almost poetic:
“Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be the glory.”

But what is power? Or, more specifically, what is this power, the power of which the scripture speaks?

It seemed to me that this was a fairly important question to answer, if I was going to preach on this scripture. So I did what any 21st century preacher would do: I looked it up on Google.

Here’s what I came up with…

[Powerpoint images of “power.”]

Gandhi once divided power into two kinds. “One,” he said, “Is obtained by fear of punishment, and the other by acts of love.” For whatever reason, power obtained by fear of punishment is often more attractive to people—including Christians. “Repent, or you’re going to hell!” Right?

These are the Christians who like to picture Jesus brandishing a mighty sword—or even a machine gun. These are the Christians who launched the Crusades and the Insurrection. They believed that the power given to them was to be used to convert the world to Christianity, by force if necessary, with persecution and even execution for those who resisted. Soldiers for Christ, indeed!

The problem is, this image of Jesus as a mighty warrior contradicts the image of Jesus in scripture: the image of one who would not throw stones at those sinners who, by law, deserved to be stoned; the one who prayed for forgiveness for his accusers and executioners, rather than cursing them; the one who washed the feed of his followers; the one who said, “blessed are the meek, turn the other cheek,” and all that other stuff.

Now, this presents us with a challenge: How can we exercise the power of the Spirit that is within us if we are being meek? Isn’t meekness the opposite of power?

We’re familiar with the power of love, or at least the idea of the power of love. I mean, we’ve heard the phrase. But what does love have to do with power—in the real world? One could easily argue that our nation didn’t become a superpower by loving everybody, that you don’t get power with love.

According to Martin Luther King, Jr., “one of the greatest problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites—polar opposites—so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love.” Martin Luther King went on to say that “power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

If you really want to know what King was talking about, all you need to do is look at his life: meek, nonviolent, and full of love … and yet very, very powerful. Or better yet, look at Jesus. He did not tear apart the cross with his mighty strength and destroy his enemies. Out of love, he stayed there, giving his life for friends and enemies alike.

According to Gandhi, power based on love is a thousand times more effective than power based on fear. Do you believe that? Recall the image of the lone protestor in Tiananmen Square. How did he do that? What kind of power did he possess that stopped those tanks in their tracks? If the tanks were truly more powerful, they could have easily run him over or fired at him with their giant cannons; and their actions would have been justified. After all, the protestor had ample opportunity to get out of the way. And yet, those tanks were rendered powerless.

How often in the gospel are the authorities, the men in power, rendered powerless? Remember King Herod, who found himself powerless to prevent a tragedy at his birthday banquet. Remember also Pilate, who didn’t want to crucify Jesus, but did so reluctantly, because of the crowds. He even washed his hands of the whole thing, perhaps recognizing the truth of Jesus’ words during the trial, that he (Pilate) had no power except what God chose to give him.

One more thing about Tiananmen Square: several photographers captured that moment. I once heard an interview on National Public Radio with one of them. He witnessed what happened from a window of the Beijing Hotel; He photographed the event, and then, if I remember correctly, he hid the film in a plastic bag in the tank of the bathroom toilet.

A few minutes later, Chinese officials came into his room and confiscated his camera and all his film—all the film they could find, anyway. They realized that any pictures or video of what happened would show that the power of love of one man expressed in a peaceful way was greater than the power of the Chinese military—which of course was power based on fear. To allow people to see that would be unacceptable. Fortunately, they didn’t think to look in the toilet tank.

Back here in America, another person who chose the power of love over the power of fear was César Chavez. My kids probably know more about César Chavez than I do; I think they study him in school now, as part of California history, or perhaps in conjunction with César Chavez day in March.

Listen to one of the things César Chavez said: “Our opponents in the agriculture industry are very powerful and farm workers are still weak in money and influence. But we have another kind of power that comes from the justice of our cause. So long as we are willing to sacrifice for that cause—so long as we persist in nonviolence and work to spread the message of our struggle—then millions of people around the world will respond from their heart, will support our efforts… and in the end, we will overcome.”

Like César Chavez, like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and like Jesus himself, we, too, have “another kind of power.” After his resurrection, Jesus told his followers that they would be “clothed with power from on high.” That power was revealed on the day of Pentecost. And you know what? It is very real.

Unfortunately, we too often fail to accept that power. That could be because it looks so different from the types of power we’re used to seeing. Writing to the Corinthians, the apostle Paul said that this power is like a treasure in a clay jar. We are those clay jars… the church is those jars of clay. Not always much to look at, a little dull, perhaps, a little ordinary, with a crack or two. Yeah—cracked pots; that’s us.

But inside is a treasure: the power of God’s Spirit.

And even though we are just jars of clay, we have this awesome power within us. Think of what we could do, if we always remembered to look inside and see this power! Think of what we could do if we allowed this power to work through us. Truly, we could change the world! We could build that new kingdom on earth, the kingdom Martin Luther King referred to as the “beloved community.” We could, in fact, accomplish far more than we could ask or even imagine.