“The Comfort of Authority” Luke 4.31–44, Epiphany 4C, Jan. ‘16

1. Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The message from God’s Word this 4^th Sunday after Epiphany is taken from Luke 4:31-44 and it’s entitled, “The Comfort of Authority,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. Following a wedding service, the pastor was invited to the couple’s reception. There were family members from many different backgrounds at the reception. The pastor was sitting at a table when one distinguished looking gentleman approached him and introduced himself as “Uncle Harry.” He started talking to the pastor about his “spiritual journey.” He told the pastor about how he had been raised in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod. He went on to tell the pastor he had left the LCMS many years ago because of its teachings against lodge membership and some other things. He complained that the LCMS was too authoritarian. He told the pastor he had joined another church that didn’t make such claims to having authority, but he said that he hadn’t been to church in some months. When the pastor asked why, Uncle Harry explained that his wife had died a while ago. He said he was shocked by the sermon the pastor of his new church gave. He found out that this pastor didn’t actually believe in the resurrection of the dead.
3. Uncle Harry said he felt lost and insecure. The pastor explained to him the joy and security that come from having Jesus speak to us with authority. We don’t reject Jesus’ authority as being burdensome. Instead, we live in the joy and security that come from Jesus speaking to us with authority: “It is finished!” “This is my body, my blood, given for you.” “Because I live, you will live also.” “Lo, I am with you always.”  That’s the comfort of authority, that Jesus has the authority to forgive us our sins! 
4. In our Gospel lesson from today in Luke 4 we see that Jesus’ speaking with authority astonishes people.  The people in Jesus’ time were shocked, because he spoke with authority (vv 31–32).  The religious leaders in Jesus’ time would not have claimed to have authority on their own.  As their authority to speak, the scribes cited a mum­bo-jumbo of complicated, conflicting sources from the rabbis. What was really true? 
5. Also people today are astonished, even shocked, when Jesus speaks with authority.  There is a serious breakdown of authority in today’s world. We live in a time in which truth is a very personal thing. What is true for you may not be true for me. For instance, the turmoil of the 1960s was largely a clash over one particular issue. A man who’d grown up in the World War II generation had been taught that authority was to be respected. His own father, his drill sergeant, the President of the United States deserved his honor. Now, though, he was raising his children in a decade when young people were told authority figures should be challenged. Teachers, police officers, college administrators, anyone in authority was suspect. Rather than being honored, they were likely to face outright defiance and disrespect. And the conflict over differing views of authority boiled over, sometimes even at home. The World War II generation dad expected respect toward his authority too, and any challenge to that authority was sure to mean a fight.
6. Questioning of authority that became so pronounced in the 1960s has continued and increased in our present time. It’s even led many to reject the authority of God’s Word. You know what’s behind this—the devil and the world’s promise that sweeping away authority will give freedom. That’s a lie! Casting off authority really only leads to insecurity and uncertainty. Instead, Jesus comes to us in the midst of our world’s rejection of authority and proclaims Good News to us. It’s the Good News that he does have authority, and as we hear that Word of authority, we receive comfort.
7. People in our world are shocked when anyone claims to have authority.  An example of this today is the debate over homosexuality and gay marriage.  Many people today want to say that the Christian Church that opposes gay marriage is on the wrong side of history. Many don’t believe there is any final authority to which one can appeal.  This is ultimately reflected in people’s attitudes toward salvation. No one, they think, can claim with authority that he or she knows the way to salvation.  There are those that want to believe that all religions can lead to salvation.  This flies in the face of Christianity’s understanding of original sin, that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and are in need of a Savior.  Jesus says in John 14 that He alone is the way, the truth, and the life, that no one can come to the Father, except through Him.   
8. Obviously, then, Jesus’ claim to speak with absolute authority is offensive to many.  But Jesus’ speaking with authority is good news.  The reason people are shocked at claims of authority is that they don’t want it; they don’t see authority as something good.  It is presented as being oppressive and taking away freedom.  We see examples even in the Church. Some people become upset and will leave a church when it speaks God’s Word against what they want to do. It’s easy for people to see faithfulness to God’s Word as a burden.
9. But, this rejection of authority can cause people to become uncertain of their salvation. Is that Word of God true either?  Life without authority is often portrayed as a wonderful thing.  Examples are in the way our society presents those who reject authority. We see Jesse James and Bonnie and Clyde presented as heroes. Charlie Sheen holds himself up as a person to emulate.  But, there’s no mention of misery in the lives of those who live without Christ, no mention of broken marriages, broken families, mental instability, and addiction to drugs and alcohol, created by lives that are lived without authority. 
10. We desperately need authority in our lives.  When people see the reality of life without authority, they see their need for it.  An example of this is the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. The New Orleans Superdome and large parts of the city were left with no authority. The people in these areas desperately pleaded for someone to come in and provide security. 
11. Jesus’ authority brings freedom and security.       The man possessed by an unclean spirit welcomed Jesus’ authority over evil (vv 33–36).   Peter’s mother-in-law was healed by Jesus’ authority to rebuke her fever (vv 38–39).   Above all, Jesus spoke with authority when he announced from the cross that “It”­­—the work of saving mankind—“is finished.’’ And Jesus’ authority over sin, death, and hell was confirmed when he rose from the dead. He gives us freedom from guilt and death. 
12. Jesus speaks this Good News with authority to us.   This Good News is the purpose of his coming.  Jesus says in Luke 4:43-44, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” 44And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea.”  As he preached in the synagogues, so he proclaims from our pulpits: we have eternal life.  Jesus has given authority on earth to forgive sins in the words of absolution, for “the one who hears you hears me” (Lk 10:16).  He says to His disciples before He ascends into heaven in Matthew 28, “All authority  in heaven and on earth has been given to me.”   Jesus speaks heaven to us in Communion: “shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”   His words of authority give peace and security.   We rejoice that Jesus has authority over evil.  When we recognize Jesus’ authority, we have the peace and security that come from knowing that what we believe is true and certain. 
13. Many people in our world today are like a child who rejects authority. Children need authority, for a lack of authority will leave them with feelings of insecurity and a lifetime of emotional scarring. A lack of authority has left many people in our world with nothing certain on which they can rely in their lives—especially about how they might face death. We don’t reject that authority of Jesus in our lives because we understand the comfort and certainty that it brings us.
14. The pulpit in Lutheran churches has traditionally been elevated. It reminds us that the Word of God that’s proclaimed there has authority. Jesus comes to us and preaches Good News to us, and he speaks that Good News with authority. He doesn’t tell us that our sins might be forgiven or that heaven might be ours. He tells us the Good News that our sins are forgiven and that death has been overcome for us.  What a comfort it is us to us that Jesus speaks with authority!  Amen.