Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

1 Peter 1:3-5 April 22, 2007

Who’s Got the Power?
Rev. Meagan M. Boozer

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Not just birth, new birth. Not just hope, living hope. Not just an inheritance, but an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance. Not just any kind of power, God’s power.
This is a stark contrast to the death, despair, defiled heritage, and evil power we have heard about for hours and hours on end this past week out of Virginia and all over the nation.
We are either going to fall into despair ourselves as the world around us keeps turning a blind eye to the growing evil and darkness, or we are going to stand with living hope.
We are either going to acknowledge that there are two kinds of power to be sought after, or we are going to pretend that there are not two kinds of power.
We are either going to live our lives in such a way that we are prepared to stand against the darkness, and we are preparing our children and grandchildren to stand as well, or we are going to fail to claim (and pass on) our imperishable, undefiled, and unfaded inheritance.

It comes down to power. Who’s got the power?

The gunman on the Virginia Tech campus seems to have been holding all the power last Monday. Not only did he kill 32 people, he also killed himself, taking power from the judicial system to give him his “day in court.”

A suicide bomber seems to have all the power when he runs into a place and detonates the bomb, blowing up himself and everyone around him.

A driver of a car that runs the red light and slams into another car. Who has the power there?

What about the person in your life who can say or do one thing, and cause you to either jump with joy, go down in the dumps, or cause you to blow a gasket? Who has the power?

What about the bank who holds your mortgage? When you’re running late on your payments and you don’t want to answer the phone – who is holding the power?

What about the people around you who convince you by their words or just by their actions that it isn’t that important for you to come to church every Sunday and bring your children or grandchildren. On those Sundays your pew is empty, whose power won out?

Who’s got the power in your life?

I recently heard about a new book on the bestseller’s list entitled, The Secret. Have you heard about it? It is a hot, hot book out in the world right now. Oprah absolutely loves this book – in fact – she says she lives by “the secret.” Considering the fact that more people watch Oprah on any given day than are in church on any given Sunday, I figured I better find out what she was promoting. Are you ready to know “the secret?”
“The Secret is the law of attraction! Everything that’s coming into your life you are attracting into your life. And it’s attracted to you by virtue of the images you’re holding in your mind. It’s what you’re thinking. Whatever is going on in your mind you are attracting to you.”
The Secret is within you. The more you use the power within you, the more you will draw it to you. You will reach a point where you won’t need to practice anymore, because you will Be the power, you will Be the perfection, you will Be the wisdom, you will Be the intelligence, you will Be the love, you will Be the joy.
The earth turns on its orbit for You. The oceans ebb and flow for You. The birds sing for You. The sun rises and it sets for You. The stars come out for You. Every beautiful thing you see, every wondrous thing you experience, is all there, for You. Take a look around. None of it can exist, without You. No matter who you thought you were, now you know the Truth of Who You Really Are. You are the master of the Universe. You are the heir to the kingdom. You are the perfection of Life. And now you know The Secret . . . whatever you choose is right. The power is all yours.”
According to the author of The Secret, who has the power? You. Me. Whatever we think - we can have, we can do, we can achieve. We can ask, we can believe, we can receive. We are the master of the Universe. We not only have the power, we are the power.
One more illustration. Can you take one more? In London last month, leading British atheists (an atheist is someone who says, “there is no God.”) squared off with defenders of faith in a public debate based on this statement, “We’d be better off without religion.” Tickets cost nearly $40 but so many people wanted to attend that the event was moved to a bigger venue with over 2,000 seats. It still sold out. Afterwards, the audience declared the atheists the victors, by a margin of 1,205 to 778.
The National Secular Society of the UK posts an eye-opening message on their website. One of their clearly stated goals is to “abolish the established church and all its privileges.” On this website you can download a certificate of de-baptism. Here it is. Let me read it for you.

After due deliberation, I, ______________, having been subjected to the Rite of Christian Baptism in infancy (before reaching an age of consent), hereby publicly revoke any implications of that Rite and renounce the Church that carried it out. In the name of human reason, I reject all its Creeds and all other such superstition – in particular, the perfidious belief that any baby needs to be cleansed by Baptism of alleged “original sin,” and the evil power of supposed demons. I wish to be excluded henceforth from enhanced claims of church membership numbers based on past baptismal statistics used, for example, for the purpose of securing legislative privilege.
Signed _________________
Witnessed by _____________________
This ______ day of _________________, 200___

Let’s get regrounded, okay?
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Not just birth, new birth. Not just hope, living hope. Not just an inheritance, an imperishable, undefiled, and unfading inheritance. Not just any kind of power, God’s power. Not the power of You, not the power of denouncing God, the Church, or anything sacred, not the power of someone else, not the power of consequences that bring about national tragedies (in other words) not the devil’s power. If you and I have experienced new birth into a living hope in Jesus, then we can experience and be protected by God’s power.
The same power that raised a dead man from the grave – and not just any dead man – a dead man who carried all of our sins into the depths of hell and prevailed against it because he wasn’t just fully human, he was fully God – that same power, God’s power protects us for a salvation that will be revealed to us in the last days.
Being protected by God’s power does not mean we will not suffer. It doesn’t mean we won’t get sick. It doesn’t mean that we, as God’s children, won’t experience tragedy in our families, or even find ourselves victims of a sick, crazed killer. We have to think beyond the visible, we have to ask God to help us think beyond the here and now, or we cannot understand or be strengthened by a passage in Scripture such as we read when we began our worship together – Psalm 121 - a Scripture that is described in some Bibles as “Assurance of God’s Protection”:
I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.
He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade at your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.

Listen to these words of Jesus from Luke 10:17-20 (this is after Jesus had sent out the 70 to minister in his name), “The 70 returned with joy saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
Many times in the Scriptures we are told that the Lord will keep our lives, he will keep us from evil, he will not let our feet be dashed against a stone, nothing will harm us.
And then life happens. Calamity happens. Our spouse leaves us. We lose our job. We get a diagnosis. Someone is killed in a terrible accident. Life turns upside down.
Does this mean that God’s doesn’t keep His word? Does this mean that God is not trustworthy and that His power is not all he claims it to be?

Let’s be honest.

It sure seems sometimes like God is letting us down – all you have to do is look around and you will see that Christians have the same sort of troubles that non-Christians have. How is it that God is protecting us with his power as He says he is doing? Often we can’t seem to see how He is at work.
But this is because we take the short view. It’s no wonder; we’re human; we live here in a finite world; we’re used to taking the short view. That’s what we do.
How many people here have planned a vacation for 10 years from now? 5 years from now? 2 years from now? How many people have planned a vacation for this summer? We are used to taking the short view.
God’s Word says that God’s power protects our souls from perishing, from being defiled, and from fading forever and ever. God’s power protects our souls from being taken over by Satan. The war has been won on the cross, the devil has been defeated by the resurrection power of God. However, the battle for the souls of humanity continues, for though the devil has been defeated in the long view, he has not yet been destroyed in the here and now.
The Apostle Paul prays for us. In Colossians 1 he prays this, “We pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy, always thanking the Father, who has enabled you to share the inheritance that belongs to God’s holy people, who live in the light. For he has rescued us from the one who rules in the kingdom of darkness, and he has brought us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. God has purchased our freedom with his blood and has forgiven all our sins.”

Who’s Got the Power?

It’s all about who or what you give the power to in your life. Have you given power to any one person, any group of people, any harmful, excessive substances, any immoral, unbiblical practices; have you given power to any possession, any potential achievement, have you set any self-willed goals that diminish the flow of God’s power in your life? Have you given power to anger, fear, unforgiveness, worry, or anxiety at such a level that you have clogged the flow of God’s power in your life?
I’m here to tell you that God can be trusted. I’m here to tell you that His power does protect you, and does protect me. There is no way to know, this side of heaven, how much God protects us – but I know that his hand is on his children 24/7. Once we belong to Him, nothing can snatch us out of his protective hand. Once we belong to Him, we belong to Him forever and ever, and he will lead us and guide us in the ways of truth and life.
Let’s allow the Apostle Paul to have the last word (Romans 8:35-39):
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death. No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can’t, and life can’t. The angels can’t, and the demons can’t. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen.

Upper Path Valley Presbyterian Church

04-22-07