Acts 4 1:22
Power, comfort, and Privilege are hard to let go of when we are used to holding them and living with them. The Sadducees demonstrate this for us in Acts 4. Peter and John have healed a sick man, they have told the stories of what they have seen with Jesus. People are excited about these acts and stories. The disciples have “poked the bear” of power.
We are taught in Sunday school to see this scripture through the eyes of the disciples; to boo and hiss when the religious power of the day rejects them. As I read this scripture over the last couple of days, I continue to see myself in the Sadducees. I have privilege, comfort, and power and I often forget this can mean that I’m blind, or it is easy to choose to be blind, to important developments in the world around me. Or like the Sadducees, where am I holding on to power and feeling threatened by someone rising up around me? We live in a country that has a history of people fighting back when they find the comfort and privilege of power slipping away. Often, we don’t even recognize the power or comfort until we begin to lose it. Examples abound in our country. Our only civil war was about power and privilege slipping away. Jim Crowe laws, red lining of real estate, our continuous fight over immigration, our whole economic system, women suffrage, fear, prejudice, and hate are all examples. The list goes on and on and no surprise it is full of controversial issues. We are threatened and scared, when people try to take away our power or remove our comfortable mode of operation.
The disciples have taken power from the Sadducees. Peter and John have a following. The Sadducees are threatened, scared, and they don’t like it. They may not even have recognized how much power they held, until it began to slip from their fingers. This summer I experienced a loss of power and privilege that I did not recognize until it was taken away. Due to my role at work, I can almost always control my schedule and set my own priorities. This summer, as our company merged with another company, I found myself feeling very out of control. I had to jump and work when other people asked me. The bank, our partner in the merger, attorneys, landlords, consultants all were asking for deliverables, and I could not control my schedule or priorities. I had to listen to others and do as they asked. I worked on what they wanted, when they wanted. I worked on weekends, early, late, etc… I found myself feeling out of control. I found myself annoyed, disorganized, and even bitter at having lost my comfort. When power, comfort, and privilege waned for me I did not like it. No surprise that the Sadducees were any different.
I don’t think Jesus comes to take our power. I don’t think Jesus wants us to feel threatened, but I do think he works in our lives, when the power turns upside down. Maybe the economy of the Kingdom sees power and privilege in a way that we simply don’t understand. Maybe God sees how little power we actually have. Clearly Jesus understands this dynamic of power in our world. He often talks about it in the gospel (The first shall be last, etc…) and he may be the one who gave up the ultimate privilege to be tortured on the cross as the Son of God. In this case the Sadducees are losing power and the Disciples, through the Holy Spirit are gaining power. How does the Holy Spirit work in the lives of people on both sides of this equation? God taught me to be grateful for the control I have over my own schedule at work. When I lament the stress of my work, I now remember that I have a privilege in setting my own schedule and priorities. I have heard someone state that with power and comfort comes “blind spots” and with weakness and discomfort comes “pain points.” How can we better recognize our own “blind spots.” How can we open our eyes to see the “pain points” in others?