"Power in Weakness" Verse 1 by Jira Albers
Formed in the image of God.
Equal with strength from above.
Glory is hard to define;
it means he gives up his life,
on a cross.
Glory to God on high.
Praises to Jesus Christ.
Voices raise to the sky.
Power from God on high;
high upon the cross.
Power in weakness
on the cross.
Have no doubt, Jesus had all of the power of God. Jesus could have done anything he wanted.
There are kings and politicians who love power and will go to any length to stay in power. Take the president of Syria, as one example. He will willing to go to any length, even harming his own people in order to remain in control.
Well, those type of rulers existed back in Jesus’ time also.
Just as easily as Jesus filled the nets of the disciples with abundant fish just by waving his hand, and just as easily as Jesus stilled the storm of the sea with a three simple words, “Peace, be still,” Jesus could have just waved his hand and destroyed the corrupt rulers of his time. He could have easily set himself as a worldly king.
With the power to create the universe at his disposal, it would have been as easy as a snap of his fingers to take over political control of the world.
But, Jesus did not. He did not find the power of God…equality with God…as something to simply exploit at will just so that he could get his way.
I am not like Jesus. I know a couple of choice politicians who I would love to simply make vanish with the snap of a finger.
But, Jesus knew a truth as deep as creation. Creating life and showing love does not mean control. Creating and loving means giving something of yourself. For Jesus, that meant giving his life on a cross.
"Power in Weakness" Verse 2 by Jira Albers
Taking the form of a slave.
Power and strength in a grave.
Jesus asked no one to tell.
None knew that glory is felt,
on a cross.
Glory to God on high.
Praises to Jesus Christ.
Voices raise to the sky.
Power from God on high;
high upon the cross.
Power in weakness
on the cross.
Power is found in weakness.
Power is found, not in getting your way, but in allowing someone else to find their way.
Power is found not in controlling the world, but in caring for the world.
Power is found, not in getting even, but in showing mercy.
Power is found in giving up your life for the sake of someone else.
Power is found in imitating Christ, the one who gave his life for all creation.
Giving up your life for the sake of another is what it means to be a citizen of heaven of heaven. Giving up you life for the sake of another is what it means to be an imitator of Christ, and of his followers such as Paul, and our own teachers of the faith.
Just south of where I live there is a man who lives alone in a very large farmhouse. Well, at least he used to live alone. The man discovered that his neighbor was struggling to even pay the rent, so the man decided to offer up one of his empty rooms to the financially struggling gentleman. It was a gracious act that did not stop there. The man kept offering up his empty rooms to men who needed to get back up on their feet. To this day, he regularly has about 8 homeless men in his home, giving each one a chance to get back on their own feet. No longer lonely in his large home, the man imitates Christ and gives his all. For this man, there are no lines separating himself and his neighbor in need.
Lines
Part of being an imitator of Christ, who gives of himself, requires not drawing lines.
In this life, whenever you draw a line of separation you have, in essence set yourself apart from another person. When countries draw lines (when they draw boarders) they set apart who is in and who is out; who is deserving of love and care and who is none of our concern.
When families draw lines a similar thing happens, families decide who deserves attention and who does not. Our child is our problem, your child is yours.
The only problem with lines is that as soon as we draw one and plant our feet firmly on one side, we have decided that our citizenship is something less than “God so loved the world.”
In other words, when we draw lines, we decide to be citizens of somewhere other than the Kingdom of heaven.
Whenever we draw our lines and build our walls, demarcating who is in and who is out, we discover a shocking thing. Looking across the line we find that Jesus is always over on the other side. Jesus is always on the side of those left-out and forgotten.
When the righteous and religious fail to love the man beaten and bloodied on the side of the road in the story of the Good Samaritan, Jesus gently points out that it is a Samaritan (someone on the other side of society’s line) who is the self-giving hero. Jesus is always concerned about the other side of the line.
When Jesus’ family requests that he stop teaching and come to out from his crowded home to be with them, Jesus refuses and then teaches that all who do the work of God are his family, and, therefore, citizens of heaven. Jesus dares to step over the line of family because, Jesus is always concerned about the other side of the line.
When you were lost in sin, at the right time, Jesus gave his life that you, a sinner, might have live.
Meditate deeply on these things, because the truth is that Jesus is always concerned about the other side of the line.
The Apostle Paul urges us to always imitate Jesus who puts citizenship in heaven above any other obligation. Jesus' highest priority is giving it all for those left on the other side of the line. Jesus' love erases all lines. Country and family, as important as they seem in this life, are not exempt from this line erasing.
It is the people of the earth who draw lines and separate. The citizens of heaven look to Jesus who seeks to draw all the world together, even if it means giving his life.
That is why Jesus gets the glory. That is why Jesus is followed. That is why songs are written about him.
"Power in Weakness" Refrain by Jira Albers
Glory to God on high.
Praises to Jesus Christ.
Voices raise to the sky.
Power from God on high;
high upon the cross.
Power in weakness
on the cross.
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