Matthew 9:1-8

Back in the late 1950s, Payton Jordan, a football coach at Occidental College, pulled aside a young athlete named Jack Kemp, and told him that of all the players on the team, Kemp was the one who really had a chance to go someplace. He had the talent; if he had the discipline and the drive, he might even be a pro football player someday. Many of you will know that not only did Kemp become a star football player - quarterback for the Buffalo Bills - but he also became a Congressman, a Senator, a Cabinet member, and ran for Vice-President of the United States.

And he always felt that the coach's words were one of the main influences - to think that Coach Jordan singled him out to set him on that special path. It was years later that Kemp discovered that the coach said those same words to every player to try out for the team. Every player was secretly informed that he was the coach's favorite, and the one who had a chance to play in the pros. Some might object that that was dishonest, but at least it was dishonest with a good cause. With that little secret technique, Coach Jordan coached many over-achieving teams, and helped a lot of young men gain confidence that went far beyond the football field.

I think the coach's message was something akin to what God wants to tell each one of us. According to our Holy Book, everyone here is made in the image of God; everyone here is pronounced good by God the moment we arrive in this world; everyone here is so precious to God that He sent His Son to restore us from sin to a right relationship with God; everyone here is an essential part of what the Bible calls the Body of Christ - the team that all of us become part of when we work together in the name of Christ. You may feel like a small part of that team, but the apostle Paul wrote that the smaller parts are the specially honored part. Paul also wrote that every one of us has spiritual gifts that are honored and special to God. In other words, it's like God has pulled every one of us aside and said, "You've got what it takes! A little discipline and drive - and you're going places! You're doing great things! You're going to make a great difference in this world."

Over the last few sermons I've begun to make an A-list for apostles. The Bible designates particular people as apostles - it's a technical title for a few people in the early days of the Church. But really, we're all apostles in that we're sent by God to be His messengers in the world. And Matthew 8-10 gives us the A-words that define our call: apostles are active; apostles are available; apostles are anchored; and today, we recognize that apostles are authorized. As we begin to think about what that means, we might think about those young football players out on the field thinking, "Coach believes in me. I am special on this team. I am gifted, and I belong here." I believe that's exactly the way we should feel when we do God's work in the world.

Today's scripture story from Matthew addresses four basic questions about authority, and I'd like to focus on those for the rest of this sermon.

First of all, it addresses the Who question. Who is authorized? The first and best answer to that question is Jesus. It is the authority of Jesus that is questioned and proved in this story. A paralyzed man is carried in and placed before Jesus. When Jesus sees the faith of the man and his carriers he says, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven." Ironically, if Jesus had just cured the man of his paralysis, nothing would have been made of it. He was allowed to heal. But instead, he went deeper, and forgave the man's sins. Now - who is authorized to do that? The scribes that were present would say only God. But they also believed that they and the priests were the earthly vessels of that forgiveness. Jesus was walking on their turf. And he read their thoughts, and Matthew tells us what he said and did:

"Why do you think evil in your hearts?" said Jesus. "For which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, "Stand up and walk?' But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" - and then Jesus healed the paralyzed man, demonstrating that he was authorized both to heal and to forgive.

So Jesus is the one who is authorized; but that's not the end of the story. For that we turn to the end of the Gospel of Matthew - for Jesus' last words after he had risen from the dead. Matthew 28: 18 goes like this: "And Jesus came and said to (his disciples), 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations..." That's the rest of the story. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth - so we go and do God's work. That's the answer to the Who question. Because Jesus is authorized, we are, too. He sends you and me out with the full authority that is His from God.

That raises the second question - the How question. How are we authorized? In this scripture, that question is answered by two sides of a coin. Our authority is God-given, and faith-activated. In verse 8, we are told that when the crowds saw the healing of the paralyzed man, "they were filled with awe, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings." That's one side of the coin. The other side is in verse two: "when Jesus saw their faith," he helped the paralyzed man. It's God-given, and it's faith-activated.

At this point that we are talking about one of the dividing lines between traditional Roman Catholic teaching and Protestant teaching. Thank God Catholics and Protestants are closer than ever before, and we share so much of the life of faith together. But there are some real differences, and the issue of authority is a key difference. In the Roman Catholic Church, authority rests in a hierarchy of the Church - the Holy Father the Pope, the Bishop, the Priest. Roman Catholics agree to live under that authority, and that works for millions and millions of people.

But in the Protestant Church, authority is in a different place - it's in every believer. Martin Luther wrote, "...everyone who knows that he is a Christian should be fully assured that all of us alike are priests, and that we all have the same authority..." As pastor, I have a particular role to play in this church, but in our tradition we are all authorized to bless others, to share the Truth of God in word and deed, to forgive, to teach, to be an example, to stand up for God's truth. You are an apostle - God's representative. And that is a God-given calling that is activated by your faith. We see that again and again in Jesus' response to the people around him- 'Your faith has made you whole.' That's how we are authorized to represent God.

The third question addressed here is Why? God is the source of all authority; it came to earth most profoundly in His Son Jesus, and He shares it with all of us, making each one of us a priest, or an apostle, in his or her own right. Why would God do that? The scripture story begins to address that in the peoples' response to what they had witnessed - "When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to human beings."

The purpose of our authority as apostles is to bring glory to God. Jesus had taught that so beautifully a few chapters before, where Matthew shares these words in the Sermon on the Mount: "You are the light of the world... Let your light so shine before all, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." This is the purpose of our God-given authority.

We are in the middle of a season of great human accomplishments. Last Sunday, Bill Cowher, the coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, stood with tears in his eyes and soaked in the glory of having won the greatest prize in pro football- the Super Bowl. A new Miss America was crowned a couple weeks back; in the next few days, we're going to see medals - gold, silver, and bronze - awarded to great athletes at the winter Olympics. And somewhere in there, the Oscars will be handed out for the best actors, directors, screenwriters, and so on, at the top of the motion picture industry. These great human accomplishments will earn prizes of glory and honor.

The Bible, in the words of the apostle Paul, talks about a different kind of prize. "I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." The greatest prize we can attain in this life is that our lives may bring glory to God. There are some wonderful and worthy human accomplishments, but nothing compares to a life that brings glory to God.

Many of you will remember the Country and Western performer Conway Twitty. Extremely popular and creative performer - in the Music Hall of Fame, Grand Ole Opry, performed all around the world. And he once pointed to a Christian missionary he met and expressed that he wished he could accomplish in a lifetime as much as that unknown missionary accomplished in one day. Some people would protest that Twitty accomplished a great deal of good. But he understood where the glory was.

I'd like to close by asking one more question: What? What is the authority we have? For that, we might talk about symbols of authority - here are some of them: a policeman's badge; a judge's gavel; a presidential seal; a king's crown; a bishop's staff; the principal's office; a license; a diploma; a signature on a contract. These are authorizing symbols in our world, and they convey empowerment and confidence.

But what is the symbol of Christian authority? It is an instrument of humiliation and death - it is the cross, the Roman Empire's equivalent of the electric chair. How can we claim authority from the instrument where our leader was, for all appearances, defeated and killed? And yet, throughout the generations, people have found the cross to be a strong symbol for their empowerment and their confidence. One of our favorite hymns has the line, "I love that old cross, for the dearest and best for a world of lost sinners was slain." And that is because the What of Christian authority is love - Christian authority is the authority of love. And the cross is the symbol of the greatest love the world has ever known.

There are a lot of Christian people today who are running scared. They don't feel confident or empowered - they feel scared. That's why they have to condemn this movie or that book or this political idea or that lifestyle. For some reason that's hard to understand, Christians feel that their message won't stand up in a free society, so they try to oppress other ideas, and force others to live under their influence. And, out of that fear they turn to earthly authorities -- politics, protests, military might, economic freedom, cultural influence, social pressure - all of these things may have their place in human affairs. But Christian authority, if it means anything at all, stands out because of its heart of love, its forgiving spirit, its peaceful ways. I believe the cross has incredible power in this world, if we just trust it. That is where Jesus confronted the sins of the world, and won the salvation that sets us free, and that has authority in the human heart. We never have to run scared if we are following Jesus- we just have to make sure we are following his footsteps of love and grace. Mother Teresa, Coretta Scott King, Nelson Mandela - so many others -- followed the path of love, and exuded a level of authority largely unmatched in this world.

Who has authority'? Through Jesus our leader, you and I do. How is it given? It's God-given, and faith-activated. Why is it given? So that our lives can give glory to God. And What is it? It is the authority of love - poured from the heart of Jesus, and yours and mine to share with others. Love casts out all fear; love is the real power.

Someone might ask about the two missing questions - When and Where? Maybe those are up to us. When will we seize this great gift God has given us and truly live with the authority of the cross of mercy and love? And Where will it make the difference that this wonderful news that a Savior has come and made us apostles of God's great plan?