Whose Authority - The Rev. Philip DeVaul

Sermons from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer

We recognize authority. We place our trust in the people that we recognize are actually doing the work of love in our lives. Think for a moment about those you actually trust. The people in whom you put your trust. Is it the people with all the best words? Or is it the people that you have seen, time and again, show up for you in love and care. We place authority in others based on what we see in them. We place our trust in people based on if we believe, after watching them in our lives, that we can trust them, that they will care for us, that they will love us the way we love them. The sad and painful thing that we see today in this story is that the chief priests and the elders who are the people who are responsible for the faith life of the community don't recognize the power and presence of God when it is right in front of them. They have not lived their lives in such a way that they can recognize God's work when it's happening right in front of them. They don't see God's authority in the love and the power and the miracle and teaching of Jesus because they have not constructed their lives in such a way that they place authority and trust in God's love.