April 11, 2025 • 23 mins
Authority comes in many forms, but as Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, he modeled an understanding that may transform how we view our empowerment. While crowds waved palm branches and shouted "Hosanna!" one day and "Crucify him!" shortly after, Jesus remained steadfast. Neither public praise nor rejection sways him from his purpose. This spiritual maturity stands as both a challenge and an invitation to us – can we remain faithful to our calling regardless of external forces?
In this episode, Melissa and Bishop Wright have a conversation about Jesus' authority using his return to Jerusalem as the backdrop. Bishop Wright distinguishes holding positions of leadership and living into God-given authority. "Jesus never said 'come and sit in a building and hear words wash over you,'" he reminds us. Rather, being authorized by Jesus means joining him in active ministry – what Bishop Wright calls Jesus' "never-ending, ever-unfolding neighborly campaign." This reframing challenges each baptized Christian to recognize they've already been empowered to serve, rather than waiting for ordained leadership to act. Listen in for the full conversation.
Read For Faith, the companion devotional.
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Episode Transcript
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Bishop Wright (00:00):
The crowd, they welcome him, Jesus, hosanna, and
then, just a little while later, the same group cries crucify
him.
And I think what we need totalk about as we talk about this
is Jesus' differentiation bigword Jesus' ability to not need
either the group's praise or becontrolled by its condemnation.
(00:23):
I think that's a matureunderstanding of living into
one's authority.
Melissa (00:40):
Welcome to For People with Bishop Rob Wright.
I'm Melissa Rau and this is aconversation inspired by For
Faith, a weekly devotion sentout every Friday.
You can find a link to thisweek's For Faith and a link to
subscribe in the episode'sdescription.
Good morning, bishop.
Bishop Wright (00:55):
Good morning.
Melissa (00:57):
So you named this week's devotion Authority and
it's based off of Luke, chapter19, verses 28 to 40.
It's really about Jesus'sinstructions to the disciples
entering Jerusalem, asking themto go get a donkey, and you had
something to say about that.
Bishop Wright (01:19):
Yeah, I mean we, you know, of course, in the
church we call this Sunday, PalmSunday, right, and where we
gather and have a fairly longservice, starting off with, you
know, the distribution andblessing of the palms, palm
branches, the way in whichpeople sort of line the entrance
(01:41):
to Jerusalem, way back when, asJesus rode a donkey into town
and they waved those palms and,you know, cried out Hosanna, and
we call it the triumphant entryinto Jerusalem.
But you know, I was capturedthis year as I thought about
(02:02):
this, about how Jesus got thedonkey and what is required for
Jesus to get a donkey.
He didn't have a donkey, didn'tkeep a pet, so what's up with
the donkey and how did theyprocure the donkey?
And I think there's a lessonthere for us.
Melissa (02:19):
Yeah, so you tie it to authority.
Yeah, I find that to be reallycompelling, especially when
sometimes we get caught up inthe nuances between authority
and power.
But you didn't go there, youdidn't go there.
You're really talking aboutauthority.
Bishop Wright (02:36):
Well, I spend a lot of time thinking about, just
in my work as a clergy person,a lot about the distinction
between leadership and authority.
Right, so leadership can beexercised by anybody, anytime,
anywhere, right?
I mean, that's the betterdefinition of leadership.
It's activity, it's not a role,right, but authority, like the
(02:59):
authority conferred on me to bean ordained person, or authority
conferred on me to be anordained person, or authority
conferred on those baptized bywater and the spirit in Jesus
name.
Well, that's, that's a power,that's an authority conferred,
you know, by a body, by a group,and in this case, by Jesus of
his disciples.
(03:20):
And I just want to think aboutwhat it means to be authorized
by Jesus these days.
You know, I hear, you know, overthe years I've heard a lot of
people tell me that theystruggle, you know, really
occupying either personal orprofessional authority right.
And, as I've said in themeditation, either people, in my
(03:41):
experience, shrink from it orabuse it.
They shrink from it, they don'twant to fully occupy it right,
because, you know, they have alot of apprehensions and a lot
of times it comes out of theirown personal putting on the
authority and wearing it well.
Or people, you know, get theauthority from some system, body
(04:01):
or individual and then reallyit just ends up being cover for
their own megalomania, right?
And so they abuse it.
Right, they control and commandand lord it over people, and
both, I think, are not whatJesus would call us to do and be
.
Both of it are not usingauthority for the tool that it
(04:21):
can be to get some thingsaccomplished, and certainly
abuse is not where Jesus wantsus to be at on the spectrum.
So, yeah, it's about authority,because Jesus authorizes, he
sends his disciples up ahead ofhim to get the donkey.
Jesus knows where the donkey is.
Jesus may even have arelationship with the guy who
owns the donkey, butnevertheless Jesus doesn't do it
(04:43):
himself, right?
He invites people to join him,he authorizes them.
They go in his name, and thatis not unlike who we are.
We go, and we do now, 2,000years later, in Jesus's name, if
we have a real good experience,a good understanding, rather,
of what it actually means, right?
(05:04):
Jesus never said come and sit ina building and hear words wash
over you.
He never said that.
Jesus never said hey, y'allcome to church.
So church has got to be theplace where we hear the
authorizing voice of Jesus inworship, in the word, in the
music, in the sacraments.
It's got to be authorizing usto do something right, to
(05:24):
believe, belong and become right.
And so these disciples areinvited, in Jesus's name, to go
and to do something, toaccomplish something, to join
Jesus in his purpose, and Ithink that's what's compelling
right.
We are authorized to join Jesusin his purpose, and that is
(05:44):
still true.
Melissa (05:46):
Okay, so I'm listening to you and everything you said.
I'm like really I'm vibing withand in the church, though
sometimes I wonder how do youfeel?
And I'm saying bishop, likebecause that with it comes a lot
of authority- yeah.
Bishop Wright (06:02):
So authority I mean authority has distinctions.
I mean there are levels toauthority.
Some people are authorized todo X, some people are authorized
to do Y.
Right, all of us areministering out of, you know,
our baptism.
So, whether we're bishop or layperson, all of us is just
living out our baptismal vows,our baptismal vows in a
different way.
(06:22):
So, you know, the bishop is notbetter than anybody.
The bishop just has a distinctrole, right, certain authority
has been conferred upon him orher, as well as the priest, the
deacon or the lay person, right?
And so the best understandingof all of this is that we have
different gifts, we havedifferent talents, and then our
(06:46):
system requires really theeffective and collaborative use
of authority right to accomplishthe purposes, in this case, of
Jesus's church.
And so, yeah, I have authorityas bishop.
I'm not shrinking back fromthat.
It's how you use it right andhow you understand others'
(07:07):
authority, right.
So if you're the kind of guy orthe girl who has to sort of
really wield authority overpeople, remind people of your
authority constantly as you tryto exercise it, then you're
probably a poor steward ofauthority, right, authority just
means that I have a specificpiece of the pie.
I don't have the whole pieright, and so here we come into
(07:30):
collaboration.
So you know, jesus is doing theJesus thing, but he invites
others to join him in thegetting the donkey thing right.
But the whole held togethergets the work accomplished so
Jesus can actually go intoJerusalem triumphantly.
Melissa (07:47):
Yeah, and so Palm Sunday.
You know, when I think of PalmSunday, I think of a very fickle
crowd and the way it turns, andBishop.
So, like when we talk aboutauthority, we talk about power.
Bishop Wright (08:12):
I'm curious what you can might.
Crowds are more immoral thanindividuals.
There's something about us whenwe get together that we do
things that are more heinoustogether than we would do,
(08:32):
excuse me as individuals.
It's harder to hate individualto individual than it is to sort
of get a mob all whipped up andto go out and to do some
terrible act.
So I think that is a truth,that is an organic truth, and
certainly there are too manytimes that human nature and
(08:53):
history demonstrate all of this.
And so, yeah, I mean I see thecrowd, they welcome him.
Jesus, hosanna, you know,blessed are you.
And then, just a little whilelater, the same group cries
crucify him Right.
Group cries crucify him right.
And I think what we need to talkabout as we talk about this is
(09:15):
Jesus's differentiation, bigword.
Jesus's ability to not needeither the group's praise or be
controlled by its condemnation.
I think that's a matureunderstanding of living into
one's authority.
It doesn't mean that I'mindifferent, it doesn't mean
(09:36):
that I'm rigid, it doesn't meanI'm not listening, but way down
deep in us, we've got to askourselves, you know, because,
look, authority is tied to, Iwould say, christian maturity
how you handle authority, howyou steward it, the way you live
into it effectively or the wayyou abuse it is a commentary on,
(10:01):
you know, your spiritual Iwould say your spiritual, even
professional, maturity, and soJesus demonstrates a lot of
maturity here.
Jesus is solely guided by hispurpose.
You know, jesus is not takenoff of his mission because of
the celebrity he enjoys for anhour.
(10:22):
You know, riding a donkey intoJerusalem, drunk on our
celebrity, believing our ownheadlines, be persuaded to go
and be Messiah in the way thatthe crowd wants us to be Messiah
.
It's an intoxicating kind ofthing, right.
The individual gets to feellike, you know, the big man or
(10:44):
the big woman, and then thecrowd feels like they have some
bit of control, right.
So it's a bit of a codependencetype of relationship.
Jesus, you know he fends thatoff.
He stays clear about hismission, he's clear about what
he wants to deliver.
So their hosannas and latertheir crucify hymns don't sort
(11:07):
of seduce him away from who heis.
We've seen him do this before.
As he encounters the devil, heis differentiated, he doesn't go
for, you know, the devil'ssolicitations.
We've seen him again and againdo this when people want him to
be Messiah in the way that theywant him to be Messiah,
(11:28):
therefore controlling him.
And so Jesus, as he invitesother people to join him in
authority, he himself is livingout a very mature version of
authority.
It's a listening, but clear,purposeful approach, right, and
so Jesus, again, his work is toreveal the mind of God, to
(11:50):
reveal the purposes of God, toenflesh them.
That is his purpose.
And you know, I think we couldtake a, we could take a page out
of his book, because we are soeasily sometimes persuaded this
way or that way.
St Paul says, tossed to and fro, like little children.
(12:11):
It is true, and I worry a lotabout that these days because
we're so distracted.
You know, I'm a little olderand I have young adult children
and I think about the amount ofdistractions that they have.
Relative to the distractionsthat I had as a kid, you know,
when I was growing up.
Growing up we had like four TVchannels and the television went
(12:34):
off at midnight with thenational anthem.
These kids have 24-hourcomputing power in their pocket
with a never-ending sort ofstream of wonderful know and
terribleness.
To use that Um and so uh,differentiation may be one of
(12:59):
the most difficult things thatthat we can do or even attempt
these days Um that kind ofmaturity and spiritual maturity
specifically.
Melissa (13:33):
Yeah, you know I was thinking about just that word
differentiation and what thatmeans, and you know obviously
it's different and I think Jesuswas just altogether other.
And you said something reallyinteresting, bishop.
You said something about themob mentality and you know being
immoral.
You quoted Niebuhr and you knowI can't help but wonder if the
(13:58):
inverse is also true.
You know we can do so muchbetter and so much more good
together too.
It's that.
Bishop Wright (14:10):
Christian maturity thing?
Oh, absolutely, Absolutely, andthere's evidence, there's
evidence abounding of that.
You know when, when we dispatch, you know, first responders and
rescue workers to Myanmar fromall over the world.
When you know, when we havefloods like we're having now,
(14:30):
you know, in Kentucky andTennessee, and neighbors take
care of each other.
You know, I mean you know,there are so many examples of
sometimes, when a catastrophehappens, we band together across
.
You know differences anddivisions and we take care of
(14:51):
each other differences anddivisions and we take care of
each other.
I think the only thing I wouldpoint out here is is that why
does it always take acatastrophe to bring this out of
us?
You know, and you know, I thinkyou know, when we think about
the Bible and we think about thebest expression of our faith, I
think you know we shouldunderstand that in worship and
(15:13):
everything that we talk aboutfor worship, we're being
authorized to be the goodneighbor all the time.
Right, To expand ourunderstanding of neighborliness
all the time, I like to say, tojoin Jesus in his never ending,
ever unfolding, you know,neighborly campaign.
(15:33):
So, yeah, I think that's.
You know, that's an indicatorfor us, isn't it?
For, you know, being authorizedby Jesus right now, and that is
it should look likeneighborliness increasing.
We should be surprised, I think, as we go along, that divisions
(15:54):
become increasingly lesssignificant to us and that we
find ourselves beside lots ofdifferent kinds of people, or
goodwill toward lots ofdifferent kinds of people, or
not so easily persuaded by themedia to vilify anybody, but to
(16:16):
bring our human compassion inseeing the circumstances of
people who perhaps are verydifferent from us.
I think those are the indicators.
And so what are we authorizedto do really, is the question.
Well, we're authorized to joinJesus in Jesus's friend making
campaign, Right, and so I'venoticed over the years, just in
(16:39):
talking, unworthiness that I'veheard people to talk about.
And you know, I guess what Iwant to say and it'll sound
perhaps simplistic is I wantpeople to really believe what
(17:02):
God says about them more thanwhat the world says about them,
and maybe even more what Godsays about them than even our
own minds tell us what God saysabout them, than even our own
minds tell us.
Yeah, that, I think, is a greatopportunity for growth.
Melissa (17:19):
Yeah, I completely agree.
You also mentioned youth andyou know the outside forces that
they are dealing with more sothan ever, and so we can unpack
why it is the way it is.
I don't know that that'sworthwhile.
I'm curious how we help ouryouth be differentiated and be
(17:40):
entirely other.
Bishop Wright (17:41):
I think the magic answer, if there's any magic,
is to be it by example.
I mean, I think we ourselveshave got to model this and we
ourselves have got to encourageit, right?
I mean, I think one of thegreat gifts of youth young
people, teenagers in particular,certainly young adults is that
they see the gap between what wesay on Sunday and how we live
(18:04):
on Monday, right?
And so I find that, you know,the best way to sort of interact
with these, with young peoplewho are really struggling, is to
demonstrate your love and careby being, you know, exemplary,
not perfect, but being anexample, an example of the very
best parts of who we say Jesusis and about what Jesus called
(18:25):
us into.
And so you know, and also Ifind that and I have certainly
been, I think, changed really bypeople who confess to me their
struggles right and so to knowthat you're not alone, to know
that you have struggled over thesame sort of intersections in
life, to know from people whohave sort of moved along in life
(18:47):
and grace and age that you know, insecurity is a real thing,
but you can make your waythrough it.
Fear is a real thing, but youcan make your way through it.
Uncertainty is a real thing,but you can make your way
through it.
These are the resources.
This is what I've used.
I commend it to you.
I mean it's a real communalapproach.
And again, here we are back atyou know, the title of today.
(19:09):
We're authorized to do that toencourage one another, to be
candid with one anotherappropriately, to enjoy
fellowship.
Fellowship is just not standingaround the coffee pot asking
one another where are you goingto vacation at.
Fellowship is me strengtheningyou and you strengthening me, me
listening to you, you hearingme, etc.
(19:30):
Etc.
That makes for real fellowship.
And I think if we're going toreally support young people,
then we are really going to haveto up our game.
You know there's no microwavepopcorn in the Bible.
It's all about what are youwilling to give your flesh and
blood for right To join Jesus inhis real flesh and blood
(19:51):
ministry?
And so, while that may soundpretty serious and heavy, some
of the people that I know in theworld who have the best senses
of humor are people who do thisall the time.
Humor even becomes a part ofbeing able to look back at my
own life, see my struggles, beable to meet them with good
humor and then be able to bringthat good humor into
(20:13):
conversations with other peopleso that their burden can be a
little lighter.
And so, wherever we are in thespectrum, I think that's the
work.
Some people I know they have agreat gift of writing
encouraging cards or texts topeople that find people at
intersections problematic,difficult, troublesome
intersections, and theyencourage them through those
(20:35):
intersections.
So all of us have the authorityto do this.
And that takes me back to thepoint I really wanted to make
earlier, and that is sometimes,when we talk about authority in
the church, some of us use thatas an excuse to wait for the
ordained person to do something,and I don't think that's what
(20:55):
Jesus has in mind at all.
I mean, in some ways Jesuscould have said look, y'all wait
here, I'll go get the donkey.
After all, I'm the Messiah, Ican do it all.
And they could have said look,y'all wait here, I'll go get the
donkey.
After all, I'm the Messiah, Ican do it all.
And they could have said great,we didn't want to do it anyway,
we didn't want to endure therisk or the inconvenience.
Go do it, jesus, we'll be righthere.
But he doesn't.
(21:15):
He shares his authority.
He confers authority to go andjoin him, and I think that's
another indicator of a realmature relationship with
Christian authority and, youknow, and our own spiritual
maturity.
And that is am I sitting aroundwaiting for the ordained person
to do something?
Am I sitting around waiting forGod to do something or do I
(21:38):
understand that I'm incrediblygifted?
I'm an incredibly gifted person.
We all are.
All of us are.
I mean, that's what's so wildlymajestic about God that God has
created all these gifts in allof us and no one person has all
the gifts.
And the best expression ofgetting the work done is when we
(22:00):
throw all the gifts in a hoppertogether and we go out and
accomplish the thing.
You know, one of the things I'velearned as bishop here for the
last 13 years is that in no waycan I account for all the gifts
that are present in middle andnorth Georgia in 120 worshiping
communities and beyond.
Right, and that some peoplethink that's daunting or scary.
(22:22):
I'm excited by it.
It's a demonstration for methat the Holy Spirit is working.
You know at work that I can'teven imagine all the things that
we could accomplish togetherbecause I can't.
I don't have a full accountingof all the gifts, and there's no
way to have an accounting ofall the gifts.
But the invitation to everybodyis right to bring your gift
(22:46):
right and join Jesus in hispurpose.
And we have all been authorizedby virtue of our baptism.
Nobody is worthy, right.
That's not the way that Godworks.
It's not about your worthiness,right.
God calls all of us right andthen he makes us worthy in the
calling.
But all of us are called.
Melissa (23:07):
I love that, Bishop.
We're authorized to exerciseour worthiness and giftedness.
Thank you for listening to ForPeople.
You can follow us on Instagramand Facebook at Bishop Rob
Wright, or by visiting www.
fourpeopledigital.
Please subscribe, leave areview and we'll be back with
you next week.
The crowd, they welcome him, Jesus, hosanna, and
then, just a little while later, the same group cries crucify
him.
And I think what we need totalk about as we talk about this
is Jesus' differentiation bigword Jesus' ability to not need
either the group's praise or becontrolled by its condemnation.
(00:23):
I think that's a matureunderstanding of living into
one's authority.
Melissa (00:40):
Welcome to For People with Bishop Rob Wright.
I'm Melissa Rau and this is aconversation inspired by For
Faith, a weekly devotion sentout every Friday.
You can find a link to thisweek's For Faith and a link to
subscribe in the episode'sdescription.
Good morning, bishop.
Bishop Wright (00:55):
Good morning.
Melissa (00:57):
So you named this week's devotion Authority and
it's based off of Luke, chapter19, verses 28 to 40.
It's really about Jesus'sinstructions to the disciples
entering Jerusalem, asking themto go get a donkey, and you had
something to say about that.
Bishop Wright (01:19):
Yeah, I mean we, you know, of course, in the
church we call this Sunday, PalmSunday, right, and where we
gather and have a fairly longservice, starting off with, you
know, the distribution andblessing of the palms, palm
branches, the way in whichpeople sort of line the entrance
(01:41):
to Jerusalem, way back when, asJesus rode a donkey into town
and they waved those palms and,you know, cried out Hosanna, and
we call it the triumphant entryinto Jerusalem.
But you know, I was capturedthis year as I thought about
(02:02):
this, about how Jesus got thedonkey and what is required for
Jesus to get a donkey.
He didn't have a donkey, didn'tkeep a pet, so what's up with
the donkey and how did theyprocure the donkey?
And I think there's a lessonthere for us.
Melissa (02:19):
Yeah, so you tie it to authority.
Yeah, I find that to be reallycompelling, especially when
sometimes we get caught up inthe nuances between authority
and power.
But you didn't go there, youdidn't go there.
You're really talking aboutauthority.
Bishop Wright (02:36):
Well, I spend a lot of time thinking about, just
in my work as a clergy person,a lot about the distinction
between leadership and authority.
Right, so leadership can beexercised by anybody, anytime,
anywhere, right?
I mean, that's the betterdefinition of leadership.
It's activity, it's not a role,right, but authority, like the
(02:59):
authority conferred on me to bean ordained person, or authority
conferred on me to be anordained person, or authority
conferred on those baptized bywater and the spirit in Jesus
name.
Well, that's, that's a power,that's an authority conferred,
you know, by a body, by a group,and in this case, by Jesus of
his disciples.
(03:20):
And I just want to think aboutwhat it means to be authorized
by Jesus these days.
You know, I hear, you know, overthe years I've heard a lot of
people tell me that theystruggle, you know, really
occupying either personal orprofessional authority right.
And, as I've said in themeditation, either people, in my
(03:41):
experience, shrink from it orabuse it.
They shrink from it, they don'twant to fully occupy it right,
because, you know, they have alot of apprehensions and a lot
of times it comes out of theirown personal putting on the
authority and wearing it well.
Or people, you know, get theauthority from some system, body
(04:01):
or individual and then reallyit just ends up being cover for
their own megalomania, right?
And so they abuse it.
Right, they control and commandand lord it over people, and
both, I think, are not whatJesus would call us to do and be
.
Both of it are not usingauthority for the tool that it
(04:21):
can be to get some thingsaccomplished, and certainly
abuse is not where Jesus wantsus to be at on the spectrum.
So, yeah, it's about authority,because Jesus authorizes, he
sends his disciples up ahead ofhim to get the donkey.
Jesus knows where the donkey is.
Jesus may even have arelationship with the guy who
owns the donkey, butnevertheless Jesus doesn't do it
(04:43):
himself, right?
He invites people to join him,he authorizes them.
They go in his name, and thatis not unlike who we are.
We go, and we do now, 2,000years later, in Jesus's name, if
we have a real good experience,a good understanding, rather,
of what it actually means, right?
(05:04):
Jesus never said come and sit ina building and hear words wash
over you.
He never said that.
Jesus never said hey, y'allcome to church.
So church has got to be theplace where we hear the
authorizing voice of Jesus inworship, in the word, in the
music, in the sacraments.
It's got to be authorizing usto do something right, to
(05:24):
believe, belong and become right.
And so these disciples areinvited, in Jesus's name, to go
and to do something, toaccomplish something, to join
Jesus in his purpose, and Ithink that's what's compelling
right.
We are authorized to join Jesusin his purpose, and that is
(05:44):
still true.
Melissa (05:46):
Okay, so I'm listening to you and everything you said.
I'm like really I'm vibing withand in the church, though
sometimes I wonder how do youfeel?
And I'm saying bishop, likebecause that with it comes a lot
of authority- yeah.
Bishop Wright (06:02):
So authority I mean authority has distinctions.
I mean there are levels toauthority.
Some people are authorized todo X, some people are authorized
to do Y.
Right, all of us areministering out of, you know,
our baptism.
So, whether we're bishop or layperson, all of us is just
living out our baptismal vows,our baptismal vows in a
different way.
(06:22):
So, you know, the bishop is notbetter than anybody.
The bishop just has a distinctrole, right, certain authority
has been conferred upon him orher, as well as the priest, the
deacon or the lay person, right?
And so the best understandingof all of this is that we have
different gifts, we havedifferent talents, and then our
(06:46):
system requires really theeffective and collaborative use
of authority right to accomplishthe purposes, in this case, of
Jesus's church.
And so, yeah, I have authorityas bishop.
I'm not shrinking back fromthat.
It's how you use it right andhow you understand others'
(07:07):
authority, right.
So if you're the kind of guy orthe girl who has to sort of
really wield authority overpeople, remind people of your
authority constantly as you tryto exercise it, then you're
probably a poor steward ofauthority, right, authority just
means that I have a specificpiece of the pie.
I don't have the whole pieright, and so here we come into
(07:30):
collaboration.
So you know, jesus is doing theJesus thing, but he invites
others to join him in thegetting the donkey thing right.
But the whole held togethergets the work accomplished so
Jesus can actually go intoJerusalem triumphantly.
Melissa (07:47):
Yeah, and so Palm Sunday.
You know, when I think of PalmSunday, I think of a very fickle
crowd and the way it turns, andBishop.
So, like when we talk aboutauthority, we talk about power.
Bishop Wright (08:12):
I'm curious what you can might.
Crowds are more immoral thanindividuals.
There's something about us whenwe get together that we do
things that are more heinoustogether than we would do,
(08:32):
excuse me as individuals.
It's harder to hate individualto individual than it is to sort
of get a mob all whipped up andto go out and to do some
terrible act.
So I think that is a truth,that is an organic truth, and
certainly there are too manytimes that human nature and
(08:53):
history demonstrate all of this.
And so, yeah, I mean I see thecrowd, they welcome him.
Jesus, hosanna, you know,blessed are you.
And then, just a little whilelater, the same group cries
crucify him Right.
Group cries crucify him right.
And I think what we need to talkabout as we talk about this is
(09:15):
Jesus's differentiation, bigword.
Jesus's ability to not needeither the group's praise or be
controlled by its condemnation.
I think that's a matureunderstanding of living into
one's authority.
It doesn't mean that I'mindifferent, it doesn't mean
(09:36):
that I'm rigid, it doesn't meanI'm not listening, but way down
deep in us, we've got to askourselves, you know, because,
look, authority is tied to, Iwould say, christian maturity
how you handle authority, howyou steward it, the way you live
into it effectively or the wayyou abuse it is a commentary on,
(10:01):
you know, your spiritual Iwould say your spiritual, even
professional, maturity, and soJesus demonstrates a lot of
maturity here.
Jesus is solely guided by hispurpose.
You know, jesus is not takenoff of his mission because of
the celebrity he enjoys for anhour.
(10:22):
You know, riding a donkey intoJerusalem, drunk on our
celebrity, believing our ownheadlines, be persuaded to go
and be Messiah in the way thatthe crowd wants us to be Messiah
.
It's an intoxicating kind ofthing, right.
The individual gets to feellike, you know, the big man or
(10:44):
the big woman, and then thecrowd feels like they have some
bit of control, right.
So it's a bit of a codependencetype of relationship.
Jesus, you know he fends thatoff.
He stays clear about hismission, he's clear about what
he wants to deliver.
So their hosannas and latertheir crucify hymns don't sort
(11:07):
of seduce him away from who heis.
We've seen him do this before.
As he encounters the devil, heis differentiated, he doesn't go
for, you know, the devil'ssolicitations.
We've seen him again and againdo this when people want him to
be Messiah in the way that theywant him to be Messiah,
(11:28):
therefore controlling him.
And so Jesus, as he invitesother people to join him in
authority, he himself is livingout a very mature version of
authority.
It's a listening, but clear,purposeful approach, right, and
so Jesus, again, his work is toreveal the mind of God, to
(11:50):
reveal the purposes of God, toenflesh them.
That is his purpose.
And you know, I think we couldtake a, we could take a page out
of his book, because we are soeasily sometimes persuaded this
way or that way.
St Paul says, tossed to and fro, like little children.
(12:11):
It is true, and I worry a lotabout that these days because
we're so distracted.
You know, I'm a little olderand I have young adult children
and I think about the amount ofdistractions that they have.
Relative to the distractionsthat I had as a kid, you know,
when I was growing up.
Growing up we had like four TVchannels and the television went
(12:34):
off at midnight with thenational anthem.
These kids have 24-hourcomputing power in their pocket
with a never-ending sort ofstream of wonderful know and
terribleness.
To use that Um and so uh,differentiation may be one of
(12:59):
the most difficult things thatthat we can do or even attempt
these days Um that kind ofmaturity and spiritual maturity
specifically.
Melissa (13:33):
Yeah, you know I was thinking about just that word
differentiation and what thatmeans, and you know obviously
it's different and I think Jesuswas just altogether other.
And you said something reallyinteresting, bishop.
You said something about themob mentality and you know being
immoral.
You quoted Niebuhr and you knowI can't help but wonder if the
(13:58):
inverse is also true.
You know we can do so muchbetter and so much more good
together too.
It's that.
Bishop Wright (14:10):
Christian maturity thing?
Oh, absolutely, Absolutely, andthere's evidence, there's
evidence abounding of that.
You know when, when we dispatch, you know, first responders and
rescue workers to Myanmar fromall over the world.
When you know, when we havefloods like we're having now,
(14:30):
you know, in Kentucky andTennessee, and neighbors take
care of each other.
You know, I mean you know,there are so many examples of
sometimes, when a catastrophehappens, we band together across
.
You know differences anddivisions and we take care of
(14:51):
each other differences anddivisions and we take care of
each other.
I think the only thing I wouldpoint out here is is that why
does it always take acatastrophe to bring this out of
us?
You know, and you know, I thinkyou know, when we think about
the Bible and we think about thebest expression of our faith, I
think you know we shouldunderstand that in worship and
(15:13):
everything that we talk aboutfor worship, we're being
authorized to be the goodneighbor all the time.
Right, To expand ourunderstanding of neighborliness
all the time, I like to say, tojoin Jesus in his never ending,
ever unfolding, you know,neighborly campaign.
(15:33):
So, yeah, I think that's.
You know, that's an indicatorfor us, isn't it?
For, you know, being authorizedby Jesus right now, and that is
it should look likeneighborliness increasing.
We should be surprised, I think, as we go along, that divisions
(15:54):
become increasingly lesssignificant to us and that we
find ourselves beside lots ofdifferent kinds of people, or
goodwill toward lots ofdifferent kinds of people, or
not so easily persuaded by themedia to vilify anybody, but to
(16:16):
bring our human compassion inseeing the circumstances of
people who perhaps are verydifferent from us.
I think those are the indicators.
And so what are we authorizedto do really, is the question.
Well, we're authorized to joinJesus in Jesus's friend making
campaign, Right, and so I'venoticed over the years, just in
(16:39):
talking, unworthiness that I'veheard people to talk about.
And you know, I guess what Iwant to say and it'll sound
perhaps simplistic is I wantpeople to really believe what
(17:02):
God says about them more thanwhat the world says about them,
and maybe even more what Godsays about them than even our
own minds tell us what God saysabout them, than even our own
minds tell us.
Yeah, that, I think, is a greatopportunity for growth.
Melissa (17:19):
Yeah, I completely agree.
You also mentioned youth andyou know the outside forces that
they are dealing with more sothan ever, and so we can unpack
why it is the way it is.
I don't know that that'sworthwhile.
I'm curious how we help ouryouth be differentiated and be
(17:40):
entirely other.
Bishop Wright (17:41):
I think the magic answer, if there's any magic,
is to be it by example.
I mean, I think we ourselveshave got to model this and we
ourselves have got to encourageit, right?
I mean, I think one of thegreat gifts of youth young
people, teenagers in particular,certainly young adults is that
they see the gap between what wesay on Sunday and how we live
(18:04):
on Monday, right?
And so I find that, you know,the best way to sort of interact
with these, with young peoplewho are really struggling, is to
demonstrate your love and careby being, you know, exemplary,
not perfect, but being anexample, an example of the very
best parts of who we say Jesusis and about what Jesus called
(18:25):
us into.
And so you know, and also Ifind that and I have certainly
been, I think, changed really bypeople who confess to me their
struggles right and so to knowthat you're not alone, to know
that you have struggled over thesame sort of intersections in
life, to know from people whohave sort of moved along in life
(18:47):
and grace and age that you know, insecurity is a real thing,
but you can make your waythrough it.
Fear is a real thing, but youcan make your way through it.
Uncertainty is a real thing,but you can make your way
through it.
These are the resources.
This is what I've used.
I commend it to you.
I mean it's a real communalapproach.
And again, here we are back atyou know, the title of today.
(19:09):
We're authorized to do that toencourage one another, to be
candid with one anotherappropriately, to enjoy
fellowship.
Fellowship is just not standingaround the coffee pot asking
one another where are you goingto vacation at.
Fellowship is me strengtheningyou and you strengthening me, me
listening to you, you hearingme, etc.
(19:30):
Etc.
That makes for real fellowship.
And I think if we're going toreally support young people,
then we are really going to haveto up our game.
You know there's no microwavepopcorn in the Bible.
It's all about what are youwilling to give your flesh and
blood for right To join Jesus inhis real flesh and blood
(19:51):
ministry?
And so, while that may soundpretty serious and heavy, some
of the people that I know in theworld who have the best senses
of humor are people who do thisall the time.
Humor even becomes a part ofbeing able to look back at my
own life, see my struggles, beable to meet them with good
humor and then be able to bringthat good humor into
(20:13):
conversations with other peopleso that their burden can be a
little lighter.
And so, wherever we are in thespectrum, I think that's the
work.
Some people I know they have agreat gift of writing
encouraging cards or texts topeople that find people at
intersections problematic,difficult, troublesome
intersections, and theyencourage them through those
(20:35):
intersections.
So all of us have the authorityto do this.
And that takes me back to thepoint I really wanted to make
earlier, and that is sometimes,when we talk about authority in
the church, some of us use thatas an excuse to wait for the
ordained person to do something,and I don't think that's what
(20:55):
Jesus has in mind at all.
I mean, in some ways Jesuscould have said look, y'all wait
here, I'll go get the donkey.
After all, I'm the Messiah, Ican do it all.
And they could have said look,y'all wait here, I'll go get the
donkey.
After all, I'm the Messiah, Ican do it all.
And they could have said great,we didn't want to do it anyway,
we didn't want to endure therisk or the inconvenience.
Go do it, jesus, we'll be righthere.
But he doesn't.
(21:15):
He shares his authority.
He confers authority to go andjoin him, and I think that's
another indicator of a realmature relationship with
Christian authority and, youknow, and our own spiritual
maturity.
And that is am I sitting aroundwaiting for the ordained person
to do something?
Am I sitting around waiting forGod to do something or do I
(21:38):
understand that I'm incrediblygifted?
I'm an incredibly gifted person.
We all are.
All of us are.
I mean, that's what's so wildlymajestic about God that God has
created all these gifts in allof us and no one person has all
the gifts.
And the best expression ofgetting the work done is when we
(22:00):
throw all the gifts in a hoppertogether and we go out and
accomplish the thing.
You know, one of the things I'velearned as bishop here for the
last 13 years is that in no waycan I account for all the gifts
that are present in middle andnorth Georgia in 120 worshiping
communities and beyond.
Right, and that some peoplethink that's daunting or scary.
(22:22):
I'm excited by it.
It's a demonstration for methat the Holy Spirit is working.
You know at work that I can'teven imagine all the things that
we could accomplish togetherbecause I can't.
I don't have a full accountingof all the gifts, and there's no
way to have an accounting ofall the gifts.
But the invitation to everybodyis right to bring your gift
(22:46):
right and join Jesus in hispurpose.
And we have all been authorizedby virtue of our baptism.
Nobody is worthy, right.
That's not the way that Godworks.
It's not about your worthiness,right.
God calls all of us right andthen he makes us worthy in the
calling.
But all of us are called.
Melissa (23:07):
I love that, Bishop.
We're authorized to exerciseour worthiness and giftedness.
Thank you for listening to ForPeople.
You can follow us on Instagramand Facebook at Bishop Rob
Wright, or by visiting www.
fourpeopledigital.
Please subscribe, leave areview and we'll be back with
you next week.
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