Stewardship of Power
When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,
saying, “Blessed is the King…” (Luke 19:37-38)
We celebrate the fulfillment of prophecy. We celebrate the coming King. We celebrate with an old song with fresh evidence. We celebrate the dawn of a new era. On this Palm Sunday we remember the fulfillment of several Scriptures, and we take opportunity to reflect on stewardship of power. The very event of Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem was particularly dramatic – involving a donkey, a ‘King’ approaching, excited crowds, decorated streets, singing children, indignant elders, unstoppable euphoria – all this with mixed expectations. Luke records that the whole crowds following him were loudly rejoicing and praising God for all the mighty works that they had seen. And they were expecting more.
A litany of fulfilled Scriptures on the Palm Sunday event is easy to draw, including sections of Ps 118, but for this brief space, we turn to the matter of stewardship of power. The most powerful King came in unlikely manner – humbly riding on a colt, and without body the expected security detail with serious weapons. Such is what Zechariah describes: “Rejoice greatly… See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zech 9:9). However, that is unlike most of the rulers of our generations: we don’t see much humility, righteousness, and they end up failing. Without the virtues of stewardship, humility and righteousness, power is misused and abused. Stewardship teaches us that it is delegated authority; authority comes from God and to Him the ruler is responsible and accountable.
Those who do not possess the three virtues tend to get drunk with power. But, as Timothy Keller notes, when human beings try to become more than human beings, to be as gods, they fall to become lower than human beings – a great irony of sin! This is well exemplified in fallen giants like Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Bloody Mary of England, Maximilien of France, Idi Amin of Uganda, Saddam Hussein of Iraq, and many many others. Many of those hide their insecurity and the fear of powerlessness in selfish ruthless and exploitative operations to keep themselves up in power.
In his life Jesus shows the excellent example of power stewardship. In order to be a good steward of power, it is important to recognize that your power is from God: “No one from the east or the west or from the desert can exalt themselves. It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another” (Ps 75:6-7). In that case, embrace your true source of security – God through His Son Jesus Christ; remain humble, and keep a connection with common life and all people. Use your power for the good of others, not to exploit. Honour Jesus Christ truly as King, and serve Him. God bless you all.