Authority

We are Americans, which means first and foremost we are people who make out own rules.  In 1975 Congress passed the "Metric Conversion Act" which described the metric system as the preferred system of measure for the US.  President Ford issued an executive order instructing the government to change to the metric system.  But nobody did it.  The people said Nah.

And of course, it goes beyond the metric system.  The state police when assigning speed limits realize that people are going to drive what ever speed they feel comfortable driving.  The number on the sign has almost no effect on that.  They just put the speed at what the traffic moves on a normal day and call it good.

Going our own way is part of our national identity.  We threw the tea into the harbor and said no to the rules.  We celebrate the boycotts and marches of the Civil Rights movement.  These are days in out past that we hold up as examples.  

In the history of Oklahoma, there was a time when the entire territory was reserved for Native Americans.  Then there came a point that it was to be opened for white settlement.So April 22, 1889 white settlers could stake their claim to land.  But people went in early, so that when the rule followers arrived, much of the best land was already taken.  They called these people the "Sooners" because they went in to soon.  And not only isn't this a problem, but the University of Oklahoma use the Sooners as their mascot.  They embrace this idea.

As Americans we are really bad at accepting the authority of others, which is one thing that makes Christianity so difficult.  We live in a culture that embraces self-determination.  But the very nature of Christianity is submission to the authority of Jesus Christ.  We recognize that our way of doing things doesn't work.  We recognize that what we think is control is only an illusion.  We acknowledge that true freedom comes when we accept the authority of God over our lives.  But it isn't easy.

The clip today refers to the story of the Faith of the Centurion.  In this story a Roman Centurion came to Jesus and asked him to heal a servant.  In this process the centurion submitted to the authority of Jesus even though he himself was a man who commanded soldiers.  You can read about it in Matthew Chapter 8.

Watch this clip from Pastor Chris.  

Jesus was given all authority in Heaven and Earth.  That includes authority over you and I.  If we are to walk in the fullness of His grace, we need to begin by accepting this authority over us.  Just because it is difficult doesn't mean that it won't be worth it.