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They were astonished at his teaching as he spoke, as one,
having authority and not like one of the scribes.
Jesus comes along and his listeners recognized that
what he was saying and how he was saying it was different.
It is not like the previous prophets, the previous scribes.
They notice it and they are astonished.
There is this moment of realization
that there is something very different here.
The question is then “Why is his authority different?”
In what way is it different and
in what way does he exercise it differently?
The authority he has comes not from power of coercion
or power of strength or power over people,
but his authority comes from within.
It comes with gentleness, it comes with vulnerability, and kindness.
It comes with weakness, not strength.
His authority comes with healing.
He comes with truth and with beauty
and in that is a great power, ultimately it is the power of love.
It is that love with which he is able to garner a following.
Not coercively, not in a demanding or shamed filled way,
but in a love filled way,
one where people naturally followed him.
It is really quite powerful.
If we look at our own lives and ask,
“To whom do we give the most authority?”
It is those who we love or those who love us primarily.
Our mothers and fathers are the first ones who have authority over us,
and to which we continue to give authority
because their love is what we give to.
It is their love, that power,
that authority with which they command over our lives;
it comes from love and truth and beauty.
When it is done well, it is spectacular.
It is beautiful because it lasts a lifetime.
We willingly give them authority over us.
Not one of us wants to be coerced,
but rather be one who gives over willingly.
The question is how does this work in our own lives?
Let me give you a working example.
Yesterday, I celebrated the funeral
of an old friend of mine from my previous parish.
She was a towering figure in my own life in a lot of ways.
She was like a mother to me at my previous parish.
She died at the ripe old age of 93.
It was wonderful, but she had authority and power over me,
and I gave it to her because
she was an incredible towering figure of love.
She was not afraid to challenge my authority
when I spoke and said things with which she did not agree;
she was willing to challenge me when the truth needed to be heard.
But it was with loving care; that I always knew that I was loved, cared for.
She had a testimony, a power, a real power in my life.
That is the love, that is the authority with which God speaks to us.
At the funeral yesterday, I spoke about how
she had a favorite homily that I gave many years ago.
And it was called “the lamplighter homily.”
I always remember it.
She came in my office with a little statue a couple of days later.
The statue is called “The Lamplighter” and it was made by Lladro.
She said, “I want you to have this.
That was a powerful homily, and
I want you to continue to be a lamplighter in other people's lives.”
Of course, what she did not know is that she was the lamplighter to me
but I told her that she meant so much to me.
Let me tell you a little vignette of that story.
In centuries past before we had electricity,
the streets were lit with gaslights,
and there was a person who went out
and lit the gaslights throughout the city each night.
As sunset fell and the streets became dark,
you did not really see the lamplighter,
but you saw the string of lights they left behind;
there was a trail of light everywhere they went,
because as they lit the gaslights, then the streets were lit up behind them.
She was that lamplighter in our community and in my life.
We are called to be lamplighters to others.
That is the power or influence or authority, as the scripture says today,
that we seek to have over people's lives, the power of love.
If we could seek to be people who act with that form of authority,
then there will be a trail of light behind us.
And for years, maybe even decades after we are gone,
people will remember the light that we left in their lives.
We are called to be men and women of love,
of gentleness, of kindness, of forgiveness,
of healing, of truth and beauty.
It requires of us to light a lamp of goodness,
of love in people's lives.
May we seek to be lamplighters
that leave a legacy and a trail of love behind us for all to see.
They were astonished at his teaching as he spoke, as one,
having authority and not like one of the scribes.
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