Is God really in Control?

 

May 25, 2025

Today’s first reading gives us a glimpse into the workings of the first Church Council held in Jerusalem. For the sake of brevity, the Lectionary reading only gives us the first part of the incident and the conclusion, and leaves out the process that was followed. I have included the missing section because when we read the entirety of the story, what strikes me is the role of Peter as the leader of the Church.

Clearly right from the time Jesus gave him a new name and said he would build his Church on him as a rock, (Mathew 16:18), Peter, was recognized as the head of the Apostles and later as head of the Church. And yet even though he earlier seems to be inclined to the position that the  Jewish religious laws (e.g. circumcision) ought to be also followed by the new community built around Jesus (Galatians 2), today’s story tells us that he doesn’t impose this view on others, and he is quite open to other views. And  so during this Council, he shows  no self importance, no need to assert control and publicly gives in to the position of Paul. This self-effacement of Peter is also evidenced when we realise that the Council ends with James making the final pronouncement, and not Peter.  In another instance, Peter even admits that he doesn’t fully understand some of the things that the highly educated Paul teaches, but he still asks the Christian communities to respect the latter (2 Peter 3:16). Again, when Peter visits Cornelius because the Roman has received a message from God to invite him as the leader of the new Jesus community, Peter shows great humility.  Because while he is actually preaching the Gospel of Jesus, even before he has finished, the Holy Spirit comes down on those listening to him, and Peter pauses in his teaching and asks in wonder:  Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? (Acts 10:47) He is not upset that God does not wait for him as head of the Church to officially admit Cornelius and his family into the Church community, but just acknowledges the reality and moves ahead from there.  In all these incidents Peter never seems to experience any unhappiness at having his role as leader of the Jesus Community being undermined just because he doesn’t have control over the outcomes.  So it looks like Peter doesn’t seem to want to control the rules or rituals or any kind of formal entry into the Christian community. And yet he was indisputably the leader.

His kind of leadership seems very consistent with Jesus’, who also did not feel the need to assert control.  When Jesus was in a position of power, as with his own disciples, he does not control them  And so even when he suspects that Judas is going to do something terrible against him, he tells him to go and do what he wants to do (John 13:27). Again, when he knows Peter is going to deny him, he does not berate him or exile him or scold him, but just sadly warns him, and then lets him free. Furthermore, Jesus is willing to hand over his power to his disciples, empowering them to preach and heal,(Luke 10:1),  for it is more important to him that the Kingdom of God is preached, rather than that he be seen as the Messiah.  In fact, as we know from many incidents in the Gospels, he has no interest in being recognised as the Christ.  On the other hand when Jesus finds himself in a position of weakness, as in front of the Sanhedrin, Pilate or Herod,  when he knows that they could cause harm to him, even cause his death, he speaks truth to power. Peter too, the frightened person who denied Jesus, finds within himself the ability to speak truth to power when he is brought  before the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:17-20), and openly refuses to follow their clear orders.

Thus when they are in positions of leadership, neither Jesus or Peter try to control others, but rather find ways to take everyone with them, even if they are not particularly happy with the way others are functioning or even disagree with their thought process. On the other hand, when they are in positions of weakness, they are willing to challenge those in power even if they may suffer much as a result.   

And yet today in many parts of the world, the call for what we call a ‘strong leader’ often seems to be a call for one who is the complete antithesis of a Jesus-kind of leader. This kind of ‘strong leader’ uses power, quite differently from how Jesus and Peter used their power. For example a powerful political leader is today seen as one who can be decisive in choosing the way for us, one whom everybody obeys, one who will protect us from other ‘bad guys/nations’ by attacking them and showing them that we are greater than them, and who will thus ensure we make our own country great again. This seems to be the common understanding of what it means to be a strong and powerful leader.

But this understanding of leader, is not only found out there in the political world. It is so ingrained within us as human beings, that we can see this even in the early centuries of our own Church history, when a struggle for this kind of controlling power surfaced in the Church. As a result, from as early as the second century onwards, we see such a struggle between the five most important Sees in the early centuries, i.e. Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, each vying to claim superiority and power over the others.  And eventually, over a number of centuries, the Bishop of Rome was finally seen as having power over all the Sees, as we have it today.  And, of course this understanding of power as control is also found in our Church today, with both clergy and laity fostering a situation where the former exercise control in ‘church’ matters, and the latter allow themselves to be controlled. 

We can assume that just as Peter got his understanding of what it means to be a leader from Jesus,  Jesus got his understanding of power from how he experienced God his Father using power.  And if we are honest about it, for most of us, the God  “who causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous”. (Mathew 5:45)  hardly seems to be in control of our world.  Our own experience will tell us that God doesn’t always punish the wicked. In fact seemingly good people seem to suffer as much (even more?) as those who seem to be evil. Moreover, very often, despite our prayers and supplications, oftentimes God does not come in power to save us.  God’s power is therefore seen as weakness, not as strength or as powerful.  This difficulty in understanding this kind of power of God was a difficulty also faced by the early Church which was clearly expecting Jesus to come back in power, while some of them were still alive (Mathew 16:28), at which time they expected him to have control over the whole world. It was in trying to respond to this difficulty in understanding how God uses power, that Paul had to remind his readers that “God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. (1 Cor. 1: 25).

What did Paul mean when he said this?  Perhaps an analogy can help us think about this.  Think of the power of AIR or WATER.  Both are completely yielding, we push them and they move out of our way.  We hardly pay attention to them except when we are out of breath or very thirsty - just like many of us do with God.  And yet, we know that without AIR or WATER, we cannot survive.  That is power.  We also know that finally air and water find their way, they can never be overcome. They yield only to finally remain the constant that they are in our lives.  Think again of all the pollution we release into the air and into the waters, and yet our atmosphere, our oceans, remain life-giving.  That is power. This power of AIR and WATER is so different from our own understanding of power.

Such an understanding of power is extremely difficult for us to internalise. Much less do we know how to exercise this kind of power - that is an apparent weakness - in our own lives?  

First Reading: Acts 15: 1-2, 22-29

Then certain individuals came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”  And after Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and debate with them, Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.  So they were sent on their way by the church, and as they passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, they reported the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers and sisters.  When they came to Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them.  But some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, “It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.” 

The apostles and the elders met together to consider this matter. After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers.  And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us,  and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us.  Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear?  On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

The whole assembly kept silence and listened to Barnabas and Paul as they told of all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.  After they finished speaking, James replied, “My brothers, listen to me.  Simeon has related how God first looked favorably on the gentiles, to take from among them a people for his name.  This agrees with the words of the prophets, as it is written, ‘After this I will return, and I will rebuild the dwelling of David, which has fallen; from its ruins I will rebuild it, and I will set it up, so that all other peoples may seek the Lord— even all the gentiles over whom my name has been called. Thus says the Lord, who has been making these things known from long ago.’

“Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from  sexual immorality and from whatever has been strangled and from blood.  For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every Sabbath in the synagogues.”

Then the apostles and the elders, with the consent of the whole church, decided to choose men from among them and to send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leaders among the brothers, with the following letter: “The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers and sisters of gentile origin in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings. Since we have heard that certain persons who have gone out from us, though with no instructions from us, have said things to disturb you and have unsettled your minds, we have decided unanimously to choose men and send them to you, along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth. For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to impose on you no further burden than these essentials: that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.”

Second Reading: Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23

And in the spirit he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God. It has the glory of God and a radiance like a very rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal.  It has a great, high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates are inscribed the names that are the names of the twelve tribes of the Israelites:  on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.  And the wall of the city has twelve foundations, and on them are the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The angel who talked to me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. The city has four equal sides, its length the same as its width, and he measured the city with his rod, twelve thousand stadia; its length and width and height are equal.  He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits by human measurement, which the angel was using.  The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass.  The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald,  the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.  And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass.

I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.  And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God is its light, and its lamp is the Lamb.

Gospel: John 14: 23-29

Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words, and the word that you hear is not mine but is from the Father who sent me.

“I have said these things to you while I am still with you.  But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and remind you of all that I have said to you.  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.  You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I.   And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur you may believe.