Dear friends, Novelist Frederick Buechner has been one of my spiritual guides over the years. He went to Union Seminary in New York and was ordained a Presbyterian minister. Soon after, he was called to be the chaplain at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire where he preached regularly. In a sermon at Exeter - preached to teenage boys - Buechner speculated about coercive power, the kind of power people expected back in Jesus' day. Then he speculated about the kind of power God chooses. He began by asking his listeners to do some imagining.
"Imagine a man invested with every form of human power... the destructive power of a Hitler, the analytic power of a Freud, the creative power of a Shakespeare, the economic power of a J. Paul Getty, the moral and philanthropic power of a Schweitzer, and so on. Then try to imagine what he could do and what he could not do.
He could conquer the world very likely, but could he satisfy the deepest longing of his own soul or your soul or mine? Could he satisfy the deepest longing of just one single human being... by 'deepest longing' I mean longing for love, for deep peace, for meaning? I believe that he could not." A moment later Buechner characterized the other kind of power: "...the power of God stands in stark contrast with the power of man. It is not external... but internal. By applying external pressure, I can make a person do what I want. But as for making him be what I want him to be, without at the same time destroying his freedom, only love can make this happen. And love makes it happen; not coercively, but by creating a situation in which, of our own free will, we want to be what love wants us to be." As usual, Beuchner interprets the events of Holy Week better than I ever could. In particular, he captures what is going on in this week's scripture passage. I strongly encourage you to read it and consider its meaning for yourself as we prepare to celebrate Palm Sunday and talk about the nature of power. Please note the extensive Holy Week worship schedule, including a special Good Friday service with University Park Baptist Church. I hope you'll join us. 
Bob Henderson, senior minister | 
