Our ancient Christian creeds refer to God as “Almighty,” meaning all-powerful, omnipotent, supreme. However, I think that way we understand the power of God has much more to do with our own power than with God’s power.
• Soldiers see God’s power as military might.
• Healers (doctors & nurses) see God’s power as healing power.
• Teachers and scholars see God’s power as knowledge and learning.
• Athletes see God’s power as strength & endurance.
In ancient Israel, they knew how vulnerable they were to invasion. It happened a lot! So they emphasized God’s power as military might. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that many Americans tend also to emphasize God’s power as military might, since the United States spends more on military than any other country in the world, by a LOT (In 2021 U.S. spent $778 billion on military. China was a distant second at $252 billion, according to Wikipedia).
But the gospel consistently points to a different kind of power — power of self-sacrifice, power of spiritual-knowledge, power of prayer. In our gospel this Sunday we’ll hear about another power — power of gentleness in the face of violent resistance.
— Pastor Mia