Powerless

Next week is Holy Week, the culmination of Lent that leads us to the central moment in the Christian year: the breathless span of Good Friday to Easter Sunday.

Whatever you have on your ministry or personal plate in the next week (and whether you’re excited about it or dreading it), Henri Nouwen’s reflections on power and powerlessness seem appropriate as we reflect on the path before us.  I’ll share a few here as direct quotes from Finding My Way Home.

What was and is God’s response to the diabolic power that rules the world and destroys people and their lands? The answer is a deep and complete mystery because God chose powerlessness.  God chose to enter into human history in complete weakness.  That divine choice forms the center of the Christian faith.  In Jesus of Nazareth, the powerless God appeared among us to unmask the illusion of power…

God became human…to break through the walls of power in total weakness.  That’s the story of Jesus.

And how did that story end?  It ended on a cross, where the same human person hangs naked with nails through his hands and feet.  The powerlessness of the manger has become the powerlessness of the cross.  ¹

1. Henri J.M. Nouwen, Finding My Way Home: Pathways to Life and the Spirit (New York: Crossroad, 2001), 31, 33. [↩]

©2010 Fuller Youth Institute