The Power of God

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power (I Cor. 4:20)

Ye shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you (Acts 1:8).

When the New Testament refers to "power," it uses the Greek word dunomis, the root of our English "dynamite."  Unlike the "power" of those who lord it over others, this power is the power to overcome ourselves---power to overcome the darkness that surrounds us; power to demolish strongholds that have taken root in our lives; power to understand the things of God; power to tear down and to plant. 

No wonder that Paul says that a servant ought to prove trustworthy; God cannot entrust His power to those He cannot trust to represent His values.  When God annoints us for the ministry of truth and justice, He pours out on us this power to understand the secrets of God's heart.  Paul found that he could not explain the secret things of God to the Greeks despite his best efforts.  So from then on, he resolved to know nothing but the power of Christ crucified. 

Who could understand the helplessness of a crucified savior who said, "Unless the grain of wheat fall into the ground...."?  Peter, Paul, all the apostles except John, who was exiled---all died for the sake of the Gospel, but the dunomis--the power of God did not die with them; it was released into the world through them. 

St. Vincent dePaul said, "It is not enough to love God if our neighbor does not love God."  If our neighbor does not love God, we too must become the grain of wheat, giving our lives as the seed that ultimately bears fruit.  Our "power" must be the power to serve---and indeed it is "power," because as long as we are locked into the prisons of our own darkness, we cannot be aware of our neighbor's needs.

This is the power of God:  the power of humble service, the power to trust God in all things, the power to realize that we ourselves can do nothing, the power to lay down our lives for the sake of the Gospel.  None of this is possible to ourselves, but is given only by the Spirit of Jesus in us.