A Word on Authority
this message was written for the Baccalaureate ceremony of the graduating Pasco High School class of 2023 and was delivered on 05/19/2023
When I was writing this speech, I felt so debilitated by the desire to want all the words that I said to be from God; I told so many people that I knew, “Hey, I’m writing this speech for Baccalaureate and I feel like God’s given me all of these different message ideas, but I just feel so stuck; I don’t want to say something because it sounds like the “right thing to say” at a Baccalaureate, I want it to be completely from God and not from me”; because I knew that if I was speaking solely on my own authority, my message would not go very far - but after a while of feeling like this, God just very gently reminded me of something: He said, “Jade, don’t forget that what we’re doing here is a partnership. This speech is something that we’ve been given to put both of our thoughts and ideas into; I will equip you and provide for you, but do not let your uncertainty cause you to doubt my faithfulness to carry you through the process.” He said “All of the messages that you are considering are wonderful, and I have given you the authority to work with me on this.”
I think something that we often tend to forget as Christians is the authority that God has granted us as His children. We often hear messages about following God’s will or submitting under His authority, but in the process, we tend to forget that God has also called us to exercise our authority along with Him in the world.
The problem isn’t at all that we want to submit to God - in fact, that’s a very good and admirable thing - but I think it’s important to recognize the fact that sometimes, in the name of “seeking out God’s will”, we can actually use it as an excuse to become disobedient or passive to action that we know God is calling us to, simply because we don’t feel that we’re receiving a clear-cut answer from Him or that we’re empowered enough to actually do it.
We should seek His guidance above all else - but the problem that I find is sometimes, we can get so debilitated by wanting to understand God’s counsel about every step beforehand and feeling so confused by what we think His answers may be that we disregard the fact that He has called us to partner with Him even throughout the uncertainty. It seems that way more often than people would like to admit, most of God’s guidance follows obedience; while God is capable of doing anything, His power in your life can only go so far when you resist trustfully working with Him throughout the process and taking an active role in His plans for you.
Something that’s so beautiful to witness in the Bible is that whenever God works miracles, He always invites people to play a role in it with Him. He involves people; when He was feeding the 10,000, He involved the disciples by having them get supplies and provide for the feast; when He was turning water into wine, He had His disciples fill the pots with water; God has always allowed people to take an active part in His kingdom work, and I think it’s because His power is best displayed when we allow Him to work with us, rather than just for us. Though we are not the ones to take credit for God’s work, we have the privilege of being involved in His plans right along with Him.
Though we and God are not equals, He lovingly grants us and equips us with the ability to do life alongside Him. We are not slaves to a tyrant but rather, have been transformed into sons and daughters of a loving and compassionate Father who only has good intentions for us - God cares about our thoughts and ideas and He wants to hear about them and work with us to incorporate a way to manifest Himself uniquely through each of our lives.
That’s why we’re each given different gifts; we have different callings and personalities and life stories, because there is a sacredness in the kind of person that God has specifically created you to be. God expresses Himself differently in each one of us, and that’s because we are each called to reach the world in a unique way.
I don’t say that to mean that we should work independently of God or that we should follow our desires without consulting Him, but rather that, when you make the decision to submit to the will of God above all else, there is nothing wrong with walking in the confidence that He grants you through that submission. There is power in your humanity when you are walking in His counsel, because might I remind you that any true authority or power that we have comes from Him.
On our own, we do not have any authority over our own lives (as much as the world may try to convince us) - but when we seek out God’s authority above all else, He equips us with new foundation upon which to understand the world around us, which thus gives us a supernatural level of wisdom as to how to exercise our free will in accordance with His purposes.
One lie that is so commonly believed in our world is that our autonomy and God’s authority are mutually exclusive.
I am here to tell you today that that is simply not true.
God says that He has given mankind authority to rule over the earth and all its creatures; perhaps our autonomy and God’s authority were never meant to be at war with one another, but rather, were designed to collaborate in unity together to bring heaven down to earth.
One definition of “autonomy” is “the capacity of an agent to act in accordance with objective morality rather than under the influence of desires”. As we know, our capacity to conceptualize the ideas of morality come from God - we serve a just God, and part of His way of creating us in His image is by placing a moral code in our hearts that so accurately resembles His own. With our autonomy comes a level of authority that is connected to His.
Eventually, the goal in our walk with God is for our authority and His authority to continually mold to become one in the same; it’s not that we have authority independent of God, but rather that when we follow Him, we have the access to tap into the one true authority that comes from Him. God has created us with intention - if He wanted us to play a backseat role in His plans for the world and our lives, He wouldn’t have given us the ability to exercise free will or the capacity to think for ourselves; God has created us with such intricate design because He wants us to be equipped to work with Him.
When we submit to God, He doesn’t take away our autonomy, but rather, He allows it to come alive to the fullest extent possible in this lifetime and strengthens it with a shield of intelligence to ensure that we can exercise it to the highest degree and flourish in all that we do for His glory.
Submitting to God’s authority is a privilege, not a burden - and the reason for this is because we know that we serve a good and faithful God - though that doesn’t mean that bad things will never happen to us, it gives us assurance that even when they do, God will find us and rescue us and restore us back to empowered standing in Him.
Now, as wonderful as that all is, what do we do about it? I’ve said all of this, but where do we go from here?
Well, in these last couple of minutes that I have to spend with you, I’d like to zero in on a few very simple truths from this message as they apply to our lives right now, as the graduating class of 2023:
God has empowered you with His authority. Whatever the next thing looks like for you - whether it’s college or the workforce or the military or a trade or something completely different - recognize that God has called you to step into this next season with confidence, even in the uncertainty. Though you won’t always know what your next move should be, remember that God will continue guiding you as you agree to walk with Him in steady obedience. You can rest assured in knowing that God’s authority is a safe space to dwell. He is not a God of confusion and He does not mislead His children. God has our best interests at heart, and so even when things don’t go as planned or expected, we can step into the unknown with recognition that God will hold our hand and carry us through.
We are not called to be passive observers but rather active participants in God’s plans for our lives. God has called us higher than to just sit back and watch what He is doing. The reason that I’ve spoken so highly about the power that God gives us as His children is because that is something that God has graciously made available to us. We serve an accessible God who constantly provides; His nearness and level of provision never change, but often, we can get distracted from the pervasiveness of it in our lives; He doesn’t ever withhold His love or faithfulness, but we are prone to distancing ourselves from experiencing it by straying from the protective veil of His counsel. Now more than ever before is the time to grow strong in our convictions about the God that we serve and to connect with Him on a more intimate level - through that, He will guide our path as we step into these new territories. Seek the Lord above all else, and have faith that He will equip you in partnering with Him as He guides your next steps for whatever He’s calling you to do next. God goes before, beside, and behind us, which means that we can reverently take action in our lives knowing that even when we mess up, He will get us back on track.
Being equipped in God does not mean that He looks down on you in your weakness. In the new environments that we will encounter in these next few years, our values will be questioned and our faith will be tested. My whole point in this message is not to encourage us to become self-reliant on our own standing or to condemn the times that we have and will fail in partnering with God; God has an abundance of grace and compassion for His children; His word says that His power is displayed best in our weakness - our goal is not to boast in ourselves or to live for a performance-based kind of love, but rather to display to our new communities the powerful ways that God works through broken and imperfect people when they give Him their yes.
These words will only go as far as you apply them to your life; and so, as we walk out of these doors tonight, I’d like to challenge you with this:
Wherever you’re headed, commit to walking in the confidence that comes from knowing that you have power as a Child of God; though you may not always feel empowered, know that you are and that you have the Holy Spirit who will guide you in showing you how to use your authority. No matter what God is calling you to do next, allow Him to partner with you in this upcoming season, and do not let your uncertainty cause you to resist recognizing His faithfulness to carry you through the process.
