SOCL, PalmC

Sunday April 13, 2025

Power surrendered

See

We cling to control as our birthright—scheduling, planning, optimizing our way around vulnerability. Yet the moment crisis strikes, this carefully constructed scaffolding collapses. What then? The truly powerful person isn't the one who never falls but who knows how to surrender with intention. When accused, Jesus offers no defense; facing death, no escape plan. His silence confounds his captors more than any argument could. We mistake this for weakness, but within apparent powerlessness lies revolutionary strength.

Our fear isn't of suffering but of meaningless suffering. We construct elaborate narratives—career achievements, financial security, social validation—all designed to convince ourselves that pain can be permanently outsmarted. The cross exposes this fiction. The path forward runs directly through vulnerability, not around it. Our desperate attempts to circumvent suffering keep us circling the very transformation we seek.

What power emerges when control is relinquished? Consider how water's strength comes not from resistance but from yielding—flowing around obstacles, gradually reshaping landscapes. Those who clutch tightly at authority ultimately lose it, while those who open their hands often discover something greater waiting beyond the sacrifice.

Listen

Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22 (21); Philippians 2:6-11; Luke 22:14-23:56

Reflect

(Luke 22:14-23-56)

When have you faced a situation where your usual methods of control failed you? Consider moments when your carefully constructed plans dissolved, leaving you in uncomfortable territory without your typical defenses or solutions.

Instead of seeing vulnerability as weakness, how might embracing it connect you more deeply to others? The crucified figure offers a radical alternative to power-through-dominance, suggesting strength emerges precisely where we feel most exposed.

What might you need to surrender today—a grudge, an expectation, a carefully maintained image? What space might open up if you released your grip on something you've been desperately trying to control?

Pray

Lord, you move through surrender rather than force. Teach us to release our tight grip on outcomes. Bring comfort to those facing impossible situations beyond their control. Transform our communities from competition toward compassion. May we discover, in our moments of greatest vulnerability, the unexpected power that flows when we finally open our clenched hands.