The past few months have left many Americans feeling powerless and wondering if anyone in power is listening. Prices continue to rise as new tariffs ripple through supply chains, pushing the cost of basic goods higher. News outlets from The Washington Post and Reuters to the Federal Reserve’s own briefings have reported that the inflation was mainly driven by trade policy.
At the same time, thousands of federal workers are losing their jobs during the continuing government shutdown. The president’s job rating continues to decline, even among those who voted for him, and the vast majority of Americans do not believe he cares about the needs of ordinary people. Meanwhile, members of Congress continue to collect their paychecks even as they fail to restrain the president’s expanding abuses of power.
A growing number of Americans feel invisible. It’s a sobering reflection of a nation where trust is shrinking and power feels increasingly distant.
This loss of confidence isn’t just political — it’s deeply personal. When people start to believe their voices don’t matter, they stop speaking up. When they feel their choices don’t change outcomes, they stop trying.
That quiet resignation seeps into families, churches, workplaces, and communities until hope begins to feel naïve. But the Christian story has always pushed back against despair. From the prophets to the Gospels, Scripture insists that each life bears divine agency — the sacred capacity to act, to speak, to resist inertia. In other words, to have agency.
When a hurricane forms, it feeds on warm, unresisted air — pressure differences that grow until destruction seems inevitable. Similarly, when people surrender their agency, when voices grow silent and choices shrink to despair, the forces of domination and disorder gain strength. Project 2025 has been called a “blueprint” for the dismantling of democratic norms, but its power relies on passivity — on citizens believing they can’t do anything to change its course.
The gospel insists otherwise: God gives us agency as the calm eye within the storm — the sacred power to stand, to act, and to turn chaos toward renewal. Every small act of courage becomes a countercurrent, weakening the winds that threaten to tear apart what is just and humane.
Agency is the power to act instead of being acted upon — the belief that our choices still matter even when we don’t seem to matter to our political leaders, and life feels out of control. It’s what lets us say, “I can do something about this.”
Spiritually, agency reflects the image of God within us: the divine capacity to respond, create, and shape what comes next. When we lose agency, we stop believing our actions make a difference. When we reclaim it, hope moves again — and God’s work through us becomes visible in the world. Agency is the heartbeat of hope.
This conviction is the heartbeat of this week’s message. Agency. We turn to the Gospel of Luke and reflect on the final chapters of Ocean Vuong’s The Emperor of Gladness. Both point toward the same truth: even in systems that silence, there remains a spirit that stirs. And when that Spirit awakens in people again — when they believe they can still choose truth, compassion, and courage — change begins, not from the top down, but from the inside out.
It’s no wonder that a recent Pew Research survey found that nearly three-quarters of Americans believe they have “little or no control” over the forces shaping their lives. Many of us feel the same weight: rising bills, uncertain work, political fatigue. When life presses in from every direction, despair begins to sound like reason.
And yet the Gospel speaks directly into that hopelessness.
Jesus Restores Agency
Luke tells a story about Jesus meeting a funeral procession leaving the city of Nain. A widow’s only son has died. In that culture, a woman without a husband or a son had no protection or income; her agency, identity, and future were effectively erased. She is the very picture of powerlessness and is mostly invisible to society.
But Jesus sees her. Luke says that, “When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her.” Jesus stops the procession, touches the bier, and commands the young man to rise. Soon, the boy breathes again. He is alive. And the widow receives back not only her child but also her agency, her future, and her voice.
When the Lord saw her, His heart was filled with compassion for her. Jesus said to her, “Don’t cry.”
Luke 7:11-17
This story reveals a divine pattern of compassion creating human possibility. But Jesus doesn’t act instead of us. He acts for us so that we may act in similar ways with Him. Resurrection was not just limited to a child. A single mother’s world is remade when love interrupts death.
The Emperor of Gladness
Ocean Vuong’s best-selling novel, The Emperor of Gladness, captures this tension beautifully. As the story began, Hai, a young man hollowed by grief and guilt, tends to Grazina, an elderly woman slipping into dementia. Both characters are wounded, disoriented, living in worlds that seem to be collapsing.
Hai’s care for her, his small decisions to stay rather than flee, become acts of agency. Grazina’s fragmented presence, even in her confusion, calls him toward compassion. Their story reminds us that agency rarely looks heroic. More often, it’s the simple, stubborn decision to keep loving when love feels futile.
For those who haven’t read it yet, we’ll let the novel speak for itself. Hopefully, you’ll see why it became such a meaningful companion text for this series.
What It Means for Us
Let’s suppose that this Gospel truth takes root in our daily lives, what might change?
First of all, we’ll see change in our communities: we’ll stop waiting for someone else to fix what’s broken. We’ll notice the “widows of Nain” around us — neighbors facing eviction, parents drowning in costs, young people caught in despair, immigrants under attack — and step toward them instead of around them.
We’ll also see a change in our churches: we’ll move from preservation to participation, seeing ministry not as maintaining programs but as joining Jesus in resurrection work.
Most of all, we’ll see change in our own hearts: we’ll refuse the lie that we’re spectators in our own story. And we’ll come to realize that every small act of kindness, truth, or courage becomes a quiet resurrection.
That’s the world Jesus envisions: not one ruled by fear, but one animated by everyday agents of compassion.
What is your next step?
It’s time for us to wake up to what numbs us. It’s time for us to notice where we’ve surrendered choice — to fear, to habit, to exhaustion. Awareness is the first spark of agency.
To get started, choose one act of resurrection. What about calling someone you’ve drifted away from? Perhaps you can help a neighbor. Volunteer. Speak truth. These small, courageous actions restore both you and the world around you.
Consider practicing gladness as an act of defiance. Gratitude is not denial. Gratitude is rebellion against despair. To rejoice in the Lord amid trouble is to declare that darkness does not own the final word.
And stay connected. Agency thrives in community. Join a group, pray with others, and talk about where you see God inviting you to act. Join a non-violent protest organized around issues that matter to you. We rise best when we rise together.
Coming up in worship
Next Sunday, we begin a new series titled “Jesus Was Woke.”
Some use woke as an insult, but scripture uses it as an invitation. To be spiritually awake is to see clearly — to recognize truth, injustice, beauty, and grace — and then to move. Remember that awareness is the doorway to agency.
In this new journey, we’ll explore how Jesus models holy awareness. Jesus sees the unseen, naming what others ignore, and calling ordinary people into extraordinary participation with God’s work.
Every time you choose gladness, the kingdom of God rises a little more in your corner of the world. So whether you heard Sunday’s sermon or are just catching up now, carry this with you: Agency is the heartbeat of hope.
You can join us each Sunday in person or online by clicking the button on our website’s homepage. Click here to watch. This button takes you to our YouTube channel. You can find more information about us on our website at FlintAsburyChurch.org.
This is a reminder that we publish a weekly newsletter called the Circuit Rider. You can request this publication by email by sending a request to FlintAsburyUMC@gmail.com, or let us know when you send a message through our website. We post an archive of past editions on our website under Connect – choose Newsletters.
Pastor Tommy
Our companion book for this series is Ocean Vuong. The Emperor of Gladness. NY: Penguin Press, 2025.
Jocelyn Kelly, Gabriel Sorelli, Joseph Copeland, and Shanay Gracia. “Trump’s job approval and views of his personal traits.” © Pew Research, August 14, 2025. Retrieved from: link