Loading...Things are not what they appear to be:
Despite Christmas music on the radio and
Christmas lights decorating homes – it is not Christmas.
It’s not even Thanksgiving.
Things are not what they appear to be:
Think about the poor bee or fly that gets into your house and then finds a window and flings itself against the window thinking that it is really outside. The poor bee is not recognizing the reality of the window.
Things are not what they appear to be:
The visible manifestation and incarnation of the invisible God.
And, a king – declared so in the sarcastic and humiliating sign over his head – who is being killed on a cross.
Things are NOT what they appear to be!
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In 1925, Pope Pius XI inaugurated a Sunday in the church year dedicated to Christ the King. Earlier in that year, Benito Mussolini, who had been elected a the leader of Italy four years previously, dropped all pretense of democracy and named himself Il Duce, “The Leader”, a dictator over Italy.
The pope responded with this liturgical day in the Church declaring that
Christ is our King.
Yet, Jesus isn’t want we think a king is supposed to be:
he has no royal birth (although he does have the right lineage);
he’s from an oppressed and occupied people who have no power;
he hangs out with society’s rejects and outcasts;
he refuses to engage in violence against others (and when violence is done in his name, e.g. when the ear of the slave is cut off, Jesus heals the slave and rebukes his own follower who wielded the sword);
when he comes into the historically royal city of Jerusalem, he’s on a donkey, not a horse;
he offers equality for women and men;
he values children in a society that doesn’t;
he heals the sick and lepers – people who are considered pariahs and unclean;
his own community rejects him; and
he’s crucified as a political prisoner.
These are not marks of a king, even though some called him that,
and the Romans mocked him with the title “King of the Jews” in four languages over his head (all the official languages of the empire, plus a local one), trying to humiliate Jesus with this title he never claimed.
Yet, Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, is king.
The King of kings.
The Great Shepherd who leads the people into God’s justice –
a justice that is not like the world uses,
but justice that is centered on caring for the most vulnerable.
Our refuge and strength that makes wars to cease.
The One in whom all things – visible and invisible, powers, rulers, or dominions – were created.
Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, is our King
even though it seems hidden,
even if it seems that worlds things are taking over.
This hidden-ness means that Jesus’ power is reveals in the most unexpected ways:
in his forgiveness of those who are killing him and mocking him
while he’s suffering agony on the cross!
by his granting mercy and salvation to the criminal at his side
even while he himself is still on the cross, dying;
by laying down his life for his friends, for the beloved;
by his full presence in the bread broken for you and
the cup of salvation for you.
Jesus doesn’t have and doesn’t need
the armed might or puffed up power that we humans tend to look to.
In God’s vision for the world and Jesus’ reign on earth,
those signs of authority and “rule over” are useless.
They are powerless.
Instead,
Our Shepherd King cares for you – even when you are most vulnerable and feel most useless, or when the powers of the world cast you aside.
Our Great Shepherd calls to you and invited you to join him –
even when you feel most lonely or unworthy.
Our Messiah offers you mercy and forgiveness
even when you think you’re beyond the pale and past forgiveness.
Our Christ – the invisible God made visible –
loves you with deep and abiding compassion.
And this is why Christ is our King.
Amen
