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The Last Sunday After Pentecost
November 26 , 2006
Proper 29
Delivered by Reverend Sandra Stayner
Daniel 7:9-14
Revelation 1:1-8
John 18:33-37
Christ the King
As the shops hurriedly change their decorations from Thanksgiving to Christmas, and everyone makes their way home after the Thanksgiving festivities, what is uppermost in most people.s minds is probably not the change we are about to make in the church from one season to another. We are heading into the last week of the Church year, the New Year beginning next Sunday with the first week of Advent. The end of the church year is always marked with the feast of Christ the King . a Sunday when we remember the Kingship of Christ. It is marked by passages of scripture that speak of two very different images of Christ the King. The apochryphal images from Daniel and Revelation present Christ as one who comes on clouds from heaven in full sight of the entire world and is given dominion and glory and kingship over all the nations of the world. The Gospel of John presents Christ as the King who was mocked and jeered at by the crowds, humiliated in front of his people and finally flogged and dressed in a purple robe and a crown of thorns. Two so very different images of Christ as King must at least give us cause to pause a minute to consider what the kingship of Christ is all about.
I realize that Kings and Queens are not something that most people in this country think spend much time thinking about. .Who needs them?. was the answer your ancestors came to many years ago! But for as long as I can remember I have always had a deep respect for the institution of the monarchy. My mother still loves to tell the story of how she and my Father took me in my carrycot to the coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, just after I was born. Few people had televisions in their homes at that time, so we went to the club so as to be able to see live footage of this important event. Growing up I came to understand the Queen to be the bearer or personification of the character of the British nation. One would never expect to see the Queen of England display an outburst of rage or grief, because she is the Queen, and being in control of ones emotions is something we prize very highly in England. Even when she is splashing through muddy fields with her grandchildren at Badminton Horse trials the Queen.s hair is in place and she looks smart and well dressed. Whatever goes on behind closed doors at Buckingham Palace in public our Queen exhibits dignity, restraint and order, traits that are looked up to by many British.
In the same way Jesus the King, personifies the character of the kingdom of God. Yet from the moment of his baptism when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit and driven into the desert to be tested by the devil we begin to see that Jesus will use the power he receives from God in a very different way than most earthly rulers. Over and over again the devil encourages Jesus to use the powers he had received for his own gain. .You.re hungry . turn those stones into bread to fill your belly.. .Use your power to set yourself up as King over all the Kingdoms you can see!. But Jesus refuses to use power for his own gratification, preferring instead to wait on his Father God to show him how to use his power to bring into being God.s Kingdom of love.
Jesus is anointed with the Spirit as kings were anointed with oil. The words of the prophet Isaiah foretell the anointing of Christ the King, and Jesus announces the meaning of his kingship as he opens the Torah and reads the scripture in the temple. .The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord.s favour.. (Luke 4:18) With the birth of Jesus the Kingdom of God has breaks into the world. Throughout the time of his public ministry Jesus the King will begin to reveal the radical nature of God.s kingdom of love.
What will slowly begin to dawn upon those who are closest to him is that Jesus is a King who consistently uses his power to bring freedom and release to the poorest and most insignificant members of his kingdom. He exhibits enormous compassion for those who are sick or in distress. He reaches out to those who have been rejected by the rest of society and draws them to himself. He tells his followers to live lives that are quick to forgive, because forgiveness is what in the end will bring healing and release to those who struggle to find healing and wholeness in their lives. He forgives the woman who is caught in the act of adultery. He forgives the thief who is crucified on the cross. Jesus is a King who will not use his power to destroy the lives of those who ask for mercy, but always use his power to build up and empower others with the words, .Go in peace! Your faith has made you well..
How do we as citizens of God.s kingdom of love follow the example of our King? Unfortunately we live in a world that seems to believe increasingly in the use of force to bring about a desired end, something Jesus refused to resort to, because a kingdom that is founded on bullying and hate can only beget more bullying and hate whilst a kingdom founded on love will beget love.
In 1956 the black community in Montgomery Alabama began a boycott of the buses to protest racial segregation. For eleven long months members of the black community refused to travel on city buses. Men, women and children walked many, many long miles to their places of work rather than support a flawed system. But the city of Montgomery stood firm in its resolve not to give way to the demands of their black citizens. Finally the Supreme Court ruled intervened and ruled segregation on buses as unlawful - even in Montgomery. The black community had achieved their goal. Justice was brought to the black community in spite of their refusal to resort to force to reach their goal of integration.
As the old year draws to a close and a new one begins the scriptures ask us to contemplate the characteristics of Jesus, the king who was born not in a castle but in a barn, who was anointed not with oil but with the powerful spirit of God.s love, who invited the poor and the outcast to become a part of God.s kingdom on earth, and gave his own life to save the lives of his people.
The Next four weeks will give each of us time, if we allow ourselves to, to prepare our hearts once more to receive the one who is King of all Kings, Lord of all Lords and friend to all who open their hearts to receive the love of God.
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