Luke 23:33-43
Today we read this scripture in celebration of Christ the King Sunday, but what does it really mean? We seem to have thought at times it means supremacy. A becoming the best and strongest. This is not what this scripture represents. It represents all that is weak, all that is surrender, all that is not what we expect of a king.
This scripture brings us to the cross, the place where Jesus dies. Not the place where he comes to power, but surrenders himself to the world. As is Luke's tendency Jesus does not die alone, but with a whole crowd mocking him. Words of power because someone else is powerless. Into this comes one voice, the voice of the other criminal who knows he deserves this sentence and Jesus doesn't and he asks to be remembered, and Jesus promises him Paradise.
See the Christ is King is everything we cannot imagine. We connect these words to the power of the world and we miss that this is not God's power, Christ's power. It is in the simple, the everyday, the moments when we surrender all and have no control at all and just allow God to show up. This is the example of Christ as King.
We were at the Cathedral for the convention on Friday and Saturday and the big feature in the middle of the reredos is Jesus on the cross and above him a crown is there. Crowned while dying, crowned while suffering, crowned while being at the whim and will of other hands and not able to control anything at all except who might be with him on this journey. The surrender of the man who defends and speaks the truth of why he is there and asks to be remembered is granted. Granted because he surrenders himself to being at this place, for the crimes he has committed.
So what is following the way of Jesus to be a king? It is in surrender, it is in becoming the servant of all, it is in dying to ourselves, it is in being transformed to see the Christ in others who are weaker and reaching out for our help and care.
Maybe its a part of the symbolism for baptism. We come to the waters surrendering ourselves to someone else putting us under, surrendering to a new life, surrendering to being buried with Christ. It is a part of dying to ourselves and becoming each day, this new life which is Christ and working toward this kingdom of God.
The closest I can get to it as a group experience was during the election on Saturday for the new bishop. We prayed, we cast fun votes first to make sure our electronic devices were working. We prayed again for God's guidance. We cast our votes and then we waited, and waited. Yet while we waited we prayed again for quiet confidence, we sang hymns, hymns of God becoming our vision, of seeking faith, of singing as a community. We surrendered to the process, we trusted even though the results were out of our control. We came together as a community of faith in surrender and we became the kingdom in our surrender.
This is what Christ the King represents to us. It is so important to know the places where we need to trust, to surrender, to walk with faith. Becoming once again a people not in control, but a community who has given it all to Christ. Handed over our idea of being the best, brightest, richest, most powerful and become the servant of others, even unto death of ourselves, death of our power, death of our control. Because Christ as King is none of this. It is in the simplest forms that we find it. It is not defendable, it is foolish and lovely and opens us up to the world as it should be. A community of faith.
Today we read this scripture in celebration of Christ the King Sunday, but what does it really mean? We seem to have thought at times it means supremacy. A becoming the best and strongest. This is not what this scripture represents. It represents all that is weak, all that is surrender, all that is not what we expect of a king.
This scripture brings us to the cross, the place where Jesus dies. Not the place where he comes to power, but surrenders himself to the world. As is Luke's tendency Jesus does not die alone, but with a whole crowd mocking him. Words of power because someone else is powerless. Into this comes one voice, the voice of the other criminal who knows he deserves this sentence and Jesus doesn't and he asks to be remembered, and Jesus promises him Paradise.
See the Christ is King is everything we cannot imagine. We connect these words to the power of the world and we miss that this is not God's power, Christ's power. It is in the simple, the everyday, the moments when we surrender all and have no control at all and just allow God to show up. This is the example of Christ as King.
We were at the Cathedral for the convention on Friday and Saturday and the big feature in the middle of the reredos is Jesus on the cross and above him a crown is there. Crowned while dying, crowned while suffering, crowned while being at the whim and will of other hands and not able to control anything at all except who might be with him on this journey. The surrender of the man who defends and speaks the truth of why he is there and asks to be remembered is granted. Granted because he surrenders himself to being at this place, for the crimes he has committed.
So what is following the way of Jesus to be a king? It is in surrender, it is in becoming the servant of all, it is in dying to ourselves, it is in being transformed to see the Christ in others who are weaker and reaching out for our help and care.
Maybe its a part of the symbolism for baptism. We come to the waters surrendering ourselves to someone else putting us under, surrendering to a new life, surrendering to being buried with Christ. It is a part of dying to ourselves and becoming each day, this new life which is Christ and working toward this kingdom of God.
The closest I can get to it as a group experience was during the election on Saturday for the new bishop. We prayed, we cast fun votes first to make sure our electronic devices were working. We prayed again for God's guidance. We cast our votes and then we waited, and waited. Yet while we waited we prayed again for quiet confidence, we sang hymns, hymns of God becoming our vision, of seeking faith, of singing as a community. We surrendered to the process, we trusted even though the results were out of our control. We came together as a community of faith in surrender and we became the kingdom in our surrender.
This is what Christ the King represents to us. It is so important to know the places where we need to trust, to surrender, to walk with faith. Becoming once again a people not in control, but a community who has given it all to Christ. Handed over our idea of being the best, brightest, richest, most powerful and become the servant of others, even unto death of ourselves, death of our power, death of our control. Because Christ as King is none of this. It is in the simplest forms that we find it. It is not defendable, it is foolish and lovely and opens us up to the world as it should be. A community of faith.
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