Christ the King

I preached this sermon at Grace Lutheran Church, Thomasville NC on November 24th.

Luke 23:33-43
These are the LAST DAYS…of the church year…

Next Sunday we will begin the season of preparation and anticipation- 
Advent-the time of preparing our hearts, our lives, to receive anew the Christ who comes to us as a Babe in a manger…comforting…peace-filled…lovely. “Silent Night, Holy Night”, we will sing. But TODAY IS CHRIST THE KING!

And while we might like to think about Jesus seated on a throne, or Jesus in the clouds, or even Jesus riding triumphantly into Jerusalem, our Gospel reading instead gives us Jesus on the cross.  We get the final hours before his death, seemingly at the lowest point of his life, when it appeared he had been beaten by everyone and everything, when it seemed that the powers-that-be had won. Just what is so Kingly about that? 

There are a number of passages in the gospels dealing with Jesus’ time on the cross, but this is surely one of the most humiliating. There are the two “criminals” flanking Jesus on either side. While tradition has often referred to them as thieves, crucifixion was not the method of execution used for common criminals- it was reserved for enemies of the state…for people who had challenged Roman authority…people the Roman Empire feared and wanted to make examples of…people who had committed crimes like insurrection…civil disobedience…treason. It was, after all, why Jesus was crucified… 

The message being sent to the common people, the citizens of Palestine, by a body left to rot on a cross was both clear & simple- don’t oppose the Caesar (the government) or the systems of the state…and don’t mess with the ones who are making a profit from those systems, because if you do, you’ll end up hanging on a tree at the edge of the city. In the immortal words of 1970s activist, Father Daniel Berrigan, “If you’re going to follow Jesus, you’d better look good on wood.”

So, this dreadful scene is exactly what we witness in the passage today…and we ARE witnesses. It is one of the most familiar scenes in the Bible…the garbage dump at the edge of the city…three crosses propped up on the hill…the sun seemingly setting in the background with clouds gathering for an impending storm…as three lives slip away in a slow, mercilessly painful death.

Among the witnesses are mourners…we hear muffled cries from friends and loved ones- hushed conversations and condolences to the family- “I’m so sorry… “ and the sound of the wind filling the silence between the tears. But along with the mourners, there are mockers…those who, for whatever reason, think it amusing to poke fun at the condemned Jesus. Kind of like those who stood around those being lynched in our own country in the early part of the twentieth century…jeering, laughing, seeing the whole dreadful spectacle as a form of macabre entertainment.

Perhaps all of these spectators had become desensitized by the all-too commonplace happening before them…or perhaps, to alleviate some of the horror of it all- for despite its frequent use by the Romans, crucifixion was a ghastly form of capital punishment- making jokes, since that’s what we often do in painful situations to ease our discomfort, don’t we?  “Comic relief” is what we call it, “black humor”, distancing us from the atrocity that we are allowing to happen before our very eyes- or even participating in. If we can make a joke, perhaps we can push down the feelings of nausea or shame that rise within us can distract us from the wretchedness of human suffering…even as we stare transfixed at the images on the TV set from the comfort of our living rooms.

But what’s different is that in this scene, one of the suffering criminals takes his place among the mockers. Think about what has been happening to him. His final moments on his own feet on the road to Golgotha, “the place of the skull”, were no less filled with fear and trembling than anyone else who comes face to face with their own death.  His mind was probably searching frantically for a way out, his lips whispering desperate prayers to a seemingly unknown and far-away God. His senses have ceased to function…the people and the world that surround him as he climbs the hill to the cross are only a blur- all the sounds around him muffled- except for his own frantic heartbeat. 

He feels the chill as his clothes are ripped away, feels the roughness of wood on his back as he is laid on the cross- so terrified that he is unable to cry out as his trembling body is stretched and fastened by arms and legs…so vulnerable…and so alone, as the cross bars are lifted up and settled on their bases. 

But wait! “There are others here,” he thinks. “There are three of us…” and

initially, perhaps, he was comforted a bit by the fact that he was not totally alone- misery, after all, loves company. But then the sensations of his own body heighten…sweat begins to bead and eventually to drip as the effort of holding his own body weight becomes more strenuous, more difficult. He lets his head fall to the side to keep the droplets of sweat out of his eyes. And that’s when- in the midst of the terror of his situation- he begins to become aware of something else.  He allows sound to return to his ears and he hears laughter- mocking, derisive laughter- below him, around him. What are they laughing at? he wonders. Then he realizes…the focus of their mockery is the man on the middle cross- the one they have nicknamed "King of the Jews". They say he calls himself messiah- redeemer, savior…well, why doesn’t he save US?! So, as loudly as he is still able, he gives a desperate plea to the man in the middle…“If it’s true what they say about you- then save yourself Show us…show them…because if  it’s  true, you can save US! For God’ sake, man, get us down from here!!!” 

But now there is another voice coming from the cross on the other side… “What are you saying? We’re all dying, but at least you and I are up here for the things we’ve done- we deserve this death! This man has done nothing wrong!”

Now, let’s step back for a moment….take a deep breath and pause. This is traditionally where we say that Jesus was innocent of any crime…where we get angry with the Roman government in the person of Pontius Pilate who condemned him to death- because Jesus didn’t DO anything! But I think that Jesus, in the three years before his death did PLENTY- and he did it quite intentionally.  

Remember, Jesus was a man who was intentional in his actions from the very beginning of his ministry…intentional about challenging corruption in authority… intentional about exposing systems that were oppressive, knowing that he was setting himself up against the authority of Rome... intentional in the telling of his stories and parables- knowing full well they would antagonize the religious leaders… intentional in healing, in casting out demons, in raising the dead, in picking grain on the Sabbath just in view of the Pharisees… intentional in turning over the tables at the temple, infuriating the vendors and the chief priests who reaped the overflow of the profits...intentional in his message to “free the oppressed…give to the poor…include instead of exclude love instead of judge”, knowing full well that his message of shalom-building would lead him intentionally to a full showdow with the religious and Roman authorities.

Jesus told his disciples, and anyone who would listen- "Follow me." But what he was asking them- and us- to do in ‘following’ him, was to join him in a radical social justice movement- to participate in the new reign of God- to help usher in an era of paradise. The Greek word for paradise, the word we often mistranslate as Heaven, is paradisio. It refers to a state of delight…to a Garden-of-Eden sort of place where all things are just and fair and whole which is what the Hebrew word Shalom means. And it is to be here, in this world. Jesus knew what it would take to bring the world to paradise…it would cost him his life.

The voice from the second criminal continues…"Jesus, remember me today when you come into your kingdom…” And Jesus turns his head to the man and responds… “Today, you will be with me in paradise…” In other words, “Today,  you heard my call. I said, ‘follow me,’ and you said, ‘yes’. Today you accepted me as Lord of your life and willingly stand with me as a part of God’s righteousness-making activity where love is so powerful that forgiveness is offered to all…to you and your family and friends and neighbors and coworkers- and enemies…to the ones who mourn down there and the ones who put me up here.

Today, you will know how far God is willing to go to free the oppressed…to  

ensure that the hungry are fed, and the naked are clothed, and the poor are  

cared for, and the sick are healed… 

Today, you will stand with me as we fight racism and classism and discrimination and prejudice and homelessness and poverty…  

Today the systems of injustice are made just and powers and  principalities are overturned to rid the world of corruption and darkness...   

Today…truly…you will be with me in Paradise.”

Brother and sisters in Christ, I don’t know if you can get a more Kingly depiction of our Lord than that. This is the King we remember and the King we worship today…for TODAY IS CHRIST THE KING! AMEN