Christ Reigns
The last Sunday before Advent is traditionally called "Christ the King" or "Reign of Christ" Sunday. We end the liturgical year (which starts anew on 1st Advent) by proclaiming that Jesus was not just a nice man who lived a long time ago, but one with God as the ultimate power in all the world, and all the worlds.
So, oddly enough when the rest of the world is putting up decorations and singing about reindeer, we will be reading a part of the story of Jesus' crucifixion. If there ever was a clearer sense of how the world has co-opted the Christian story and how counter-cultural the message of Jesus really is, the juxtaposition of this reading and secular Christmas prep is surely it.
This year we read from Luke 23:33-43. This is the conversation between Jesus and the two thieves followed by the mocking of the Roman soldiers. The gist of the feelings of the first thief and those soldiers is that if Jesus really was powerful, then he'd show that by saving himself. If Jesus chose not to call down the angel armies, then he must be a fraud.
The ultimate mockery was the placement of a sign above the head of the bleeding and broken body of Jesus which read, "The King of the Jews." Pilate and the soldiers thought it was a joke. They only understood power in one way, military might.
So how is Jesus powerful? How are we to tap into that power as we exercise power in our lives and world? That's the central question of this day. I read a great quote by William Loader this week, "Jesus did not come to create a set of doormats, but to spread a revolution of love and grace, which entailed identifying and embodying a new kind of power."
The power of Jesus is that of forgiveness, of love, of breaking down barriers between people. The power of Jesus does not use the weapons of the enemy to defeat the enemy; quite the contrary. This applies to so much in our lives, from how we treat each other in families to the issue of the use of torture which is before our nation in these days of the "war on terror." Shall we use the weapons of terror to defeat the terrorists? Is there another way? What do you think?
So, oddly enough when the rest of the world is putting up decorations and singing about reindeer, we will be reading a part of the story of Jesus' crucifixion. If there ever was a clearer sense of how the world has co-opted the Christian story and how counter-cultural the message of Jesus really is, the juxtaposition of this reading and secular Christmas prep is surely it.
This year we read from Luke 23:33-43. This is the conversation between Jesus and the two thieves followed by the mocking of the Roman soldiers. The gist of the feelings of the first thief and those soldiers is that if Jesus really was powerful, then he'd show that by saving himself. If Jesus chose not to call down the angel armies, then he must be a fraud.
The ultimate mockery was the placement of a sign above the head of the bleeding and broken body of Jesus which read, "The King of the Jews." Pilate and the soldiers thought it was a joke. They only understood power in one way, military might.
So how is Jesus powerful? How are we to tap into that power as we exercise power in our lives and world? That's the central question of this day. I read a great quote by William Loader this week, "Jesus did not come to create a set of doormats, but to spread a revolution of love and grace, which entailed identifying and embodying a new kind of power."
The power of Jesus is that of forgiveness, of love, of breaking down barriers between people. The power of Jesus does not use the weapons of the enemy to defeat the enemy; quite the contrary. This applies to so much in our lives, from how we treat each other in families to the issue of the use of torture which is before our nation in these days of the "war on terror." Shall we use the weapons of terror to defeat the terrorists? Is there another way? What do you think?
posted by shelly @ 10:14 AM
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