Jeremiah 23:1-6
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:35-43
or Luke 19:29-38
Psalm 46
Our lessons today paint a variety of pictures of the Kingdom of God on earth that we all long for; that we ask for every Sunday morning when we pray "Thy kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Jeremiah promises that the days are coming - when a king will reign at the will of God; a king who will rule justly; who will ensure that the poorest of the poor are treated as honored citizens of the Kingdom.
Our psalmist describes the most peculiar picture of how God plans to bring about God's Kingdom. He says, "Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations God has brought on the earth. God wants to make wars cease to the ends of the earth; to break the bow, and shatter the spear; to burn the shields with fire." Now this is hardly our human idea of desolation - to bring about peace and harmony by ridding the earth of the tools of war.. On the contrary, it brings to mind that tranquil scene of heaven on earth that Isaiah portrays when he shares God's promise of a just and true kingdom here on our fragile earth. You remember, where the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and a little child shall lead them.... and no one will hurt or destroy any living thing, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. It's one of the most beautiful descriptions of that Kingdom on earth that God wants so much for us all.
In Paul's letter to the Colossians, we're assured that we've already been rescued from the powers of darkness that seem to imprison this world; we're told that God has invited us into God's Kingdom through God's beloved son, Jesus. Paul tells us that God's Kingdom has arrived. It's a place where harmony prevails - where all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe - people and things, animals and atoms, are back in place, and conflict and dissension are no more. These are God's promises to us throughout the ages - promises of a kingdom of peace and harmony, justice and equality, forgiveness and mercy. And these promises have come to fulfillment in God's son, the Christ, the long-promised King!
So we look to our Gospel to find this king; and to celebrate his great victory that has brought the Kingdom of God to this troubled, old world. And we find ourselves doing a double-take. Excuse me? I'm looking for the King - you know the Son of God, the Messiah, our Saviour?
Rather than taking us to some grand palace filled with adoring followers, laughing children, and melodious music, Luke takes us to the ugliest place on earth. A place that's been called Calvary or Golgotha or - the Skull. If this seems a particularly inappropriate gospel reading for the Sunday of Christ the King, then - pause for moment and let the irony sink in: Jesus is declared king by mocking Roman soldiers, cynical leaders, and a scornful criminal.. They all spoke more truth than they knew. But the people of Jesus' day were blinded by the notion that if someone has God's favor, then they would certainly be spared suffering and death, especially such a loathsome and humiliating death as crucifixion. Yet this is where our King is to be found. Hanging on a tree between two criminals while he is mocked and scorned for not saving himself.
You know I don't find it all that difficult to identify with the criminal who joins the scoffers - and dares Jesus to prove that he really is the Messiah by saving himself; and while he's at it, he could save the criminals too. How often do we find ourselves dealing with something that is painful or humiliating and responding in a way that's not all that different from our scornful criminal? We challenge God, and expect Got to take away the suffering or to make things better in some way. And when God seems deaf to our needs, we ask ourselves, "What good is God anyway? I can't tell you how many times I listen to clients in my office offer up their own, very real suffering as proof that God is a fraud.
Just as those who mocked Jesus failed to see the King in their midst, how often do we fail to see him in our midst when we grow weary and cynical and discouraged. When we see the gap between the poor and the wealthy grow bigger and bigger. When our child is left paralyzed after being hit by a drunk driver. When hundreds of thousands of children die of preventable diseases every day. When we are suddenly laid off and faced with unemployment at the age of 55. When homeless people huddle in concrete corners trying to find some shelter from the bitter wind. Where is the King then? What happened to those idyllic promises of peace and justice for all?
Perhaps it is at such times as these that we most need to remember - that on that day so long ago, when our King was nailed to a cross, he did save. He saved someone else, rather than himself. He saved a dying criminal who simply asked Jesus to remember him. And our King gave that criminal so much more than he asked for. Jesus said "Today, you will be with me in Paradise." Not tomorrow, not some far off distant time, but today you will know the Kingdom of God!
Over and over Jesus calls us to follow him. And isn't that the only way the Kingdom of God will ever truly reign here on earth? By following Jesus? Isn't that why God chose to take on flesh and live among us? To show us how to bring God's promises to fulfillment?
If we're to follow Jesus, then don't we need to stop worrying about ourselves - and keep walking out into a world where darkness still prevails, where children are still dying and people are still hungry?
Aren't we called to go to places where we'd really rather not go; where we will most likely encounter pain and suffering? If we're going to follow our King, then don't we need to follow in his footsteps, becoming his hands and his feet, carrying on the work that he began - to bring the Kingdom of God to all of God's children?
AMEN