November 26, 2006, Proper 29B
Daniel 12:1-3; Psalm 16; Hebrews 10:11-14 (15-18) 19-25; Mark 13:1-8
Christ the King
When I was a kid in Jr. High, one of the girls in my class was Betty. Betty thought she was better than me and taunted me, “You’re not as good as me because you were adopted.” Okay, I have to admit that I didn’t necessarily respond to this graciously. My reply was, “Oh, yeah, well your mother had to keep you whether she wanted to or not. My mother chose me.” There was a time later that I regretted what I had said – when her mother ran off and left her with an aunt.
Kids argue all the time. "My mommy’s a better cook than yours." "Is not." "Is so." OR "My daddy can run faster than your daddy." "Can not." "Can too." As you get older, the arguments change – they become more subtle. You compare grades or boyfriends. Arguments of those kind generally center on who's better, or bigger or faster or stronger or smarter.
Even adults argue - when arguments get out of hand they end up in the courts to decide who is better, who's right, who's more important. Arguments have even ranged to religion, imagine that. And the Christ, is he man or God, human or divine? The Ebionites in the 2nd century proclaimed Jesus, son of Mary and Joseph was a mere man and he received the Holy Spirit when he was baptized.
The Docetists on the other hand believe that Jesus fully divine and only appeared to be human. These were the two extremes - the black and the white. There were other positions - every shade of gray in between.
It was in the 4th century that the church affirmed that Jesus was both fully human and fully divine - that he was of the very same nature as God and was not created but was pre-existent before time. You know, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten not made - being of one substance with the father - all those things that we say in our creed which was developed at the council of Nicea.
We also say "born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried." Both human - and divine.
Today our lessons affirm the idea that Christ is not simply a man - but is something more. Daniel shows us the throne room of heaven in the 1st lesson. The "son of man" is given authority and dominion over earth. Christ - Messiah - means anointed one - especially one who is anointed as king.
If you look at the reported life of Jesus of Nazareth - you won't find him a likely candidate for king. Jesus is very much the "son of man" - Very much human - Jesus was born in a stable - raised in a small insignificant town in a remote part of the world - he worked as a carpenter - and when he took to the road as an itinerate preacher - he didn't stay in grand hotels or spacious homes. He walked the dusty roads - not riding a chariot as nobility did.
When he said, "foxes have holes and birds have nests, but the son of man (Daniel's term for the Messiah) has no place to lay his head." Jesus is tying into the Daniel image of the coming Messiah - but it didn't quite make sense - because a king was to have absolute power.
So when he stands before Pilate, it is with the same kind of irony. A king who is in chains - who will be put to death in a most horrible way - and yet - he can say, "For this I was born - to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice."
Those who are not of the truth - consider it folly to follow this messiah who was crucified. This is not the way of the world - the world wants to sees its king as victorious - fighting for right - struggling against all odds to win the day.
A king commands absolute power - is obeyed without question - rules with authority. A king gives orders and expects his orders to be obeyed. This is not the image we see with Jesus. When he washes the feet of his disciples, he tells them, "I am giving you an example, which you must follow if you would be my disciples."
Jesus was not the kind of king that the people expected. He didn't go around "lording" it over everyone like the gentiles. He didn't snub the poor, the sick, the homeless, the helpless. He lifted them up and helped them to become better than they were. He gave them hope and new reasons to live.
Jesus was given authority in heaven, but he didn't rely on that divine authority. For those of us who are of the truth, have heard his voice and - even though he didn't have to do it, he earned that authority - and our trust and respect - when he dwelt among us.
All the way through the New Testament, we learn that Jesus is our Savior. Matthew tells us, "Jesus saves his people from their sins." Luke tells us, "In his name alone is salvation." Paul tells us that he is "the captain of salvation."
We are willing to allow Jesus to be our Saviour - we talk about what he has done for us - giving up his life so that we might live. BUT - at the same time, we often pay only lip service to his 'lordship.' We hesitate to call him "Lord" - because that gives him authority over our lives. The world tells us that we need to be in control of our own life. You got to work hard if you want to get ahead in today's world - Self-help books tell us that we can do it all ourselves - We don't need anyone else.
Both Daniel and
The last verse of the gospel for Thanksgiving says, "Don’t worry about what to eat, or drink or wear. The gentiles strive for all these things." Look around you - don't people work harder and harder to make more and more - most of the people in the rat race give no more than a cursory glance at Jesus.
Many of them burn out trying to prove how much better they are than the next person - trying to get ahead of the pack. If they just let Jesus in And quit trying to do it all themselves - They wouldn’t have to work so hard.
The Thanksgiving gospel goes on to say, "Your
heavenly Father knows that you need these things, but strive first for the
God Is pictured as The Ancient of Days – the Alpha and Omega – pure and wise and holy. Jesus is pictured as a human – coming through the clouds – the one who was pierced – whose throne is a cross. He is the one who has been given dominion over everything.
Our earthly kingdoms will pass away
to make room for the
Please feel free to email me with comments at nan@doerrworks.com