A King Like No Other

Old Testament Lesson: Jeremiah 23: 1-6
Gospel Lesson: Luke 23: 33-43

Almost three weeks ago we had an election that once again has changed the balance of power of our government both nationally and locally. It was a joyous time for some and a time of anguish for others. Unfortunately this election once again proved that our country continues to be deeply divided. The campaigning was nasty on both sides. The between the various candidates were heightened in some cases to a fight between good and evil where each side demonized the other. In the end, the body of elected leadership reflects our national mood, a divided country that fears for our future. It seems that incivility rules the day as it has become more and more difficult for those who lead our cities, our state and our nation to work with each other. There has always been differences between political parties however fear and anger have caused splits within our civic groups and divisiveness have turned people against one another rather than working with each other. The people of our nation have scattered and been driven away like the sheep in the Jeremiah reading. However God promises to bring us together, but how?


This morning’s older testament reading begins with some rather harsh words from God to concerning the leadership of Judah. Using the word shepherd as the metaphor for king, God speaks words that the kings, princes and royal officials of Judah would rather not hear, “It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil ways…Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock.” (Jer. 23:2) At the time that the prophet Jeremiah wrote this text, the invasion of Judah by the Babylonians had just begun and many of the people were being sent to exile in Babylon. However, the prophet does not blame the economy, or the weather, or even that the Babylonians had better armies then the Judeans, the blame rests upon the shoulders of the leaders of the nation of Judah. Some note that Jeremiah is accusing leaders of abusing their power by serving their own interests rather than the best interests of their own people. Their power is God given, and God calls them first and foremost to look after the widow, the children, the alien, the poor of their nation, to do everything in their power to make sure all their people have what they need to live whole lives. Instead the leaders only looked out for themselves. So God who is always in power promises to push out of the way the leaders who caused the problems injustice in the first place and to bring about a new leadership whose sole interest is the reign of God. (1) Under this new order all the people will have what they need in order to live whole prosperous lives. That sounds nice to all of us hearing the scripture today, but we wonder, thousands of years later…has this happened yet? Today we struggle with a struggling economy, a lack of jobs, hunger, homelessness in our own neighborhoods and even war we wonder why we have shortages, shortages of jobs, food, fuel etc. But the question that God would ask us is this: are these shortages real or has God’s abundance simply been unevenly distributed?(2) Could the thirst for power and influence of a few be contributing to the underlying issues that cause inequity in the first place?

Today we celebrate the Reign of Christ, also known as “Christ the King Sunday.” But today’s gospel reading does not portray Jesus as what we would imagine to be a king. He is not adorned with a crown and jewels. He is not sitting upon a majestic throne surrounded by a court of princes, duchesses and knights nor is he at the head of a mighty army ready to conquer. Jesus, the one whom we call king is hanging on a cross in between two criminals. The leaders and soldiers are mocking him, daring him to save himself and come down off that cross. The only vestige of royalty is the inscription above Jesus’ head that reads, “This is the King of the Jews.” But then again, we do see Jesus acting with the authority of a true ruler. The rule of Jesus centers upon relationship through reconciliation and forgiveness. He pardons those who crucified him by saying, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” And He assures the criminal hanging next to him that he will be in paradise. What we see is Jesus ruling through the power of grace.

Throughout the gospel of Luke, we hear Jesus say, “The Kingdom of God is at Hand.” But what is this kingdom of God he keeps proclaiming. His followers thought that he was going to defeat the power of the Roman Government that occupied Israel while Jesus was on earth. But Jesus was not concerned with political power or military, rather he was concerned with liberation. He speaks, over and over again, about economic justice issues. He seeks to free the oppressed. He honors women, widows, and children. He challenges the social norms of his culture by associating himself with the rejected people in his society. He eats with sinners and touches the untouchable. Jesus makes the radical claim that it is not the powers and principalities that are in charge of the world, rather it is and always will be God. The only power that Jesus was serving was God’s power. The scary thing was that in serving God’s power, he ended up being hung on a cross and jeered by the leaders and soldiers who put him there. You see, when he preached about the kingdom of God, he was putting forth the radical claim that all people are children of God, all people are worthy and that all people deserve justice! This message is very threatening to a power structure such as the Roman Government that depended upon oppression and unjust policies to keep its hold on its power.

The kingdom of God is different from any kingdom we have known. It is where sharing by all means scarcity for none. Those who are meek are lifted up as the inheritors of the earth, all those who hunger are fed, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness are satisfied. Jesus was not seeking a revolution, but he was a revolutionary when he proclaimed that the kingdom of God is at hand. Through this bold statement he questioned those powers in his claim that God is for the oppressed and stands with the oppressed. The Roman Government hung Jesus on the cross because they thought he was provoking his followers to revolt against the government, but it this death sentence is what redeems us. Some believe that Christ redeems us by bearing through his death the burden of all our fears, and our hatred. This broken man forsaken, and reviled even by the criminal next to him, is the king whom we honor today. A king like no other.

The challenge for us as people of faith is to figure out how we are called to participate in the building of God’s realm with Christ as our King. How can we use Jesus’ example of leading which was centered relationship, forgiveness and reconciliation to bring all people back into right relationship with each other. The task seems insurmountable in this political climate. But we must remember what Jesus says throughout the Gospel of Luke, “what is impossible for people, is possible with God.” With God and prayerful discernment, we can take up the challenge to dialogue with each other. This may mean sitting down with someone whose political beliefs you might disagree with and truly listening to why they believe and from this conversation you both may find the common threads that bind all of us together. For instance, everyone agrees that we want to take care of our children. We want them to be housed, fed and well cared for. We want our children to be well educated and we all want to protect our children. This common thread can becomes a starting point for dialogue. Be prepared to agree to disagree on some issues. This isn’t about whose right and whose wrong, rather it is about working together to bring about a world where justice reigns. God sent Jesus to be the righteous branch of David to reign as king and deal wisely and execute justice and righteousness in the land through forgiveness and reconciliation. Let us continue to believe that the days are surely coming where we will reconcile with each other and continue the work of building the kingdom of God here and now. May it be so, Amen.

(1) Feasting on the Word
(2) Ibid.