Who is in charge here?

Christ the King - November 25, 2007

The Rev. Kenneth R. Elkin

Pick a disaster, any disaster:

hurricane, flood,

disabled child wandering away,

vehicle on slippery roads,

careless hunting, cancer,

mine cave-in, earthquake, fire...

and very soon someone will come up with the big question: “Who's in charge?

Pick a disaster, any disaster, and there will be a predictable list of proposed answers to the question:

Me, no one, Satan, a vindictive God...

these are the usual answers.

And none of them are adequate to the job.

For awhile perhaps we may fool ourselves into thinking that we're in charge of things.

We can construct our own little castle and insulate ourselves from everything evil, and then a Sana Anna wind and a spark get together, and a roaring fire consumes those things for which we have struggled so hard.

And our power is so puny against that fire.

In dismay we cry out that no one is in charge, that life is just a series of awful things, each more miserable until the last, when it is all over.

Or alternatively, that Satan is the one in charge of this life, the one who enjoys making us miserable, the one who feeds on our dismay and revels in our helplessness.

That may be the way it looks, especially on the gray days, but that is not the truth of the situation, our lessons proclaim to us this day.

Christ is King, we hear in scripture and hymn.

Jeremiah speaks of the righteous Branch who will come forth from David, the one who will do things rightly, unlike the others in David's line who were false shepherds scattering the flock instead of tending it.

The writer of Colossians proclaims that Christ is the one in whom all things hold together, all things make sense.

And we have trouble seeing that, understanding that.

Then there is that gospel passage from the middle of the Passion story, where the soldiers mock Jesus,

If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.

And the ironic sign placed on the cross, the sign that means to be a joke but proclaims the truth: This is the King of the Jews.

In spite of the jeering crowd, Jesus promises the one thief executed next to him: Today you will be with me in Paradise.

God is up to something that the world does not expect or understand.

Who is in charge of this whole business, anyway?

Is it Christ Jesus, or something or someone else?

There have always been challenges to Jesus.

Let's return to the 1^st Sunday in Lent when we hear each year the story of Jesus' temptation by Satan in the wilderness.

Satan goes after the important issues:

1 urging Jesus to change the stones into bread, to take care of his food needs.

2 then Satan shows him all the kingdoms of the world, and offers him power over them all.

3 tempting Jesus to throw himself off of the high point of the temple so that God will demonstrate his protection.

Satan says, Grab all you can, and I'll help you do it; you owe it to yourself.

It is a line that would fit right into many an inventive advertising campaign these days too!

But Jesus turns Satan away, and Luke concludes the scene: So Satan left him until an opportune time.

So now at the cross, Satan is back for another round, wearing a different disguise, but working the same temptations.

1 As Christ is on the cross, he is offered some sour wine, in effect saying, Here, you can make this into something good for yourself.

2 The jeering of the mob serves as a temptation to personal power: Come on, act like a king!

3 and add the temptation to safety: ...save yourself!

We can recognize that the temptations are the same: food, personal power, and safety

And once more Jesus turns away from Satan's tricks, refusing to be concerned only about himself and his prerogatives as King of creation.

Do we need this kind of king, filled with restraint from grabbing things for himself, and instead loving us to life?

Yes, always, yes!

This Day of Christ the King is a newcomer to the church's calendar, added in the 1920s and coming to us Lutherans in the 1970s.

In the 1920's, Mussolini with his delusions of grandeur was running Italy, the Nazi party was growing in popularity in Germany, the world's economies were on a giddy rush of speculation that would lead to the great depression.

And the church has needed to proclaim, then and now, that in spite of the times when we feel powerless and tossed about by every force,

and in spite of the times when we imagine ourselves more powerful than we should,

it is Christ Jesus who is ultimately in charge.

It seems that among our number it is politicians who are particularly prone to a disease of forgetfulness in this mater.

And there are disastrous consequences of that forgetfulness in the lives of politicians and in all the rest of us.

The kingdoms of this world totter and sway. Nevertheless,one kingdom endures.

Plans for human betterment rise and dribble off to nothing. Nevertheless, humanity is not without hope.

Disaster in one of its thousand forms strikes, nevertheless,we are comforted by knowing the end result of this creation.

Acknowledging Christ as King is God's great neverthelessto the pretended powers that think they rule us, and to the disasters that try to destroy us.

They shall not win.

In Christ the King we have the right kind of champion, the one who is truly “for” us.

So as we live and make our decisions day by day, which voice will we heed?

“Grab what you can, as fast as you can...”

“Love one another as I have loved you.”

“Save yourself”

“The Lord who vindicates me is near.”

“Who is my neighbor?”

“All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. Go therefore into all the world and make disciples, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.

“Look our for #1, the only one.”

“Today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Any other voice

Christ the King.

As we turn to him with joy,

what else can we do but sing:

How shall we praise you, Christ our Lord

For holy life and blood outpoured?

Who else assumed our debt and death?

Who else deserves our trust and faith?

AMEN

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.