What Kind of King? Luke 23:33-43 Dr. Christopher C. F. Chapman First Baptist Church, Raleigh November 24, 2013

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1 What Kind of King? Luke 23:33-43 Dr. Christopher C. F. Chapman First Baptist Church, Raleigh November 24, 2013 Today is the last Sunday in the Christian year, Christ the King or The Reign of Christ it is called. On this day we are invited to reflect upon the accomplishments of Jesus, to consider the way he concluded his ministry and to ask the question if Christ is king, just what kind of king is he? As we begin our reflection, I thought I might share a comparison someone has made between Jesus and another king whose name was Elvis. Jesus said, Love thy neighbor. Elvis said, Don t be cruel. Jesus is the Lord s shepherd. Elvis dated Cybill Shepherd. Jesus was part of the Trinity. Elvis first band was a trio. Jesus walked on water. Elvis surfed. Jesus was resurrected. There have been many Elvis sightings. Jesus said, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. Elvis said, Drinks on me. Jesus countenance was like lightening, his raiment white as snow. Elvis wore snow-white jumpsuits with lightning bolts. 1

2 Jesus lived in a state of grace in a Near Eastern Land. Elvis lived in Graceland in a nearly eastern state. Jesus was the Lamb of God. Elvis had mutton chop sideburns. Jesus Father is everywhere. Elvis father was a drifter, and moved around quite a bit. Jesus was a carpenter. Elvis favorite high school class was woodshop. Jesus said, Man does not live by bread alone. Elis liked his sandwiches with peanut butter and bananas. Admittedly it is an undignified comparison, at least outside the state of Tennessee, but this is precisely why I share it today, or at least part of why I share it. There are many more dignified images of Jesus that we need to claim in the church but I m not sure we can ever hear the biblical message of this day if we begin in too dignified a mode. For as we see throughout the New Testament and certainly in today s reading from Luke, Jesus turns upside down all of the more dignified expectations of Messiah and chooses his own, less dignified way. The children of Israel expect a king like David who rules in power, but Jesus speaks of suffering and death, much to the consternation of his own disciples. The nation expects a dignified Messiah who leads people and commands armies, but Jesus bends down and washes the feet of his disciples like a common house servant. Everyone seems to want a kingly king, a manly man, who cares about his subjects and is willing to use force when necessary, but Jesus chooses the way of the cross. This is not dignified stuff! Jesus is not the expected king! He may be a king but what kind of king is he and exactly how does he rule? Jeremiah predicts that the days will come when God will raise up a king who will reign wisely, execute justice and righteousness in the land. These words certainly apply to Jesus. They provide a glimpse of the 2

3 future realized in him. He is wise. He brings justice and models the way of righteousness. Colossians describes Jesus as an agent of creation, redeemer, head of the church, reconciler of all things. These words also apply to Jesus. They offer a summary of his work, a way of looking back at all he accomplishes. He brings salvation, forgiveness of sins, hope for eternal life. But Luke offers a present-tense view of Jesus reign. It is the clearest picture of all, yet also the most disturbing. What kind of king is Jesus? Here is Luke s answer. He is the one who reigns from a place called The Skull, whose throne is a cross. He is the king who is scoffed at by others, mocked, beaten, abused. He is the king who chooses to suffer and die, to sacrifice his own life as a means of obtaining life for others. He is the king who, even in the midst of suffering, offers forgiveness to those who harm him and extends mercy to a convicted criminal at his side. Jesus may be a king, but making sense of how he rules and why can be a challenging enterprise. For starters, let s consider the big picture. According to Luke and all the other Gospels, Jesus is a king who dies on a cross. He does this intentionally, not by accident or as a kind of failure to anticipate how the powers of his world will respond to him. He willingly gives his life for others, not just his death, and then he dies, for others, however we understand atonement. Further, not only does Jesus sacrifice himself; he invites others to follow in the path of self-giving love. Why does he do this? Why doesn t he lead like any other king? Because the object of his reign has to do with the heart and the heart cannot be ruled by force. There are things that can be taken by force land, power, control, wealth. There are things we can coerce people to do whether they want to or not. But there are things we cannot take by force or coerce. Loyalty, trust, faith, love these are matters of the heart, and as such, they cannot be forced or coerced; and as it turns out, they are the things God cares about most. Thus, as Jesus seeks to claim our loyalty, trust, faith and love, traditional means of ruling will not work; and as he calls us to make these ways of the heart the driving force in our lives, he points us in the direction of habits that will enable us to do so, habits of sacrifice and self-giving love. 3

4 This is powerful stuff. Think about it. In our relationship with God, which would inspire a deeper sense of love and fidelity - a God who conquers through force and demands our loyalty, or a God who takes on human form, lives among us, teaches and heals and sacrifices life for us? In our relationships with others, which pattern of life would compel us to take note and change - a pattern of force and demand, threatening consequences if we do not change, or a pattern of self-giving love and sacrifice, wishing the best for us and acting in our best interest? Real power is not found in weaponry and formal authority. Real power is found in the capacity to inspire faith, hope and love. I realize this may sound like a bunch of religious mumbo jumbo. Ruling through self-giving love may appear to be the epitome of naiveté. And yet, it is the persistent claim of our faith that genuine strength is revealed in weakness, God s foolishness is greater than human wisdom, true power is found in the ability to sway the heart. Practically speaking, we may be willing to follow into a battle a leader who demands loyalty and threatens punishment, should we betray that loyalty; follow that leader as long as the demands and threats are still in place. But a leader who sacrifices for us, leaves us free to choose the object of our loyalty, loves us enough to die for us, we will follow until the end of time and beyond. There is no greater love than to lay down one s life for one s friends and there is no greater power than the ability to sway the heart through sacrificial love. Consider the example of many a loving spouse who has given up life as he/she knew it to care for a spouse with a severe disability, illness or dementia, or parents we know who have done the very same thing for their children. One man I knew in Richmond looked after his wife for nearly twenty years while she slowly died from Alzheimer s Disease. He refused to accept help other than a few moments of respite care near the end, refused to place her in a home, even when such a placement might have been in everyone s best interest, because he had taken a vow, years before, something about in sickness and in health. He loved her too much. His place was at her side. He gave up his life for her. That is powerful stuff! It s the way of sacrifice and self-giving. It s the way of the cross, the way Jesus claims us and calls us to live. 4

5 Jesus is the kind of king who rules through sacrificial love. He is also the kind of king who offers forgiveness to everyone. In the Sermon on the Mount he tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. In his example of prayer, he instructs us to pray, Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. When Peter asks him how many times he should forgive someone who sins against him, Jesus says, Seven times seventy. He forgives the sins of a paralytic. He refuses to condemn the woman caught in adultery and thus offers her forgiveness. And in today s reading from Luke, he asks forgiveness for the very people who are putting him to death, saying, Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. Interestingly, this last expression of forgiveness seemed to have been a bit too much for some in the early church because it is not in some ancient manuscripts. When there is such a discrepancy, we don t know whether a scribe added a word or verse, or took out a verse. In this case we think the verse is original. Why would anyone add it? What makes sense is that some early believers could not come to terms with Jesus offering forgiveness to the very people who were putting him to death. It s one thing to practice forgiveness, and Jesus clearly was incredibly generous in offering this gift, but this was going too far! And yet, this is exactly what Jesus does. Father, forgive them; he says from the cross, for they do not know what they are doing. Why does he do this? Why is forgiveness such a central part of his ministry? Why does he go to such a radical extreme with his offers? Because we need forgiveness so desperately! It s not just that standing before God we need forgiveness, though we do, for all of our sins of commission and omission; for things we have done which cheapen our character and things we have left undone in the ways of love. We all need forgiveness from our Maker. As Will Campbell once said, We are all so-and-so s Well, he didn t say, So-and-so s We are all so-and-so s, but God loves us anyway. This is part of what the cross is about and part of how Jesus reigns in our hearts, by paving a way to healing and wholeness through forgiveness. But while we need the forgiveness of our Maker, we also need the forgiveness of one another and we need to practice forgiveness when we 5

6 have been hurt. Holding on to feelings of anger and guilt is about the most destructive pursuit imaginable for any individual and the most divisive behavior for any relationship or community. We all hurt others and experience hurt. We can try to move on without forgiveness and pretend we are O.K. but deep down we know we are not. The only way to experience healing is to practice forgiveness. On an individual level, I think of people like Grady Nutt who held on to anger toward his father for his abusiveness and never found a way to express his feelings to him while he was living and his father never asked for forgiveness. So, Grady was deeply burdened until a therapist suggested that he go to his father s grave and let him have it! He did, and the experience was therapeutic; he let out his anger and expressed forgiveness; but he could never express these emotions to his father and experience the incredible gift of reconciliation, at least not in this life. I also think of people who have not waited too long to deal with differences like his - children who have reconciled with parents before it was too late, former friends or spouses who have forgiven each other, fellow church members who have found a way to reconcile differences. It is not an easy path, but it as rewarding a path as we will ever walk. On a communal level, I think of the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa. People who were abducted and tortured, people who had loved ones attacked, maimed and killed found a way to forgive those who harmed them or their loved ones. It was not an easy path. Forgiveness was not cheap. Responsibility and accountability had to be involved. Truth had to accompany forgiveness for reconciliation to take place. Yet, amazingly it did. How could people do this? Desmond Tutu said many were Christians and claimed to follow a rabbi who, when he was crucified, said, Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. He went on to say that forgiveness is not some nebulous thing. It is practical politics. Retributive justice is a path that leads nowhere. Forgiveness is the only way forward. (The Sunflower, 266-8) Indeed! Forgiveness is the only way forward. Like self-giving love, it is a powerful force. It is a force Jesus employs because he knows just how critical it is. 6

7 Jesus is the kind of king who rules through sacrifice and selfgiving love and by offering forgiveness to all! Then, he is the kind of king who welcomes the outcasts of all times and places. After he asks forgiveness for his executioners, there is a fascinating dialogue with the two criminals who are being crucified with him. One mocks him and says that, if he really is some kind of Messiah, he should save himself and his companions. But the other wonders whether this man fears God. We are both guilty, he says, but this man (Jesus) is not. Then, he says to Jesus, Remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus replies, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise. Surely some in the early church, and many in the contemporary church, think Jesus is going too far with this word of holy welcome. As with the matter of forgiveness, Jesus is on record as being pretty liberal with his willingness to welcome the marginalized. Women and children, Gentiles and lepers, tax collectors and prostitutes over and over again he welcomes known sinners and those thought to be beneath him and unworthy of a place in the covenant community. He s a bit like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer insisting that Santa go to the Island of Misfit toys before they venture out on Christmas Eve. As Rudolph finds a home for toys which have been rejected for one reason or another, Jesus finds a way to welcome home to God s love people who have been rejected and, as a result, all of God s children have an opportunity to return home. All of this is wonderful, it means that we have a place in God s reign, but isn t Jesus going too far with this final word of welcome to a convicted criminal? It is not for us to say. Jesus dies precisely as he lives - sacrificing for others, offering forgiveness to all, and welcoming those others leave out. Our responsibility, once we realize how it is that we have been included in God s love, is to be as loving in the way we treat others, especially those who live at the margins in our day. I think of the Roma People in Romania and other parts of Europe, Gypsies as they are called by others but the origins of this term make it a racial slur. They are people who have been isolated and rejected because of their history and ethnicity. Project Ruth, a ministry centered in Bucharest and affiliated with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, 7

8 ministers to these people, teaches them about a man named Jesus and the kind of community he makes possible where everyone is included, and in the process helps them to find a home in this world and the next. Who are the Roma People of our culture, not just the wanderers without a home, immigrants perhaps, but all who have been told they don t matter, they don t count, they don t belong? They are the people to whom Jesus would say, Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise. And if this is Jesus word to them, it seems pretty clear what our word should be. But enough about Jesus, back to Elvis for a moment... Dana s grandmother was a church organist, a respectable lady living in a more subdued time, mostly in Tennessee and Kentucky. This explains why she kept a part of her life hidden, even from her family, all of her life. Only after her death did they find, hidden in the back of her closet, what could only be described as a shrine to Elvis pictures, articles, artifacts. She loved Elvis but wondered what others would think of this love. Sometimes our fondness for another king functions this way. We love Jesus but sometimes we wonder what others will think of this love, especially if we understand what kind of king he is. His reign is in our hearts and the way he rules is to give up his own life and ask us to do the same for each other, to offer us forgiveness and call us to forgive each other, to welcome everyone, especially the outcasts, including so-andso s like us. What will others think of our king? I don t know. Maybe they will love him too, if we will let our love for him out of the closet! 8