Christ the King

November 25 - Christ the King

Today is the last Sunday in the season of Pentecost.

Do you remember how it all started?

A bunch of frightened people in a room.People in mourning.

People who had lost their leader and with him their sense of direction.

And then, an outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the giving of gifts 

that would empower them and us

To create the Church, to make the dream of God come true.

The strength, the courage, the faith needed to build the kingdom of God.

What a glorious beginning.

26 weeks have gone by in the liturgical calendar,

As we remember Jesus teachings and wondrous acts of healing.

Two thousand years in which the people of God have gathered, and remembered, and shared, and worked, and prayed.

Today, once again, we celebrate the glorious King of the realm of Shalom,

the land of peace and justice and mercy, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

It is unfortunate that all in all

we are pretty much the same bunch of frightened people,

and the dream of God is still a dream.

I am not saying that we haven’t done anything.

I am not saying that we, in this very community,

haven’t prayed, and studied, and served,

and connected with others in a variety of ways.

I am not saying that we have dropped the ball entirely.

I mean, there is quite a lot to celebrate today in this community.

Between the day of Pentecost and today,

some of our children were baptized and other confirmed,

some of our senior members were gently laid to rest

in the arms of their celestial parent,

we have met to sing, to pray, to worship,

we have shared food, and laughter, and love.

And yet, as we pat ourselves and each other on the back

for a job well done – as we should –

we must be aware that we are still not there yet.

The world is still a mess.

People are still starving. Bombs are still being dropped.

Little girls are still not allowed into schools.

And we are still putting many other things and people

above God in our priority lists.

I hate to use a cliché

but if Jesus were to come in glory right here, right now,

I am afraid he wouldn’t be too impressed.

And we have worked hard.

We have given time, talent, and treasure to support the community;

we have tried to be less passive aggressive with our coworkers,

to be kinder with our dysfunctional family members,

and more welcoming of the strangers in our lives.

I know we have, because I have a bagful of success stories

accumulated in this season of Pentecost

at All Saints' Episcopal Church and Day School.

And yet….

Imagine a place where there is enough for everyone.
Enough of what? you ask?
Enough of everything.
Enough food for the hungry, enough compassion for the brokenhearted,

enough money, enough homes, enough moms and dads, and children,

enough medicine for the sick, enough shoes for people like me who love shoes,

enough music for the dancers and enough silence for the readers.

Enough.

Imagine a place where everyone gets along perfectly well with everybody else,

because where there is enough there is no need for envy, for fear,

no need to steal, to cheat, to slander, to threaten.
Imagine a place where everyone is content.

Happy even. Pretty, eh?
No, no that is not in fact Licialand where the sun always shines.

That’s Jesus.

That’s what Jesus wants. What Jesus represents.

What Jesus is pointing the finger to and saying let’s go there. Let’s all go there.

Now look at the world around you.

The one where there isn’t enough.

Not enough money, not enough power, not enough cake to go around.

The one where dog eats dog and fast, before a bigger dog comes.

The one where we need to know exactly who everyone around us is,

who is to be feared and who is to be served, and who is to be left alone 

and who is to be despised.
The world where we need large labels for everything to show

what is mine, what is yours, and what is for the taking.

That’s Pontius Pilate.

Pilate lives in a world like that.

Pilate who asks ten times the same question:

are you a king? Are you the King of the Jews?

Tell me now, because if you are a king and you can show me

that you are bigger and better than the roman emperor,

more powerful than Cesar –I can bow to you, accept you as my king, 

and even ask you for a job –

If not, I can destroy you as a threat to Rome and to everything it stands for.
Go ahead, make my day.

That, that Kingdom where Pilate lives in fear,

is still - in spite of all our efforts –

much closer to our reality than the other place,

the one that God envisions for us.

Therefore my brothers and sisters,

today, one week before the beginning of a new year in the Christian Church,

on the day in which we celebrate and renew our commitment to our life together as the community of the faithful today I invite you to continue to dream with God

of a world where there is enough for everyone

and to continue to pray, to serve, to love that world into existence.

Together.

Amen