Sermon for November 20, 2022 - Reign of Christ
Jeremiah 23:1-6; Psalm 46; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43
The Reign of Christ in the Kingdom of God
Growing up down south in the States, the idea of a monarchy or kingdom are relatively foreign concepts. I understand them, but I have no lived experience of living under a king or queen nor have I lived a country that is part of a larger dominion…that is until I moved here. Nevertheless, the feast day we celebrate today, the Reign of Christ, is meant to lift up and emphasize the theological concept of Christ as the King reigning over the Kingdom of God. Born out of Europe’s hard turn towards fascism, this day lifting up the reign of Christ in the Kingdom of God is meant to remind us of the supremacy of God. And while I may not have direct experience of living under a monarchy in a human kingdom, I have experienced and benefitted from the reign of Christ in the Kingdom of God.
There is in our gospel this morning an elegant statement, unfettered by embellishment of prose or exaggeration, glistening with empathy and compassion. The statement is profoundly poignant because of its context and circumstance, and it is known to be true simply because of the reputation and identity of the man who spoke it: “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” For a dying man, a convicted and confessed thief, these words uttered by the crucified Christ must have caused sheer unadulterated ecstasy; unspeakable joy.
Jesus’ last words to another human being before his death and resurrection were words of forgiveness congruent with the ministry of his short life. Jesus had spent his life teaching about the Kingdom of God, preaching liberation to the captives, and healing those who were sick and lame. Jesus’ miracles and teachings had so confounded the status quo of the elders, priests, and politicians that he was deemed a threat to their religion and their way of life. Jesus had challenged the unjust treatment of women, preached the need for patience with children, and accused the Pharisees and Sadducees of lacking good faith. His ministry had been controversial, powerful, and world altering, to the point that those whom he threatened condemned him to death by crucifixion.
Who among us is worthy of grace? We are more like the thieves who hung next to Jesus than we are like Jesus. I know I am. I do not have to look far into my past to see just how far I have fallen short; to see just how badly I have failed to be a follower of Jesus. I have sought and followed my own will, wants, and desires to disastrous ends. I have been lost in the darkness, desperately seeking someone to guide me. I have swum in the depths of sorrow and grief, crying out to God for help. I have ignored the pleas for help, from those asking for food or money, that I often readily have on hand. I have failed, over and over again in following Jesus, and each time God is right there by me, offering me a hand to get back up again. God is right there to warm my cold heart and remind me of my call to seek and serve Christ in all people. I have been washed in God’s grace, so that I can head back out there and try to fail a little better.
We do not know what happened to the thief who, rather than asking for mercy, spoke chiding words, challenging Jesus to show his might and power by saving himself and the criminals who surrounded him. Yet the grace of God, as revealed to us in the incarnate Jesus, is a word of forgiveness and deep, abiding love. It is hard for us to believe in the gracious God, in the forgiving God, in the God who would love us even when we disappoint, fail, and sin, over and over again.
Jesus’ stories of forgiveness are legendary. Jesus spent much of his ministry describing the Kingdom of God as having different rules and different expectations from the rules and laws and penalties of humanity. He said that the Kingdom of God is like the love freely given when a son foolishly asks his father for his inheritance, takes it, goes to a foreign land, and squanders all he has. Then, when the son comes to his senses and returns, hoping his father will forgive him, he is met with celebration, rejoicing, and jubilation because of the father’s great love and ability to forgive him.
Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a shepherd who cares so deeply for all his sheep that when one is lost, the shepherd goes in search of the lost and does not give up until the sheep is found. Jesus said the Kingdom of God is like a rich man who gives a party and when the other rich people are too busy for the party, the rich man throws open the invitation and invites the poor, the blind, the lame, and the sinner to come in and take their place at the table to feast.
Jesus spent more time talking about the Kingdom of God than any other topic or issue. Jesus’ act of forgiveness while dying on the cross resounds with his teachings that forgiveness is given to all who repent and believe, even condemned thieves during their own executions. That is the very definition of grace; unwarranted, and yet always freely given to us, time and again, if we are just willing to accept it. Throughout his journeys Jesus has tried to help us open our eyes to see God differently, to alter our stance of fear to one of joy, so that when we fail, which we will do, we are not afraid of our God, instead we turn to God to receive that gracious forgiveness that is a hallmark of the Reign of Christ in the Kingdom of God.
This kind of forgiveness is a challenging notion for many of us. Part of our inability to believe and trust the forgiving power of God’s grace and mercy is our inability to believe that other people deserve mercy. We want to judge who God lets into heaven. Many of us are far more comfortable not knowing what happened to the thief who scoffed at Jesus than knowing that an undeserving thief was let into paradise. We would rather have had Jesus say that God loves the people we like and the people we say we are like, and that God does not love the people who we do not like and the people we say are not like us. We would probably prefer if God did not love the murderers, the addicts, the adulterers, the thieves, the prostitutes, the rebellious teenagers, and the disgruntled employees. We would prefer it if paradise were exclusively for the nice people, the clean people, the polite people, the well-behaved people, the right people.
As Christians, we have a confessional faith, not because we are weak, but because God is strong and God is love. We have a confessional faith because the grace of God is sufficient for all. There is grace for us and for the people we do not like. We have a confessional faith because God is our refuge and our strength. We confess because God will hear and forgive our sins and their sins too. Our salvation is not dependent upon me, your priest, or the Bishop, or even each other, but on a loving, grace-giving God. We confess because God’s saving grace will heal, restore, redeem, and forgive those who God has created and who God loves fiercely. How do I know this? Because I experience it every day. I have been wounded, blind, lost, and I have failed more times than I can count, and yet here I am, confident that despite my failings God still loves me. God has always loved me. God will always love me…fiercely.
All have sinned and fallen short; all have frustrated and disappointed God. God so loved the entire world that whosoever, whosoever believes shall get all the grace that God has to give. Thank God that God gives grace and that we do not. This is what the reign of Christ looks like in the Kingdom of God, where we are active reflections of that radical love and grace of God as we have come to see and know through Jesus, so that others in our world can see that love and grace as well. And maybe, just maybe they will be brought into closer relationship with God.
Jesus spent his entire ministry teaching and preaching about the Kingdom of God. One of Jesus’ last forgiving acts on earth was to proclaim that a repentant sinner would be with him that day in heaven. That is good news for me and you. Thanks be to God!
