King of Glory, King of Peace

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Jersey City NJ

November 24, 2013

Year C: The Last Sunday after Pentecost – Christ the King

Jeremiah 23:1-6

Canticle 16

Colossians 1:11-20

Luke 23:33-43

King of Glory, King of Peace

            Well, today we’ve reached the last Sunday – the 27^th if you’ve been keeping track – the last Sunday in the long season after Pentecost, the last Sunday of the church year. Next Sunday a whole new church year begins on the First Sunday of Advent. But, today we celebrate Christ the King.

            Thinking about the image of Christ the King reminded me of a much-loved poem by the great Anglican priest-poet George Herbert. The poem begins:           

            “King of Glory, King of peace, I will love thee…”

            That’s a beautiful description of Jesus, isn’t it?

            “King of glory, King of peace.”

            And, today, on this last Sunday of the church year, we celebrate Christ, the King of glory.

            Today we celebrate Christ, the King of peace.

            And, sure enough, today’s lessons give us powerful glimpses into the glory and peace of Christ’s kingship.

            This morning, in place of the psalm, we sang the Canticle of Zechariah, this beautiful song from the Gospel of Luke sung by the priest Zechariah to his son John the Baptist. Singing about the birth of Jesus, Zechariah exults:

            “Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel; he has come to his people and set them free. He has raised up for us a mighty savior, born of the house of his servant David.”

            Zechariah sings with joy about the birth of the messiah, the birth of the King of glory – and he sings with joy about the role that his son, John, will play as the “Prophet of the Most High,” going before the Lord to prepare his way.

            Jesus, the King of glory. And, John the Baptist, his prophet.

            In today’s second lesson, the author of the Letter to the Colossians shares this absolutely beautiful, amazing, profound hymn about Christ, the King of glory. Listen again:

            “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers and powers – all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

            Jesus, the King of glory.

            At the heart of Christianity is the belief, the conviction, that this glorious figure in whom all things hold together has come and lived among us.

            In and through Jesus, God gave up the distance, bridged the gap between God and humanity, and became one of us. So, now, God has firsthand experience of what it’s like to be a human being. God knows what it’s like to be a real flesh and blood human being just like us – a human being with fear and hope and love.

            The image of the invisible God was born a flesh and blood human being just like us - born in an out of the way place to a couple of nobodies in the humblest of circumstances.

            And for two thousand years now, we Christians have retold the story – retold the stories - of this King of glory who lived among us.

            We retell the stories of Jesus the King of glory, reaching out to the most despised and the most outcast, opening the eyes of the blind, healing the lepers; raising the dead; hanging out with the kinds of people that he really shouldn’t have been hanging out with; feeding thousands with just a few loaves and a handful of fish; pointing out the hypocrisy of religious people; proclaiming that God’s kingdom has arrived – God’s kingdom where the poor are blessed, where the hungry are filled and where the mourners laugh.

            For two thousand years we’ve retold the story – the stories - of this King of glory, who lived, and taught, and healed among us.

            And, for two thousand years we’ve retold the horrifying story of this King of glory brutally killed by human beings – killed by men and women not so different from us.

            We’ve insisted that in and through Jesus, God really experiences, really knows what it’s like to be betrayed, to be abandoned, to bleed, to gasp for breath, and, finally, to die.

            And, so, today on this last Sunday of the church year, today on the Feast of Christ the King, the Church offers us once again the familiar yet forever  heartbreaking story of the Crucifixion.

            It’s here, - it’s here on the Cross - that Jesus most clearly reveals himself to be not only the King of glory but also the King of peace.

            Try to imagine the scene.

            There were probably lots of people around and probably many more than Jesus and the two criminals being crucified that day. Imagine the noise, as the leaders and the soldiers taunt Jesus, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself!”

            Imagine the cries of anguish from family and friends as they watch those they love writhe in agony and cry out in pain – the agony and pain of crucifixion that could last for days.

            And in the midst of all this suffering – in the midst of all this evil and sin – in the midst of all this despair, there hangs the King of peace.

            And what does he do? Jesus, the king of peace, offers forgiveness even though no one has asked for it. “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”

            In the midst of all this pain, one of the criminals begs Jesus, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom.”

            And Jesus, the king of peace, replies, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

            King of glory, King of peace.

            These are old, old stories.

            What does any of this have to do with us, here today?

            Well, as one church year ends, and as another is about to begin, we are reminded that we are loved.
            God could have just left us to wallow in our brokenness and sin, but instead God loves us enough to bridge the gap between God and us. In and through Jesus, God joins us in our messy, flesh and blood human life.

            God loves us enough to show us, in and through Jesus, what God is really like.

            God loves us enough to take pretty much the worst that we can dish out: indifference, rejection, mockery, and, finally, murder.

            And, Easter proves once and for all that God loves us enough that God never gives up on us, never lets go of us – not at the grave, not ever.

            As one church year ends, and as another is about to begin, we are reminded that God really knows what it’s like to be a flesh and blood human being.

            So, when we’re struggling and frightened, when we’re worried about our future or the future of those we love; when we’re disappointed in our lives, in ourselves, in the people around us; when we’re betrayed by the people we count on, the people closest to us; when God feels absent and we lose hope – when we’re struggling and frightened, God knows what all of that is like because, in and through Jesus, God’s been there – God’s been here – God is here.

            Now, we’re about to continue our journey.

            Next Sunday, we’ll begin Advent. We’ll look back to the birth of the King of glory and King of peace two thousand years ago in an out of the way place to a couple of nobodies in the humblest of circumstances.

            And we’ll look ahead to the last day, the day when the King of glory and King of peace will return - and God’s kingdom will be complete.

            We continue our human journey knowing, thanks to Jesus, that God loves us enough to bridge the gap between us, to be with us, to take the worst we have to offer, and yet still love us – and still save us.

            So, especially today on the Feast of Christ the King we should join with the great Anglican priest-poet George Herbert and say, “King of glory, King of peace, I will love thee…”

            Amen.