The Way of Faith: Patience-Joy-Thanks
If you were playing Pictionary and asked to draw a king, what would you draw? I’m not a great artist but I’d probably start with a crown on a stick figure and if no one could guess it, I’d try to draw a scepter or a robe. These are the traditional images of a king signifying power and might. But that’s not the image we get in our Gospel.
The Gospel of Luke begins with the story of Jesus coming to us as a little baby with flesh on. Oh, his mother and Joseph must have wondered and rejoiced when angel messengers proclaimed his birth and shepherds stopped in to see him in the manger. Who was this but the Messiah, the King of the Universe, God with flesh on, who came to earth. But then, when Mary and Joseph brought their precious baby to the temple as was the custom and the law, and the priest Simeon warned Mary that her heart would be broken…did they try to put that warning out of their minds? Were they in denial that such a beautiful baby could ever break his mother’s heart?
Today’s Gospel shows that Simeon’s prophecy came true. Of course Mary’s heart was broken as she watched her son, God’s son, stripped of his clothes with a crown of thorns jabbed into his head, hung on a cross in humiliation. A sign was placed over his head and he was mockingly proclaimed king of the Jews by Roman soldiers. It would have been reasonable for Jesus to be angry, to call fire down from heaven, to smite those nasty soldiers. And yet, what does Jesus do? He asks for mercy for them and proclaims God’s kingdom, paradise, for the bandit beside him who believes in him.
Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, takes on our flesh and blood and experiences pain, suffering and humiliation and yet he responds with forgiveness, love and mercy.
Jesus Christ not only experienced pain in his life but also knows your pain, your suffering and the dark days – and nights that you face. And, knowing the darkness of our lives, Jesus meets us there, in the darkness, and brings us out of darkness into light.
That is why we, like the Colossians that Paul writes to, can dare to have hope, can strive to have patience, and can give thanks to God even when we are in pain and our hearts are broken.
I know that many of your hearts have been broken after the accident that hurt Dave and Eleanor Bjorkquist on November 1st. My heart was broken too. In the blink of an eye, hopes, dreams and expectations can be shattered. Such is the world we live in. That night, we feared that we would lose David. So many of his bones were broken. Eleanor had fewer bones broken but the head injury she received was serious.
Over the last few weeks, many of you have watched the Caring Bridge site for updates, praying for not one but two miracles. Paul’s words to the Colossians was our prayer: “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father.” We prayed for strength, endurance, patience for Dave and Eleanor, the whole family and also for ourselves. And we gave thanks as over the weeks David successfully came out of not just one but six different surgeries.
I’ll admit that it is hard to give thanks in the midst of pain and suffering. But I was reminded by one of the family members of Eleanor’s favorite verse: “This is the day that the Lord has made. Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” So that became the verse that we repeated again and again over the last few weeks – always giving thanks even as our hearts were breaking as it became clear that Eleanor would be joining the saints in heaven.
Bad things happen in everyone’s life, in every one’s family. Everyone who has ever loved anyone will grieve. I was reminded, again, that our bodies are made amazingly resilient, limbs can mend and skin and organs can heal. Doctors are able to do so much more than they ever could before. Medicine is a gift from God. But…for all of our medical advances, we are also so very fragile and mortal.
So while bad things happen in everyone’s life, in everyone’s family, I was reminded, as I walked with this faithful family that it is because of our faith that we are able to proclaim, even as our hearts were breaking: “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”.
Jesus Christ has claimed Eleanor as one of the saints in light, the saints of heaven. And the promise of being a part of the saints in light is also your inheritance. As Paul writes to the Colossians, so he writes to us: “God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son.”
You baptized child of God, God has claimed you as his own, a sister or a brother to Jesus Christ, the King of the Universe. This is why, in the midst of broken hearts and broken lives, even when the darkness of the world’s hurt seems to encroach upon our very lives, we can still sing. We can still be thankful because we know that Jesus Christ the King of the Universe forgives us, has mercy on us, loves us and brings us out of darkness into the light.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, “May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Pastor Pam Stalheim Lane
Faith-Lilac Way Lutheran Church
Christ the King Sunday
November 23, 2019