November 20, 2022 Pastor Pamela Stalheim Lane
Did you know that Christ the King Sunday has been around for a little less than a hundred years? Pope Pius the 11th began the tradition in 1925. Extreme Nationalism was on the rise. Kings and would be kings and emperors were becoming more authoritarian and making greater claims of power for themselves. And, people were following them and believing the hatred – even though it divided them. Christian leaders agreed with Pope Pius the 11th. It was a good time to remind Christians: Christ is King – above all others. Almost a hundred years later, with extreme Nationalism and Populism on the rise, we could stand to be reminded: Christ is King – and all others are not.
Although it’s a relatively new celebration on the church’s calendar, proclaiming Christ as King is not new. Our lesson from Colossians quotes an early church hymn which reaches back to the beginning of time calling Christ the first born of all creation and the one in and through whom all things were made. We proclaim God in Christ as powerful and mighty with dominion – authority – over the whole world.
And yet it is this very powerful, mighty cosmic God who was willing to “reconcile himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven by making peace through the blood of his cross.”
That is where we find Jesus in today’s Gospel – on the cross.
Sometimes I think we forget how radical this really is. To have a King whom we proclaim as Lord of all and possessing all power and might – submit to being brutally killed by being nailed to a cross to reconcile the world to God goes beyond our understanding.
The leaders of the crowd didn’t understand and so they mocked Jesus, saying, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!” The soldiers also mocked him saying, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!” Even one of the criminals chimed in – Save yourself and us! Their image of a king was one who would fight for himself and for the people with great force and big armies. A king would certainly use his power to save himself. Wouldn’t he?
Our culture is no different. The super heroes in Marvel Movies use their special powers to fight the bad guys, and rescue themselves and their friends and forcibly restore order to the land.
But this is not the way of Jesus. Remember, when he was tempted by Satan to use his power in this way, Jesus refused. And when urged by his own disciples to fight in Garden of Gethsemane rather than let himself be arrested, Jesus said, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels?” Matthew 26:53 But this is not how Jesus chose to use his power. This is not the kind of King and Savior that Jesus came to earth to be. Jesus refused to save himself – because he came to save us instead.
Throughout his ministry Jesus used his power to feed people, to heal the sick and restore people to wholeness. Jesus used his power to bring joy to a wedding and restore life to a little girl and Lazarus. He taught with authority, told stories to help people understand and proclaimed the coming of God’s kingdom.
God’s kingdom comes - but not with force or power or might. God’s kingdom comes through the gift of love. This is the way of Jesus. Jesus chose to use the power of love instead of the power of might. Love is not necessarily easier. In fact, it is often much harder – but Love is much stronger. Love endures.
Anthony Ray Hinton discovered that the hard way. Growing up poor and black in Alabama in the late 70s, life was not easy for him or his mother. But even though he was poor, made some mistakes and experienced some hard times, he would have said that his life was good. He loved Jesus, his girlfriend, his mother, and church barbeques. His life seemed to be going the right way -- until someone identified him out of a police lineup as a murderer. He was innocent. He even had an alibi. But… because of that misidentification, having too little money to hire a good attorney and, frankly, racism, Hinton ended up on death row. He gave up on God who he thought had abandoned him. He found it hard to believe in a Savior who would let him be treated so horribly and unfairly. He threw his bible under his bed in his cell and refused to talk with God – or anyone other than his mother and best friend who visited him faithfully every week.
But then one night, one of the men in a cell near him began to pray a loud lament: “O God. Help me, God.” His cries were so loud it was impossible to sleep. Finally, Ray broke down and asked him what was wrong. The man just found out that his mother had died. Ray said, “I wasn’t expecting to have my heart break that night…. But he realized “I was born with the same gift from God we are all born with – the impulse to reach out and lesson the suffering of another human being. It was a gift, and we each had a choice of whether to use this gift or not.” That is when Ray realized, “Everything is a choice.” He decided that night that he was going to choose to live a life of love and not of hate. He was going to choose the way his mother had taught him – and that was the way of Jesus…even on death row. 1(p148)
His life changed. He was still on death row. But he got his Bible out from under his bed and he talked with Jesus and he talked with his neighbors – his cell mates and with the guards. He decided to live with love and hope instead of with hate and anger. He made friends with his cell neighbor Henry. He had decided he no longer cared who they were or what they had done. But when Ray found out that his friend Henry was Henry Hays – a member of the KKK who was on death row after lynching Michael Donald, a 19 year old black man – just a teenager. 1 (p170) he couldn’t just let it go. He said to Henry, “I figured out who you are.” In response Henry told Ray, “Everything my mom and dad taught me was a lie, Ray…. father only taught me hate.” Ray replied, “I guess I was just lucky that my mom taught me to love people, no matter what.” This is what Jesus calls us to do. 1 (p 171)
Hinton discovered and decided he could live a rich life – even behind bars -- if he chose each day to live with love. It wasn’t always easy. But Hinton said, “I forgive because that’s how my mother raised me. I forgive because I have a God who forgives.1(p.304)
Living a life of love. This is the way that Jesus, the King of love, models for us. As he is hanging on the cross, before anyone even asks, Jesus prays: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” Jesus prays this prayer for his executioners, for the crowd who are acting like a mob, for the man hanging next to him. And, Jesus prays this prayer for us – for all of the foolish things that we do and we say. Jesus prays: “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Jesus prays for us and Jesus listens to our prayers, to your prayers listens to our prayers. He listened to the prayer of the criminal hanging next to him who said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” This was a prayer of confession and of acknowledging his need of a Savior. And Jesus not only hears his prayer but responds, “ Today you will be with me in Paradise.”
Not every prayer is answered so quickly. It took thirty years, countless hearings, including a unanimous decision by the Unite States Supreme Court before Anthony Ray Hinton, an innocent man was freed. The sin of racism and the fear of being caught in their lies and in their prejudice kept the judge and the elected attorneys and leaders of Alabama from overturning the conviction for thirty years.
I don’t understand and cannot explain to you God’s ways or why some prayers are answered immediately and others take a long time or maybe aren’t answered in the way that we had hoped and prayed. But I do know this: Jesus, the one who is the first born of creation and the first born of the dead, is the King of Love, the King above all others who hears your prayers, loves you and even saves you. Thanks be to God. Amen.
1The Sun Does Rise by Anthony Ray Hinton. St. Martin’s Press 2018. Page numbers referenced.