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Christ the King Sunday November 22, 2015

This Weekend's Readings (click each reading to view the passage)

Daniel 7:1-14; Psalm 93; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37

Pr. Christine's Sermon: It Hurts Everywhere...

Children's Sermon - No More Scary

Youth Bell Choir - Crown Him With Many Crowns

Light Dance Video shown before services during Christ the King Sunday

Choir Anthem - Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us

Sermon Notes from Pastor Christine...

I have a friend that frequently reminds me of this truth, "Timing... It's all about timing." The weight of a decision or action has different implications dependent on the timing of the decision or action. We know this, right? Leave for work 15 minutes early and the traffic moves along swimmingly and that prime parking space is ours, but rush out the door 15 minutes late and we sit in gridlock traffic and are forced to trudge to the building from the outermost limits of civilization.

Timing. It's all about timing. It can be your nemesis or your luck.

Some of you may know that two weeks ago I took two days off and went to the beach with this same friend to relax. I love the beach in the fall - it's quiet and easy to unwind and think. While there I needed to tackle a little church work, so I figured I'd look up the scripture passages for this week.

I read the Gospel, realized it was Christ the King Sunday, and felt fairly unenthusiastic. It's not that I'm opposed to this festival celebration, it's just... I don't know... the white-robed, golden crowned Jesus standing gloriously atop the earth while brandishing a great sword just doesn't do it for me. Or for many.

And in our country we've become so careful about the separation of church and state that we end up soft-peddling the authority that Jesus has in our lives.

Basically, I read the Gospel and said to myself, "Please let the Old Testament reading be better than the Gospel." I had no desire to preach on the encounter between Jesus and Pilate yet again.

So, when I read the vision of Daniel I was excited. Excited might even be an underestimation, since I promptly broke out into a dramatic interpretation of the Daniel reading for my friend, complete with creepy voices for the monsters and well-placed pauses to heighten the suspense.

I mean, who can resist four freakish animals arising from the sea, threatening to devour bodies as they uncage danger, terror, and anarchy? It seemed theatrical, entertaining, and dramatic.

Not that this is news to anyone, but I tend to enjoy exploring the unusual portions of the Bible.

After my portrayal of Daniel, my friend shook her head, looked at me wondering how on earth the powers that be let me become a pastor and said, "I'm pretty sure that's something you'd find on Spike TV; not in the Bible."

I laughed and said, "It'll be great!" And she replied, "What is wrong with you...?".

Well, as I said, timing is everything.

Two weeks ago the vision of Daniel seemed, I don't know... absurd. Unbelievable.

And then, the attack on Paris happened. Seven coordinated terror attacks, killing at least 129 and injuring hundreds more.

And then, the double-suicide bombings in Beirut which killed 43, and nobody lit up buildings with the colors of their flag.

And then, Nigeria. A bombing by terrorist which killed 32 and maimed at least 80 in an open air market in a housing development.

And all the while the Syrian refugees clamber at the doors of nations as they flee civil war and persecution.

And now the Daniel vision no longer seems absurd or unbelievable. No longer feels like something I'd want to preach on, nor does it seem like something to be found only on Spike TV.

Now the Daniel vision, seems like a living nightmare. The possibility of being subsumed or annihilated by monstrous beasts doesn't seem very farfetched.

A little history...

Daniel's vision was seen by him during a time when the Jews had been subject to foreign rule and persecution for over four centuries. Their houses were burned, their loved ones tortured and slaughtered, and their temple was profaned.

At the end of the vision Daniel is remains confused and terrified, and asks a heavenly attendant what all this uprising could possibly mean. And not only that, but because he is deeply troubled, Daniel needs this attendant to assure him that the future holds promise.

The harrowing question that Daniel essentially asked the heavenly attendant as he watched in horror is, "How can this be?" It is the same question we ask.

And so, the attendant offers Daniel the 'classic' ending to the battle between good and evil: good will triumph over evil. That's basically what verse 18 says. We don't have that piece in our text, but the vision ends with this: the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever-forever and ever.

Good will win. Darkness will not overcome light. That's what the attendant says.

'Goodness wins' is a blockbuster notion. Just look at the success of every Star Wars movie ever made. Which is fine. It's fine. It's even true; one of the greatest truths.

But, apart from it sounding a bit clich�, since evil seems to be sprouting up again like that taunting, talking, terrible horned beast from days gone by. Just saying good will triumph, sounds like banalities which don't engage our faith, nor our expectations of God and humanity.

You know what I think scared Daniel the most? The same thing that scares us the most... Everywhere Daniel looked he saw agony, dissension, and fear. Unfortunately Paris, Beruit, Nigeria, Mali aren't unique. These grotesque situations are no longer isolated to one area, one ideology, or one people; they have become part of the global narrative.

And so, the question which longs to be asked:

Where is the authority of God now? Where is Jesus now? What does it mean for our faith to proclaim Jesus is Lord, God is King in a world such as this?

I ultimately don't think what provided Daniel with hope was the 'goodness triumphs over evil' argument. I believe the piece that he clung to in the darkness of the night was, "I saw one like a human being coming..."

One like a human being. Not like a beast. Not wielding a sword. Not with arrogance. Not with dominance and devouring.

One like a human will come...

The lack of descriptors for the 'human' lies in complete contrast to the fantasticalness of the monsters. The monsters get all the screentime; the human gets very little play. Almost as if to say there's nothing about the human that's really all that exciting or notable.

Almost as if the only thing the savior of the nations has to offer is His humanity.

The answer to the question of where is the authority of God today? Where is Jesus now is: In our humanity.

Not in our force. Not in our arrogance. Not in our dominance. Not in our devouring.

If you really stop and think about it, the only thing Jesus himself brought to the table was his willingness to be fully human. His willingness to love God and to love others at all costs.

If we close our hearts to love, to one another, then we have closed our hearts to God and we have already lost.

As is sometimes the case, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Word of God calls us to talk about that which we don't want to talk about. However, IF we name Jesus as king, well, then as Christians we don't get to not talk about the hard things. We don't get to ignore the teachings of Jesus in regards to the political and social issues that face today.

Claiming Jesus as King is a commitment to live and view the world in a particular way.

I'm about to be a little political, which I know can sometimes make us uncomfortable in church, but for a very good reason:

For the sake of humanity. Not only others humanity, and not only our own humanity, but also for the sake of Jesus Christ's humanity; for the sake of His Kingdom.

The trend of fear-filled, hate-filled, hostile reactions regarding refugees and Muslims forgets, ignores, and disembodies humanity and denies Jesus' Lordship.

I don't think welcoming refugees will be gloriously trouble free. I do think that terrorists will use all means available to them: airplanes, ambulances, shoes, human commodities. I don't think that's the innocent's fault.

We, as Christians, don't get to make excuses for why 'those people' aren't our neighbors.

We don't get to use labels for people so that we can convince ourselves we don't have to care for them.

We don't get to speak and act as if fear is a more useful response than love.

We don't get to be hate-promoters.

We don't get to reduce the gospel of peace and hope to a Sunday morning feel good message with a dash of individual salvation.

We live by a different script when it comes to what we're supposed to do with the threat of bad people doing bad things. Yes, it's true that we will struggle with how best to respond, when and if force is necessary, and what precautions are just. That is fair. I don't have the answers to ISIS, or how to defeat them. Luckily that is not my job.

My job is to proclaim this truth based on what I know of Jesus the King: If we are to get there... If we are to get to a peaceable world, a place where love and unity are victorious then we cannot lose sight of humanity.

We cannot forgo our own humanity or forget theirs.

I think it's important to remember that Daniel dreamed his dream because it was given to him by God, which means God saw something too. Something that compelled the 'one like a human to come'.

So, I couldn't help but wonder what the other side of the vision is, you know, what prompted God to send Daniel the vision. It might not be exactly this, but I'm probably not too far off, if we believe in the humanity and the divinity of Jesus.

The moon crested hard on the dark night sky as God watched Jesus hold the world in his lap. A tear slipped down God's cheek as Jesus slowly ran His fingers across the globe and the Spirit whispered...

"Where does it hurt?"

And the world cried, "Everywhere. Everywhere. It hurts everywhere, Jesus."

And Jesus looked up at God with a heavy heart and God said, "Go."

And so He came.

Came for the sake of Paris. Came for the sake of Madrid. Came for the sake of Palestine and Israel. Came for the sake of Nigeria and Mali. Came for the sake of Nicaragua and Japan. Came for the sake of Mexico and Canada. Came for the sake of the United States and Iraq.

For the sake of Muslims, Christians, Jews, Atheists, and Agnostics. And even for the sake of the monsters.

This One, as a human, came...

to us all and said, "Tell me where it hurts."

Amen.

The end vision was derived from this poem by Warsan Shire:
later that night
i held an atlas in my lap
ran my fingers across the whole world
and whispered
where does it hurt?
it answered
everywhere
everywhere
everywhere.