Sunday, November 22, 2015

Sermon: Have you Met the King?

Have you met the King?
         He is our creative and eternal king.
King from the beginning to the end and everywhere in between, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
         He is king over the empty canvas, king above the terror of chaotic waters—with word and will He brings order and the possibility for all good things out of that empty chaos—even the empty chaos we find in our lives!
         He is, he was, and he will be
—he’s not leaving, not going anywhere
—I know it’s hard to believe in the face of the world as it is, but it’s true.
Empires pass away, 1,000 year kingdoms last barely a decade, reform efforts fail, their blind spots having unintended consequences, promises and threats by tyrants of all sorts, even those by benighted bags of benign buffoons, they are not long for this world.
         But, his Kingdom, has no beginning nor end, for wherever the King is, the Kingdom is
—His presence is his reign
—and he is the King who is Alpha and Omega, beginning and end—so his kingdom will have no end.

         Have you met the King?
         No, not the leader of a misguided Terrorist attempt at a Theocracy, the quote un-quote “Islamic” State Da’esh. A kingdom put together atop a pile of dead bodies.
         No, not the leader of any of those Kingdoms or Empires you are familiar with
—after all it’s like St. Augustine says, “Kingdoms without justice are robbers and Empires are simply piracy writ large.”
         No, He’s not even a president or prime minister of a democracy or republic
—filled with horse traders and graft
—where even our greatest heroes, once elevated lash themselves to power, and lash out against those who defy them.
         No, none of those kingdoms, beastly as they all are, none of them are from the King
—but a humane kingdom—a Kingdom coming from one like a human being.
A peaceful kingdom—one originating and finding it’s completion in one like the Son of Man.
That’s his Kingdom!

         Have you met the King?
         He wields power in a way completely different from anything else we’ve ever experienced.
He is king in the most unkingly of ways… yet more kingly than we’ve ever seen.
         His invasion into this world is a disarming call to arms, complete with an upside down army, and a misfit militia.
He conquers by offering his other cheek when attacked, going the extra mile in order to militate and facilitate redemption!
         His Kingdom is not of this world—it is an otherworldly invasion by pacifists,
conquest by moral authority alone,
standing up against all other kingdoms by kneeling and washing feet.
War Horse—Donkey.
Crown—Thorns.
Throne—Cross.
Victory—Sacrificial Death.

         Have you met the King?
         He frees us! Standing up to the powers of this world, seen and unseen, he breaks the bonds they have bound us with—he shames and shatters all would be lords and would be kings and princes—all those who cling to the status quo, because it amplifies their status—all of them, all of us,
shattered and transformed.
         With his death he frees us from death—the wheels of the machinery of death are clogged by his blessed body.
         The gears that grind the world up with hate for hate and backbiting and all kinds of catastrophe for the soul—are gummed up and taken out of commission.
         All false kings flee in fear from the king who comes, who gives his life loving in the face of hate, dying to lead us away from murder, committing his spirit to his father from the cross that our souls might be washed clean.

         Have you met the King?
         It would be enough for him to stop it all
—stop the totalizing systems in their tracks, to give us the freedom to take another path.
         But it doesn’t end there—he doesn’t end this King of Ours. There is resurrection!
There is new life,
the creating out of nothing,
order out of chaos,
out of death life,
out of slavery redemption.
It is his and it is ours—freely given by our Lord, our King—freely given—see it?
See him?
Alive again and on the move—on the move in your life, right now!
Death doesn’t hold him, death doesn’t hold you!

         Have you met the King?
         He holds you and molds you, and is making you his brother, sister, sibling, kin
—his family.
         He, King of witness,
He, King of Testimony
—he Son of God, points, points to his Father.
         He points us to our father
—the Heavenly One, pointing to He who is to be praised.
         The King, our Great High Priest, ordains us and makes us priests as well… gives us the responsibility and joy of connection to God. Connected like the Priests of old… Called to this great connection, given a real responsibility.
         Sages, all of us, held tight to the bosom of God.

Have you met the King?