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Trinity Episcopal Church Hattiesburg, Mississippi Last Sunday After Pentecost (Proper 29) November 25, 2007 Go To Trinity's Home Page

Jeremiah 23:1-6
Canticle 16
Colossians 1:11-20
Luke 23:33-43
The Collect of the Day

From the Revised Common Lectionary as Adapted for Use by the Episcopal Church
and Authorized by the 74 th General Convention of the ECUSA

 Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD. The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness." (Jeremiah 23:1-6)

Just King Me!
The Rev. Dr. Bill Stroop, Rector

     The commercialism and pressures of family and friends can undo us at this time of year. Running from shop to shop in the mall, driving madly from one end of town to the other, or going over to Memphis, or down to New Orleans, looking for just the perfect thing can drive us crazy! But to make it "easier" to spend more money than we have made, retailers like JC Penny opened their doors at 4 a.m. this past Friday so that you could get an even better deal on leather coats and such. Gee, no pressure there! But if getting up ion the middle of the night was not your thing, Wal Mart stayed open on Thanksgiving, so that you could shop there immediately after savoring Grandma's pie at Thanksgiving dinner.

     And let's not forget all the fun and frolic yet to come. Those holiday decorations that you've got stored in the garage, the closet, and the attic need to come out, and like Chevy Chase's Christmas Vacation, all the 10,000 bulbs need to be checked before the strands of lights are put up on the house and in the trees and bushes. Oh, and don't forget about writing the annual Christmas letter and addressing all those Christmas cards. Do you remember where you put that list of the people who changed their addresses last year?

     When all of these things are lined up one after the other, we all realize that there is way too much to do in the 30 days left until December 25. And for me, sometimes the pressure of this last month makes me want to jump over the hype and commercialism of the season like a red checker leaping over well spaced black ones.[1] I want to land on Christmas day at the edge of the checkerboard and yell "King me!" Sometimes all I want to do is leap over the pressure and just enjoy the annual celebration of God's entry into our world as a vulnerable little baby. But maybe that would be to throw out the baby with the bathwater.

     Today is a festival day in the life of the Church. It is the last Sunday of Pentecost, often called "Christ the King Sunday." It not only signals the end of the church year, it also names the reason for the season.

     Look at today's lessons. In the first reading, Jeremiah predicts that God will raise up for David a righteous Branch (Jer 23:5). In the Canticle for today, the child "will be called the prophet of the Most High" (Lk 1:76). The child will eventually "reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land " and will be called "The Lord is our righteousness" (Jer 23:5-6).

     "The Lord is our righteousness" is an odd name – certainly not one that we see printed in Christmas cards. But that is how the prophet Jeremiah named the savior of Israel.

     The writer of the Gospel depicts for us the struggle of trying to name the indescribable that was the person of Jesus. The characters in Luke's Gospel lesson speak for us as they labor to identify Jesus and define him as the "Christ." Luke uses various terms to describe Jesus such as "Messiah of God" (Lk 23:2, 35); "God's "chosen one" (Lk 23:35); "King of the Jews" (Lk 23:2-3, 37-38); no single name seemed to capture Jesus' identity or purpose.

     The struggle continued with the early church. The letter to the church in Colossea (most likely not written by the Apostle Paul) continues the unremitting need to portray an understanding of Jesus. But again, no single term is sufficient. He is considered the " image of the invisible God," and "the firstborn of all creation " ( Col:15). All things in heaven and on earth were created for him (Col1:16). "He is the head of the church;" "the beginning, the firstborn from the dead " (Co1:18).

     Trying to develop an understanding of who and what Jesus the Christ is, is important, because it is in his life and ministry that those who knew him saw the face of God; they heard and saw God's Truth in what he said and did. And that remains the most perplexing thing for us to contemplate: How does God make Godself known to us today? How does God speak? What does God say? Does God only speak through the texts of scripture, or does God continue to speak to us in the here and now?

     This feast day gives us the opportunity to re-engage in this ongoing process, and to remind ourselves that this season is all about Jesus, who Luke literally saw as God's son who came into this world.

     All of the names given to Jesus are attempts to give meaning to his life, death, and resurrection. They also tell us something about the very nature of God. Jesus is not Frosty the Snowman. To be sure, one could possibly argue that he is something like Frosty in that he surprised us by unexpectedly showing up one day. But unlike Frosty, he is not going to melt away at the first blast of heat or sign of adversity. "Jesus is also not Santa Claus. He's not a ho-ho-ho-ing, gift giving, 'right jolly old elf.' He doesn't come down our chimneys to shower us with toys and treasures. He doesn't dole out good stuff to 'good people' and lumps of coal to 'bad people.' If we believe that piles of good things are signs of Christ 's favor then we have missed a key component of the character of Christ the King."[1]

     Jesus is more of a shepherd than a Santa. He cares more for the lost sheep than to lambs that are safely at home in the flock. When we clean away the cultural barnacles that encrust Jesus, we are left with the name that Jeremiah gave: " The Lord is our righteousness," or the name that Isaiah gave, "Emmanuel" which means "God with us" (Isa 7:14). Somehow, in Jesus we see a man who made a connection between people and God. Jesus as the Lord of righteousness is the exact opposite of the self-righteousness that dominates our society today. The Gospels record something that is so different from the self-centered smugness that leads us to believe somehow that we deserve our good fortune, along with piles of presents under our Christmas tree.

     Some of those who looked at Jesus – like the one thief crucified with Jesus – saw and felt God. Even at the hour of his own death, that thief could not describe Jesus, other than to say that he was a man unjustly killed for just showing the face of God to anyone who cared to see it. Jesus opened his heart to that man. Jesus came among us as a sign of God's great love for each and everyone of us – including those who mocked him and other thief executed with him." The coming of Jesus is not about us finding God. Instead, the coming of Jesus is about God finding us."[1]

     I think that being drawn to the incarnation of God in Jesus is to be drawn into a deeper relationship with God. It is also to discover love itself. And when one discovers deep, honorable, all consuming love, one is overjoyed and empowered by it – even as one cannot articulate just exactly what it is. But that never stops us from trying to describe it metaphorically as a caring shepherd, a benevolent king, or the key to righteousness.

     Through metaphor, parable, and story, the Old Testament prophets and New Testament writers verily screamed at us to wake up and listen, to stand up and see. Jeremiah knew that one couldn't be a good shepherd and abuse the sheep, or be a righteous ruler and misuse power. Jesus knew the same thing, and died because he had the courage to say so. Jesus knew that it was impossible to be godly and live into a right relationship with God without living into a right relationship with each other. Jesus understood the powerful reach of God's love, and wanted so much for us to hold out our hands and take that love as our own.

     Next Sunday we will start a new Church year. Let's resolve to use the four weeks of Advent to reflect once again upon the meaning of the person of Jesus, and what the presence of God's love in this world means to us and for us. To do anything less would be to jump over Christmas.

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Jeremiah 23:1-6

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD. The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: "The LORD is our righteousness."

 Canticle 16 (The Song of Zechariah) Benedictus Dominus Deus (Luke 1: 68-79)

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.

Through his holy prophets he promised of old,
that he would save us from our enemies, *
from the hands of all who hate us.
He promised to show mercy to our fathers *
and to remember his holy covenant.

This was the oath he swore to our father Abraham, *
to set us free from the hands of our enemies,
You, my child, shall be called the prophet of the Most High, *
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his way,

Free to worship him without fear, *
holy and righteous in his sight
all the days of our life.
To give people knowledge of salvation *
by the forgiveness of their sins.

In the tender compassion of our God *
the dawn from on high shall break upon us, |
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death, *
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit: *
as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be for ever.  Amen.

Colossians 1:11-20

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, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 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 or powers-- all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.

Luke 23:33-43

When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. The people stood by, watching Jesus on the cross; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews." One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

The Collect of the Day

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

[1] This sermon was inspired by and adapted from Timothy F. Merrill, Exec. Ed. "Skipping Christmas. "Homiletics 16(6): 26-31, November 2004.

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Copyright © 2007, William G. Stroop - All Rights Reserved.
23 November 2007

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