What kind of king?
Luke 23:33-43
The Rev. Sara Fischer
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.
This Sunday is the only time in the three-year lectionary that we hear this Gospel outside of Holy Week. So what does this gospel of the crucifixion have to do with Christ the King, about Christ reigning in glory? There the ironic attribution of kingship that the Roman soldiers nailed onto the cross just above Jesus’ head to make fun of him, the sign that says This is the King of the Jews.
More significant, though, are Jesus’ words from the cross. Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing. And then, to the criminal beside him on the cross, today you will be with me in Paradise. Jesus’ kingship is about forgiveness and promise. We always assume that Jesus says these words, today you will be with me in Paradise, to the criminal who asks Jesus to remember him. But as I was preparing this sermon and studying the gospel, I began to wonder whether Jesus is in fact speaking to both criminals. It is not too late for both of them to enter into the kingdom of God.
Jesus’ words from the cross show us the nature of what it means to be Christ the King. He is not about power and domination, but about suffering, humility, invitation, and hope. Jesus never claims the role of King, but points to the Kingdom of God as an alternative to the Roman occupation. He points to the Kingdom as a reign of God where the use of wealth is different from the Roman world. In the Kingdom, wealth is not to be stored but used to care for the poor, to spread about as much as possible, as a sign of God’s extravagant grace. The Gospel of Luke, which we say goodbye to today, is especially full of stories about God’s extravagant grace. This is why I love it so much. When we worship Christ the King, we worship a God who dies a miserable death while forgiving enemies and welcoming sinners. I am glad to have that kind of King.
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Miguel Pro, the Jesuit priest who was martyred on this day in 1927, also had Jesus for his king. We rarely commemorate on a Sunday saints and martyrs we might never have heard of, but the coincidence of the anniversary of Miguel Pro’s death, the Feast of Christ the King, and our offertory anthem makes him worth mentioning. You can read all about him in this week’s newsletter or in your bulletin (but not now ☺).
Miguel lived in a different time, in a different world. He was a priest at a time when the church was undercover—not in the first or second century as we might expect, but in the 20th century. The church in Mexico was entirely suppressed by the government. Can you imagine the church being so powerful and countercultural that the government was threatened?? In Miguel Pro’s Mexico, every priest was considered a hunted criminal. I know that if that was true in our time, you would all protect me, right?
Miguel’s last words were “Long live Christ the King!” His execution was supposed to be a deterrent to other Christians, but like martyrs throughout the ages, it had the opposite effect. The second century theologian and teacher Tertullian said “the blood of martyrs is seed.” Meaning, that martyrs make more Christians. The late 19th century martyrs of Uganda marched to their deaths singing and praying for their enemies. The bystanders were so impressed that the whole country became Christian. Our history is full of stories like this.
The word martyr has come to be associated with someone who is willing to die for their faith. The word originates from the Greek word martus, which means simply witness. People like Miguel Pro and every martyr in the Church history books are witnesses to their faith in the same way that you and I are called to witness to our faith. One way we do this is to claim our king—the one who suffers and dies, forgiving sins and inviting people people into the Kingdom of God while taking his last breath.
In one of the scenes of the trial of Jesus the crowd yells: “We have no king but the emperor!” I always wonder how many people were silent in the crow, thinking to themselves, actually, Jesus is my king. We witness to the kingdom when we speak up to say who our king is.
Another way we witness to our faith is by participating in a community like this one and sharing the gifts God has given us, as we prepare to build our budget to sustain and expand our ministries.
I like to leave the offering—the money—on the altar through the Holy Eucharist. Our gifts are holy. They are a symbol of sacrifice, and by sacrifice I mean something that is made sacred, made holy. We do this with bread and wine, we do it with our money, and we do it with ourselves when we gather at this table for Eucharist. Today, after our Eucharist, we will have an opportunity to bring our pledge cards to this altar, to make them holy.
When we put our money on the altar, it signifies a lot of things: our faith in God to take care of us and our love for this place. It also signifies that we are not putting it somewhere else. Be it ever so modest, when we share our wealth with the church, we ourselves become signs of God’s extravagant grace, signs of Jesus’ kingship. Long life Christ the King!
