Our sermon roundtable meets every Monday afternoon. We
begin with sharing any thoughts and reactions about the previous Sunday's
service, particularly the sermon. Then we look at the texts for the
coming week together.
This week we are looking ahead to Christ the King, marking the
end of the liturgical year. Our texts
helped us reflect on the nature of kingship – both in the world and in the eternal
realm.
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.”
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. And the people stood by, watching; 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.”
We mused about the image in Jeremiah of a shepherd who drives
the flock away. Clearly such a shepherd
is failing at his duties and is undeserving of the name. But if we recall the long, sordid history of
kings in Israel, it is easy to see why God chose such an image. The kings did not care for God’s people the
way God wanted them to do so. In the
same passage, we are reminded of the prevailing theology of the time, that we
receive all things, good and bad, from God’s hand. All these things, then, are a part of God’s
plan.
In these two texts we are being asked to consider power and
leadership at a variety of levels, from a variety of perspectives. The kings of Israel were the shepherds who
have abandoned the care of the flock, the Lord is the Shepherd who is powerful
over all shepherds/kings, both good and bad, and finally will raise up righteous
leaders for the people. And Jesus, who
is the Messiah, will be worshiped as king but at the same time, taunted and
mocked for being called king. He will
also be crucified for the same reason.
Emperors don’t like the idea that there is another king competing for
the people’s obeisance.
When we worship power and lose sight of God things go awry. That essential ingredient, humility, is lost
and what happens then, inevitably, is that the people suffer. I am reminded of some earlier words of
indictment from the prophet, “They have treated the wound of my people
carelessly, saying, “Peace, peace,” when there is no peace.”
We don’t have kings for ourselves anymore. We have systems of elected leadership, division
of powers, checks and balances, et cetera.
And yet, the hunger for power still rages. And the system cracks under pressure. And the people suffer.
These days, I am looking at leadership this way: There is the leader you want, there is the
leader you get, and there is the leader God wants for you. These are not likely to be the same. I have not yet sorted through what it means,
but I am wondering.
There was a moment when it all might have come together – when
Jesus entered Jerusalem with so many adoring followers. Would they have voted
for Jesus as president? And if there had
been a democratic system in place, would the Romans have allowed a peaceful
transition of power? And would the
Pharisees and Sadducees and Chief Priests have pledged to work with their new
leader for the health of the nation? Well,
none of that was meant to be.
There was somebody who recognized Jesus as a true king. But he was hanging on death row along with
him.
