Entering the Riegn of the Anti-King

Entering the Reign of the Anti-King
A Sermon preached by the Rev’d Peter De Franco on November 25, 2007 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Clifton, N.J.

A friend of ours lives in Denville, New Jersey so we regularly travel through that town on Route 46. As you travel west on Route 46 toward the center of Denville stands St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church and School. In the front of the school, they raised a statue of Christ the King. Jesus looks as if God the Father just placed the crown on Jesus’ head and, like Queen Elizabeth, he too is posing for the coronation statue. He stands with a crown on his head, a scepter in one hand and an orb in the other. This image of Jesus as the King is among many such images you can find. Jesus sometimes wears one crown while other pictures show him with a double crown. He sometimes stands but he usually sits upon a golden throne, surrounded by angels and other royal attendants.
All these images are related to many of the hymns which are occasionally sung on this day. You will recall the words Crown Him with Many Crowns, the Lamb upon his throne or bring forth the royal diadem and crown him Lord of all.
I sometimes wonder how Jesus feels about this day. In the Gospel according to John, Chapter 6, verse 15, the author tells us that when the people wanted to take Jesus by force and make him king that Jesus withdraws from them. That does not sound to me like someone who enjoys wearing the royal diadem. If the Gospels picture Jesus as King, Jesus is really the Anti-King who wears thorns rather than gold, is nailed to a cross rather than seated on a throne, and is mocked by priests and criminals rather than acclaimed with cries of Long Live the King.
If we look to the Christian Scriptures, the only place we find such a regal image of Jesus is in the Book of Revelation. Out of the pages of that wildly imaginative book we get the phrase King of kings and Lord of lords. I am sure that many of you who love Handel’s Messiah can play in your head the music from the climax of that oratorio when the Hallelujah Chorus proclaims Jesus Kings of kings and Lord of lords and he shall reign forever and ever. Those phrases are all taken from the Book of Revelation.
Both ends of the Christian Scripture, the Gospels and the Book of Revelation acclaim Jesus as King but each does it in almost the reverse images. It is good for us to recall that the Book of Revelation comes out of a period of persecution of the Christian community by the powerful Roman Empire. In protest to the imperial power of the emperor, the Christians acclaim a different King, the lamb who was slain, who is the real power behind the world. The power of the emperors is but an illusion.
We Americans of the 20th century are closer in our political and economic power to the Roman Empire than to the powerless Christian communities of the first century. I think that the images of Jesus as King are dangerous for us not only because Royal families are foreign to our American psyche but also because we are far removed from the situation of persecution out of which the book of revelation was written. I believe that the image of King Jesus is a dangerous image for contemporary Christians since we can use that image to invest ourselves with the power and authority of the world and so find ourselves outside the very reign of God which Jesus proclaims. We need that subversive image of the Crucified King to teach us the real lessons about power and control.

Jesus on the cross teaches us that power comes to us in direct correlation to our vulnerability. Jesus on the cross gives us a model of weakness, defenselessness, exposure and being at risk. Only if we break through the illusion of our own power, our own strength, and our own invincibility can we hope to enter into the reign of the crucified King.
Today’s gospel story presents as a hero the repentant thief. Notice how in the gospel, the people of power and authority stand against Jesus. The leader and soldiers scoff at Jesus. The other thief challenges Jesus to prove himself the Messiah by saving himself and the two men crucified with Jesus. That thief is looking for a show of power. He wants a show of worldly strength. These people stand in the kingdom of this world. These people look for the security of power and invincibly. But Jesus proves his kingly strength, not by stepping off the cross but by staying on it.
Hanging on the wood of another cross is a criminal who acknowledges that he suffers a just fate to underscore that Jesus’ fate is unjust. Strung up on the cross, weak defenseless and exposed, he stands in contrast to the arrogant thief even as in an earlier parable, the humble publican stands in contrast to the proud Pharisee. In the recognition of his own need for mercy the thief, like the publican, finds the ultimate mercy extended to him. In the words of Bishop Fulton Sheen, the repentant thief proves himself a thief to the end since in the final moments of his life he pulls off his greatest heist and steals heaven. Jesus lets himself be robbed of mercy with these loving words we all would want to hear on our death beds: “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Lk 23: 43)
We live in a world that values power, strength, brute force, manipulation, control. If we imagine that King Jesus values those same qualities, we place ourselves in the company of the leaders and soldiers who mock his reign. If we imagine that King Jesus amasses troops and weapons, we place ourselves in the company of those who have not entered into his reign. But if we align ourselves with the weak and vulnerable, we seek mercy as do they and so draw near to that Crucified King. If we come close to the cross as did the good thief by surrendering our illusions of power, we will find the strength to enter into that reign. If we pledge our allegiance to the crucified Christ, then we too will be made strong with all the strength that comes from God’s glorious power.
In the midst of any conflict that meets us on the way, if we acknowledge our vulnerability, we create that place where God may enter and manifest God's presence among us, a hidden presence, yet the ultimate presence. We too will know that peace that has been won for us through the blood of the cross.

Forming our Souls

Forming our Souls
A sermon delivered by the Rev’d Peter De Franco on November 18, 2007 at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Clifton, N.J.
I think most us feel a little uncomfortable when we hear talk about the end of the world. Such unsettling talk is what we heard in today’s Gospel: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; 11there will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and plagues; and there will be dreadful portents and great signs from heaven.” (Luke 25 10-11) We usually associate such talk with the street preachers whom, if we all were totally honest, most of us think that the guy fell down the stairs when he was a child and there were always a few screws loose after the fall.
So when we hear such words out of the lips of Jesus, we just think that Jesus was having a bad day and he let his imagination get the better of him. We don’t really like to hear such talk on the lips of Jesus. Such talk puts Jesus in the company of the lunatic fringe and we would not have our Jesus being anything but just like us.
But I have to say that I think that something deeper is at work in this passage for I am just captivated with those final words of Jesus: “By your endurance you will gain your souls.” (Luke 21: 19) Most of us think that our soul is something we have, like our own inner Casper the friendly ghost that will take off after death and soar into heaven.
We don’t think of our souls as something we gain, and, if we look carefully at the text today, we see something that is even more troubling than that strange end of the world talk.
We see that the way we gain our soul comes through yet a more challenging door: conflict.
Listen to what Jesus says: “they will arrest you and persecute you; they will hand you over to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. 16You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, by relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. 17You will be hated by all because of my name.” (Luke 21: 15-17)
17You will be hated by all because of my name.
Those are not the usual words we would preach to get new members into church. But if we are honest with ourselves, if we really admit the truth in our hearts, all of us know that conflict is a regular part of our lives. If we are really honest, we will admit that being a Christian increases the level of conflict that we encounter. In a world where greed is considered good, we preach a gospel of sharing with the poor. In a world where compassion is considered weakness, we practice a radical hospitality that gives food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless. In a community where our neighbors are afraid of people whose skin is a darker color, whose first language is not English, who do not have the right documents, in this city of Clifton we sing a song that dares to say: All are Welcome.
“17You will be hated by all because of my name.”
Thank you Jesus for putting us in such a mess. Yes, thank you, Jesus, for putting us in such a mess. For in this mess, we gain our souls.
The conflict that Jesus predicts will meet us is the very battle that Jesus fought against the forces in his world, that conflict against the forces that would not welcome all to the table, the conflict against the forces that would give priority to the acquisition of wealth even if that involves engaging in unjust conflicts, the conflict against the love that creates this world and seeks to build a just and inclusive community. It is in conflict that we discover our identity, that we discover the presence of Jesus. He assures us: “I will give you words and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to withstand or contradict. (Luke 21: 15) For the discovery of our identity is not only to discover who we are but whose we are. We belong to Jesus. We are in the hands of a powerful God. The wings of the Holy Spirit encircle us. All we need to do is to maintain our calm in the midst of the storm and we shall sense that presence who will strengthen us. By your endurance you will gain your souls.
Now you must be thinking that this is a very strange sermon to deliver on Thanksgiving Sunday. You might have thought that I should have preached on those beautiful words we heard from the prophet Isaiah who described the vision of a just society, the vision that inspired the Pilgrims who came to our country to find and build a better world.
They thought themselves heirs to the promise of Jesus who dreamed of a just world, a world where freedom would be enjoyed by all.
Like those Pilgrims, we give thanks for the blessings we have received from our God. We give thanks that God has called us into this community to share with one another the task of building an inclusive community among ourselves and sharing that inclusive vision with those among whom we live and work. We show our thanks in more than just words. We show our gratitude this day in the pledge that we make this day, the pledge to share the monetary gifts we have received with others, the pledge to share our time and our talents with others.
Our pledge is part of that subversive, countercultural activity of Jesus that would make this a better world. Our pledge is part of that work to allow some members of this community to dedicate themselves to the world of building that community of faith. Our pledge enables us to share our gifts with our diocesan family that the work of building up the reign of God will continue in our diocesan and our national church. Our pledge of our time, our talents and our treasure places us in the battle that Jesus promises that we will engage in the world.
Giving to our church is one of the disciplines we all practice that we might gain our souls. By living up to a standard that others do not have, we differentiate ourselves from others, we show to ourselves and to others what we value, and in doing so, we gain our soul. No, not some nice little Casper in our hearts, but a person strong because we have been tested, steadfast because of conflict, faithful in the face of fear.
As we offer this day our thanks to God in our prayer and in our pledge, let us be grateful most of all for conflict, for those times that test our Christian values, for those times that place us in the fire. Let us be grateful for these soul forming times.