The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
Previous Years:
2017 (Year A)
2018 (Year B)
2019 (Year C)
2020 (Year A)
Preached at Church of the Assumption in Bellingham, WA
Part of our series on the Next Step program from the Evangelical Catholic. Information can be found here: https://www.ecnextstep.com/
Recording
https://moorejesus.podbean.com/e/next-step-believe-the-good-news/
Transcript
The story of the good thief crucified next to Jesus was my first favorite Bible story. There was something really compelling about that man crucified next to the Lord, begging the Lord in that moment to receive him into the Kingdom. It’s redemption at the final moment, redemption at the end of life. And there’s something that’s always very, very moving about that. Because redemption of anybody, salvation of anybody, is moving. But the idea of living a life right up to that point, to the point of crucifixion, and then finally turning to the Lord at the last moment, there’s something that’s really beautiful and glorious about it.
Now, this story is full of irony. And it’s ironic, even, that we would read this gospel story on the Solemnity of Jesus Christ, King of the universe. Because a king has a throne. And what the Church is telling us today is that the throne of Jesus Christ, King of the universe, is the cross. That the Lord reigns over all creation from the cross. And lest we forget it, the cross was intended by the Romans as an instrument of torture. Humiliating torture. Only the worst criminals were crucified and they were crucified intentionally publicly. They were always crucified outside the walls of a city in the main road going up to that city, so that everybody who entered a Roman city would see them and know that the Romans do not mess around with those who get on the wrong side of the Roman governor or the Roman law.
And so, Jesus is intentionally placed on a cross outside of the city as a warning to others and as a humiliation to him. And it’s an incredibly painful way to die. People die by asphyxiation on the cross. You have to lift yourself up to breathe. Your back is scraping against rough wood the entire time, and at some point, you just run out of energy. You can’t lift yourself up anymore and you cease to breathe. That’s the throne of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the universe.
The card today, the last one in the Next Step series, so now you have the whole collection of six. It’s not worth anything like Pokemon cards, but you have all of them now. The card today is Believe in the Good News, and the challenge to us is can we believe in the good news even when that news is not obvious or apparent? When we look at the cross of Jesus Christ? Anybody who understands what that cross was in the Roman world, they see a criminal who is humiliated. And yet we Christians are supposed to look at that cross and to say, looking at that cross reminds me of my salvation. How is that possible? Well, that’s the challenge today. Can we look at the cross? Can we look at the death, at the hands of the government, of our Lord Jesus Christ and believe that somehow that humiliation, that suffering, that cross saved us from our sins?
The challenge of faith, faith is defined as belief in things not seen in the letter to the Hebrews, the challenge of faith is to believe these great truths, even when they are not apparent, even when they appear to be opposed or contradicted by the reality we’re living in. That’s the incredible faith of the good thief. He was dying on a cross next to another man on the cross. The sign above Jesus was ironic, here is the King of the Jews. Look what we do to those who claim to be King of the Jews, right? Your king is dying in the most humiliating way possible.
The good thief is there with Jesus, and he has enough faith, incredible faith, to turn to the other thief and to say, how dare you condemn this man? We deserve this, but he doesn’t. And then to turn to the Lord and say, Lord, I believe that you are the King of the Jews. That’s why he refers to Jesus coming into His Kingdom. I believe that you are the King of the Jews. I believe that you can save me. And I’m going to ask you here with my final breaths in my final hour, I’m going to ask you to please receive me into your Kingdom. What kind of faith? The thief didn’t ask for Jesus to save them from the cross. He knew that he’d received that condemnation. He asked to be received into Jesus’ Kingdom. He turned to a fellow criminal, publicly humiliated, and asked to be received into His Kingdom. Do we have the faith to believe something like that?
You look at this card, there are three…doctrines, I suppose, but three truths that they’re asking us to believe. The first is that we are good and loved. So, what’s the sign of contradiction? Well, the sign of contradiction is our own failures, our own sin, the own weakness that we feel every day in our humanity. Looking around at this world which is broken, the world which is corrupted, the world which everybody is saying is not going in the right direction right now. Can we look at all of that and still believe, despite all of these signs of contradiction, that we are good and loved. That God made us good, that we are made according to a plan, that somehow the Lord looks at us and says, like He said in Genesis, it is good. He is pleased with his creation. He is pleased with humanity. There is something in us that is still lovable despite everything else, despite our own feelings of inadequacy and our own feelings that we are not lovable. We’re called in faith to say no, actually, we are God’s beloved children. Can we believe that? Can we believe that there is something good in us?
Next, we’re asked to believe that we’re broken and restored. Broken is easy. I wake up every day knowing exactly how broken I am, and I go to bed every day believing the same. But despite that, can I believe that we’re restored? Not just that I’m made good. Not just that there was a plan in my creation. But can I also believe that even in my brokenness, Jesus came down from heaven to be with me? Can I believe that Jesus came down from heaven intentionally to suffer on the cross to save me from my sins? Do I believe that God loved me enough to actually put literal skin in the game?
Maybe I can believe that He made me good. Maybe I can believe that some disconnected creator in heaven had some sort of plan, and that generically I am good. But can I believe that I, individually, myself, in my brokenness, are worthy of the sacrifice of the cross? Can I believe that Jesus desired so much to be with me, that He took upon Himself our frail humanity? Can I believe that He had me in mind when He went to His throne? Faith is necessary for that. It’s hard, almost impossible, for me to believe that on my own merits. But the Church tells me that He did it. The Scriptures tell me that He did it. Am I willing to believe that? Am I willing to believe the good news?
And then, finally, we’re asked to believe that we’re transformed and sent. I don’t know if this is the hardest one, but I do know that I encounter people every day who don’t believe this. One of my jobs as a pastor is to call people up into ministry, to call them to live out their baptism, to call them to live out acts of service. And there are a lot of reasons why people struggle to answer that call. You know, a lot of times it’s just the busyness of the world or different commitments that they’ve already made or things like that. But about a quarter of the time they say it out loud, and three quarters of the time everything else is based on it: Many, many people that I ask do not feel capable of what I ask them. They say, oh, that’s a nice thing to ask me, father, but I don’t have the skills for it. I don’t have the ability to do that. I’m not going to be good at that. It’s based on a lack of belief that we are somehow transformed and sent, that somehow God would rely on us for His mission, that somehow God would give us His Holy Spirit and the tools that we need to live out our Christian mission, to live out our baptism.
It’s easy enough to receive the truths that were good and to receive the truths that were restored, but it’s really, really scary to then take a step out in faith and to say, yeah, okay, I am capable of engaging in mission. I am capable of being sent. God does love me enough not just to heal me, but to empower me. That also requires an incredible act of faith. That He would even bother to send us in our inadequacies and in our brokenness. That He sees something in us that is unique. To even say that He needs us for his mission, that He is relying on us, that He’s given us some sort of gift that nobody else has. To believe that about ourselves is so difficult.
But are any of these more difficult than believing that our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the universe, reigns from a cross? That contradiction alone should tell us that any other contradiction that we’re asked to believe pales in comparison.
The Lord did these things. He created you. You are lovable. He loved you so much that He restored you from your brokenness. You, individually. He believes in you and trusts in you enough to give you a mission. Each of those is believing in the good news. Can we, with the good thief, turn to the Lord? Regardless of our circumstances, regardless of the barriers that are put to our faith. Turn to the Lord and say, Lord, I do believe. I do believe in the Good news. I do believe that you are the King of everything. I do believe that nothing can stand your power. I do believe that you have won the victory in me and in the world. Can we turn to Him and ask Him to receive us into His kingdom? Can we turn to Him and say, Lord, in my faith I will respond in love, in mission. I do believe.
Fr. Moore 
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