| To contact us: Calvary Episcopal Church 667 Mount Road Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 OFFICE mail@calvaryepiscopalrockdale.org |
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| SERMON Last Pentecost - Christ the King November 23, 2008 The Rev. Kristine Hill |
| 667 Mount Road, Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 |
| Small Parish - Big Heart The little church you've been looking for! All are welcome! |
To worship the Lord To serve the community To grow the church |
| Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24 Ephesians 1:15-23 Matthew 25:31-46 |
| The Rev. Kristine Hill, Interim Rector |
lines, it says “when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with
him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory…” In other words -- the time of
glory is not here yet. To hear some speak about God’s word, you would think
the time of glory had already arrived, that Christians had risen above the
hardships of this world, were untouched by the sufferings, the tragedies of human
life because their faith in Jesus acted like a protective shield that kept anything
bad from touching them. But today we hear Jesus say “when the Son of Man
comes in his glory.. then he will sit on the throne of glory…” That time has not
yet arrived.
The mainline Christian church has long be wary of any preaching or teaching that
smacks-of a “theology of glory.” What is a “theology of glory?” It’s a way of
talking about Jesus that skips-over the cross and goes right to the glory-of-God’s-
kingdom. A “theology of glory” presents the life of a Christian as so joyful, so
serene, that nothing can hurt us; we are so blessed that we do not have to
experience any sacrifice, deprivation, any loss or longing, any weakness or
uncertainty or grief. In the theology of glory, Christians are those who have
arrived at the victory with Christ; we are the successful, the ones with whom God
is well-pleased; we deserve the material blessings we have in life. A theology of
glory pampers us with the pretty, soft, luxurious things of life; it declares that
Jesus has rescued us from injury, from poverty, from sickness, troubles, and all
that “icky” stuff.
Those who preach a theology of glory, focus-so-exclusively on the victory of
Jesus’ resurrection that they ignore reality. They forget that God loves this world
and all its creatures, that God cares for the suffering and sent his son to bring
healing and hope to a suffering world. The Episcopal Church, (like the Lutheran
Church) knows that the Word of God grows out of a theology of the cross, not a
cheap theology of glory. We see the theology of the cross in the life of Jesus;
we hear-it in his teachings; we watch, as-it-is-played-out in his suffering, death
and resurrection. The theology-of-the-cross reminds us that God came to be with
us here, in this world where there is joy, but also sorrow; where there is great
goodness but also evil; where there is life and health, but also brokenness and
death. Whereas the theology of glory denies the pain of the world to focus
exclusively on the victory of Christ, the theology of the cross acknowledges both
aspects of life, honors the total experience of human life and brings all of it
before God, declaring that God is for us -- loving us, guarding us -- when we are
hurting and when we are rejoicing. We are theologians, not of glory, but of the
cross.
A famous Church theologian differentiates between the theologian of glory and the
theologian of the cross this way: “the theologian of glory calls evil good and
good evil. The theologian of the cross calls a thing what it is.” Let me
demonstrate: Several years ago there was a story on the radio about an
earthquake in Alaska in 1964 that caused in a tsunami along the Pacific coast.
As a result, Crescent City, California, was completely destroyed. Gary Clawson
lived in Crescent City at the time. He remembered, the night the tsunami hit,
going with his family down to their tavern at midnight to pull the till and take it
home in case things got worse. There was some flooding but they were able to
get around as needed. Gary was at the tavern with his Mom and Dad and his
fiancé. When the clock struck midnight, bringing in the new day, it was his Dad’s
50th birthday, so his Dad poured himself a beer and said, “happy birthday to me.”
A moment later, water burst through the front door. Everyone jumped up on the
bar, but the water was rising and Gary’s Mom couldn’t swim.
Gary found a boat and came back for his family. They rowed a long time and
were only a few yards from safety when the water began to recede dramatically
and swiftly, causing the boat to spin. It went straight toward a tunnel under a
bridge; it entered the tunnel. The tunnel was filling with water. The far end was
closed off with a grate that was beginning to stack up with debris -- cars,
furniture, tree limbs. Then the boat flipped, dumping everyone into the cold water.
Gary pushed himself deep into the water and swam toward the grate. He managed
to kick loose a couple of bars in the grate, get to the other side and swim free.
He was the only one in his family who survived the night.
What does a Christian say about something like that? We know God in Jesus
Christ; people – understandably – want us to say something at such a time, but
what? Those who work from a theology of glory might tell Gary something like
this: “Don’t grieve for them; they’ve gone to a better place.” Or “This is all part
of God’s master plan.” Or “God must have needed them in heaven, and so he
took them.” Well, what kind of a God does that represent? A God who would put
anyone through such an awful ordeal because God “needed them?” Better that we
say nothing at all than to say that. That Church scholar was right -- A theologian
of glory calls evil good and good evil. But those who work from a theology of
the cross calls a thing what it is, and thus they might say to Gary “oh, how
horrible! What an awful, awful thing. There’s no way to explain it. But God never
leaves us. God was with your loved ones as they suffered, and God is with you
in your pain.” The cross tells us, not that suffering is good, not that Jesus
suffered once for everybody and now we never suffer any more, but that God is
here with us, where grief, sorrow and death are a part of daily life. God is by
our side when we have to endure those things.
If we buy the theology of glory -- that there is no real suffering in the world --
we will not notice people around us who are hurting. And if we don’t respond to
the needy who live down the street, we certainly will not respond to the needy
around the world. On the other hand, if we remember that Jesus gave up being-
god to be one-of-us, with all the difficulties and pains as well as the joys and
fun, we will be equipped to care for others. Knowing Jesus crucified and risen
we are not ashamed to care about people whose lives are messy -- people who
have spent time in jail or people with mental illness, foreigners who are not
always sure how things work in our country. The theology of the cross gives us
versatility to respond to all of God’s people.
What better illustration of a right understanding of the gospel message than today’
s scripture reading from Matthew. Here on Christ the King Sunday we see how
Jesus’ kingdom operates on earth. How interesting that when the Son of Man
comes to judge the world, both groups of people are surprised by what they
hear. As each group had lived their respective lives, neither had thought they
had seen the Lord. They had not recognized the Lord in their everyday world
where folks went to work, where some were honest and some were not; where
some had more than they needed, others barely made ends meet, and still others
had to beg; where business deals were made, some in the open and some under
the table; where those with big names were favored and those who were
nobodies were forgotten -- who would have expected the Son-of-Man to show up
in a world like that? And especially in the places he claimed to have been
inhabiting? So of course nobody recognized him.
For the unrighteous, all they saw was the route to work in the morning, to the
market in the afternoon, and home again at night. They didn’t see the beggar
and her children pleading for food. Strangers came and went, as in any town,
but they knew better than to get involved with people who were not ‘from around
here.’ They may have heard about an uncle being put in jail, at some point, for
failure to pay his bills, but that wasn’t their problem so they didn’t really think
about it. Visiting the parents on week-ends, when they could, they heard that an
elderly Aunt was very sick with something, but they were busy raising their own
family and she was just an old maiden Aunt with no children -- they didn’t have
time for that. Never, in any of those places, did they encounter anyone remotely
like ‘the King of the Universe.’
And to-tell-the-truth, the righteous had not seen him, either. On their way to
lunch they always saw that family on the street and, a few-times-a-week they
would give part-of-their-own-sandwich- and fruit-to-share - they could spare a little.
There were also some immigrants who worked construction all day in the hot sun
and who didn’t have any water; they let them have a few sips from their jug -
not too much, but enough to keep them going. Their neighbor’s 3rd cousin had
been arrested -- most likely, he deserved it, but their neighbor was a good guy
so they went with him sometimes to visit the cousin. And when their co-worker’s
boy had been so sick, everybody stopped by to see him whenever they could,
poor kid. But none of them came across anyone who looked like a King.
Neither the righteous nor the unrighteous had ever seen the Lord in their daily
living, just their neighbors and their families, a few strangers and the usual
people of the community.
It will be the same with us. As long as we are living in this world, we will not
see King Jesus with our eyes. We will not witness the fullness of his glory. He
will not be before us like a shining light that we can easily follow. That’s not
how life is here. Here we still face struggles and hardships; here we follow our
Lord by trusting God’s Word and proceeding in faith. God’s Word for us today is
that in the kingdom of heaven, the Lord will welcome those who ministered to
him here, saying: “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked
and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you
visited me.” When did we do that? Whenever we cared for the least likely, the
least ‘important’ people around us.
Today is Christ the King Sunday, but we won’t see Jesus in his glory just yet.
Not in his glory, but by faith we can find him -- as a lonely widow, or a child half-
starved and dying of AIDS in Africa, a young man roaming the streets of
Philadelphia, a frightened refugee in a new country, or a homeless person
searching dumpsters downtown for food. Christ our King -- we gladly worship
him here; may we be equally glad to care for him out there, in all his
need. amen.
him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory…” In other words -- the time of
glory is not here yet. To hear some speak about God’s word, you would think
the time of glory had already arrived, that Christians had risen above the
hardships of this world, were untouched by the sufferings, the tragedies of human
life because their faith in Jesus acted like a protective shield that kept anything
bad from touching them. But today we hear Jesus say “when the Son of Man
comes in his glory.. then he will sit on the throne of glory…” That time has not
yet arrived.
The mainline Christian church has long be wary of any preaching or teaching that
smacks-of a “theology of glory.” What is a “theology of glory?” It’s a way of
talking about Jesus that skips-over the cross and goes right to the glory-of-God’s-
kingdom. A “theology of glory” presents the life of a Christian as so joyful, so
serene, that nothing can hurt us; we are so blessed that we do not have to
experience any sacrifice, deprivation, any loss or longing, any weakness or
uncertainty or grief. In the theology of glory, Christians are those who have
arrived at the victory with Christ; we are the successful, the ones with whom God
is well-pleased; we deserve the material blessings we have in life. A theology of
glory pampers us with the pretty, soft, luxurious things of life; it declares that
Jesus has rescued us from injury, from poverty, from sickness, troubles, and all
that “icky” stuff.
Those who preach a theology of glory, focus-so-exclusively on the victory of
Jesus’ resurrection that they ignore reality. They forget that God loves this world
and all its creatures, that God cares for the suffering and sent his son to bring
healing and hope to a suffering world. The Episcopal Church, (like the Lutheran
Church) knows that the Word of God grows out of a theology of the cross, not a
cheap theology of glory. We see the theology of the cross in the life of Jesus;
we hear-it in his teachings; we watch, as-it-is-played-out in his suffering, death
and resurrection. The theology-of-the-cross reminds us that God came to be with
us here, in this world where there is joy, but also sorrow; where there is great
goodness but also evil; where there is life and health, but also brokenness and
death. Whereas the theology of glory denies the pain of the world to focus
exclusively on the victory of Christ, the theology of the cross acknowledges both
aspects of life, honors the total experience of human life and brings all of it
before God, declaring that God is for us -- loving us, guarding us -- when we are
hurting and when we are rejoicing. We are theologians, not of glory, but of the
cross.
A famous Church theologian differentiates between the theologian of glory and the
theologian of the cross this way: “the theologian of glory calls evil good and
good evil. The theologian of the cross calls a thing what it is.” Let me
demonstrate: Several years ago there was a story on the radio about an
earthquake in Alaska in 1964 that caused in a tsunami along the Pacific coast.
As a result, Crescent City, California, was completely destroyed. Gary Clawson
lived in Crescent City at the time. He remembered, the night the tsunami hit,
going with his family down to their tavern at midnight to pull the till and take it
home in case things got worse. There was some flooding but they were able to
get around as needed. Gary was at the tavern with his Mom and Dad and his
fiancé. When the clock struck midnight, bringing in the new day, it was his Dad’s
50th birthday, so his Dad poured himself a beer and said, “happy birthday to me.”
A moment later, water burst through the front door. Everyone jumped up on the
bar, but the water was rising and Gary’s Mom couldn’t swim.
Gary found a boat and came back for his family. They rowed a long time and
were only a few yards from safety when the water began to recede dramatically
and swiftly, causing the boat to spin. It went straight toward a tunnel under a
bridge; it entered the tunnel. The tunnel was filling with water. The far end was
closed off with a grate that was beginning to stack up with debris -- cars,
furniture, tree limbs. Then the boat flipped, dumping everyone into the cold water.
Gary pushed himself deep into the water and swam toward the grate. He managed
to kick loose a couple of bars in the grate, get to the other side and swim free.
He was the only one in his family who survived the night.
What does a Christian say about something like that? We know God in Jesus
Christ; people – understandably – want us to say something at such a time, but
what? Those who work from a theology of glory might tell Gary something like
this: “Don’t grieve for them; they’ve gone to a better place.” Or “This is all part
of God’s master plan.” Or “God must have needed them in heaven, and so he
took them.” Well, what kind of a God does that represent? A God who would put
anyone through such an awful ordeal because God “needed them?” Better that we
say nothing at all than to say that. That Church scholar was right -- A theologian
of glory calls evil good and good evil. But those who work from a theology of
the cross calls a thing what it is, and thus they might say to Gary “oh, how
horrible! What an awful, awful thing. There’s no way to explain it. But God never
leaves us. God was with your loved ones as they suffered, and God is with you
in your pain.” The cross tells us, not that suffering is good, not that Jesus
suffered once for everybody and now we never suffer any more, but that God is
here with us, where grief, sorrow and death are a part of daily life. God is by
our side when we have to endure those things.
If we buy the theology of glory -- that there is no real suffering in the world --
we will not notice people around us who are hurting. And if we don’t respond to
the needy who live down the street, we certainly will not respond to the needy
around the world. On the other hand, if we remember that Jesus gave up being-
god to be one-of-us, with all the difficulties and pains as well as the joys and
fun, we will be equipped to care for others. Knowing Jesus crucified and risen
we are not ashamed to care about people whose lives are messy -- people who
have spent time in jail or people with mental illness, foreigners who are not
always sure how things work in our country. The theology of the cross gives us
versatility to respond to all of God’s people.
What better illustration of a right understanding of the gospel message than today’
s scripture reading from Matthew. Here on Christ the King Sunday we see how
Jesus’ kingdom operates on earth. How interesting that when the Son of Man
comes to judge the world, both groups of people are surprised by what they
hear. As each group had lived their respective lives, neither had thought they
had seen the Lord. They had not recognized the Lord in their everyday world
where folks went to work, where some were honest and some were not; where
some had more than they needed, others barely made ends meet, and still others
had to beg; where business deals were made, some in the open and some under
the table; where those with big names were favored and those who were
nobodies were forgotten -- who would have expected the Son-of-Man to show up
in a world like that? And especially in the places he claimed to have been
inhabiting? So of course nobody recognized him.
For the unrighteous, all they saw was the route to work in the morning, to the
market in the afternoon, and home again at night. They didn’t see the beggar
and her children pleading for food. Strangers came and went, as in any town,
but they knew better than to get involved with people who were not ‘from around
here.’ They may have heard about an uncle being put in jail, at some point, for
failure to pay his bills, but that wasn’t their problem so they didn’t really think
about it. Visiting the parents on week-ends, when they could, they heard that an
elderly Aunt was very sick with something, but they were busy raising their own
family and she was just an old maiden Aunt with no children -- they didn’t have
time for that. Never, in any of those places, did they encounter anyone remotely
like ‘the King of the Universe.’
And to-tell-the-truth, the righteous had not seen him, either. On their way to
lunch they always saw that family on the street and, a few-times-a-week they
would give part-of-their-own-sandwich- and fruit-to-share - they could spare a little.
There were also some immigrants who worked construction all day in the hot sun
and who didn’t have any water; they let them have a few sips from their jug -
not too much, but enough to keep them going. Their neighbor’s 3rd cousin had
been arrested -- most likely, he deserved it, but their neighbor was a good guy
so they went with him sometimes to visit the cousin. And when their co-worker’s
boy had been so sick, everybody stopped by to see him whenever they could,
poor kid. But none of them came across anyone who looked like a King.
Neither the righteous nor the unrighteous had ever seen the Lord in their daily
living, just their neighbors and their families, a few strangers and the usual
people of the community.
It will be the same with us. As long as we are living in this world, we will not
see King Jesus with our eyes. We will not witness the fullness of his glory. He
will not be before us like a shining light that we can easily follow. That’s not
how life is here. Here we still face struggles and hardships; here we follow our
Lord by trusting God’s Word and proceeding in faith. God’s Word for us today is
that in the kingdom of heaven, the Lord will welcome those who ministered to
him here, saying: “for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you
gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked
and you clothed me, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you
visited me.” When did we do that? Whenever we cared for the least likely, the
least ‘important’ people around us.
Today is Christ the King Sunday, but we won’t see Jesus in his glory just yet.
Not in his glory, but by faith we can find him -- as a lonely widow, or a child half-
starved and dying of AIDS in Africa, a young man roaming the streets of
Philadelphia, a frightened refugee in a new country, or a homeless person
searching dumpsters downtown for food. Christ our King -- we gladly worship
him here; may we be equally glad to care for him out there, in all his
need. amen.