Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to you, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
“There was also an inscription over him, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’”
Some look at this inscription as though they were mocking Christ. However, a close reading of the Gospels tells us that Pilate, who ordered the inscription to be placed there, had come to recognize Christ as King of the Jews. For Pilate this was a declarative statement, not a mocking phrase. Several verses after our passage today we hear the centurion who stood guard at the cross say “Certainly this man was innocent.” Matthew and Mark are even more clear in their Gospel accounts as the centurion says “Truly this man was God’s son!”
This Sunday is recognized as the Feast of Christ the King. This is the end of the season after Pentecost. Next week we celebrate the Church’s New Year - Advent.
The Feast of Christ the King is a fitting way to end the season after Pentecost. If you recall those many weeks and months ago at Pentecost we were empowered by the Holy Spirit to do God’s work. Now we are reminded that Christ is our King, and we are to worship Him and to emulate him.
But His rule as king is not like an earthly king. He does not rule with force. As the psalm today reminds us “he breaks the bow and shatters the spear.” Jesus rules with something much more powerful.
He rules with love and service to others.
Luke’s Gospel today shows the love and service that Jesus exemplified even as he faced his own death on the cross.
Jesus, in his death, asked for God’s forgiveness upon the soldiers and the people.
“Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.”
Jesus also told the criminal who hung beside him “you will be with me in paradise.”
Facing his own death, Jesus reaches out to others with love and service.
I wish we could say the same thing about the people in Luke’s Gospel today. You may have even forgotten that there were other people in the story, followers of Jesus. Luke describes their role in the story simply “The people stood by.” It does not say that they begged for the soldiers to stop. It does not say that the people shouted “Jesus we believe in you.” It does not say that they wept. They simply stood by and watched, they did nothing.
When we hear Jesus ask for forgiveness for the soldiers and leaders I believe that Jesus was also asking for forgiveness for the people who simply stood by. Forgiveness for those who did nothing.
When we reaffirmed our Baptismal covenant just three weeks ago we were reminded that we are called to seek and serve Christ in all persons, loving your neighbor as yourself, to strive for justice and peace among all people, and to respect the dignity of every human being.
We can not do that if we simply stand by and watch.
The crowd in Luke’s story let us down. They stood by and watched. Their inaction brings me pain. Part of that pain comes from reminders of when I stood by and watched. How could I have not spoken up when someone was being wronged? How could I stand with the crowd? Perhaps the crowd in the Gospel story felt intimidated by the soldiers and leaders who were present. But that does not help my excuse.
Standing by and watching is precisely what God does not call us to do. We are called to action, not inaction. Though God knows that inaction is sometimes what we do. As we confess our sins remember that we confess for those things done and left undone. But if I am going to make a mistake wouldn’t it be better to do so through action rather than inaction?
One of the most horrific examples of inaction surrounds the Holocaust. Approximately 6 million Jews were systematically killed. The crowd just stood by. And unfortunately the crowd included churches, government leaders, as well as individuals.
However, amidst this horrific inaction there were people who took action. There were people who risked their lives so that others could be saved. There were people who sought and served Christ in all persons. The book “Lest Innocent Blood Be Shed” by Phillip Hallie describes how the town of Le Chambon France conspired to smuggle Jews out of the path of the Nazis and into Switzerland.
Jews were hidden in the homes of Le Chambon for as long as four years. When refugees would arrive in town word quietly spread. Miraculously forged ID and ration cards would appear on the kitchen table of the host family. When the Nazis were planning a raid on the town the pastor of the church was alerted and all the refugees disappeared into the woods for the day only to return at nightfall. No one ever learned who called the pastor with the alert and the source of the ID and ration cards remains a mystery.
Following the round up of Jews in Paris in 1942 and knowing that he was being watched by the Nazis, Pastor Andre Tracme preached “The Christian Church should drop to its knees and beg pardon of God for its present incapacity and cowardice.” Pastor Andre watched the crowd that did nothing - yet his parish and town were taking action to serve those in need. When the villagers were asked decades later why they took action they simply stated “things had to be done and we happened to be there to do them. It was the most natural thing in the world to help these people.”
A survivor of the holocaust whose three children passed through Le Chambon told the book’s author “The Holocaust was storm, lightning, thunder, wind, rain, and Le Chambon was the rainbow.”
The real question is - Can we be the rainbow?
Phillip Hallie wrote this book in part because he saw that “cruelties exist because people believe that flesh-and-blood individuals can do nothing that counts.” Yet in this village real people, often poverty stricken themselves, saved others from cruelty. These people were the rainbow.
The crowd I want to be a part of is not just standing there, it is taking action - the Holy Spirit at work through each of us. God calls us to action, often this action can be something small but important. It might be correcting someone at work if they make an inappropriate remark. It might looking at a company’s human rights and equal rights records before buying their products or investing in their stock. It might be walking in Washington to raise awareness of homelessness. It might be taking a public stance against an injustice.
I suspect that it was not easy for the crowd in Luke’s Gospel to stand by and watch.
Taking action - that is not easy either. However the villagers of Le Chambon remind us that it is the most natural thing in the world to help people. It is natural to be their rainbow.
The effort to save the Jewish refugees in Le Chambon started with Pastor Andre and his wife and children. One voice started the effort in response to a knock on the door by a Jewish woman looking for shelter from the cold and the Nazis. Soon almost the whole town of 5,000 was involved.
I look around this sanctuary and when it is time to stand and affirm our faith one person stands first and they are soon joined by the whole congregation.
What is it that makes your heart beat faster in such a way that you want to stand up and speak out? Is someone knocking at your door? Is God calling you to action?
Christ the King rules with love and service to others. The villagers of Le Chambon fought the Nazis in their own way with love and service to the Jewish refugees. The people of Saint Patrick’s support a school and parish in Haiti, walk for the Homeless in Washington, cook breakfast for those in need of a meal, minister to caregivers, and more. But is it enough? How is God calling us? How can we help someone in a storm and be their rainbow? How can we be energetic and progressive; how can we dare to dream and to take risks?
Know that when you stand up - soon others will stand with you too.
Amen.
Henry McQueen
Saint Patrick’s Washington
Last Sunday after Pentecost - Christ the King, 21 November 2010
Ps 46, Jer 23:1-6, Col 1:11-20, Luke 23:33-43
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