The long and the short of it is that the National
Basketball Association (the NBA) allows a lot of latitude in
the attire its players wear off the court but when it comes to
game time the rule is that no shorts will be more than one inch
above the knee. -In recent years my father-in-law has grown increasingly
aggravated about what he calls the skirts the male players were
wearing -finally in the sports pages this week came his vindication
in the announcement that one player was being fined $5,000 for
wearing shorts that were too long. The player's association
immediately held a press conference at which it is reported they
noted that this is a time of armed conflict around the world -we
are a nation at war -what business did the NBA have in worrying
about the length of a pair of shorts-where were the priorities.
We've actually heard a great deal these past few weeks about
priorities -most people in fact have found themselves doing a
re-assessing of the things they value most -Certainly this Thanksgiving
was a time of more measured assessments of the meaning of family
and the place we give it in our lives. I was fascinated this
week to read reports of people struggling with their priorities
and trying to act in response to their most important needs-their
top priorities. -To me the most striking example was the story
of lines -lines of people-that had formed at the break of day
-one of the lines was a relief line created by refugees from the
Sudan seeking water -one press report told of the young girls
who came with containers for water -girls eight or ten or eleven
-who would need to carry water canisters almost half their weight
filled from the water wagon that was expected to arrive -water
not for bathing or even cleaning but water for surviving -but
there was no guarantee the water trucks would get through the
rebel lines -nevertheless the line formed each morning at sun
rise -Or another line in a refugee camp just over the border into
Pakistan -where there was a line of men waiting for food -grain
distributed into what ever container the men had-old canisters
-cloth bags-the very pockets of the coats they have worn for too
long. -There were lines again in New York city of those seeking
employment -and stories of those who would not stand in the lines
out of fear that it would be discovered that they are illegal
residents of a country that many have risked life and limb to
reach. -And then there was the line that formed Friday morning-the
day after Thanksgiving -formed just a few miles from here outside
the Best Buy-the crowd waiting -waiting at sunrise for the doors
to open in order that they might claim the specially priced scanners,
digital cameras and cd players. The lines we stand in and the
ones we do not stand in say a great deal about us -sometimes more
than we realize. It is all a question of priorities -As I have
grown older I have become less tolerant of lines -I, like most
parents, have more than once convinced one of my children that
the line they would have us wait in for some ride at Great America
or to enter some popular entertainment event is too long for
our short lives. -Our priorities and time are worth more than
this activity that every one else is waiting to do. A line waiting
for life giving water-food-employment -A line to see the latest
movie-obtain the latest cd or electronic toy -Priorities-What
we see as most important and meaningful -Sometimes you just have
to say "Life is too short to worry about something like
that." This type of reasoning, of course, is also used
on Sunday mornings both to convince some to go to church and
others to not attend -it is all a matter of priorities -what we
discern as having the greatest claim on our lives and time.
And that brings us to this day of worship -If you looked at today's
date you are too aware of the fact that the calendar is rapidly
making demands on our priorities -One month from today most of
us have a pretty good idea of where we will be -December 25th
-Christmas has a very definite way of shaping our lives and our
priorities -which is why today is special in the church year.
Today is Christ the King Sunday-it is the last day of the church
year. Next Sunday will mark the beginning of Advent -the count
down of four Sundays to the birth of Christ both into the world
and our lives. Like most of us who measure time from our births
-so the church begins its year celebrating the birth of a baby
-which explains why the church concludes its religious year-today
-with the triumph of Christ's life and his declaration as King
of all creation. The curious part of this whole calendar and
story telling thing is the fact that while the beginning is filled
with wonder and awe at a dramatic birth with angels, shepherds
and wisemen -the culminating lesson of the church year -the crowning
story, we might say, is not of Easter resurrection or of disciples
triumphantly establishing new congregations -but the moment of
crucifixion death. Our gospel lesson for today is more appropriate
for Good Friday -we expect to hear it sometime next March or April
-not at the moment that we are compiling our Christmas shopping
lists and beginning to think warm memories of Christmas past.
The death of Jesus-not a very uplifting gospel -except that it
speaks so clearly to the question of priorities. Most of us
are almost weary of the references to September 11th but the
fact is that whether it is mentioned explicitly or not -we now
know that every thought we have about the world and our relationship
to others -our understanding of safety and the place of terror
and the quest for power have all been redefined in light of
the events of one Tuesday morning. As yet the full implications
of our shift of priorities has not been made clear -many charities
are fearful that there may not be enough goodness in the world
to be spread around to meet all the needs -others are amazed
at the miracles of abundance. Our lessons for today all speak
in one way or another of power -in particular the political power
of kingship -a subject quite removed from the American experience
if we focus on the kingly part -but a central priority to our
very existence if we look at the issue of power. In the Old
Testament lesson we encounter a prophet who is challenging the
idea that kingship demanded power -absolute and total power.
The prophet Jeremiah called forth a greater understanding of power
centered in justice and righteousness. The prophet visioned
that a decision should not be based on the fact that someone
has the power or the means to do something -but rather whether
that the action was in the best interests of all the people -A
decision or action should reveal not just strength but wisdom.
This is not an easy course to follow-immediately after most
any terrorist act whether in this country or in Israel or France
or Russia or Japan -the most common response by the government
is an exhibition of power -police, military, sometimes even legal
power asserted dramatically -often not very carefully or justly
-for power tends often to lack perspective and proportionality.
Jesus fell victim to the power of both political and religious
authorities of his day -the issue was not one of justice but
of control by threat-harm-destruction-death. Our lessons for today
remind us of the true witness of Christ the King Sunday -they
reveal the mistake the powerful have often made in to believing
that a truth can be destroyed by might -or that might is needed
to defeat the powerful. The Kingship of Jesus is a caution
and a reminder to those of us who live in the most powerful nation
in the world to be careful of our priorities. The issue for Jesus
was not the destruction of the Roman government -the Romans would
succeed at doing that pretty much by themselves. -And the power
of the religious authorities had already been compromised by
giving in to many popular political positions of the day. -The
ultimate question for Jesus was power not over the forces of the
world but over the force that controlled the world -the one power
that rules even today-the power of death. The death of Jesus
remembered by Luke was not an ending-but a beginning -The promise
to the thief on the cross revealed a different kind of power -power
for life beyond death. For the disciples who remembered the story
of Jesus on the cross, it was as if the curtain of their understanding
was drawn back. In their memories of that day, they saw that
even during terrible suffering and pain, Jesus was really a king.
A different kind of king who had compassion for the suffering
of the criminal beside him. And so, when Luke wrote his Gospel,
he pictured Jesus as a king who was far different from the Messianic
expectations of a powerful military ruler. In Paul's letter to
the Colossians written near the end of the Apostle's life, as
he endures life in prison. The people to whom he writes face
life in a world where the leaders have betrayed the people.
It is a time of persecution for the church. The words of Paul
recount the testimony of the early church. In the face of pain
and suffering-people of faith could say that Jesus Christ is
the image of the invisible God. A very different kind of king,
the one in whom we see God with our own human eyes. In Christ,
the curtain on the stage of human history is drawn open for all
time, and we are able to see that the kingdom of God is among
us-now. It is a kingdom based not on power over life but
power beyond life-hope beyond life. In Christ, we are
able to see all things in a new light. In Christ, we can look
upon the failures of our leaders, and we can remember that there
is another kingdom in which we live -the kingdom where things
are done differently -the kingdom which calls us to live
differently here and now. In Christ, we can look upon the face
of terrorists and remember that the Prince of Peace looks upon
us and the world with compassion-patience-grace. In Christ,
we can see the wars and conflicts around our world, and the crime
and terror in our cities and nation And we can discover new heroes
not of power but of faithfulness to duty and love of their fellow
human being. In Christ, we can see that there is no person who
can go too far to be outside of the reach of the arms of love
and compassion -No piece of our human experience, which cannot
be redeemed. In Christ, we can look upon death with new eyes,
and we can pronounce the promise of resurrection over and over
again. In Christ, we can seek the comfort and strength we need
to get through the loss of someone we love. In Christ, we can
look forward to that day when there will be no death. In Christ,
we are able to see clearly what is important-to get our priorities
straight. Like the fifth grade student who was asked by her teacher
to pick a sentence, which she thought, was the greatest sentence
ever written. Most of the children in the classroom selected
the lines of some important person or some powerful leader, such
as Abraham Lincoln or the writers of the United States constitution.
Or the words of some great author-such as Dickens or Shakespeare.
But this girl saw the assignment in a different light. The sentence
she chose was written in ballpoint pen on the back of a picture
postcard from Hawaii, where her new stepfather and her mother
were on their honeymoon. "What is it that makes this sentence
important?" the teacher asked. The girl explained: "Until
I received this postcard, I never knew how my stepfather felt
about me." The sentence? "Charlotte, I love you."
In Christ, we can live right in the midst of a world which measures
everything by power and popularity and the lives of the rich
and famous -and we can see that it is a different sort of power
which makes the world go around -the power of love. In Christ,
we see that the curtain has gone up and we can proclaim a different
sort of future. A world where power is claimed not by the death
we threaten or bring but by the life we offer -Where the purpose
of power is for peace -In our stumbling ways we try to set the
right priorities -to drop food and not bombs -to protect but do
not destroy lives -to use power in support of truth-justice-peace.
There are still too few lines for this use of power -yet that
is exactly what Christ the King declared as his invitation to
paradise -a vision of a world yet to come -a people of grace who
gather now in anticipation -Here is a line worth joining-even
if the wait is a bit undefined.
Amen.