Sunday November 25, 2007
“Reigning Tender Mercies”
Luke 1:68-79

Queens, Kings, Princesses, Princes, Duchesses and Dukes… Thrones and crowns and scepters… Castles, royal decrees, pomp and circumstance… Much has been said about America's fascination with all things regal, having intentionally left it behind in the dust of the Revolutionary War.  While some have made the case that our nation has defacto royalty in some political families, from the Adams to the Kennedys to the Bushes, in fact we have nothing at all that represents the royalty known so well to us from history, particularly European history.

In its current form, at least in Britain, where it seems there is more fascination than power with the crown, one could argue that our love affair with entertainment and sports personalities rivals that of the Royal Families of Europe.  I only have to mention Queen Latifa and King James to make my point.  If you are or know someone who is transgender, you are probably aware of the vast amounts of time, energy, costumes and makeup spent on the royalty known in the courts of Drag Queens and Drag Kings.  And, of course, the amazing hold Princess Diana has on the hearts of many people - not just on Americans, but the world - has far less to do with affairs of state than it does with celebrity status.

Today, the last Sunday of the liturgical calendar, is known as “Christ The King Sunday” throughout the Church.  As you may have guessed from the fact that I have rarely, if ever, acknowledged this liturgical holiday, I am resistant to it.  Even with the progressive way of rewording it, “Reign Of Christ Sunday,” I feel strongly that most modern people simply cannot interpret adequately the concept of “King” into our lives today.  Either we adopt the current cult of personality as I noted before, or we jump back into history where in almost every culture the world over royalty became sign and symbol of corruption, exploitation, egocentricity, and other abuses of power.  These are certainly qualities we ought not associate with Jesus Christ!

But this week I entered the concept of kingship through a different door, using an alternative lectionary text for the day.  I chose Luke 1:68-79, the exquisite prayer of Zechariah upon the birth of John to he and his wife, Elizabeth.  Known throughout church history as the “Benedictus,” from the Latin name for “blessed,” the first word of the prayer, this scripture text sees Jesus as royalty in a delightfully contradictory and compelling manner.  You know how much I love it when scripture mixes it up for us, gets us thinking, pondering, questioning, wondering, reasoning.

First of all, lets make sure we know about whom we are talking.  Elizabeth is a relative, traditionally the cousin, of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Elizabeth and her husband, Zechariah, are older and have not been able to have children.  In Luke's gospel, Elizabeth and Zechariah get the news first that they are to bear a son, and call him John.  We will know him as John the Baptist, the one who foretells the coming of Jesus as Messiah.  When Mary is told that she will bear a child and call him Jesus, she is also instructed to go spend time with Elizabeth.  In the meantime, Zechariah, who questioned God's ability to make all this happen, has been struck dumb until the events foretold play out.  Here, in verse 68, holding his newborn son, John, his silence is broken and he praises God and tells of the coming Messiah.

And it is here that he uses language that broadens and deepens and perhaps even confuses our understanding about who this child will be.  While never saying the title “King,” Zechariah uses images and language which clearly conjures up in our mind's eye royalty.  The phrase “he has looked favorably on his people” is used when a ruler makes an official visitation to a province or town.  In the expression “house of his servant David,” the house image refers to royal lineage or dynasty, such as the “House of Windsor” in Britain, the House of Al Khalifa in Bahrain, and the House of Bourbon in Spain.  [Fashion Houses: House of Chanel, House of Christian Dior, House of Givenchy, House of Jean Paul Gaultier, House of Giorgio Armai].  To be “saved from our enemies” and then “rescued from our enemies” implies the military power of a ruler needed to protect the populace.  “The oath that he swore” is clearly an imperial promise, reminiscent of a knight swearing allegiance to a queen or king.  Finally, the saying “to give to his people” implies the use of a broader power over citizens that would be available to a leader or ruler.

So clearly Zechariah is wanting us to know that he is describing no ordinary citizen, but one who will have a certain power that will affect not only his own life, but that of others… many others.  He is talking about royal power.  But what does this power look like?  And this is where the regal imagery becomes confusing, or perhaps it is better to say, reimagined!

Because, at the same time that Zechariah is using language familiar to us as that of royalty, he transforms all typical understandings of how that royal power will be used.  This King, known as Jesus, will not be like any other king, or queen, or monarch known to humankind.  For this one who rules seeks not to impose power over others, not to conquer enemies, not to gain glory or position, but simply to redeem the people and to announce forgiveness to all.

In one word, this King is Mercy.

But this ruler does not come out of nowhere.  He is not Innovative nor novel, for this is a fulfillment of promises made long ago, that God swore to our ancestor Abraham, that comes out of the House of David, and was spoken of by prophets from of old.  This King of Mercy is part and parcel of God's ongoing plan for us.  But this sovereign is also unique in the way in which he exercises his power.  It is so unlike any king or queen, prime minister or president, chieftain or boss.

Here the words Zechariah sings: “By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”  Would you describe the use of power by President Bush, Angela Merkel of Germany, Fidel Castro of Cuba, Gordon Brown of England, Yasuo Fukuda of Japan, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, or Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia as a “tender mercy?”  They may or may not be benevolent, but can you truly depict the administration of any government in the world as “the dawn breaking in upon us?”

In this child King Jesus, we can!  Without any sense of irony or embarrassment, or fear of an enemy force taking advantage of a weak ruler, we can with certainty and joy say that the power with which God comes to us in Jesus is as if the gentle dawn has risen on the shadows of our lives, is just like a pathway that had been dim and difficult to trod and now has been lit by the purest form of power, the mercy of God.  No need for military action.  No need for back-room negotiations.  No need for coupes nor revolutions.  No need for pageantry and pomp.  This King rules with the only power that truly has the ability to transform the human heart: love.

And he comes to us in the form of a child!  Go figure!  Both Jesus and the one who will announce his coming, John, will arrive in the form of one of the most helpless beings our planet knows: a human baby.  Many creatures on our earth are born being able to survive on their own.  Not the human baby.  It takes years before even the smartest human child could possibly survive on his or her own.  We should not be surprised that the reign of this world leader will be different than all the rest when he comes in the form of a baby.

Now, you are right to say that there have been other child kings before and since Jesus.  Tutankhamun was only 8 years old when he became pharaoh.  James II of Scotland inherited the throne at the age of nine.  Puyi, known as the “Last Emperor Of China” ascended the throne at 2 years and 10 months.  Following his father's death, Henry the VI of England succeeded to the throne at the age of nine months.  So being a child king is nothing unique.  But all these earthly rulers had to have guardians and regents to rule for them.  Their rule was in spite of their age.  Jesus' power came in large part because he was a babe.  Earthly rulers rule using cunning and brute force.  But no earthly ruler finds her or his power in reigning tender mercies.  Jesus does.

As we bring to an end today the Church year past and prepare for a new year ahead, beginning next Sunday with Advent, let us go into this season rejoicing in the merciful - Mercy-Full - power of God lived out so fully in Jesus Christ.  As this congregation explores the names scripture shares with us to describe Jesus, let us not let go of the fundamental characteristic of mercy - born of forgiveness - that will run like a life-giving stream throughout all the names we have for this savior-born-baby into our midst.  This king will shower upon us love, reigning tender mercy upon all who will know him and receive him and live into that very mercy.

May it be so.  Amen



Rev. Allen V. Harris
Franklin Circle Christian Church
www.FranklinCircleChurch.org


 

Copyright 2007 -- The Rev. Allen V. Harris

Franklin Circle Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)

1688 Fulton Rd., Cleveland, OH 44113-3096