Sunday, November 19, 2023
Spirit of Hope Lutheran Church, Lincoln, NE
Reign of Christ Sunday
(narrative lectionary)
watch this service online (readings start around 22:58; children’s sermon starts around 26:19; sermon starts around 37:02)
Readings: 2 Kings 22:1-20, 23:1-3; Luke 24:30-32
In the children’s sermon today, we talked about how even though we read the bible in English, it was originally written in Greek and Hebrew and a bit of Aramaic, usually on papyrus scrolls and big vellum books called codices. I told them about how the seminary I went to in Chicago (LSTC) had this extremely rare codex in their library – a Greek manuscript of the complete New Testament (albeit in a bit of a funky order) that was over a thousand years old. It was one of only about 60 complete Greek manuscripts of the New Testament in the entire world – so you can imagine what a precious and special document it was!
Now, Chicago is not necessarily the first place you’d expect to find a thousand year old Greek manuscript, and obviously it’s not where the book originally came from. The manuscript originally belonged to the Kosinitza monastery in Greece. Following a couple of wars about a hundred years ago, the monastery was looted and several documents were stolen, including this manuscript. It was sold a few times and eventually ended up being given to the seminary as a gift.
This whole history came to light in 2016. Representatives of the Greek orthodox church reached out to LSTC and said, “Hey, we’ve been tracking down all these documents that were stolen from us and you’ve got one in your library. We’d like it back, please.” And the seminary – to the children’s surprise – said yes. I actually got to be present at the ceremony in which they handed it over. This story is a good reminder that we are not to blame for the mistakes made by the people who came before us. But we are responsible for the choices that we make – and we can choose to make things right by doing the right thing.
In our bible reading, we read about a king named Josiah. His secretary finds a book of the law as they are making renovations on the temple and he brings it and reads it to the king. Josiah tears his clothes upon hearing the word of the law, because he realizes that he and his people have wandered completely away from these teachings. So he calls all the people together and reads the book to them, and together they all repent and recommit themselves to the covenant.
It probably wasn’t easy for Josiah to admit that he was in the wrong, or to go against what all the other people in the kingdom were doing. But he knew it was the right thing to do – and it made God happy to see him do it. Josiah decided to do the right thing, and it made a difference.
I can only imagine how Josiah must have felt when he heard the word of the law read aloud to him for the first time. He had come to power at a very young age – only eight years old – and no doubt he ruled as he was taught to rule, practiced the things he was taught to practice. And it’s clear that what he was taught did not include the laws of the covenant.
Many biblical scholars believe that the book that was found in this story was likely some version of the book of Deuteronomy, which contains the teachings of Moses, including the Ten Commandments. It’s a Word that convicts Josiah to his core. He is overwhelmed and horrified to realize just how far he and his people have fallen away from living as God commanded them to live. They have utterly failed to hold up their end of the covenant.
Josiah knows that he himself is not to blame for this. It’s not his fault that the people who came before him chose to turn away and follow other gods; it’s not his fault that his people stopped living according to the covenant. And it’s not his fault that he is only just now learning the truth. But now that he knows the truth, Josiah knows that he is responsible for what he chooses to do in response.
It’s similar to the choice that the leadership at my seminary, LSTC, had to face with regard to this Greek manuscript in their possession. No one at the seminary had anything to do with the manuscript being stolen (even my oldest professors weren’t that old!). The manuscript had been donated to LSTC by the president of a predecessor seminary, and he had bought it from a bookseller somewhere in Europe. But these church representatives from Greece brought the truth of its history to the seminary’s attention. And once the seminary knew the truth, they also knew it was now up to them to decide what they would do with this information. It was up to them to decide whether or not they would do the right thing.
We all live in a world shaped by the choices of those who came before us – for better and for worse. None of us is to blame for the world that we inherited. It’s not our fault that some of the choices made by people who came before us left this world with deep wounds that have yet to fully heal. But it is our responsibility to choose what we do with the hand that we’ve been dealt.
This is something that one of my Nebraska Synod colleagues wrote about recently. For the synod’s November theme of “Go and… be honest,” Pr. Miriam Blair wrote an article literally titled: “White people, you are not responsible for the actions of your forefathers!” Pr. Miriam is a Black woman who serves as the senior pastor of First Lutheran Church in Omaha, and she writes about how challenging it is to do anti-racism work in a mostly White church like the ELCA.
One of the biggest challenges she encounters is the guilt and shame that White people often feel – especially in response to words like “White privilege” or “systemic racism.” There are probably many of us here who are feeling that discomfort right now! And that’s because these are words that convict us to our core. We who are good-hearted, well-meaning White folks, we feel convicted when we hear from our siblings of color how very different their experience of the world can be from our own; we even get defensive sometimes when we hear about the systemic challenges they face – in accessing healthcare or housing or education, or of course, in their interactions with police. But these feelings of guilt and shame actually get in the way of working toward a better world.
Josiah sets us a much better example. He feels convicted by the Word, but he doesn’t stay stuck there. Instead, he quickly moves into action. He chooses to do whatever good he can do, however small it may be. And Pr. Miriam writes in the same vein; she writes:
White people, you are not responsible for the actions of your forefathers; you are responsible for your own actions. Trade guilt and shame for education and allyship. Spend time learning and expanding your knowledge. Ask people [of color] about the obstacles and problems they have faced or are now facing. Utilize your privilege to aid Black causes, organizations, and endeavors.
Pr. Miriam Blair
There is actually a whole lot of good that we can do once we stop letting defensiveness and shame hold us back.
That being said, the scope of the work to be done can still be pretty daunting. This world that we inherited is full of brokenness. There are many widespread, systemic issues – not just racism, but also massive challenges like economic inequality and climate change. It’s easy for us to feel as overwhelmed as I imagine Josiah did, with the enormity of the task before him.
But we don’t need to be discouraged. These words may leave us feeling convicted and overwhelmed – but the Word can also empower us and give us hope.
We see this in our reading from Luke. This little gospel snippet is from the story of the road to Emmaus, which is one of my all-time favorite stories in the gospel. A few days after Jesus is crucified by the Romans, a couple of his disciples are walking along the road from Jerusalem to Emmaus. They are feeling hopeless and overwhelmed, facing opposition not only from this massive, oppressive empire, but even from their own religious authorities. And now they have lost their beloved teacher. These disciples are so caught up in their feelings of grief and fear that they don’t even recognize Jesus himself when he comes up and starts walking with them. So he starts to teach them. As Luke writes, “beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them the things about himself in all the scriptures.”
Jesus opens the Word to them, and it leaves their hearts burning and full of hope, even before they recognize who it is that’s speaking to them. The exact same Word that left Josiah feeling convicted is the Word that Jesus speaks to his disciples, the Word that still speaks to us about the awesome power and love of God. When Jesus finally reveals himself to his disciples, they realize that there is absolutely nothing in all creation – not even death – that is too powerful for God to overcome.
And that is the gospel good news that we celebrate today, on Christ the King Sunday. We celebrate that Christ – the Word made flesh – has triumphed once and forever over the brokenness of this world. And he is still with us, working through us, in our efforts to do good.
This Sunday is also sometimes called “Reign of Christ” Sunday, which is a name I particularly like. It’s a name that reminds us that we are called to be active agents of this kingdom – that we are the body of Christ, the Word of God incarnate in the world.
However overwhelmed we may feel by the brokenness of this world, we are called to follow the example of Josiah and do whatever good we can, trusting that, with God, it’s never too little and never too late. We trust, from the bottom of our burning hearts, that God will always have the last Word.
This is the Day 