Luke 23: 35-43 (links validated 9/21/22)

When I was growing up, I played in the local youth soccer league like everybody did, because we were good suburban kids. We were not, however, good soccer players. At least, I wasn’t a good soccer player. Most of the time I would play in the left midfield, which I think was just the place that coaches put players that they didn’t know what to do with...One year, at the end of the season, our coach decided that we wouldn’t just get trophies, we would get personalized trophies, each one of them engraved with the particular award that the coach had devised just for us. So, of course, somebody got best passer, and somebody got best ball skills, and somebody got best team leader. And we got to me, and I was handed a trophy that said, “Best Position Player.” And I thought, at last, this is my vindication! Maybe I was so much better than I thought. Maybe I had uncovered something about the tactics of soccer that nobody had ever figured out before, and here was my recognition. Maybe there was in fact something secretly ingenious about staying put and waiting for the game to come to you. But of course, that’s not true. The next year I don’t think we won once. To this day, “Best Position Player” is the nicest thing anyone has ever said about my skills on a soccer field. And it wasn’t until years later that I realized I had received something of a backhanded compliment. That I had just won a trophy for standing around and watching...

One of the students asked David (Perry) if the British monarch had any actual governing authority. He informed us the monarch still possessed two sovereign powers—the power to grant pardon and the power to bestow honors...And yet, it is here in this moment of weakness, pity, and horror that Jesus’ royal authority is most on display. The King has the power to grant pardon, which Jesus does, not only for the penitent thief, but for all of those who have participated in his execution. “Father, forgive them,” he says. Additionally, it is the King’s prerogative to bestow honor. Jesus does not offer the un-named thief a knighthood, but he promises this dying man that he will soon have his portion in Paradise. The King remembers the sinner and grants him full citizenship in the Eternal Kingdom...

I’ve lived on the West Coast of Canada for over a decade now, and I’ve watched a lot of crows try annoy and pester bald eagles. Usually in groups of two or three, the crows dive bomb and squawk and keep flying after the eagle. Their intent is to get the eagle to leave the area or to steal the eagle’s food. The eagle is quite powerful and capable of bringing an end to the pestering crows, and yet, I have never once seen an eagle flip the script. (I know that this does happen, as seen on nature shows… but it’s worth remembering that we get the highlight reels on thousands of hours of footage.) This is likely because fighting in mid-air is tricky for such a large bird, but as I thought about Jesus on the cross here, and the way that one of the criminals mocked him for being capable of salvation but not saving himself, I thought of the eagle enduring the crows.

Sometimes it is a non-Christian who shows Christ- likeness to us in profound ways. I think of the life of Mohandas Gandhi who was a critical force in the very difficult transition of India from a British Colony through partition into India and Pakistan and to independence. One of his most powerful quotes goes like this, “an eye for an eye can only make the whole world blind”. He was assassinated in 1948 by an extremist who was opposed to his acceptance of Muslims. At the funeral, the American Secretary of State, said "Mahatma Gandhi had become the spokesman for the conscience of (hu)mankind, a man who made humility and simple truth more powerful than empires." The movie Gandhi came out when I was in university. The most powerful scene for my teenage self was the one where he encounters a man who tells Gandhi that he is going to go to hell because he brutally murdered a Muslim child, all because his own son had been killed my Muslims. Gandhi advised him that he could find his way out of hell by adopting an orphan Muslim child and raise that child as a Muslim.” I recall very clearly leaving the Vogue Cinema that night and hearing a fellow student behind me say to his friend, “what is most amazing is that was a real person. It’s not a made up story.” How do we live in forgiveness and reconciliation when tremendous wrong has been done to us?...

Betsy Balcombe has an historical distinction. She was the last person to engage Napoleon Bonaparte in physical combat. The English girl did so at the age of 13. Her father worked for the East India Company as a purveyor of supplies on the small island of St. Helena, where the emperor was sent into his final exile. There were very few people on the island. Both the emperor and the girl could have used a companion. She called him “Boney.” Graham Robb, in his France: An Adventure History (2022) retrieves the story...

The last published writing of Friedrich Nietzsche was The Anti-Christ, written in 1888 and published in 1895. It includes this amazing passage, based on Luke’s description of Christ approaching his death. Nietzsche wrote: “This ‘bringer of glad tiding’ dies as he lived, as he taught— not to ‘redeem mankind’ but to demonstrate how one ought to live. What he bequeathed to mankind is his practice: his bearing before the judges, before the guards, before the accusers and every kind of calumny and mockery– his bearings on the Cross. He does not resist, he does not defend his rights, he takes no steps to avert the worst that can happen to him– more, he provokes it… And he entreats, he suffers, he loves with those, in those who are doing evil to him. His words to the thief on the cross contain the whole Evangel. ‘That was verily a divine man, a child of God’– says the thief. ‘If thou feelest this’– answers the redeemer– ‘thou art in Paradise, thou art a child of God.’ Not to defend oneself, not to grow angry, not to make [someone] responsible… But not to resist even the evil man– to love him…”

(lots of Greek exegesis)

In the western world there was once a king named Arthur. He was the one who invented the famous Round Table and had Lancelot as his knight and Guinevere as his wife.* Long before Arthur became a king—in fact when he was just an infant in the cradle—a strange thing happened. The nurse stepped out for a moment and quick as a wink Merlin the magician appeared. Then disappeared and took the little boy with him. This was not really a kidnapping, because Merlin was a kindly old magician. Alright it was a kidnapping, but it was for a fond purpose. This magician did not want this boy to grow up in a sumptuous court, spoiled, pampered and “royal.” Rulers can be miles above the tiny precious specks of beauty in life. So Merlin whisked young Arthur to a bedraggled castle of a third-rate Lord, Sir Ector...

("President Kennedy had to go to Dallas. In 1960, his election to the nation's highest office was with the slimmest margin of the popular vote in history. Then came the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and a test ban treaty with the Soviets. Many conservatives thought Kennedy couldn't handle the office. The President needed Texas, but the Democrat party there was splintered...")

(always good insights!!)

("Paradise, a place barely mentioned in the Bible, is probably not far from your home. But I don't think it's a place, or a heaven to be achieved. It's not really a town in a state, but more a state of the soul. When I think of paradise, in the heart of the heart of my faith, I imagine it as a promise to help me live through the threshold times...")

("Robert Capon in Hunting the Divine Fox presents a wonderful picture of our typical American Messiah -- and it doesn't look much like Jesus on the cross....")

A few hundred years ago, the king of England often visited the prison. He listened to the prisoner’s stories to see if any deserved freedom. One day he listened to every prisoner proclaim his innocence, as they always did. They all told him how they were there unjustly, how someone framed them, how it was a lie. The king asked a young man, “What’s your crime, son?” He said, “Your Majesty, I stole bread from the guards to feed my sisters. I released the gate behind me, and it fell on a cart filled with royal wine. I did it, and I’m here because I’m guilty.” The king told the jailor to open the door, and he said, “Son, walk with me, we’re leaving.” The jailor said, “Your Majesty, why are you freeing him when he’s the only one who confessed his guilt? Everyone else claims their innocence.” The king said, “Well, we can’t have him corrupting all these innocent people, now can we.”

Jesus Christ is King – it’s probably the first time that phrase has broken on a global level in a long time. Not because the world has a new found appreciation for the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar that celebrates that title every year on this the last Sunday of our “Church Year.” No it’s “trending” because of Kanye West – seemingly the most unlikely of sources – after his over 20 years being in the music industry as a rapper, singer, song-writer, producer… after myriads of headlines, controversies – a month ago, Kanye released his first Christian hip-hop album entitled “Jesus is King.” To the shock and surprise of the industry, (especially music critics who at most gave it mixed reviews) it has become an international hit – topping the charts on a whole host of different lists of genres – but including the most important ones to the music industry for Top albums, and Top singles all across the globe...

During the Korean War, Billy Graham visited American soldiers. He visited hospitals and talked and prayed with wounded soldiers. On one visit, he met a soldier who was lying face down in a cradle because his spine had been shattered by a bullet. A hole had been cut in the bottom of the cradle so the soldier could see through to the floor. When Billy Graham was talking to him, the soldier said, “I would like to see your face, Mr. Graham.” Billy Graham got down on his back under the cradle so the soldier could look down at his face. This is a metaphor for what God did for us through Jesus Christ...

In my theatre days I had the privilege of working with a talented (if extremely eccentric!) Brit named David Perry. Once an actor asked him why the British would still have the archaic institution of monarchy in modern times. “Because, my dear,”— David called everyone “my dear” regardless of gender—“of the Royal Prerogative of Mercy. Even if you’re convicted by every court in the realm, you can still appeal to the Queen for pardon.” Mercy and pardon are really the only powers the monarch has left. Britain’s queen and any king who comes after her won’t be able to raise or lower taxes, decree laws, send out ambassadors, or declare either war or peace with an enemy. The monarch is really a symbol of the government. The only power remaining to the crown is that of royal forgiveness. And that’s still a pretty important power to possess...

In his fine book The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard claims that we all have our little kingdoms in life. A kingdom, Willard says, is any area of life where my will and my desires determine what happens and what does not happen. “A man’s house is his castle,” the old, rather sexist, adage says. And indeed, in our homes, at our places of work, we all have little spheres of influence, little patches of this earth where we make a kingdom for ourselves, where we try to arrange things so that what we say, what we think, what we believe determines the shape of life. The kingdom of God is where God’s desires, God’s dreams for this creation, God’s will and God’s intentions rule. The kingdom of God is where the shape of life mirrors God’s design for life...

She had no family. She lived alone. For the purposes of this sermon I will call her Sophia. Sophia is the Greek word for wisdom and Sophia certainly revealed wisdom to me. I became her pastor in a round-about-way. Sophia knew somebody who used to be a member here and when the doctors told her that she was dying Sophia’s friend thought she ought to have a pastor. So, I was summoned to Sophia’s bedside. I was new at this pastor stuff and I was afraid. I had been told that Sophia only had a few weeks before the cancer would take her. To be present to a stranger when they are so close to death is a daunting task. No time for gentle hello’s, or warming up to one another, just a long, painful and sometimes awkward good-bye. I went to Sophia’s bedside every day. Some days, when she was able, the questions just tumbled out of her. She wanted to know what I believed. No pat answers or trite platitudes if you please, just the facts. I liked her no-nonsense approach even though I knew that the meager facts that I possessed might not sustain us on our journey...

My niece and I were out at a family function when she started to wiggle and get all squirmy. She looked up at me and said, "TT, I really gotta go." So, I gathered our things to find the nearest restroom when suddenly she was still, as quiet as a mouse. Her countenance fell as he eyes wandered the concrete floor. Before I could ask what's wrong, she slowly lifted her eyes and said that she'd wet her pants. I discreetly gathered our things and went home to get her cleaned up. As we pulled in the driveway, I went to the backseat to unbuckle her, and her head was dropped in shame. She didn't say a word. I smiled, reached in, and tickled her and as I watched her light up in laughter, I knew that she wasn't expecting love in a moment of shame, in a moment of guilt. I learned something about the love of God that day. I learned of the effects of grace and saw a glimpse of God's heart for us. If I can be honest, looking back at my life, I have found more grace than I probably should have expected to...

There are models in our midst of Christlike forgiveness. The Amish community in West Nickel Mines, PA, who, after ten schoolgirls were taken hostage in 2006 and five killed in their school house, forgave the perpetrator is one example. As one Lancaster County neighbor put it, “I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts." One Amish man went to comfort the perpetrator’s family; another held the sobbing father of the perpetrator for an hour to comfort him, and the Amish community took up a collection to support the family of the shooter. The “Amish Grace,” as one author called, is exceptional, but it shouldn’t be, because forgiveness is basic to the Christian life...

In most images, three crosses, each with a human figure, are separated completely from each other. Sky, clouds, or other background elements are clearly visible between either the outstretched arms of the cross or the bent arms of the thieves. This separation clearly reflects the relationship between a king and the residents of the kingdom. Royalty does not mix with common people. Remember Lerner and Loewe's King Arthur sitting around wondering, "What do the simple folk do?" Pietro Lorenzetti (below left) captures the distance between Jesus and the thieves. His perspective seems to indicate that the two crosses are behind Jesus'. But the text tells us that Jesus is reaching out to those around him. In that, Jesus is acting more like kin than king. He will not be separated from people who reach out to him. The icon fragment (below center) gives a hint of that...

“Died in the line of duty.” How often have we heard these sad but somehow inspiring words? This time they were said two weeks ago about firefighter Lieutenant Jason Menard, thirty-nine year-old husband and father of three, on his last day of duty before going with them on vacation to Disney World. Doing what he was trained to do, put out fires and rescue people, he was trapped with other firefighters in a burning home in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts. Responding to a distress call and hearing that others might be still in the burning house, Menard and two others went looking to make sure everyone was safe. It was reported that as things got difficult, Menard helped his two comrades get to safety. He could have rushed out on his own. He chose, instead, to risk his own life so that their lives could be saved. He made the ultimate sacrifice...

all of us have experienced situations inside a family, a friendship circle, a community, or a group of colleagues, where a bitter difference grows up and festers so that eventually there is an unresolvable tension. Things have happened that can no longer be undone. Then someone in the family or community dies and that death changes everything. In a strange way the death brings with it a clarity, a peace, and a charity which, prior to it, were not possible. Why is this? It’s not simply because the death has changed the chemistry of the group or because, as we may simplistically conclude, the source of the tension or bitterness has died. It happens because, as Luke teaches in his Passion narrative, death can wash things clean. Death releases forgiveness, in the same way Jesus forgave the good thief as he died upon the cross...

Downton Abbey, the much-beloved PBS television series, recently came out with a feature-length movie. The entire plot was based on the Abbey preparing for and having a 24-hour visit from the King and Queen of England. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, Downton Abbey is a large country manor that houses “upstairs” nobility, in the form of an earl and his wife whose resources are dwindling (though expectations about how to fulfill their station in life are not), and the “downstairs” servants, with various social rank from the butler down to the carriage footmen. The series focuses on two groups who are bound to each other through strict hierarchical social rules, the “upstairs” family and others of their aristocratic class and the “downstairs” servants. For about two hours, viewers got to see all the drama and fuss the Abbey went through to put on airs, to be seen as “good enough” for the visit. From the earl down to a local shopkeeper, everyone believed that this visit from royalty signified great honor, no matter how brief. Everyone wanted to gaze at the royalty (just as we do today in our grocery checkout line) and impress them. We associate royalty with power, treat members of that class deferentially (at least on the surface), and fantasize about their privilege and glamour, gawking over the size of the princess’ ring or how the royals dress their infants...

The mystic theologian Fr. Michel Quoist sums up the immediacy of the Kingdom saying: “If only we knew how to look at life as God sees it, we should realize that nothing is secular in the world, but that everything contributes to building the Kingdom of God.” Whether it will ultimately reside above the clouds, beyond the stars, in our hearts… or, most likely, in a dimension beyond our current comprehension: Christ’s Kingdom will come. Jesus will reign forever: King of Kings, Lord of Lords. In Him, we are saved. That’s the kind of King we have.

After the ceremonial preparation, The scourging, nailing, nailing against the wood, Erection of the main-trees with their burden, While from the hill rose an orchestral wailing, They were there at last, high up in the soft spring day. We watched the writhings, heard the moanings, saw The three heads turning on their separate axles Like broken wheels left spinning. Round his head Was loosely bound a crown of plaited thorn That hurt at random, stinging temple and brow As the pain swung into its envious circle. In front the wreath was gathered in a knot That as he gazed looked like the last stump left Of a death-wounded deer’s great antlers. Some Who came to stare grew silent as they looked, Indignant or sorry. But the hardened old And the hard-hearted young, although at odds From the first morning, cursed him with one curse, Having prayed for a Rabbi or an armed Messiah And found the Son of God. What use to them Was a God or a Son of God? Of what avail For what purposes such as theirs?...

("Rene Girard, professor of language and culture at Stanford University, is a rare contemporary thinker who confronts the implications of Christian faith. In his book Things Hidden Since the Foundation of the World, Girard shows how Christ dismantles the triangle of desire, violence, and retribution. 'In Christ there is no envy, greed, or lust for power...")

Patrick Lencioni, a Roman Catholic who writes books on team management, explains that the most important rule for leadership teams to implement is the necessity of “vulnerability-based trust.” He says that good leadership absolutely demands a level of honesty at which weakness and failure can be openly admitted. When that doesn’t occur within the dynamics of team leadership, this communicates that the work environment is an unsafe place for one’s humanity to be fully expressed. This in turn creates an atmosphere in which leadership can easily fail. How? Lencioni points out that leaders who are unwilling to admit weaknesses or blind spots have difficulty changing direction when circumstances warrant it...

A Lutheran pastor I knew had been chaplain in Vietnam. One night he was in his tent when a young private came to see him. The private was newly arrived from the States and was scared, very scared, scared to death. The next day, he was going on patrol for the first time. And he was afraid to die. He cried, he moaned, he cursed, he prayed. He wanted the Chaplain to give him a saint’s medal, a New Testament, some charm or talisman that would keep him safe. He wanted the chaplain to tell him a prayer to pray, a good deed to do, anything to keep from dying. The chaplain said, “Look soldier, there’s nothing I can do to prevent you from getting killed on patrol tomorrow, there is no way I can promise you it won’t happen. There’s only one thing I can do. I’ll go with you.”...

Last weekend, I sat with a 12-year-old boy who desperately wanted to die. In reality, it wasn’t so much that he wanted to die, he just really didn’t think he deserved to live. He actually used those words. It was absolutely heartbreaking to hear the depths of his emotion and pain leave him with the conclusion that he did not deserve to be alive anymore. As we worked together through all of this pain, the thing that most quickly settled his turbulent heart was prayer. So he talked to God. He let God know what he needed, “to hear God’s voice clearly, in English,” so he could understand. I think many of us can relate to this feeling of despair and the need to hear God’s response clearly. I know I do. When he was done praying, I asked him what he thought God’s voice would sound like. After he gave me some of the usual answers, I told him what I thought, that God uses the voices of the people in our lives to give us wisdom and tell us the truth...

The patient was 62 years old, a drinker of, reportedly, self-mixed, vile tasting martinis. He was also a smoker—a pack and a half of Camels daily—but he had never before been seen by a cardiologist. This, despite the fact that he had been periodically forced to bed that winter by what was thought to be the flu, grippe or a seasonal bronchitis. Or course, in March of 1944, when Dr. Howard Bruenn first examined his new patient, cardiologists were still relatively rare. This one was shocked by what he found. His patient was Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was pondering a run for an unprecedented fourth term as president of the United States.

Have you ever noticed that? That Jesus doesn’t tell the repentant criminal that someday in the future he will enter into God’s presence but instead says “Today, you shall be with me in paradise.” Today, now, in this very moment. Christians have sometimes been accused of pining for a distant and better future and therefore sitting out the struggles and challenges of the day. But in these verses Jesus is focused on this very moment, promising that those who believe in him, those who see in his vulnerability the revelation of God’s mercy and grace, will be ushered into God’s presence immediately.

One of the things that every medieval ruler needed was a herald. Literary works as diverse as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Shakespeare's Henry V put heralds within close proximity to rulers. In Wonderland, the white rabbit carries a trumpet in one hand and a scroll in the other as he stands near the King and Queen of Hearts (chapter 11): 'Herald, read the accusation!' said the King. On this the White Rabbit blew three blasts on the trumpet, and then unrolled the parchment scroll.

Rock legend Prince (Prince Rogers Nelson) died from a fentanyl overdose on April 21, 2016 at his Minnesota home, Paisley Park. Fans were stunned that this star with a reputation for clean living was another victim of the opioid epidemic. Soon after his funeral and the investigation that uncovered the drug addiction, 35 people filed claims with the Minnesota probate court hoping to get a piece of Prince’s $300,000,000 estate.

In this painting, Jesus turns away from the criminal on his left, who looks into the darkness in defeat and despair. Jesus turns to the repentant thief and says, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). The painting is rich with other symbolic elements. The skeleton at the foot of the cross represents Adam, who is redeemed by Christ’s death.

("The most famous Cristero was a young Jesuit priest named Padre Miguel Pro. Using various disguises, Padre Pro ministered to the people of Mexico City. Finally the government arrested him and sentenced him to public execution. The president of Mexico (Plutarco Calles) thought that Padre Pro would beg for mercy, so he invited the press to the execution...")

("'H.H. Farmer tells how, as a young man, he once preached on the love of God. After the service an old Polish Jew who had become a Christian came up to him and said, 'You should not preach on the love of God until you have seen, as I have seen, the blood of your dearest loved-ones flowing in the gutters on a gray winter's morning. Farmer later asked him how he could believe in the love of God after that...")

("There are models in our midst of Christlike forgiveness. The Amish community in West Nickel Mines, PA, who, after ten school girls were taken hostage in 2006 and five killed in their school house, forgave the perpetrator is one example. As one Lancaster County neighbor put it, 'I don't think there's anybody here that wants to do anything but forgive and not only reach out to those who have suffered a loss in that way but to reach out to the family of the man who committed these acts...")

("In her new book Nomad, the outspoken critic of Islam Ayaan Hirsi Ali questions whether one can be both a good Muslim and a good American. Muslims can answer that question for themselves, but I was struck by the tension inherent in Ali's observation that there's an inherent conflict of interest between religious identity and political allegiance...")

("A gigantic statue of Jesus that Poles claim is the world's largest rose majestically above a small town on Saturday, as the grandiose dream of a local priest finally came to pass...")

("Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the Lutheran scholar, left Germany to escape Hitler. He moved to New York, but then he wrestled with himself. What good is his faith if he can live safely in New York while his parishioners could be killed at home in Germany for theirs?..." and other humorous illustration)

There’s another way of looking at the crucified Saviour and that is in a book by Graham Greene which is called “Monsignor Quixote.” It was about a Monsignor, a very nice, sweet little simple priest who, by some mistake, was made a Monsignor. So, he and his friend, who was the local communist in this village, went off for an adventure to buy clothes for him, and they had to go to another part of Spain to buy them. And so the story is all about their adventures together. And now the simple priest, of course, and the communist mayor disagreed on just about everything, but they loved each other and they were great friends. Anyhow, one night, poor Monsignor Quixote, as he’s called by Graham Greene — which is Don Quixote really, the great Spanish (inaudible) — anyhow, he woke up in a stark terror and he was sweating and he didn’t know what to do...

("Henri Nouwen tells the story of a family he knew in Paraguay. The father, a doctor, spoke out against the military regime there and its human rights abuses. Local police took their revenge on him by arresting his teenage son and torturing him to death. Enraged townsfolk wanted to turn the boy’s funeral into a huge protest march, but the doctor chose another means of protest...")

("Remember that horrific experience in the USA where a deranged man walked into the Amish school and killed five children. We recoiled at the sight, and many had a primitive response of wanting that man to suffer - to die in a like manner. Many expected a reaction of vengeance...")

("Last week I sat at the bedside of a woman who has struggled with her health for some time. It was her third hospitalization in a couple of months and that afternoon she was especially uncomfortable. Our conversation had waned when one of the cleaning staff quietly walked in. She greeted Anna by name and then proceeded to be about her work. As she was mopping in the far corner of the room, Anna turned to me and said that it always made her glad to see her students doing well...")

So easy it is for human beings to look at this man on a cross, and fail to see the King of creation. Sometimes it is because we are so consumed by ourselves, our own interests, our own concerns. Dagwood and Blondie are walking home after seeing a movie. Blondie is absolutely enraptured. 'I can see why they're calling this movie a masterpiece, the best movie in years! What did you think?' Dagwood answers, 'Not enough butter on the popcorn'...

("The Good Thief's words to the Bad Thief are interesting, 'You got the same sentence as he did.' The word used in Hebrew means both judgment and sentence so we can see this at two levels; all three are under the same sentence of death but all three in the moment of their death also face the judgment of God. This makes sense of the Good Thief's earlier words, 'Have you no fear of God at all?' The Good Thief is reminding his fellow criminal that they are approaching the moment of truth...")

("'The time has come', the Walrus said, 'To talk of many things: Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax-- Of cabbages--and kings – and why the sea is boiling hot, and whether pigs have wings.' In the story of Alice in Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll provides a wonderful little poem about a walrus, who goes out for a walk with some very cheery little oysters...")

("We read that the first criminal 'derides' Jesus, saying, 'are not you the Messiah? Save yourself and us'. The Greek word used here has an interesting connotation. This word we read as 'deride' comes from a word that is also often translated as 'to blaspheme', but means specifically, 'to speak lightly of sacred things'...")

"This November has been a month for remembering terrible deaths. The assassination of President Kennedy happened fifty years ago on Nov. 22. The too-brief candle of his presidency, likened to Camelot for the youthful beauty of Jack and Jackie, and the dreams and visions they fed the nation, now constantly feed the resurrection of our interest in him..."

("There are different kinds of power and different kinds of authority. There is military power, muscle power, political power, economic power, moral power, charismatic power, and psychological power, among other things. There are different kinds of authority too: We can be bitterly forced into acquiescing to certain demands or we can be gently persuaded into accepting them. Power and authority are not all of a kind...")

("When I was a child, as part of our family prayer, we used to pray for a happy death. In my young mind, I had a certain conception of what that might look like. A happy death would be to die inside of grace, cradled warmly in the loving arms of family and church, fully at peace with God and others...")

("The human race of the twentieth century has climbed to the moon, has uncovered the secret of the atom, and what else may it not discover? The Lord's command is fulfilled: Subdue the earth! But the absolute human dominion over the earth Will be what is proclaimed today: bringing all things of heaven and earth together in Christ...")

("Father Michael Daly served as priest at Sacred Heart Parish in Camden New Jersey. What attracted one to Michael and some of his contemporaries in Camden such as Martin Gutwein, was their willingness and commitment to work and live in the poorest city in the eastern US. Michael said of the city where he served for at least 25 years, 'Those with wings have flown over the wall, all who are left have broken wings and cannot fly...")

("And what's more, we're supposed to emulate this king, to pick up our own crosses and follow him, presumably to the point of forgiving the guilty. Only lunatics would do such a thing - lunatics like Dom Christian de Cherge, one of the seven Trappist monks kidnapped and killed during the Algerian Civil War...")

("Once there was a king who had no son. The king sent out his couriers to post notice in all the towns of his realm. The notices advised that every qualified young man should apply for an interview with the king as a possible successor to the throne. However, all such candidates must have these two qualifications: They must love God and love their fellow human beings...")

("A young preacher came to our study group one day with a heavy heart. He had tried to keep his covenant with the others in his group by reading the assigned Scripture in advance and deciding what new name God was calling him to be in that text, but he hadn’t been able to do it...")

William Wilberforce is a name too little known in contemporary times, yet his work of almost two centuries ago changed the world forever. In the mid 18th century, he was a young, wealthy, wild, carefree English aristocrat. Then he found himself at a Wesleyan revival meeting where he set all that aside and decided to exercise his faith by entering ... politics. That’s right, politics. When he felt the call of God, this wealthy young man felt it drawing him into the world of government. He was elected to Parliament and for 40 years he was England’s leading crusader against slavery. In 1787, when he began his crusade, European slave ships carried 100,000 newly captured slaves to the Americas each year. England led the way, carrying half of this number. The British economy had prospered and, some would say, grown dependent on this trade. There were those, like our own Thomas Jefferson, who lamented the “peculiar institution,” but who never lifted a finger to stop it. Jefferson died without freeing his slaves, and Washington freed his only upon his death. Wilberforce knew this trade was a sin against God. He and his allies prayed three hours a day over the many obstacles in their way. Though his opponents insisted that abolition of the slave trade would ruin the British economy, he insisted that righteousness is more important than money. After 20 years, the British abolished the slave trade in 1807. In 1833, the very year Wilberforce died, the Parliament abolished slavery altogether, the culmination of the work of a lifetime, of a person now largely forgotten, but with implications that continue to stretch from his time to our own. Eventually, over time, the rest of the world followed his example so that today slavery is an almost universally despised institution, though it most certainly still exists in several forms in the modern world...

("Once upon a time a young man grew up bitterly angry at the girl down the street. He was bright enough but slow spoken and shy. She was quick-witted and funny. He said and did stupid things, he was tongue tied in class and stumbled on the playground...")

Whether you are a Peter, a Judas, a Pilate, an urban or suburban dweller, religious or not, spiritual or not, you are forgiven, because as Jesus said: 'they do not know what they are doing'. 'But when I think that God, his Son not sparing, Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in, That on the cross my burden gladly bearing He bled and died to take away my sin...

"Writing about today's feast in The Christian Century, Lutheran Pastor Mary Anderson says: 'Here at the end of the church year, after living through another cycle of hearing the story of Jesus' life, of being taught by him in miracle and parable, we come to the coda of this hymn of praise..."

So. The Spear-Danes in days gone by and the kings who ruled them had courage and greatness. We have heard of those princes’ heroic campaigns. There was Shield Sheafson, scourge of many tribes, a wrecker of mead-benches, rampaging among foes. This terror of the hall-troops had come far. A foundling to start with, he would flourish later on as his powers waxed and his worth was proved. In the end each clan on the outlying coasts beyond the whale-road had to yield to him and begin to pay tribute. That was one good king. So begins the epic poem Beowulf. A new movie version just opened this week. The story is set in a magical era veiled by the mists of time, complete with heroes and monsters, adventure and valour, violence and tragedy, gold and glory. Beowulf emerges to save an ancient Danish kingdom from total destruction by an ungodly monster by the name of Grendel. In return, this legendary six foot-six-inch Viking, brimming with daring confidence and ambition, succeeds to the throne to become King. As Beowulf gains fame and fortune for himself, great riches and overwhelming temptations are thrown at him. How wisely he chooses to handle his newfound power will forever define his fate as a warrior, a champion, a leader, a husband and, most importantly, as a human being...

("Sunday's feast recalls me to the diocese of in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. The diocese was formed in 1990, in the last days of the apartheid era. The area the diocese covers, south of Johannesburg, was at that time virtually a war-zone...")

("There is a chip in the paint on my bunk bed where Keith hanged himself. Like everything else in prison, penitentiary paint is cheap. Even a suicide’s shoestring rope is enough to nick it. That scratch is all that is left of Keith now. In the year or so that we shared a cell, Keith and I never really became friends...")

("In a certain village in Europe several centuries ago, a nobleman wondered what legacy he should leave to his townspeople. He decided to build a church for a legacy. The completed plans for the church were kept secret. When the people gathered, they marveled at the church's beauty and completeness. Following many comments of praise, as astute observer inquired 'But where are the lamps? How will the church be lighted?'..." and several other illustrations)

We might wish to rush to place ourselves alongside Jesus as the so-called good thief. But the truth about us is that we are the ones gladly doing the crucifying of God's Son Jesus every day...

("Consider the HBO series The Sopranos, which has significantly raised the level of violence on television. Last year, producers decided that America’s favorite mob boss had become a little too lovable. The show was presenting a main character who was too cuddly for a hard-edged series...")

("Long and tedious was the road that brought me to Jerusalem! How I longed for Passover! Merchant shipping was delayed - all conspired to make me late, almost late for Passover! Late along the road I came, saw the Temple glow like flame! How I longed for Passover!...")

("What a Passover this is! It's a long way from Cyrene to Jerusalem - in Africa and well west of Alexandria. I managed to catch a boat this year, a cargo vessel with a few passengers and some Roman troops as well. Those Romans always seem to make sure they have some reinforcements around when the Passover is on...")

("Joan was playing with the boys again. The Chicago winter had delivered its one huge snowfall of the year. The pile of plowed snow on the edge of the school playground near the parking lot was over ten feet high, with room for only one person on top. Joan looked up at the 'king of the hill' with determination..." and another illustration from C. S. Lewis)

("Sing of the King who was born as an outcast, mother unmarried, his birth far from home, born in a stable in occupied country, toddler in exile for fear of the throne. Sing of the King who mixed with ife’s rejects, cared for them, talked with them, welcomed them in; hope for the hopeless and love for the loveless, moved with compassion when faced with our sin...")

"I used to be a big fan of Star Trek, the old one, not so much the new one. I can remember several episodes where Mr. Spock was in danger, and Captain Kirk would risk himself as well as the entire ship and crew to save Spock..."

("A boy was not doing too well in the public school. So his parents got him into a Catholic school to see if he would improve. Immediately the boy stopped watching TV and playing computer games and spent all his time in studies. At the end of the year he was the best student in class...")

"Some time ago I watched a television show called Reasonable Doubts. The story was a about a female defence lawyer who represented a man convicted of two brutal killings before a parole board. He was seeking release from prison after serving 14 years and she succeeded in getting him released..." and another illustration

"Six-year old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes. He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor. He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar and an egg..."

("Dylan Thomas sings of such a panentheistic God. 'The force that through the green fuse drives the flower Drives my green age; that blasts the roots of trees Is my destroyer. And I am dumb to tell the crooked rose My youth is bent by the same wintry fever..." and a poem)

("Ken Gire writes, 'We know nothing about that criminal on the cross next to Christ. We don't know how much he stole or how often. From whom or why. We know only that he was a thief- a wayward son over whom some mother's heart has been broken' over whom some father's hopes have been dashed...")

("Ride on, King Jesus, no man can a-hinder me, Ride on, King Jesus, ride-on, no man can a-hinder me. I was but young when I begun, no man can a-hinder me; But now my race is almost done, no man can a-hinder me...")

"Years ago, during a winter storm, one of my sons ran my Chevrolet Blazer into a ditch. Amazingly, the thing was totaled! It is a long story, but suffice it to say that my insurance did not cover the damage. About $4000.00 would come out of my pocket..."

("A number of years ago there was an anti-racism commercial that ran on TV. A small boy is greeted by his father at the school playground. 'Oh can you show me who your new friend is?' The child points out all of the characteristics that he thinks are relevant. His height. His clothing. His athletic ability but the father cannot pick out the child...")

("It was the mid 1840's, the Rev. Henry Francis Lyte was in a difficult time in his ministry and his health was declining. No matter what he tried to do; no matter what love he showed, the villagers responded with hatred. It was as if he had not spent 24 years of his life living, praying and working among them at all!...")

By the time the first hearers encountered the story of the crucifixion, they had traveled a long road with Jesus, a road that brought them to Jerusalem, where earthly power, both religious and political, was centered, a road that led to Jesus' arrest, sentencing, and now his crucifixion on the hill called the Skull. Along that road, they had "witnessed" Jesus calling disciples to follow him, breaking the laws of the Sabbath in front of the religious officials by working and healing on the Sabbath, performing miracles among the people of Israel and the Gentiles, and hearing Jesus preach, teach, and proclaim the coming of the kingdom of God. Now they stand at the foot of the cross, seeing Jesus hanging there between two criminals, and wonder how all that had been said and done before could be true. Has the power of the world finally overcome the power of God? Is Jesus really the anointed one? The answer to these questions begins to be revealed in the episode of the crucifixion through the most unlikely of sources: the soldiers and the evildoers who surround Jesus. Although they do not know that they are speaking the truth and do not intend to be speaking the truth, the truth about Jesus' identity is ironically revealed in the voices of these characters...

("She came walking into entry to the church offices. I spoke to her, 'Rachel, how are you today?' She said, 'Rotten'. 'I am sorry to hear that,' I responded. She continued, 'I have been down in the dumps lately. I haven’t been myself. I just haven’t been right... ")

("'Whatever happened to The life that we once knew Can we really live Without each other? Where did we lose the touch That seemed to mean so much? It always made me feel so Free as a Bird.' In case you don't recognize the words, they were written and recorded by John Lennon in 1977. The original tape only had Lennon's voice, singing and playing the piano...")

("There was a minister who was in such a hurry to get to a service that when he arrived, he suddenly realized that he had forgotten his false teeth. Turning to the man who was there to greet him, he said 'I forgot my teeth'. The man said, 'No problem'. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of false teeth. 'Try these,' he said...")

("The spiritual quest discovers certainty in uncertainty. Tolkien, in The Fellowship of the Ring, stated it this way 'The road must be trod, but it will be very hard. And neither strength nor wisdom will carry us far upon it. This quest may be attempted by the weak with as much hope as the strong..." and other quotes)

("We have to actively resist those negative and misleading labels that have been nailed above our heads or internalized in our souls. My hero in this regard is John Merrick. Merrick was born in Leicester, England, in 1862. Early in life he developed bulbous, cauliflower-like growths that grew from his head and body...")

("Mounted above the table and between two windows was a three-foot bronze figure of Christ hanging on an invisible cross. I glanced at the figure briefly and then went over to the window to look out on the garden. Mr. Hofmann asked me to look at the figure again, and when I looked more closely, I was struck by the artist's conception..." and several quotes)

("On the far-away Island of Sala-ma-Sond, Yertle the Turtle was king of the pond. A nice little pond. It was clean. It was neat. The water was warm. There was plenty to eat. The turtles had everything turtles might need. And they were all happy. Quite happy indeed. They were until Yertle, the king of them all, Decided the kingdom he ruled was too small...")

("When I was counselling full time I worked with a lady who had been a recovering alcoholic for a couple of years, but who came for some help because she needed to make some other changes in her life. She was struggling with decisions about her marriage, her vocation, and about other relationships. She came in every couple weeks for a number of months...")

("Do you remember that little piece that was quite popular a number of years ago. Johnny Cash even put it into a song: It was called One Solitary Life. 'Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty..." and another quote and prayer)

"The scandal of Christianity is precisely this. No matter what we have done, how much we have stolen, how many deaths we have been responsible for..."

("The great Indian leader, Mahatma Gandhi, read and studied the New Testament and was strongly influenced by the teachings of Jesus. When Gandhi was assassinated, he instinctively threw up his hand in the Hindu gesture of forgiveness. He forgave the very person who killed him. Another example of the power of reconciliation with one’s enemies comes from the life of Japanese Christian, Toyohiko Kagawa...")

("A copy of Sigidmundis Goetze's art work Despised and Rejected of Men, has helped me understand the crucifixion in a more relevant light. The painting centers around the thorn-covered and spear-riven Son of Man...")

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