christ the king part deux

So pretend you are taking Jesus to a cocktail party (this is what I tried to have the congregation do on Sunday) and you have to introduce Jesus to your friends, colleagues, whoever, with one thoughtful detail from all of the birth life, death and resurrection of Jesus that will reflect your relationship to him AND who he is.

What a task.

So, on Christ the King Sunday, traditionally the thoughtful detail we would add is that Christ is the King of Kings. This may not ring true for all of us. I found in my own study of the lectionary texts for the week, that there were many many metaphors, names and details about Jesus, many of which ring truer for me than king (oh the irony, seeing how I am a king of one sort). This drawing reflects the names I found for him in those texts, and they way I see them weaving together.

So what about this king deal? Here is the bottom line for me... rather than let the earthly metaphor of king (which is LOADED with the cultural and social baggage we bring to it) limit Jesus, let Jesus expand out notion of king, of leadership.

I think Jesus subverts monarchy, by making peace through his blood shed on the cross (Colossians 1:20) rather than by shedding the blood of others. He subverts hierarchy by hanging out with the lowest of the low rather than ruling from on high. He held no political office yet changed history (I know some of y'all might argue with that). So for me, the power in thinking of Jesus as a king lies in the way its challenges my notions of how leaders should lead.

One more thing... what we call Jesus is about whether or not it facilitates our relationship with Jesus. We should critically reflect on the names we use and whether or not they are appropriate for us. If king does not let me grow in my understanding of Jesus, maybe I can find another name that does. If king does not challenge me, maybe I can find another name that does. If the title of king does not draw me closer to Jesus, then I NEED to find another name that does. I will give credit to Bruce RC for this... Language should expand our faith, not restrict it.

So if you were wondering what I was gonna do with the whole Christ the King dilemma, that was the shortish version.

little bit of hope

Riding the BART is a great way to experience the world... the good, the bad and the ugly. Sometimes those discoveries are about myself, sometimes they are about the world. The other day, I saw Jesus in a moment, I saw God in a moment, that gave me hope.

There was a man wandering in and out and up and down the cars. He passed my seat a couple of times. He clothes were bordering on rags. They were tattered to shreds, and it wasn't very warm. He had to use one hand to hold his pants together. On his second pass, I watched as he disappeared into the car in front of me. He lost the grip on his pants, and more layers of clothes were revealed, none looking warm or comforting though. As he walked past, a young man reached into a shopping bag he was carrying and pulled out a pair of jeans and handed them the to man with a smile. I was too far away to hear any conversation that was exchanged, but the body language was loving and the man responded with gratitude.

My heart was full. It was an unbelievable example of being able to serve the world's needs as they appear to you with what you have to give. In that moment, that young man was exactly who God made him to be. I saw Jesus on the BART, humbly giving a pair of pants and humbly receiving a pair of pants.

i should get an award for this.

Don't you just love a good nap? There is little in life that gives me as much joy as laying down in the middle of the day, on my lovely red, corduroy couch, with my dog, for a good long snooze. I love drifting in and out of consciousness. I love feeling all cuddly. I love waking without an alarm, just when my body is ready.

I am a champion sleeper too. My husband makes fun of me... my naps are full sleep cycles. Sometimes up to three hours. I can nap in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening. I will confess, sometimes I even nap in my car, and I certainly nap on BART... in between the world's craziness.

Right now I am debating this healthfulness of napping as a hobby. On the one hand, I listen to my body better than I used to. I am genuinely refreshed when I close my eyes for twenty minutes in the afternoon on the way to work (not while I am driving mind you, only when i BART it). So I think, like much of the rest of life, napping in moderation is fabulous.

But, today, I napped to avoid doing the dishes. So, now I go to conquer my kitchen with the ferocity and the seriousness that I bring to napping. Pray for me.

Totally depraved?!?!!?

I am in a Jesuit ethics class with, well obviously a bunch of Catholics, but also with a group of Presbyterians who seem to know Calvin quite well. Calvin and I, on the other hand, couldn't be called more than mere acquaintances. Course, I am finding out that this mere acquaintance has had a surprising amount of influence on who I am and how I think about my self.

Often the total depravity debate comes up in class. The Catholics think we are fundamentally good in our nature (a place we agree) and the Calvinists this we are fundamentally sinful and corrupt--totally depraved.

What? How can I be made in the image of God but be so fundamentally wrong that I am totally depraved? I don't get it. I like to err on the side of love and compassion, and to me that means seeing the fundamental good in people, not the sin. And I don't think this devalues the seriousness I approach sin with, nor my understanding of grace.

But, I have always had trouble seeing myself as fundamentally good and created in the image of God. It is an identity that I believe in the abstract but have not internalized. Apparently, I have internalized Calvin. Maybe I know him better than I thought.

Don't get me wrong. There is a lot about being Presbyterian that I love. The power resides within the congregation, the sense of community, etc. But I just don't think that a totally depraved view of human nature can jive with my faith. I just don't think that constantly telling people they are bad, constantly conceiving of people as bad, or constantly conceiving of myself as bad can grow my relationship to my self, my neighbor or my
God.....

hmmm.

her imperial highness the intern

Naming matters. Names are symbols that describe, that represent, that inform. I am a King. I am a Kaiser. I am neither a man... the first prerequisite for actually holding the positions that my names indicate... nor a monarch. I am a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister a cousin, a niece and, hopefully, someday... an aunt. I am a King (thought aesthetically I prefer king). It is a joy to be a king, it is a joy to be identify myself this way. I could not give that label up.

So I didn't. But, for two years I have been a Kaiser, too. Wife is still something I am getting used to, partner I like better. I can be a partner. I am connected to a family that is not my own, but that I can make my own. I am working on all these new relationships that are represented by this new label. I am a work in progress as a Kaiser.

Which is why I am a king kaiser. My name is the topic of conversation everywhere that I go. My friends joke about the different royal labels that we can name our children so that they can have the most royal names ever. Strangers, mostly who see my credit cards, driver's license or name tags, comment on it all the time. Before I even started working at MBCC... they were making fun of my name. Labels matter. Names matter.

In the same way, what we call Jesus, how we refer to God matters. I am supposed to preach the Sunday after Thanksgiving. It is Christ the King Sunday, according to the liturgical calendar.

Not a name I am comfortable with. Oh the irony.

I can be a king... this is about family and not about royalty. But can I conceive of a Savior who is a king? who IS royal?

Born and bred in a democracy that rejected monarchy, the practical concept of king is incredibly foreign to me. Born and bred in a feminism that rejects patriarchs, the ideology of a king is foreign (and little repulsive) to me. So what do I do? What do I preach? Can I reconcile my images of Jesus, my symbols of Jesus and my labels for Jesus with Christ the King?

It remains to be seen. Check in after Thanksgiving to find out (and I am taking suggestions...).