Christ the King --- it has a nice ring to it doesn't it - but maybe the question we have to ask ourselves now and then is, what sort of King is it that we worship and give our trust to?  Is it the Christ of God?  The suffering one?  The vulnerable one?  I try to imagine myself if I had been standing at the foot of the cross that day - I think I would have been with the group that wanted him to just go into superhero mode, leap right out of the whole mess and show everyone what sort of power he had. Would I have had the eyes of faith like the criminal hanging next to Jesus who recognized him right off as king?  The one who would be his salvation, his hope, his life?  No, I think I would have longed for someone a little showier, a little more mighty, substantial, someone to really lean on.

          This is the last Sunday of the church year, celebrating the reign of God, the coming of the kingdom, the reconciliation of all things.  If Christ is King, why doesn't the world seem to be running a little smoother?  We don't put too much stock in kings these days - they are the stuff of fairy tales and monarchies with figureheads - kings don't carry a lot of weight with us.  But God has always had a different idea about the way the world could be, a world where self-less love was the ultimate power.

          We get a good description of this king in the reading from Colossians.  He is the image of the invisible God, he is the head of the body, the church.  In him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things.  In him the fullness of God dwelled.  And what do we know about Jesus?  We know that he went about healing, showing compassion on people.  We know that he challenged the authority of the corrupt religious leaders of the day, and that he spent his time with those on the outside of that system.  He spent time with women, children, with sinners and outcasts; he went to death out of love and commitment to another way of living.  What we know about Jesus, we know about God - in him the fullness of God dwelled.  Our king is not a superhero nor a useless figurehead, he is the image of the invisible God.

          Four young people have affirmed their baptism this morning; they have now been officially confirmed.  And who is it that does the confirming?  Is it me?  Is it the four of them?  No, in our prayer we say, stir up in Kristin, in Blake, in Chelsea, in Grete the gift of the Holy Spirit, confirm her faith, empower him in his serving, give her patience in suffering.  It is God who confirms.  Like the rest of us, these four are on a journey, a journey where faith is still being formed and transformed.  Every one of them wonders how religious people can claim to be people of faith, and yet be filled with so much hate and violence. Every one of them wonders where God is in the midst of the suffering of the world.  Like the rest of us, they too would often like to worship a God who was Superman - someone who could just lay the bad guys low and make the world all shiny and new. God is at work to make the world shiny and new, but God works through you and me, God works through the power of love.  God keeps on showing us a vision of God's dream for this world, and constantly invites us to be part of that dream.  For all four of these new adult members of the congregation, their statements of faith were full of questions, doubts, hopes.  Maybe when it comes right down to it, our biggest statement of faith is our confidence to be as bold as the criminal hanging next to Jesus and say, "Jesus remember me" because we trust in a king who does not sit on a throne a safe distance away, looking down on his subjects and shaking his head.  No, this king goes the way of the cross, offers us forgiveness and invites us to see a new way of life, be part of a new dream for the world, be part of the reconciliation of this world.  This king works to confirm our faith that the world can actually be transformed by the power of the Spirit at work in us.  As a group of us were discussing faith in a class Tuesday night, we talked about the difference between faith IN and faith OF - our job is to follow, to have the faith of Jesus, to live faithfully - there is nothing static or even terribly predictable about that sort of faith.

          The politics of compassion led Jesus to a passionate mission to transform the culture of his day because he saw God as caring about human beings.  God's kingdom is about God's dream coming true not only in heaven, but on this earth, a place where so much else seems to rule us.  The way things are is not the way they have to be, that is not God's desire for us.  Look again at this Christ who became the servant of all, this Christ who was fully committed to God's desire for us.  Look again and see one who was passionate about healing the world, who was always among the lost and the least.

           And you four sitting there today, you have work to do, for you are part of God's dream for this world, you are part of how God gets the job done.  Do you want peace?  Work for peace and don't accept violence in your school or your community.  Do you want God to make things better for people? Think about what YOU can do to alleviate poverty.  Think about the difference between your wants and your needs, think about how you could use some of your time to clean up the earth or tutor kids who are having trouble in school.  Do you want religious people to be more tolerant of others?  Keep learning, keep communicating with others, ask questions, challenge the status quo, listen and be willing to grow and ready to change your mind sometimes, give up some of your assumptions.  As to your faith, it is the work of the Spirit in you, so keep paying attention to the Spirit of God.  This is not your graduation from church; this is just one milestone on your life-long journey.  This means you have more responsibilities instead of less.  This means that you continue to be needed here, that your gifts and abilities are crucial to our ministry.   Do you want the church to be different?  YOU are the church, so stand up and be counted.  And finally, be ready to accept that life with God is all grace, all gift, and that your life is simply one big response to the love that is already yours.

          Christ is King, but following this king leads to dying, dying to the wisdom of this world, dying to the need to be led by Superman, dying to the old self that is afraid to be part of God's dream.  And it leads to new life, a renewed relationship with God and with other human beings, it leads to a life that does not cling to faith as some sort of possession, but a life that is one of faithful participation in God's mission to this world.  This king's power is love.  And so, in the words of Colossians, May you be made strong with all that strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

AMEN