He
is our creative and eternal king.
King from the beginning to the end
and everywhere in between, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
He
is king over the empty canvas, king above the terror of chaotic waters—with
word and will He brings order and the
possibility for all good things out of that empty chaos—even the empty
chaos we find in our lives!
He
is, he was, and he will be
—he’s not leaving, not going anywhere
—I know it’s hard to believe in the
face of the world as it is, but it’s true.
Empires pass away, 1,000 year
kingdoms last barely a decade, reform efforts fail, their blind spots having
unintended consequences, promises and threats by tyrants of all sorts, even
those by benighted bags of benign buffoons, they are not long for this world.
But,
his Kingdom, has no beginning nor end, for wherever
the King is, the Kingdom is
—His presence is his reign
—and he is the King who is Alpha and
Omega, beginning and end—so his kingdom will have no end.
Have you met the King?
No,
not the leader of a misguided Terrorist attempt at a Theocracy, the quote
un-quote “Islamic” State Da’esh. A kingdom put together atop a pile of dead
bodies.
No,
not the leader of any of those Kingdoms or Empires you are familiar with
—after all it’s like St. Augustine
says, “Kingdoms without justice are robbers and Empires are simply piracy writ
large.”
No,
He’s not even a president or prime minister of a democracy or republic
—filled with horse traders and graft
—where even our greatest heroes, once
elevated lash themselves to power, and lash out against those who defy them.
No,
none of those kingdoms, beastly as they all are, none of them are from the King
—but a humane kingdom—a Kingdom
coming from one like a human being.
A peaceful kingdom—one originating
and finding it’s completion in one like the Son of Man.
That’s his Kingdom!
Have you met the King?
He wields power in a way completely
different from anything else we’ve ever experienced.
He is king in the most unkingly of ways… yet more kingly than
we’ve ever seen.
His
invasion into this world is a disarming
call to arms, complete with an upside down army, and a misfit militia.
He conquers by offering his other
cheek when attacked, going the extra mile in order to militate and facilitate
redemption!
His
Kingdom is not of this world—it is an otherworldly invasion by pacifists,
conquest by moral authority alone,
standing up
against all other kingdoms by kneeling
and washing feet.
War Horse—Donkey.
Crown—Thorns.
Throne—Cross.
Victory—Sacrificial Death.
Have you met the King?
He frees us! Standing up to the powers
of this world, seen and unseen, he breaks the bonds they have bound us with—he shames
and shatters all would be lords and would be kings and princes—all those who
cling to the status quo, because it amplifies their status—all of them, all of
us,
shattered and transformed.
With
his death he frees us from death—the
wheels of the machinery of death are clogged by his blessed body.
The
gears that grind the world up with hate for hate and backbiting and all kinds
of catastrophe for the soul—are gummed
up and taken out of commission.
All
false kings flee in fear from the king who comes, who gives his life loving in
the face of hate, dying to lead us away from murder, committing his spirit to
his father from the cross that our souls might be washed clean.
Have you met the King?
It
would be enough for him to stop it all
—stop the totalizing systems in their
tracks, to give us the freedom to take another path.
But
it doesn’t end there—he doesn’t end this King of Ours. There is resurrection!
There is new life,
the creating out of nothing,
order out of chaos,
out of death life,
out of slavery redemption.
It is his and it is ours—freely given
by our Lord, our King—freely given—see it?
See him?
Alive again and on the move—on the
move in your life, right now!
Death doesn’t hold him, death doesn’t hold you!
Have you met the King?
He
holds you and molds you, and is making you his brother, sister, sibling, kin
—his family.
He,
King of witness,
He, King of Testimony
—he Son of God, points, points to his
Father.
He
points us to our father
—the Heavenly One, pointing to He who
is to be praised.
The
King, our Great High Priest, ordains us and makes us priests as well… gives us
the responsibility and joy of connection to God. Connected like the Priests of
old… Called to this great connection, given a real responsibility.
Sages,
all of us, held tight to the bosom of God.
Have you met the King?
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