Proper 29

I don’t know what you plan on doing when you turn 95 years old. Have you given it much thought? If I live that long, I don’t think I’ll need an alarm clock or a daily schedule to keep up with all my activities. I’m pretty sure I won’t be as busy as Queen Elizabeth II. Although laid up with a sprained back right now, Her Royal Highness usually attends over 400 events each year. That’s more than one official event each day, 365 days a year. So it makes perfect sense that her majesty has an official stand-in to help her out.

Ella Slack is a British woman who was chosen in the 1980s to serve as Queen Elizabeth’s stand-in for royal dress rehearsals. Official receptions and ceremonies require a lot of planning and practice to ensure that every detail of the event is perfect. Queen Elizabeth is too busy to spend all day at dress rehearsals, so Ms. Slack serves as her stand-in for these practice runs.

How did she get such an exclusive job? Ella Slack was working for the British Broadcasting Corporation when they were preparing to film a national memorial service. Queen Elizabeth was undergoing the dress rehearsal for that day’s ceremony and the sun kept getting in her eyes. The members of the stage crew offered to help, but they were all men around 6 feet tall. A BBC producer spotted Ms. Slack, who is only 5 feet tall, about the size of the Queen. Ms. Slack was more than happy to serve as the Queen’s stand-in for the rehearsal and has served in that role ever since.

She doesn’t receive any pay for her service, but she doesn’t mind. It’s an honor to serve the Queen. And one of the fringe benefits of her job is the opportunity to meet members of the royal family and ride in the Queen’s carriage. However, she is not allowed to sit on the throne.

Can you imagine serving as a stand-in for royalty? Ella Slack doesn’t get to participate in the exciting parts of the events. She only gets to stand in place, walk from spot to spot, smile and occasionally wave to crowds. It’s her job to ensure that when the Queen arrives for the official event, everything is well-organized and running smoothly.

As Christians we could claim to be official “stand-ins” for royalty too, couldn’t we? We are representatives of King Jesus.

Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the Christian year. The Christian year begins with a baby born in the little town of Bethlehem and ends with the King of kings and Lord of lords sitting on the throne of the universe. Whoever would have thought that a baby born in a stable in a little out-of-the-way town would one day become heralded as the King of kings?

Even today we struggle with Jesus’ identity. It’s unbelievable that God would give up His Heavenly Throne to take on human flesh and human weakness and human struggles. There is a thought-provoking piece titled “They Missed Him!” that could easily apply to us today. Here are just a few quotes from it:

“They were looking for a Lion, He came as a Lamb, and they missed Him.

They were looking for a Warrior, He came as a Peacemaker, and they missed Him.

They were looking for a King, He came as a Servant, and they missed Him.

They were looking for Liberation from Rome, He submitted to the Roman cross, and they missed Him.

They were looking for a fit to their mold, He was the mold maker, and they missed Him.

What are you looking for?

Lion? Warrior? King? Liberator?

. . . He came as a Lamb to be sacrificed for your sin. Will you miss Him?

He came to make peace between God and man. Will you miss Him?

He came to model servanthood for all mankind. Will you miss Him?  . . .

He came that we might have true Liberty. Will you miss Him?

He came to give you eternal life. Will you miss Him?

When we submit to the Lamb, we will meet the Lion.

Join with the Peacemaker and we will meet the Warrior.

Work with the Servant and we will meet the King . . .”

Throughout history there were people who met Jesus face-to-face, yet they still dismissed or rejected him. They saw his love. They heard his message of truth. And they refused to believe in him because he was not what they were expecting. How sad is that? To stand in the presence of the Way, the Truth and the Life, and to miss him.

It was a minor official in the Roman Empire, Pontius Pilate, who first asked Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 

Jesus obviously convinced him that he was. We often see engraved on crosses the letters INRI. They stand for IESUS NAZARENUS REX IUDAEORUM, Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews. These were the words that Pilate ordered written at the top of Jesus’ cross. Perhaps Pilate ordered these words in sarcasm. We don’t know what was in his heart. But we do know what was in the hearts of the disciples. Peter would write later in his epistle, “We actually saw his majesty with our own eyes” (II Peter 1:16ff). That word majesty means “superbness, magnificence, glory, splendor or mighty power.” You can feel Peter’s excitement leap off the page when you read those words. And yet Pilate stood in Jesus’ presence and . . . missed it.

Let’s not forget that our response to Jesus does not change the truth of who he is. Peter and the disciples stood in awe of his majesty. Pilate stood in contempt of his message. And whether we accept him or reject him today, neither response changes the truth that Jesus is who he says he is—the King of the world.  

So what does it mean to say that Christ is King of this world? Doesn’t it say, first of all, that this is an unfinished world? This world is certainly not the kind of world Christ desires. If he is King, there is some unfinished business in the realm.

Which means we are an unfinished people. But that was Jesus’ plan all along. It wasn’t a mistake. He didn’t run out of time. Jesus returned to the Father, but he left behind the Holy Spirit to work in us to conform us to the image of God. And as we do the work that Jesus left us here to do, the work of bringing the kingdom of God on earth, we will grow in our love for God, and people will see the image of God in our actions.

God promises all throughout the Old and New Testaments that He is doing something new in His people. He is making us into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5: 17). And the clincher is found in this promise from Philippians 1:6: “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”

God had a plan for this world before it was ever created. He had always planned to return and redeem it. Whenever world events look desperate and hopeless, we remember that the King of kings came into this world once with a message of hope and life, and he will come again to establish his Kingdom someday. He will reach us in time.

And the final thing we can say about this unfinished world is that we are those who have been called to bring it to completion. This is not to say that the kingdom of God will be brought in by our efforts. It is Christ who builds the kingdom, but he builds it through those who are receptive to his word. That is you and me. 

Christ needs people who are willing and able. And the ironic thing is that when we subordinate our desires to his desire, when we give ourselves in his service, it is then that we are lifted up. In losing ourselves we find ourselves. That is the nature of his kingdom.

Yes, this is an unfinished world. But into this unfinished world came the King of kings. He made the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf. And now he has commissioned us to be stand-ins for the King. And his question to us today is, “I did the work I was sent to do. Now what are you going to do?”