Christ the King: Last Sunday of the Church Year

It's easy to sympathize with the criminal hanging beside Jesus, and affectionately call him, "The Good Thief." We only see him at the end of his earthly journey. Of course we really don't know if he was the Good Thief. How about we call him the Good Murderer? Because we only see him at the end of his journey, we can only try to imagine him as a soft, fleshy, and helpless baby lying content at his mother's breast. It's much easier to imagine what what vicious crime he might have committed against his helpless victims. We can imagine. But we cannot know.

But let's try to imagine the twists, turns and dark detours that brought the criminal, whom Christian tradition has called Dismas, to the point where we see him today. Perhaps his father died when he was just a child, and unable to support his mother. And then, perhaps, his mother died of an illness. Leaving him an orphan in the world. Perhaps as stronger adults took advantage of him, Dismas learned that there were only two kinds of people in the world: predators and their prey. So, he resolved to be a predator. It would appear that he found a partner. Perhaps they took up robbery. Perhaps Dismas, in his anger, tried to smother any pity as he preyed upon his victims. Perhaps Dismas and his partner waited for their victims on that mountainous road between Jerusalem and Jericho. You know that road. It’s the one where Jesus set his parable of the Good Samaritan.

And today here he is, no doubt despairing over the pain and hurt that was inflicted upon him, and which he inflicted upon others. And today, hanging beside him is one whom the sign above his cross says, "King of the Jews." He suffers the same excruciating pain, the same humiliation. But wait, this man called Jesus is actually enduring more shame and humiliation. First the religious leaders mocked his claim to be the Messiah, the vehicle of God's salvation of the Jews. Then the Roman soldiers dare this so-called king to save himself. Finally his partner in crime is shameless enough to mockingly ask Jesus to save him, as though he deserved to be saved.

But this “criminal” named Dismas has let Jesus' words sink into his broken heart; words uttered from the same place of pain, shame, humiliation and despair: "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing." Nobody else can see the kingly power in those words, except for this crucified criminal. In a world where power is defined by the ability to have your way over people, to overwhem them, Jesus is showing to the world the power of endurance, to endure in faith, hope, and love.

Up until today, Dismas' life has been nothing but a hopeless and futile effort to do it to them before they did it to him. And where has that kind of power led him? But today, at the end, he glimpses a power that might just endure even death. Does that mean that the rest of his life has been a waste, only to be redeemed by this moment today? No. Every unexpected turn in his life, every good decision and every bad decision has by God's grace led him to this day, where he sees the true King of the world beside him.

If this man could bow before this king, he would. But in deference, he doesn’t ask for much. He doesn’t ask to be spared of his fate in this world. All he asks of the King is that when he comes into the fullness of His kingdom, be it tomorrow, next year, or 2,000 years from now, that He not forget about him. What the King promises him is so much more: “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.” Today the Good Thief, or murderer, will know the presence of Jesus beyond physical death.

But what about the Kingdom? When will Jesus come into His kingdom? Are we still having to wait and pray that Jesus remembers us? In one sense, yes, we and Dismas are all waiting for an end to violence and hatred. We and he are waiting for that Kingdom of love and peace to be completed. But in another sense, Christ already reigns supreme, and He reigns as King of the world today. Most of his life, the Good Criminal tried to run as far away from God and God’s goodness as he could. But no matter what he did, God used his choices to lead him to this moment, this opportunity for redemption.

Even when he was rebelling against all that was good, God ruled over his life in spite of himself. Every day of his life was one in which God was directing him to this day. So, every day of his life, this “criminal” was living under the reign of God’s kingdom. And so are we. Every day, when we get up and pray for God’s guidance, and then make the best decisions we can, that day is “today” in the Kingdom of God. Whatever twists and turns our lives take, we are all headed in the same direction that Dismas was heading, and we share in the same destination as the Good Criminal. Someday, Jesus promises us, we will be with Him in Paradise. But today, Sunday, November 21st, Jesus Christ the King of kings rules in our lives.