In the oldest hymn of the church, recorded in Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Jesus is proclaimed as Lord to which the powers that be must bow. I want to tell you why I proclaim that as well.
I know that’s it’s an uncomfortable statement for many practicing Christians. I have dear friends, clergy even, who are good with God. Great with the Holy Spirit – though they may quibble over pronouns. But Jesus as the Son of God, the Savior of the world? That is harder. one of the reasons it’s difficult is that it can sound like it excludes other paths into the Divine. Other faith practices. And I get that and
honor that.
But here’s the thing – when we proclaim Jesus as Lord, we get to see, in human terms, something profound about God’s heart. Something profound about God’s definition of power and purpose. And we get to see how much it is in direct contrast the twisted uses of power for the purpose of exploitation, domination, and violence.
Because at the same time that the disciples are out hunting up a donkey colt for Jesus to ride on, Caesar, the man who proclaims himself as the Son of God and Lord, Caesar of Rome enters the royal city of Jerusalem riding a magnificent war horse. He is surrounded by a retinue of sycophants and soldiers, displaying people
in chains as the spoils of war. He is crowned with a laurel wreath, the sign of victory. Hymns of praise are sung to stroke his ego.
Meanwhile, Jesus enters the royal city from the other side, on a donkey, his legs dragging the ground. He is surrounded by the poor and the vulnerable whom he has healed and dignified as sons and daughters of the God who does not forget and who holds children close to his heart. They crowd around him, singing hosanna, hosanna – save us, save us Lord.
And it’s not difficult to imagine from who and from what they need saving. They have been taught that they are responsible for their poverty because of their sins and that their illnesses are a result of having offended God. Their city is occupied by armed troops who are there to “Keep the peace.”
In days to come, Jesus will wear a crown of thorns. He will be tortured and crucified on a cross as a treasonous criminal.
So when we say that Jesus is Lord, we say that this is what true Power looks like. This is where Eternal Life is found. In solidarity. In compassion. In justice. In service. As friends with the least and the lonely, and willing to nonviolently speak truth to misguided uses of power.
And we need that. Because the human heart is prone to creating God in our own image. We are prone to using God as a justification for what is really our own selfishness and cruelty. To using God as a justification to align with the power of Caesar because we prefer that over the power of the cross.
For instance – the current Defense Secretary has – in the name of Christ the King – re-named the department as the War Department. He has claimed that a warrior ethos of lethality is Christ like, and that the protection of God lays over the United States’ prosecution of the war in Iran. The previous Secretary of Homeland Security claimed that mass deportations were” righteous” and “divinely inspired.” And they are not the only ones to use sacred language – language of God and texts from scripture, because they can. These things can be twisted. Can be used for nefarious purposes. Can serve evil. C. S. Lewis portrayed the devil as a sophisticated liar, who relies on subtle deception and distortion, while exploiting vanity and pride.
And what do we have in our arsenal to counter these misguided souls from taking the beloved name of the Lord and smearing it with human sacrificial blood? I know I’m being strong. But we need to be strong in our language because there are terrible things happening in the name of Christ.
What do we have? We have Jesus. We have Jesus as the gold standard for what it means to be a human being created in God’s image and filled with God’s Holy Spirit. When we proclaim Jesus as the face of God in human form, we are saying that this is an incontrovertible image of what Godly actually means.
When we worship, we stand for the Gospel proclamation because we give first place out of all the scriptures to these accounts of Jesus life and teachings, his manner of death, and God’s judgment of resurrection. We stand to give first place to his teachings and his manner of living. We stand because we want to emulate his humility and service and compassion.
When we say Jesus is Lord, we are saying that there is no justification ever for equating Caesar’s realm with God’s. Jesus healed people no one else will touch. Lifted up women who had been ground down. Forgave sins and set people free. On the cross, Jesus confronted the powers of empire with the power of freedom
and welcomed the thieves who hung near him while he prayed for all of us, Father, forgive them. They do not know what they are doing.
In the words of the great African American spiritual,
Ride on King Jesus,
No man can-a hinder me.
Ride on King Jesus,
No man can-a hinder me.
In that great get’n up mornin’
Fare thee well, fare thee well.
In that great get’n up mornin’
Fare thee well, fare thee well.
