On Bended Knees

I am writing this on Christ the King Sunday. Today I visited and worshipped at a local church that still has kneelers in the pews. I realize that kneeling is an action that is deemed unpopular in many churches, but on Christ the King Sunday it seems like the only appropriate position to assume. Somehow when I am kneeling I am more deeply in touch with awe....humility...gratitude. When I kneel before the Lord, I am also fully present to the meaning of the words: "Jesus Christ is the Lord of my life."

The readings from Colossians 1:11-20 and Psalm 46 drew me into a profound knowledge that without Christ as the king of the people of faith, we would be scattered about in the chaos of the world. (You can easily access the readings by clicking on the link for "Sacred Space")

Then, we heard the Gospel Lesson: Luke 23:33-43. A visitor to the church might wonder why we read about the crucifixion on this last Sunday of the church year. The lesson explains how, even at the moment of mortal death, Jesus possessed the power and authority to promise a repentant sinner (the criminal)eternal life. Jesus did not use his power to avoid his own death -- but he spoke the words of assurance and welcome to the "other" who recognized him as the Messiah. That criminal is the only human being who ever heard, directly from the lips of Jesus, that he would truly be with him in paradise.

Today the rest of us live with the assurance of Jesus' promises. The Lord of Life, the King of Kings, promises us that death has no power over us. Instead, our finality is one of eternal life in His Kingdom. Anything that we experience in the world is merely an eye-blink compared to our ultimate life in Christ. Because of Christ the King reigning eternally, there is nothing, ABSOLUTELY nothing and nobody, who can separate us from the love of God. The rulers of this world and whatever oppression or bondage we experience at the hand of sin have no ultimate claim upon us, because the Lord of Our Life, Christ the King has established his reign forever. Because he lives and reigns,the door to paradise is open to all who acknowledge him.

All of that language about royalty, monarchy, rulers, or lordship may have a connotation that is awkward (or even unfavorable) to Americans who value freedom and independence. We are grateful for liberty and will defend it at all costs. The flip side of that freedom, however, is that it may blind us to the power of Christ the King. It isn't always easy to "see" Jesus when we are wandering about through the life we generally experience in the Land of the Free. Especially when days are prosperous or when we seem capable of managing our "right" to do things according to our own will, we may think that kneeling before anybody is either terribly outdated or that it makes us frighteningly vulnerable or oppressed.

Still, if you are able, I encourage you to kneel occasionally this week....perhaps throughout Advent....as you acknowledge the presence and the approach of the Lord of your Life. When you are kneeling before Christ, you kneel before the only certainty that makes life worth living...the one who makes dying (whether it is a small death of self or the final moment of mortality) a miraculous path to eternity.