“He came from His blest throne salvation to bestow; but men made strange and none the longed for Christ would know. But Oh My friend, My friend indeed, Who at my need His life did spend!”
We are already looking forward to Easter. We have a general idea of who is making which breakfast casserole. The choir has started practicing, the Easter egg hunt supplies are hidden away ready for the big day. Yet we are still in Lent.
The hymn “My Song is Love Unknown” is the perfect Lent hymn. It calls us to reflection, repentance, sorrow and wonder at this unheard of love to the loveless shown. We are still in Lent, and the rich color purple is at the focal point of our altar. It is good to look forward to Easter and the joy of celebrating Christ’s resurrection, but there is much gain when we are able to live in the moment here of Lenten preparation.
“He came from His blest throne salvation to bestow.” We do not have a king in our nation. We have a division of leadership between congress and the presidency. Part of the American character is to view kings and royalty as a system of privilege that excludes the common person and probably also involves injustice.
Even in the scripture, when the people of Israel asked for a king to lead them and fight for them like the other nations, the LORD warned the people of the cost to have a king over them instead of YHWH as their king. 1Samuel chapter 8: The prophet Samuel was given this message from the LORD to the people .
“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants….18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
These are cautions about the earthly nature of kings. History is full of stories of imperfect kings who tragically lead others astray because of their selfishness. Yet during the season of Lent, the royal color of purple means something different. The richness and honor of a king comes from the authority that is given to him from God.
Western culture contains a rich heritage of seeing kings as noble and selfless and honorable- such as the stories of King Arthur who alone was worthy to pull the sword out of the stone.
Psalm 45 uses imagery of Christ the Son of God as king: “My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.”
From this throne which last forever Jesus our king came to us. The purple paraments remind us of this unheard of love of a king who left his throne for us. The Son of God took on our flesh, Jesus born to serve us and to die for us.
Our Epistle reading from Hebrews records this work of Jesus:
In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him
Jesus entered into our world in the days of His flesh. Although the King, he experienced pain and suffering as we do. He entered into what the church has called the sate of humiliation, where although the Son of God he took on our limitations and turned off his divine nature so as to serve us as a man.
Hebrews chapter 5 describes the loud cries and tears that Jesus underwent as he faced His betrayal and arrest and suffering on the cross. Jesus would not have felt such deep emotions of desperation if he were relying on his divine nature all throughout. These emotions are the experiences Jesus could only have through his human nature.
In our gospel reading from Mark we get a preview of the suffering according to His human nature that Jesus faced, as Jesus predicts his death on the cross with great detail. In fact this is the most lengthy prediction Jesus makes in all four of the gospels:
“See we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”
It was just as the prologue to the gospel of John described: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Or as we sang:
“But men made strange, and none the longed- for Christ would know”
Even after Jesus spoke of his upcoming destiny the disciples did not know him as he was revealing himself as a servant to all. Instead they knew him as a ticket to power and greatness. They had not yet learned: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
“Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” James and John were looking for recognition and glory. They were not ready to know Jesus as a man of sorrows, and as Jesus warns them, they were certainly not ready to drink the cup of suffering or the baptism of fire that awaited Jesus.
And if we are honest we realize we are not ready to drink such a cup either. We would rather have people recognize us for what we have accomplished, we would rather feel proud of who we are than to empty ourselves and consider ourselves as a servant to all. Although we wanted something else from Jesus, although we did not know him, He still continued unwavering in His love for us. Jesus said greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.”
“But oh my friend, My friend indeed, Who at my need His life did spend.”
Jesus saw our need all the way to the cross. And now as He reigns at the right Hand of the Father he guides and directs His church, He is a friend to all who are lowly and heavy laden. As we come before him as a servant to all- he will continue to bless us.
It is a difficult thing for us as a congregation to deal with the loss of so many loved ones in the church over the years and to experience some of the diminished community as Christ Lutheran has gradually transitioned from 2 Sunday services and attendance numbers that would always be over 100 if not 200. It seems so hard to live up to the past and carry on a ministry potential with so much less right now.
Yet Jesus still reigns as King over the world and over our congregation. Nothing about His servant love for us has changed. With greater challenges as a congregation, there are greater opportunities for growth for each one of us as a servant to one another and a servant to the unbelieving world that we live in.
There were 27 in attendance last Sunday and the average age for all of us who attended. I wrote down from memory everyone who was here last Sunday and approximate age and by my rough estimate calculation the average age was 43. We are getting younger as a congregation.
There was a time a few years ago I understand that there were no children on many a Sunday. How much greater now is our potential to serve the least among us, the youngest among us, and in our community the neediest among us- those who do not know the life giving good news of Jesus crucified for them.
Today we celebrate in worship that Jesus is our servant. He came from His blest throne, salvation to bestow. There is no better example for us in our life as servant in the church and for our life as servants in our family.