Brief synopsis of the readings: We begin our readings with the 2nd Book of Samuel. This is written shortly after the death of Israel’s first king, Saul. Here the people approach David and ask him to succeed Saul as king because they believed that David was God’s choice: “And the Lord said to you, You shall shepherd my people Israel and shall be the commander of Israel.” David agreed and he was anointed King of Israel. Luke’s Gospel describes a gruesome scene: While Jesus was dying on the cross he was ridiculed. “He saved others, let him save himself if he is the chosen one, the Christ of God.” Furthermore, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” Jesus was crucified between two others. One of them also ridiculed Jesus while the other rebuked the first one: “Have you no fear of God, for you are subject to the same condemnation? And indeed, we have been condemned justly, for the sentence we received corresponds to our crimes, but this man has done nothing criminal.” He then asks Jesus to remember him. Jesus replied: “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Today we conclude the liturgical year. Next week we celebrate the First Sunday of Advent and we begin the march toward Christmas. So how do we end this year? We can finish with a sense of gratitude that we’ve made it through another year. We can finish with a sense of despair that we haven’t accomplished all that we hoped. Or we can finish with a sense that we’ve had good days and bad, but the goal of building the Kingdom of God is a year closer.

I’d like to think that the last answer is correct. When people ask me to define Christianity I have a few answers. My friend Lynn says this: “Here comes everybody” (I think she got it from James Joyce but I like giving her credit). I tell people that we are a billion and a half people who are all trying to get along and understand what God wants us to do. Regardless I trust we are all marching in the same direction, all working toward the same goal.

And we can’t talk about our journey without talking about our leadership. We all claim discipleship in Jesus Christ and look to him to tell us how we should live our lives. But the idea of calling him “king” brings a certain baggage.

Many of us who live in the United States (particularly my fellow history buffs) view the word “king” with suspicion. We were born out of a decision to declare independence from a king who we believed ruled not out of justice but out of greed. We see George III as a tyrant whose providence was not God given and unjust.

And even today while most of us revere his 4th Great Granddaughter, Queen Elizabeth II, we proudly acknowledge that we are not ruled by a king, but by someone of our own choosing. The concept of passing the mantle of leadership from father to son (or parent to child) puzzles us. We look to North Korea as our best evidence that human kingship makes no sense. They are currently ruled by Kim Jun Un who succeeded his father Kim Jong Il, who succeeded his father Kim Il Sung. We are told that citizens of North Korea refer to their king as the “dear leader” but the rest of us see his leadership in terms of oppression and starvation.

So what do we do with the term “king” and how do we commemorate today’s celebration? I think we do well when we look on this term with suspicion because we have a rich history here.

If we see the title “king” as absolute ruler we can also see other titles. The Israelistes of previous generations from our first reading knew well that the title “pharaoh” designated not “leader” so much as “oppressor.” For Americans we don’t see King George III as a king but as a tyrant.

But how can we connect these abuses of power with a concept of Jesus as “Christ the King?” Do we need to correct our concept of Jesus?

No. We need to correct our concept of king. After their liberation from slavery in Egypt and their founding of the Promised Land, they were ruled by Joshua. After Joshua died they were ruled by a series of Judges.

But when the people wearied of the Judges they asked God for a king. Despite God’s warnings of a king, an absolute ruler, they continued with their demands. Listening to their demands, God chose Saul to their king. Saul’s record is mixed as best and a complete reading of the books of Samuel shows the complexity of this story.

But for the purpose of this reading we can say that Saul committed suicide by “falling on his sword” to make it appear he was killed in battle. Eventually (and this begins our reading) David is chosen by the people and is anointed. He was chosen over Saul’s sons and several others. We can read this passages in several ways, but I think we can all agree that David did not come to the throne by anything other than God’s plan.

David became king, and holds the apex of Jewish history, not because he was born to the right father, but because he was chosen by his followers, presumably listening to the will of God.

When we look at the first reading we see a king who was great, but flawed. The same David who slew Goliath also impregnated Bathsheba and killer her husband Uriah. He was a great man who suffered from being human.

On the other hand, we see the king in the Gospel in a much different light. Luke shows us Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, in the last few hours of his life. Anyone who witnessed this scene would be hard pressed to see him as king of anything.

The Romans crucified Jesus out of fear that he would claim to be King of the Jews and attempt an insurrection against the Roman Empire. Crucifixion was reserved for those whose crimes threatened the social order, and their crimes were written on the cross above their heads. Written above Jesus was the label “King of the Jews,” and it was meant as a show of contempt.

And it worked. For the most part his disciples fled and those who were left jeered and mocked him; even one of men being crucified with him mocked him. But we find the hero in this reading in the other man being crucified. He admitted his guilt, acknowledged the innocence of Jesus, and asked for mercy.

And in the last few hours of his earthly life, in physical agony that we can’t even imagine, Jesus chose mercy. Jesus promised him salvation.

Twenty one centuries later we struggle with the concept of capital punishment but are nearly uniform in the desire to make death quick and painless, and we can ignore the fate of these three men. Crucifixion sometimes took a few days of slow, painful suffocation and it was meant to make death long, harsh, and painful. We believe that Jesus died within about three hours of being raised on the cross and that was seen as quick. But his mercy found its voice even here.

So what do these images tell us about being king? Clearly the image of King David shows us that power is not equated with winning the genetic lottery, being born to the right parents. David also shows us that kingship does not guarantee a perfect moral compass.

Jesus dying on the cross does not speak to us of equating kingship to earthly power. It would be hard to imagine anyone on earth commanding less power than Jesus in the reading.

So instead let us look to kingship, to power, not to the people we choose or the people who appear powerful. Instead both David and Jesus hold important places in our hearts because of how they served. David, for all his faults, led Israel at a time when they built the Temple and ruled their destiny. Jesus led his disciples, and all of us, in a place of oppression that today commands the hearts of a billion and a half of us (“Here comes everyone!”).

Several years ago I first heard the phrase “servant leader” and I think it speaks to us. Today a king isn’t someone who holds the power of life or death over us, but if we believe these readings, a king is someone chosen to use power to make all of us better.