This is our King


As we drove down the road to Tonaca, a pick-up truck pulled out in front of us.  "Hey, it's Jesus!" my husband said, as we followed close behind.  The large statue of Jesus stood on a processional platform, with the wooden handles laid across the sides of the bed of the pick-up.  Jesus wore a golden crown and robes of white and crimson red - the traditional colors chosen for Jesus by most Roman Catholic churches for their Christ the King celebrations.  In the back of the truck, a man was practically wrestling with Jesus, as the strong wind tried to lift the statue right out of the truck.  We followed the truck all the way into our sister church community.  They turned off at the Catholic Church, and we climbed up the hill to the Lutheran Church.

Christ the King Sunday is a Lutheran tradition too.  The decorations in the Lutheran Church were already blue for the coming season of Advent.  A little Christmas tree stood in the corner with blinking lights.  The pastor welcomed everyone and made note of the celebration going on at the church down the hill, complete with fireworks, and a procession of prayer and song with a statue of Christ the King.

We sang a song - a song about our King Jesus...

You are the God of the poor,
The human God and simple,
The God that sweats in the street,
The God of the weather-beaten face.

 You go with my people by the hand.
You sweat in the countryside and the city
And are standing in line over there at the camp
In order to receive your daily pay.
You eat a little bit over in the park
With Eusebio, Pancho and Juan José,
And you protest about the syrup
when they lie that it doesn't have much honey.

 I have seen you in the pupuseria
that's in the community.
I have seen you selling lottery tickets,
And you are not ashamed of this role.
I have seen you in the gas station,
checking the tires on a truck
and repairing the highways
with leather gloves and overalls.

God came to hang out with regular people, with poor people, with people who were sick, with people cast aside by society, with the migrant and the widow.  Our King was born to a poor family.  Our King, the King of Kings went from place to place to be with people.  He was homeless.  The King of Kings was crucified, hanged between two criminals.  The Son of God, our King, was beaten, insulted, and crucified because he loved people, because he healed blind people and deaf people, because he cared about the widow and the outcast, and mostly because he forgave people.  The King of Kings was crucified for doing all this good.

"I would much rather hang out and be friends with this humble king of love who has a heart for the poor, than the rich and fancy kings of this world," said the pastor.  He reminded us that our mission as the church is to continue this work done by the King of Kings.  Each one of us is called to be that person that shows up to share, shows up to love our neighbor and shows up to forgive.  When something happens we cannot just sit on our butts and expect someone else to do the work.  We are the ones who have to be there and carry out this mission of love, or Jesus' church is not going to grow.

We celebrate Christ the King Sunday by recommitting ourselves to be faithful to what God's Word teaches us, that is to love God above all else, and to love each other.






Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Plant that Came from Nowhere and Grows Everywhere

Image
I am a plant person - a plant person without a garden or a yard or a farm. We have porches.  Porch Pot (©Linda Muth, 2023) It's pretty amazing to see what will grow on a porch.  I like to experiment with what might be considered garbage from things I get at the grocery store. Most Salvadoran produce is not hybrid, so saved seeds will germinate. Herbs are sold with the roots, so it sometimes works to cut off most of the herbs and stick the roots into a pot. I am currently experimenting with some little chunks of ginger that were no longer edible.  After a couple of weeks in the soil, the roots are sprouting nice little stalks and leaves. Ginger sprouting (©Linda Muth, 2023) Frequent travel makes porch gardening extra challenging. One option is to grow for a while and then give plants away.  One time, I left a bucket of basil, rosemary and other herbs with Pastor Santiago's mom, and it produced abundantly until Santiago cut off too much. (He told me he was grateful for...
Read more

The Morro Tree

Image
Cihuatán is an archeological site which lies just north of Aguilares. Amidst the Mayan ruins, which are definitely worth seeing, you will also find some of the local flora and fauna of the area. This area north of Guazapa has become cattle country, and, according to the locals, some of the wealthy cattle producers have their eye on this property. The security guards and barbed wire fences do a pretty good job of keeping cows off of the site, but nothing can keep the goats from enjoying a good run in the field. The wide variety of bird calls, the tinkling of the goat bells, and the low moos in the distance create a peaceful atmosphere in which to enjoy the ruins and have a relaxing, yet very hot, walk with friends. Surrounding the large hill which was constructed to support the main temple, there is a broad, grassy field, dotted with trees. Pablo, our driver and friend, said that during the war, there was a lot of looting of this site. People drove big trucks in to take the rocks ...
Read more

The Legend of the Priest with no Head

Image
Tales of mysterious encounters with a headless priest in the dark of night are not uncommonly told among the Salvadoran people.  After the time of the Spanish invasion, when conquerors wielding swords or carrying Bibles established their power, there emerged a legend of an imaginary priest who wanders in the streets and pathways as a lost soul. He appears to those who are out walking in the evening. He is searching for his head.  He, or perhaps his head, lets out screams into the night. Those who see him feel cold and are sometimes paralyzed with fear and cannot speak for days. The story of the Priest with no Head is well-known and frequently told in Tonacatepeque.  Some say the ghost of El Padre sin Cabeza (the headless priest) is real. Some say the story was invented by the church in order to scare indigenous people into becoming Christians. Some who study traditional, Salvadoran tales say this legend was created by enemies of the church.   A painting of ...
Read more