Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe
A
few years ago,
Fr.
Stitt gave me an unusual but most enjoyable CD.
It
was recorded
by a rather quirky quartet of musicians:
a
classical cellist, a Nashville fiddler,
a
“new-grass” mandolin player,
and
a guy on bass who does a little bit of everything.
They’d
never performed as a group before.
What
could have been a total disaster
actually works quite well.
The
album is aptly called, The Goat Rodeo Sessions.
I
had not heard the expression before,
but
it seems that a “goat rodeo”
refers
to an especially chaotic state of affairs
that involves lots of risks, but uncertain rewards.
cowboys
risk their necks…
…but
they get to look pretty cool doing it;
if
the cowboys were riding goats, however,
they’re
still likely to get injured…
…but
not nearly as likely to look cool!
According
to the album notes,
the
term is used by air traffic controllers
and
others in high-risk fields to describe a situation
“that
requires about 100 things to go right at once
if
you intend to walk away from it.”
(There
are, of course,
some other colorful expressions out there for this,
but
they’re definitely not appropriate
to say in church…)
to say in church…)
“Goat
rodeo” described
this
groundbreaking musical project to a tee.
And
“goat rodeo” also describes fairly accurately
the
kingdom of Jesus Christ, our King.
I
know of a fellow
who has recently come back to the Church.
He
still has some issues with the Church
and
plenty of his own personal baggage,
but
he’s nonetheless quite happy to have returned
to
the practice of his Catholic faith.
While
well aware of his own weaknesses,
there’s
something he’s observed
when looking around in the pews:
people
he knows from other settings
whose regular weekday behavior
doesn’t
exactly line up well
with their regular Sunday worship.
And
that leaves him perplexed.
In
effect, what this man is seeing
are
sheep and goats all running together.
That
can be disconcerting for all involved:
sheep
frequently fear that goat-like habits might rub off,
cause
scandal, or lead weaker lambs astray;
goats,
meanwhile, can get pretty annoyed
with
do-gooder sheep always trying to correct them.
It makes
me think of a brilliant quote
from
preacher Billy Graham:
If you find a perfect
church, by all means join it!
Then it will no longer be
perfect.
Although
completely divine in her origins,
the
Church is made up of sinful human beings
and,
therefore, has never yet managed
to
live up to her full potential—
not
even when she was pretty much
just
twelve Apostles following Jesus around.
Christian
discipleship is messy! It always
has been.
Maybe
you didn’t realize it at first,
but
what you’ve signed up for is a goat rodeo.
From
ancient times, the image of the shepherd
has
been used as a metaphor
for
the relationship between a people and their king.
It’s
worth noting that this Sunday’s celebration
has
not been “updated” for the 21st century
as the
feast of “Christ the Chairman” or “Christ the President.”
The
life of the spirit doesn’t operate like politics:
we
don’t get to decide who’s in charge,
or
how he ought to run things.
The
reign of Jesus Christ—
along
with whoever else comes under it—
does
not depend at all on your vote of approval or mine.
Christ
is, indeed, no less than the King of the Universe,
and
he demands to be the Lord of every aspect of our lives.
It’s
completely his to sit in judgment of the living and the dead:
he alone
has the final say.
But
this king is no authoritarian tyrant,
simply
throwing his weight around:
you
can tell by his crown,
which
is not of burnished gold but bloody thorns.
To
submit to this king isn’t to be kept down,
but
rather to be lifted up.
You
see, this king’s greatest power
isn’t
in enforcing uncompromising commands,
but
in the way that, with some loving coaxing and merciful coaching,
he
can turn rebellious, head-butting, quarrelsome goats
into
humble, innocent, dutiful sheep.
If
we surrender our lives to this Good Shepherd,
our
very identity changes.
That’s
why he’s willing to let this goat rodeo go on:
it’s
risky, but it’s oh-so-worth it.
Whether
we tend more to right or left, to sheep or goat,
our
attention is much better focused not on the rest of the flock,
but
on the Shepherd himself.
Even
when we encounter the very least among us,
it’s
this King we ought to see and serve in them.
Allow
the Lord to rope you in and get good hold of you
in
the midst of life’s crazy goat rodeo,
that
he might then lead you beside restful waters
and
into green pastures—
a
sheep chosen to inherit the Father’s kingdom,
prepared
for you from the foundation of the world.
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