In world where so many are desperate to be first,
The allusion can be real
Leaving one with only hunger and thirst.[1]

There is an old story that illustrates this hunger to be first, a story from the legends that follow the reign of King Arthur. Some of you may remember it. The last king who followed Arthur was known as the Fisher King. In that story we meet a young boy who one day would be king. But to become king, he first had to pass through a rite of passage. He was sent into the wilderness, where he was to survive alone and discover courage, discover what it truly means to be a king.

While he was in the woods, he had a sacred vision. Before him appeared a fire, and in the midst of the flames was the Holy Grail. A voice said to him, “If you are the keeper of the Grail, you will have the power to heal.” But the boy, hearing the promise of power, immediately thought of what that power could give him, more than simply being king, more than being first. He reached for the Grail … and the fire consumed his flesh. It left him permanently wounded. He grew into adulthood still carrying that wound. It reminded him that he was only flesh, that he was vulnerable. And over time he grew distrustful, of others, of himself, and even of God. By the end of his life, lying alone in his bedchamber, everyone had abandoned him. Everyone except the fool. The fool danced into the room, trying to lighten the heavy air. He looked at the king and said, “What do you desire?”

The king whispered, “I thirst.” The fool looked around, found a cup behind the bed, filled it with water, and handed it to the king. And as the king drank, he was healed. His wound closed. His strength returned. Astonished, the king asked, “How is it that you, a fool, found what I searched for all my life?” The fool replied, “I only saw a man who was thirsty.” How foolish we are when we imagine ourselves first. We see it everywhere, people craving power, craving attention, craving to be greater than others. But in truth, they are only hungry and thirsty. It is all an illusion. Look at our Gospel this morning. Today we stand before a king, but not in glory. Instead, we see a man hanging on a cross, in shame and in suffering. What kind of king is this? How can this be the one who was sent to heal and save the world?

When you look up at that cross, at the inscription meant to mock him, “King of the Jews”, what do you see? Do you see only a man who thirsts? Or do you see someone far greater? One criminal hurled insults at him: “If you are the king, save yourself!” That is the voice of a lifetime spent trying to be first, grasping at power, even at the end. But the other criminal recognized the truth. He saw his own foolishness, the emptiness of all he had pursued. And he simply said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus, our wounded, crucified King, responded, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” [2] There on the cross, as the sun was setting, Christ looked upon all of us, all us motley fools, and declared with his life and his death, “I thirst.”

So thirst for Christ. Thirst for his salvation. Because only Christ satisfies the hunger and the thirst that haunt every human soul. Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and he saves us not only by his words but by his example and his sacrifice. When we come to the Holy Eucharist, the Grail, the cup of salvation, is placed into your hands. What do you reach for? Do you reach for power, to rise above the world’s fools? Or do you reach because you know you cannot save yourself, that you need Christ, and Christ alone? Christ, whose dominion stretches over all that is seen and unseen, meets us at the cross. There the story finds its fulfillment: the boy who once chased power becomes the king who learns to receive grace. Christ was wounded for our transgressions. He came to save us all.
Today Christ asks you to reach out to him. To receive his nourishment in word and sacrament. To let him reorder your hunger and your thirst so that your life is aligned with his purpose. Have you ever been in a place where you thirst, where you can’t see a way forward? And all you can do is call out, “Lord, feed me, help me, sustain me”?
He hears you.
He answers.
He satisfies.

So let us be aware, let us be watchful, and let us reach out to the one who is King of kings and Lord of lords. For if we spend our lives seeking to be first, we chase an illusion.
We will always hunger.
We will always thirst.
But in Christ, we find living water.

[1] The Rev. Jon Roberts
[2] Luke 23:33-43