Last Thursday we were driving from Columbus to Toledo and I was considering what it meant that Jesus is King of all creation. Mind you, not that he is becoming King, or will be King when he comes back, but that he is King right now. For two and a half hours the sun seemed to remain fixed in the glorious golden position of early evening. Hues didn’t change, but remained rich shades of gold and blue. Clouds were still. Shadows were long, yet translucent. Creation itself cried out, “He is risen! And he reigns!”

I considered what it meant that Jesus is King amidst the financial meltdown. Jesus is King, and our entire financial system is built on buying, selling, and betting on debt. Jesus is King, but our house is built on sand. What does this mean? How do you read this?

Some would say, “We ought to ask what Jesus would do if he were in charge of the markets.” But he is King! So that question doesn’t make any sense whatsoever. The real question is, “What is he going to do now that the markets are in ruins?” And, “How is he going to do this?” And, “Whom will he entrust with the task?”

The common human answer to solving large-scale problems (and even small-scale problems) is centralization and control. We tend to reduce decision-makers, centralize authority and power in one individual (or a small group of individuals), and try to bring everything under the control of a singular power structure. Exhibit A: The firing of GM’s CEO by the President of the United States.

But there already is a singular authority, and his name is Jesus the King. (Not my King, or our King, or could-be-your King, but the King.) And yet, from what I understand about Jesus (which is very limited), he doesn’t seem to care much for centralization or control. He pushes things back out to us. He entrusts us with the problems of the world. And not just to a select few, but to many of us–even to those who have not sworn their allegiance to him.