Sermon for November 22nd

Can I let you in on a little bit of irony? Today is Christ the king Sunday and yet most of us have no idea what a king really is. We don’t know what a king does? We don’t know what makes a king a king! And yet we say that Christ is our king even though we don’t have the foggiest concept about what having a king means for us or what being a king meant for Jesus.

Here are some things a king is not. A king is not a president for he is not democratically elected. You don’t get to choose a king. A king is chosen for you from the moment you and he are born. If you don’t like your king, tough luck, you can’t recall him, you don’t get a vote, because a king is a king for as long as he lives.

God chose the Israelites first king, Saul, not because God thought it was a great idea, but because the Israelites demanded that they have a king. Like any good father, sometimes giving your children exactly what they want is the best form of punishment. Up to that time, the Israelites were unique because they had no King. God was their King. And even though God explained that a king would reign over them, put their children in the army, demand shares of their best crops as a tax and take away their slaves, the Israelites still wanted a king. God even explained that when they became unhappy with their king, He wouldn’t do anything about it. But still, the Israelites wanted a king, so that’s what they got.

There were a couple of kings in Jewish history, like David and Solomon, who, despite their many sins were, for the most part, able to follow in the footsteps of God. They were good kings. But most of the Israelite kings were really, really, really bad. You see, being a King doesn’t mean you are a good person, or that you are the smartest, or that you are the strongest or that you are the most faithful to God. Being a king was either something you were born into or a position that was chosen for you by God. What does it mean, to call Jesus your King? That’s what I hope that you find out this morning.

Jesus was descended from king David as the gospel of Matthew points out, “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” But while having royal blood was important for Jesus, it was his second qualification that made him the greatest king of all. The gospel of Mark points this out, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Remember that before God chose Saul as the Israelite’s first King, God was their only king. Now, in Jesus Christ, Israel once again had God as their king as well as a king from the royal line of David. Jesus was the perfect king.

But what does it mean for us to have a king? This is so difficult for us to understand since we have all grown up in a Democracy. It’s hard to imagine. But let me try to give you a taste of what having a king would be like. When a king made his decision there was no further debate. You didn’t get a vote. When a king determined a course of action, it was done. The policies of a king affect the entire kingdom: no if’s, and’s or but’s. If you disagreed with a king, you either kept quiet or you risked the king’s wrath. And the king could do anything he’d like to do to you, whether it was justly deserved or not, and his decision could not be appealed. The king received the best of the best: the best food, the best land, and the best living conditions of anyone in the kingdom. And the king didn’t work for any of it, he just deserved it.

That meant that if you had a king you were at the king’s beck and call. You did what the king told you to do. You gave the king the best of your children to fight in the army or to work in the castle and you gave the king the fruits of your labors, whatever they might be. If the king was benevolent, merciful and gracious, you might be happy. If the king was evil and malevolent, you might be sad, but whatever the case, the king was the king and you were not. That was your lot in life. There was no loyal opposition party. There were no anti-war demonstrations. There didn’t need to be any “transparency” in this type of government, it could be corrupt or not because it was none of your business if you were not the king. You did not simply respect the king: you worshipped your king.

Today is Christ the king Sunday. What does it mean to call Jesus your king? It means that you are loyal to no one else but to Jesus. It means that you worship only Jesus. To call Jesus your king means that you are at his beck and call. To call Jesus your king means that when he gives you a command, you are expected to follow it. To call Jesus your king means that he deserves your best and that the fruits of your labors belong to Him. To call Jesus your king is to admit what Jesus puts so plainly in the gospel of John, “You did not choose me, I chose you.” To call Jesus your king is something that is true for as long as you live and as long as He lives.

If any of us really knew what calling Christ our king meant, for our lives, we would have probably all run the other way as fast as we could. We are progressive people! We live in a democracy for goodness sake! It’s the 21st century! We want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But the decision is not yours to make: God, your creator has made Jesus your king. I’m just letting you know what that means for you.

In the book of Revelation, we read that Jesus is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. He is truly the king of kings and lord of lords. But a few chapters later, we see this king of kings for what he truly is, “Then I saw . . . a lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered.” King Jesus’ is not known by His glory, but by His suffering. He is called the Lion of Judah, a name reflecting power and majesty, but he comes as the weakest of animals, a lamb, but not only that, a lamb who looks as if it had been slaughtered. Jesus shows his glory in a much different way than a normal king would; not through power, but through suffering.

Your king is weak. Your king is foolish. Your king suffers. Your king died on a cross. Paul explains why in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.” God undermines the greatest, the wisest and the strongest by dying a weak, suffering fool on a cross and then doing what the greatest, the wisest and the strongest king could never do: be raised from the dead. Many Americans were upset recently when President Obama, on a trip to Asia, bowed respectfully to a foreign diplomat. Because the President of the United States shouldn’t bow! It’s a sign of submission! Now, imagine if your king—your king!—allowed himself to be beaten, spit upon and got crucified without defending himself or even fighting back. Would you have been inspired by Jesus Christ as your king?

Pilate asked Jesus, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Jesus was born a king, with all the special rights and authority that comes with that title, but he shows his power by simply speaking the truth. Jesus was killed for speaking the truth: that he had come to save the world from sin and that he had the authority to forgive sinners. He was killed NOT because people were threatened by his royal blood, but because he spoke the truth to their faces and then offered them forgiveness. The lion of Judah might have been accepted, but the Lamb of God was slain. What does it mean to call Jesus your king? What does it mean to live under him in his kingdom? It means to listen to the truth.

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” It is the very same question we are asking ourselves still today, isn’t it? “What is truth?” And the question doesn’t simply pertain to the few hot topics that have caused the church so much grief lately, it is a question that has stretched across cultures, times, continents and generations. “What is truth?” Is there only one truth or can each person make it up as they go along? Do you want to know what the truth is? Listen to the words of Jesus Christ, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” If you are looking for truth, look for Jesus who is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. There will always be new controversies. That is why, throughout them all, as Christians we are called to trust in God’s Word to lead us into the truth.

What does it mean to call Jesus your king? To follow his voice. To be loyal to His words. To trust in a king whose truth will NEVER be up for a vote. You did not choose him, he chose you. Jesus is your king. He is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, the Lamb who was slain to forgive your sins. No, you didn’t get a vote in all this, but would you really want one? Jesus has chosen you to live in his kingdom and that, my friends, is the truth. You may trust in God. You may trust in HIS truth. Amen.