Choosing a king

Sermon-Year B-Proper 29 25 Pentecost-Christ the King November 22
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year. This is from preacher Bruce Modahl about today:
Christ the King is a Johnny-come-lately to the schedule of festivals and observances on the church calendar. It has neither the biblical warrant of Easter nor the antiquity of the forty days of Lent. Christ the King Sunday is the invention of a twentieth-century pope, Pius XI. Yet Christ the King Sunday is on the calendars of all the Protestant churches that keep a church calendar. No doubt the appeal of the day is rooted in the need Pius XI saw in 1925. Europe was still reeling from World War I, and economic uncertainty abounded. People were bending the knee and doing obeisance to human savior and political parties that promised to rescue them. Religion was increasingly relegated to the private sphere. In response to this, Pius XI called for an annual Sunday feast day to assert the "Kingship of our Savior." He called for a day on which people would gather to bend their knees to Christ and … witness to the day when every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bend to Christ and confess him as Lord. In 1925 the observance of Christ the King proclaimed that no earthly ruler is lord. The day proclaimed Jesus is king not only of our hearts and our private moments and personal salvation but of all time and space.
It was also the 1600th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea . Any of you students of history, did the world change after 1925? What kind of impact did Pius XI’s papal bull have on the rulers and nations of the world? Zip, zilch, nada.
NOTHING CHANGED. Not in the nations and countries of the world. The question is, do I change, am I different?
This reading is taken from Jesus’ encounter with Pilate late in the gospel of John. Pilate has heard about Jesus, but when he finally meets him, he is disappointed. Jesus is just so, so “ordinary”. So, “unkinglike.” When people think of royalty, kings and queens, a lot of the time we think of Queen Elizabeth-who’s been queen for over 50 years. Do you realize that throughout history the average length of time a monarch served was less than 4 years before they were killed or overthrown? Here is Jesus in front of the king of Palestine, Pontius Pilate, a man known for his ruthlessness and violence, and you can almost hear Pilate laughing. “You’re a king?”
This is such a great story, because it sums up our own journey. Throughout our lives we will be drawn and attracted to the world-possessions, security, the adoration of others, a certain amount of wealth, a life of ease. Right? Isn’t that what most of us want? Most of the time it’s what I want. When we talk about winning the lottery or the Nobel prize or winning anything isn’t it because we want these things? possessions, security, the adoration of others, a certain amount of wealth, a life of ease-the things of royalty.
And here is Jesus standing before Pilate. A man with a rapidly shrinking number of friends. A man with the clothes on his back. No 401K. A man who would shortly after this conversation be tortured and killed. A man whose ministry lasted just about as long as most kingship-3 years. This is the contrast with royalty-the kingship of Christ.
Kings have servants. Jesus called people to serve.
Kings have wealth. Jesus called people to sacrifice.
Kings tell others what to do. Jesus invited people to follow.
Kings demand loyalty. Jesus asked people to have faith
Kings try to conquer. Jesus came to help.
Kings dominate. Jesus encouraged.
Kings require obedience. Jesus offered freedom.
Kings call for people to wait on them. Jesus washed peoples’ feet.
Kings rely on strength. Jesus advocated going the extra mile.
Kings demand. Jesus turned his cheek.
Kings curse. Jesus blessed.
Kings wear crowns of jewels. Jesus wore a crown of thorns.
Over and over in my life I see this great struggle between the values of the world, and the values of Christ. It is challenging The world paints the king’s life as pretty appealing. Possessions, security, the adoration of others, a certain amount of wealth, a life of ease. Isn’t that attractive?
Jesus tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” He didn’t mean his kingdom is in heaven. He meant that it was different than the world’s kingdoms. Jesus died the way he lived, as a suffering servant. He brought healing, hope, and freedom to those who followed. It wasn’t the kind of kingship Pilate was familiar with.
Charles Colson, former legal counsel to Richard Nixon and later founder of the Christian Prison Fellowship, says it like this: "All the kings and queens I have known in history sent their people out to die for them. I only know one king who decided to die for his people."
Today is Christ the King Sunday. It’s the end of the church year. It sums up for us all we have learned about Jesus in the past year.
Today at Trinity we struggle with these same kingdoms, but we also make a statement. Today, while the rest of the world is out shopping for gifts, we are inside collecting clothes for strangers. While the world is saying that buying is king, we are in here proclaiming giving. The day we collect all these clothes for children we will never know, is our way of saying Christ is King of our lives. It is a small gesture. But it is our answer to “who is truth”. Two short stories to end with:
An Amish man was once asked by an enthusiastic young evangelist whether he had been saved, and whether he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lordand Savior? The gentleman replied, "Why do you ask me such a thing? I could tell you anything. Here are the names of my banker, my grocer, and my farm hands. Ask them if I've been saved."
There is an old saying “Many Christians accept that Jesus as the savior of the world, but few are willing to serve him as Lord.” Today I make a decision, today we are offered a choice, as to who my king, who do I claim.
My friend Mark loves this story. “A little girl was visiting her grandmother in a small country town. They went to a very emotional church service together. People were jumping and shouting, "Praise the Lord!", and "AMEN!", and lifting their arms in the air. Some might call it a holy roller service. The little girl asked her grandmother if all that jumping meant that God was really there. Her grandma said, "Honey, it don't matter how high they jump up. It's what they do when they come down that will tell you if it's the real thing."
It’s Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year. Which king do you want to claim as yours?