Sermon for Christ the King Sunday, 2015

Usually on this Sunday I am trying to figure out how "King" is a term with relevance but this year as our world has had a lot to say.  These end times readings ring out differently. One person wrote this past week, " There’s a war going on, in case you haven’t noticed.  There is the war “out there”–the one with bombs and guns and blood and death.  But there is also a different kind of war going on that is also deadly.” ( Jill Clignan- Practicing Families)
  It's true- A clash in our interactions that makes everything be about polar opposites- Hate versus love.  Strife versus peace.  Fear versus courage. And no in between.
That’s our world talking.

“ while it would be so easy for me right now to sweep my arms grandly across the landscape of this shattered world and declare that the sky is falling and the world is ending, I choose, instead, to stubbornly look with hope at the life right before me, to believe that God has not yet given up on His will being done on earth, as it already is in heaven."
That’s kingdom talk.

And that’s when  I remember what Jesus says to Pilate- "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were my followers would fight. My kingdom is from another place."
Earlier in the gospel of John, we hear the disciples say, "you talk about your place Jesus, but we have no idea how to get there."
That's us a lot- we don’t know how to get to the kingdom.
And Jesus’ response is – "you do know, because you know me. You know what I have been about, and you know God’s will."
 But knowing his disciples and how hard it is to follow,  elsewhere in the gospels, he tells them that  no matter what life brings, no matter how impossible it seems, here’s a prayer- pray like this.
And he taught them the Lord’s Prayer. I can rattle it off in three different versions almost without thought. And sometimes it’s just rote. Sometimes that’s a comfort that I have it internalized, but other times, I suspect I rattle it off quickly  because when I slow it down I remember- "your kingdom come, and your will be done" is not addressed to my desires, but to the King.
Our King and Lord.
I can pray for the kingdom to come, but here on earth, that’s an awfully tall order.
That’s probably why later on the prayer says,
"Lord,  lead us not to be tempted otherwise. Because YOURS is the kingdom."
 Christ is the ruler of the universe and the kingdom IS. Not will be, but IS now.

 And that’s what Jesus tells Pilate that he came to testify to this truth- God’s truth. THE ONE THAT DOESN’T LOOK LIKE THE TRUTH OUR WORLD DISHES OUT that sucks us in to playing the game of fear, and mistrust and hate. The one that tempts us to believe that  fear and mistrust and hate and struggle are what  it takes to rule.
If I am being honest, this week, and I am,  I cannot easily stand here and profess that I see Christ as the ruler of the universe, and the kingdom breaking forth.
I suspect that  it is so hard to see so often because we fall into the pattern of our world, the pattern  we all have a lot more experience with.

I tell you this not because I am now going to dissect and pontificate about the actions of others. This really is a confession and maybe it's yours too.  Because I don’t follow our King as I should.
 I wish I could more deeply live out what I pray when  I say Christ is the King- the ruler of the universe. That I want Christ's kingdom to come.
And that Christ's truth would meet the truth of my life and it would be obvious that I get that Christ’s kingdom rises above this world.

 We all get caught up in the fight between hate and love, and struggle and peace. And the biggest thing of all I am fighting isn’t evil, in the end, but fear.
Fear of others.
And fear that I know I am not living as one who acknowledges Christ on that throne.
Fear of what I would sacrifice or face if I lived that truth of that place that is not this world.
Maybe that’s why there are 365 places in the Bible where God’s people hear, “Do not fear.”

We are called to practice the truth of Christ and walk in the light. But, truly, sometimes the darkness is so attractive. But what really has me thinking and worried is when we say we cannot help one group of people because another group needs it more, but then we don’t help them either. And there’s nothing stopping us.

We find ourselves at odds and fighting in so many ways.

But you know what Jesus’ opponents hated was when he helped the wrong people. When he raised the dead, when he healed the sick, when he freed the captive, and prioritized the needs of the least. When he promised paradise to the criminal and food for the hungry. And salvation for all. Yes, all.

And when he commanded, yes commanded- our king commanded one thing of us- LOVE.
Love your neighbor as yourself. By the way, everyone is your neighbor. Love them enough to share daily bread, and forgiveness, and the life of the kingdom.
And he promised that the Spirit would give us the truth to prove the WORLD wrong and would give us the power and wisdom to do so.
So that our faith and what propels our actions and beliefs would be based upon this. That we would enact the kingdom of Christ.
Jesus our king and Lord, the ruler of the universe commands we love one another.
And the hardest part of all, is that there are no disclaimers, no fine print, no exceptions. No exceptions about Christ’s love nor about his power.

NONE.
 This is the hardest part of all- swearing my allegiance to this gospel with no exceptions. And believing that Christ really is the ruler of the universe- no exceptions.
And  our king,  showed power in a cross. And keeps trying to set us free even as we keep holding on to rulers and kingdoms that deal death and pain and destruction. With Christ  telling us to take courage – he has conquered the world. And we are no longer of that world. We don’t have to be in that world- What a beautiful thought!
No exceptions. We don’t have to get sucked into the world’s talk and even better- because one more thing has  no exceptions- grace.
In the face of all of my shortcomings- I get to keep my citizenship in Christ’s kingdom. We all do
Because Christ our King is a gracious king.
And this kingdom that rises above our world  is for real.

Christ IS the king. We have a place in his kingdom, thank God.
And our King calls us to kingdom living.
What should the kingdom look like?
I’ve been asking people
And here’s what I have heard from some of you.
The shelves at the food pantry would never be bare- we’d feed the hungry all the time no exceptions
We wouldn’t only remember certain people at the holidays- we’d care about them all the time- no exceptions
People who are sick would be able to be cared for and not jump through so many gosh-darned hoops- no exceptions
We wouldn’t use one group’s needs as a reason not to help others- we'd help them all!
And  the poor, and the sick, and the elderly, and the oppressed, the veterans, the homeless and any one with any needs would be our business.
There’s a lot to think about there
 And it’s the work before us as workers in the kingdom of God.
A lot of people will say that our world today isn’t the same. One person said to me in fact, "we don’t live in Jesus’ world." But we do! It was scary then and is scary now.
But the truth and good news is that we do- it is a challenge but also a blessing.
And while it challenges us to try to live out our king’s command and what it would do to our economy and business as usual, guess what?  If we did so,
In the extreme, doing the business of  Christ’s kingdom would put the other one of our world out of business.
 Imagine despair, and suffering and injustice and struggle put out of business!

And so this day  while it would be so easy for me right now to sweep my arms grandly across the landscape of this shattered world and declare that the sky is falling and the world is ending, I choose, instead, to stubbornly look with hope at the life right before me, to believe that God has not yet given up on His will being done on earth, as it already is in heaven."
 Because Christ’s power shines brightest in our dark places. That cross shows power in places we think it can’t be possible.
And you are my co-workers.
And our only job is LOVE- that’s speaking the kingdom and lifting high the cross as we lift others to life.
 May the Spirit guide us, reassure us and  help us to  commit ourselves again to honoring Christ the King- our  Lord and Savior of the universe, with our lives.