REIGN OF CHRIST - PROPER 29 (34) Year B November 21, 2021
2
Samuel 23:1-7 and Psalm
132:1-12, (13-18) • Daniel
7:9-10, 13-14 and Psalm
93 • Revelation
1:4b-8 • John
18:33-37
Today’s service is titled the Reign
of Christ. It is the week before Advent,
the season where we prepare for Christmas.
So, in essence, we look at the Reign and Kingship of Christ and then we
prepare to receive Christ as we celebrate Christmas, his birth into our world
as one of us.
The first thing I want to note the
Reign of Christ, is that our Gospel reading tells of an interesting interaction
between Pilate and Jesus. We know that
Pilate was the one who ordered that the title, “INRI'' be written and placed on
the cross of Jesus. This literally
means, “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum'' meaning ''Jesus of Nazareth, King of
the Jews''. Therefore, please note with
me, that regardless of denial by Jesus own people, and regardless of how
hopeless it all looked at that time of persecution and crucifixion, Jesus was
prophetically instated as King…. In fact perhaps ironically, this was the
beginning of his reign.
On the subject of Kings and rulers,
it is worth reflecting on our relationship with the kings and rulers of our day,
and noting if it is in anyway a reflection of our relationship with our heavenly
King.
In our modern world we see that our
rulers don’t rule a country with loyal subjects. They rule, but the subjects are predominately
critical and rebellious. What is our
part in this and what should it be? It’s
not an easily answered question, but it is worth pondering if it has any similarity
or impact that overflows to the relationship we have we Christ our King.
2 Samuel 23:3-4 “The God of
Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people
justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun
rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.”
This speaks to us about the
leadership of King David and clearly states that when we have Godly leaders, we
enjoy goodness. Do you think that in
this day and age, our society would not even recognize good leadership. It seems to me that mostly we are too busy
looking to find fault. Constantly finding
fault in those that lead us has become a popular modern past time. It is often right to stand up for causes of
injustice, but being constantly critical can become more of a habit which doesn’t
actually help anyone… neither helpful for us who are being led nor those
leading us.
I remember a time when a Bishop
come to our town amid up-rising among the congregation. I noted at the time that most of those making
disgruntled noises were random. Random
in that they seemed to not know what they were protesting. Each one was sprouting a different story and as
far as I could tell, though they were grouped together, they didn’t really seem
to know what each other was on about. There
is a danger in being swept up in a wave of negativity. It can become a habit that makes no sense…
and it can impact our relationship with our heavenly king.
Please let me be clear that I’m not
making any political comment about the things going on presently. I do support the stand for freedom. I am simply concerned that we watch our
hearts to keep a right attitude toward Christ our King.
There is much that we learn about
leadership from King David. We learn
that what made him a great leader was that he was described as being a man
after God’s own heart… and he himself tells us that he knew himself to be one
of God’s favourites. To know that you
are God’s favourite would have an impact on the way we live our lives.
King David, being one who had such
a relationship with God, meant that he had the courage to fight a Giant. David was a small man, but he did not waver
at all because he knew that God was with him.
David knew God’s love.
Knowing God’s love means that
David’s leadership was one that reflected God’s own heart of love, justice and
compassion. These are the attributes
that made him a great leader, but more than that, David lived his life in
submission to God. The great King David lived
in submission to God his heavenly King.
While we might think that a Good
leader is someone who is intellectually superior and someone who keeps their
emotions well-guarded, we know that King David figuratively wore his heart on
his sleeve – the evidence is in the many Psalms that he wrote where he
literally pours his heart out and cries out to God.
There was a humility in David that
we see by the way he quickly repented when his sin was pointed out.
While we can look at these
attributes and look for them in our leaders we should note that these are the
attributes that God would encourage in each of us.
In our second reading, from the
book of Revelations, we are told that Jesus Christ has made us to be a
kingdom, priests serving his God and Father.
What does this really mean?
Way back in the Old Testament we
note that God had said this same thing to the Israelite nation. The point of this nation being Holy and a
kingdom of priests, was to be a light to the nations around. This is what we are being called to right
now. We are called to be a holy kingdom
and priests. So what does it mean?
In many of the ancient
civilizations there were priests among the people. They were those to whom the people went to
find out God’s will… God’s ways…. to be reminded of and connected to God. The church today is called to be priests to
the people around. This means every
member of the Christian family is called to this role in the community because
we, the church, are to be a holy kingdom, priests and a light to the nations.
Do you know what a Meme is? It is a picture with a little message. You find a lot of these popping up on the
internet. There is one that I’d like to
share. It has a picture of a girl with a
crown on her head and the message says, “On the darkest days when I feel
inadequate, unloved and unworthy, I remember whose daughter I am and I
straighten my crown”.
In our dwindling little churches,
striving in the aftermath of so much strife in the church and the tenuous reputation
that we have in the world, not to mention the impact of COVID, we may feel very
inadequate, unloved and unworthy. Each
of us individually may feel that we don’t have much to offer…. But this is a
lie of the enemy. David was a small boy
against the giant Goliath, but he knew whose son he was. We are sons and daughters of the living
God. Think about who it is that has your
back…. But realize that you are a person of great power because you belong to
the king of the universe.
In our Gospel reading from John 18:37
“Pilate asked him, "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 came to testify to the
truth. That truth is about the Good News
that God loves us so much that he sent his son to die for us. In Chapter 1:12 we read in John’s Gospel, “Yet
to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the
right to become children of God”
We are the children of God.
Straighten your crown and remember who you are…. Remember who you are…. Those words are echoed in the vision of
Simba, in the movie, The Lion King. Simba
had run away, thinking that he was responsible for his father’s death – he
wasn’t. It was a plot to get rid of him
to render him powerless, and it worked. Like
Simba we are wasting our lives if we are living under the shadows of the past,
afraid of the future with feelings of worthlessness. We need to remember who we are… who we really
are. We are a holy kingdom, a people of
power, the children of God and a royal priesthood. It is high time we walked in this reality.
Learning the lesson of King David,
as royal children of God, we need to also accept the kingship of Christ. We remember who we are… but to walk in the
truth we need the submit our lives constantly to the kingship of Christ. Is he the Lord of our lives? If he is, then we will not let anything come
between God and our relationship with him.
Life is a constant barrage of interruptions. Things that come between us and our heavenly
father….. Don’t let them.
We are living in difficult times
and we need to seriously realize that we are the church on earth at this time
for a divine purpose. Though each of us
may feel insignificant, I can assure you this is not the case. We are each being called to remember who we
are, straighten our crowns, and wait for our orders from the king - our God and father who loves us . Here I am Lord, Is it I Lord… I have heard
you calling in the night… I will go Lord, if you lead me. I will hold your people in my heart.
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