Login / Signup

Free Access

The Wealth Of Christ The King

Sermon
Years ago, a Norfolk teenager won nearly ten million pounds on the National Lottery. He turned up to collect his winnings wearing an electronic tag, for he had been in a Young Offenders' Institution for two months and the tag was part of his sentence for drunken and unruly behaviour. And he admitted to other rather more crominal activities in the past. He claimed to have won this money with his first ever lottery ticket.

For many youngsters who work hard for a living, who have never been in trouble with the police and who struggle to survive on the minimum wage, it was something of a bitter blow. And the neighbours were apparently outraged, since they described themselves as having been terrorised by this lad for years. It seemed grossly unfair that so much money should go to such an apparently undeserving person.

That young man was suddenly so overwhelmed with wealth that he probably wouldn't have the first idea what to do with it. How do you spend nine million pounds? How do you live when your bank account has nine million pounds in it? All the young man said was that he would buy a house with a swimming pool, and a car and would never work.

He might be the envy of millions of people who would all like to buy a house and a car and never work, and it's come at a good time for him since his girlfriend is expecting their first baby on Christmas Day. But I couldn't help wondering how happy he will be and how long his happiness will last.

It reminded me of that other rich young man, the one that came to Jesus because despite all his wealth and his fabulous life-style, there was still a big something missing from his life. He still wasn't happy. He wanted what he saw Jesus had, the secret of such inner happiness that nothing else is important.

"You can have that sort of happiness," Jesus told the rich young man. "And you can start right away. Go and sell everything you have, and give all the money you make to the poor." But the young man couldn't do it. He couldn't believe that it was possible to be happy without money and comforts and luxury, and so he settled for a kind of second-rate happiness, the short-term happiness which is found in wealth.

Almost all of us in the Western world are similarly seduced by wealth, simply because we live in the West and are steeped in a very materialistic lifestyle. There's nothing we can do about it. It's how our society lives, and we're part of that life. And we're so surrounded by adverts inducing us, compelling us, persuading us, cajoling us to buy or to win or to get some special bargain, that on a conscious level we probably hardly notice them. But unconsciously, they're now so deeply ingrained within us that we tend to live our lives as though material things are the only things that matter, and as though there's no other way to live.

It has to be acknowledged that material things do actually satisfy, at least in the short term. Retail therapy is now well known to give people a lift and make them feel better. Most of us feel better when we buy something new, and that feeling of happiness usually lasts at least for a day or two. It's difficult for human beings to think in the long term, especially when they're feeling miserable. Misery is felt here and now, so solutions which work here and now tend to be eagerly sought. Taken to its logical conclusion, this desperate need for immediate relief leads to addiction. Fortunately most of us are able to withstand that degree of urgency so we don't become addicted, but nonetheless, many of us still have a problem.

What we're all yearning for, whether we recognise it or not, is a real, living, loving relationship with God, a relationship in which we hear him, feel him and are touched by him. A relationship like that stimulates and excites, and satisfies all needs. The more that sort of relationship develops, the richer we feel and the less important material wealth becomes. In today's reading, St Paul prays for the Ephesians to experience such a relationship with God: "I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe." And he adds, "That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given."

Christ is our King, not only in being above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, but also in incomparable wealth and riches; the wealth and riches which come from a complete unity with God. Christ our King doesn't have an earthly kingship which uses the earthly power of material wealth and status, but has a kingship in which he has been refined like gold in the fire. Christ has reached his authority through sticking to God no matter what, through trusting God and believing in God and accepting suffering in order to remain at one with God. And through that terrible suffering, although Jesus died - he lost his life on this earth - he became more gloriously alive that we could ever have imagined. He was exalted, he was raised, he was seated at the right hand of God in God's kingdom where he is to this day, working ceaselessly on our behalf, praying for us, helping us, guiding us.

Once you've experienced kingship like that, material wealth slots into its right place in the order of things. It ceases to be the ultimate for which human beings yearn, and becomes a pleasant gift from God to be enjoyed and to be used responsibly. Wealth is given to us for enjoyment and pleasure as well as to enable us to help other people. But it won't ultimately satisfy us, for only God can satisfy us. We need to develop something of the kingship of Jesus. We can all experience something of the kingship of Jesus, merely by opening our hearts and lives to him, welcoming his guidance and listening for his promptings and following them. When we really begin to do that, not only material wealth but also suffering in this life has much less hold over us. Although suffering is awful and agonising, it can be endured and we can even grow through it, if we allow God to help us.

Jesus relied utterly on God and became a king, with a wealth of riches which have to be experienced to be believed. By dying on the cross, he opened the door for all of us to experience something of that kingship too. To share in his wealth, let us open our hearts to Christ our King.
UPCOMING WEEKS
In addition to the lectionary resources there are thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...
Proper 23 | OT 28 | Pentecost 18
30 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
30 – Children's Sermons / Resources
29 – Worship Resources
34 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 24 | OT 29 | Pentecost 19
29 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
27 – Children's Sermons / Resources
20 – Worship Resources
29 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Proper 25 | OT 30 | Pentecost 20
34 – Sermons
160+ – Illustrations / Stories
32 – Children's Sermons / Resources
26 – Worship Resources
31 – Commentary / Exegesis
4 – Pastor's Devotions
and more...
Plus thousands of non-lectionary, scripture based resources...

New & Featured This Week

The Immediate Word

Christopher Keating
Thomas Willadsen
Katy Stenta
Mary Austin
Nazish Naseem
Dean Feldmeyer
George Reed
For October 19, 2025:

Emphasis Preaching Journal

Mark Ellingsen
Bill Thomas
Frank Ramirez
Jeremiah 31:27-34
John Calvin makes very clear why a new covenant is needed according to this text. He observes:

… the fault was not to be sought in the law that there was need of a new covenant, for the law was abundantly sufficient, but that fault was in the levity and the unfaithfulness of the people. (Calvin’s Commentaries, Vol.X/2, p.130)
David Coffin
What happens when one’s past life narrative or goals in life have drastically shifted or collapsed? How do they rebuild hope? For Israel, they lost their land, monarchy, and national identity. In the days of the New Testament,they could easily be identified as living in the “fourth world” country. That is, existing in substandard conditions in one’s own native land?

StoryShare

Peter Andrew Smith
Rose sat back in her chair and opened her magazine. She heard the thump of the stairs and caught a glimpse of her daughter and son in the corner of her eye. She turned her head as they put water bottles in their backpacks.

“What are you two doing?” she looked over at the clock. “Don’t you have homework?”

“All done,” Paul and Linda announced at the same time.

Rose ignored Linda but locked eyes with Paul. He met her gaze for a few moments and then sighed.

“Okay, I’m almost done but still have some math questions,” he admitted.

The Village Shepherd

Janice B. Scott
Call to Worship:

Jesus told us that we should always pray and not lose heart, for God is on our side. In our worship today let us pray to the Lord for the needs of others and for all our own needs.


Invitation to Confession:

Jesus, sometimes you don't seem to be there when I pray and I feel like I'm talking to myself.

Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, sometimes my prayers seem so dry and boring that I give up.

Christ, have mercy.

SermonStudio

James Evans
Psalm 119 is well-known as the longest chapter in the Bible. The poem is actually an extended, and extensive, meditation on the meaning of the law. Given the sterile connotations often associated with "law" and "legalism," it's hard sometimes to appreciate the lyrical beauty of these reflections. One thing is for certain, the writer of this psalm does not view the law as either sterile or void of vitality.

Schuyler Rhodes
There is perhaps no better feeling than knowing that someone "has your back." Having someone's back is a term that arose from urban street fighting where a partner or ally would stay with you and protect your back in the thick of the fray. When someone has your back, you don't worry about being hit from behind. When someone has your back you can concentrate on the struggle in front of you without worrying about dangers you cannot see. When someone has your back you feel protected, secure, safe.
David Kalas
I wonder how many of us here are named after someone.

Chances are that a good many of us carry family names. We are named for a parent, a grandparent, an uncle, or an aunt somewhere on the family tree. Others of us had parents who named us after a character in the Bible, or perhaps some other significant character from history.

All told, I expect a pretty fair number of us are named after someone else.

John W. Clarke
Our reading today from the prophet Jeremiah is one in which the Hebrew people, not knowing what else to do in terms of addressing their predicament, decide to blame it all on God. They believed their problems to be the result of their sins and the sins of their fathers. Of course, one person's sin does indeed affect other people, but all people are still held personally accountable for the sin in their own lives (Deuteronomy 24:16; Ezekiel 18:2).
Donna E. Schaper
As usual, the epistle is a little more graphic than we can quite grasp. Itchy ears: what a concept just in physical terms. Experience it for a minute. You itch, you scratch, you sort of know you shouldn't scratch because it will only make the itch worse. But still you scratch, while wondering how the itch ever got started in the first place. What a concept: itchy ears as a vehicle for spiritual truth.

John E. Berger
Did Jesus ever do comedy? Indeed he did, and the Parable of the Unjust Judge is partly comic monologue. The routine began with a probate judge so ridiculously dishonest that he announced, "... I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone...." (There must have been a gasp of disbelief from Jesus' audience.)

The Unjust Judge was nagged by a widow, however, who had every right to nag, because she had been cheated by somebody in the community. A good judge would have helped the widow, but remember, this judge "neither feared God nor had respect for people."

CSSPlus

And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? (v. 7)

Good morning, boys and girls. Yesterday, I was riding in my car and I kept hearing this noise. I call it a squeak. Do you know what a squeak sounds like? (let them answer) Squeaks are very annoying. It is hard to find a squeak in your car, so it is still squeaking.

I also have a chair that has a squeak and I brought it in with me today because it is

Special Occasion

Wildcard SSL