Christ the King (Proper 29) / Pentecost 26 / Ordinary Time 34
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series IX, Cycle B
Object:
Theme of the Day
Christ already reigns!
Collect of the Day
Petitions are offered that all the people of the earth now divided by the power of sin may be united by the gentle rule of Christ. The prayer is about justification.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 132:1-12 (13-18)
* A Song of Ascent (Pilgrim Psalm) which is liturgy commemorating God's choice of Zion and the Davidic dynasty.
* The Lord is asked to remember the faithfulness of David (vv. 1-2). In verses not cited in the lesson (vv. 3-5), attention is devoted to how David provided the Lord with a sanctuary and set up a tent to house the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:17).
* What follows (vv. 6-10) is a recollection of finding the Ark (1 Samuel 7:1-2) and bringing it to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6).
* Reference is made to the line of David continuing forever (vv. 11-12), but this is conditional on his heir's obedience.
* The final verses represent the role of Jerusalem in the Davidic dynasty, how it will be the place where the Lord resides and so will be blessed with provisions and its priests with salvation. Reference is made to an anointed One of David's line (v. 17).
or Psalm 93
* A hymn extolling God as king. This is the first of a collection of seven Psalms on this theme, composed for a festival like the Festival of Booths.
* The Lord the king is said to be robed in majesty and strength, ruling for eternity (vv. 1-2). This is certainly a most appropriate emphasis for Christ the King Sunday.
* God's rule is based on His control over the powers of chaos, symbolized by waters of the sea (vv. 3-4).
* God is praised because His law offers dependable guidance and because His temple is holy (v. 5).
Sermon Text and Title
"As Far as God's Concerned, a Promise Is a Promise!"
2 Samuel 23:1-7
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim God's faithfulness to His promises (Providence and Justification by Grace), with benevolence and love exceeding anything and everything we had previously imagined. An attestation of the truth of the Bible's prophecy is also given.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* The last words of David, a song of thanksgiving following the preceding hymn of praise (ch. 22). It is a later composition, perhaps written after the writing of Psalms.
* David's high credentials, as the anointed one of God whom He exalted, are noted (v. 1).
* Verse 2 indicates that the Spirit rests on him and his words. This could indicate that what follows is inspired, a word not just for David but for all Israel. (This point is suggested in v. 3a.) But the Spirit being on David is a reminder of his status as a leader of Israel, since the Spirit was only poured out on certain leaders in the era of the Hebrew Bible (Judges 6:34; 1 Samuel 11:6).
* The Psalm seems to move beyond David to an exposition of the just ruler. He/She is compared to the light of the morning of the sun that causes vegetation to sprout (vv. 3b-4).
* The everlasting covenant of God with David (7:15-16; 2 Chronicles 13:5; the assigned Psalm [132], above) is noted (v. 5).
* The text of the last two verses is corrupt and so the exact meaning is obscure. The reference to the godless being like thorns consumed by fire suggests that they are just the opposite from the sun nurturing good vegetables (images associated with the good ruler of the Davidic line).
3. Theological Insights See Charts of the Major Theological Options
* The text proclaims grateful thanks to God, an exposition of a just ruler (Social Justice), and for Christians can be read as a Messianic prophecy (both Christology and Providence, as well as Justification by Grace) testifying to the Bible's truth.
* John Wesley notes that the hymn is a reminder that a ruler is to govern not just with justice, but also with sweetness and gentleness, with condescension to the infirmities of the people (Commentary on the Bible, p. 205).
* Martin Luther claims that we should take David's comments about the just ruler being like the light of the morning or the sun (vv. 3b-4) as referring to the kingdom of the Messiah who is to restore and reinstate righteousness (Luther's Works, Vol. 15, p. 347).
* Luther explains how the eternal covenant has been maintained:
For if you take a glimpse at history it will seem to you that God has forgotten His covenant and not kept it. David's house and that of his descendant lies desolate and disorganized. Yet it was maintained up to the time of the Messiah.…
However, after Messiah came, His kingdom, the church, when viewed externally impresses one as more desolate and disordered. It seems that there is no more dismembered, wretched, and ineffectual dominion or reign than the Christian church, Christ's kingdom… At the same time we also observe that there always has been and always is a people that honors the name of Christ… against all the gates of hell.
(Ibid., pp. 349-350)
David wishes to say: … "For neither I nor any other king ever achieved victory over death, sin, hell, devil, and world; nor has any king in his rule over made people righteous, God-fearing, and eternally blessed."
(Ibid., p. 350)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A 2009 Barna poll notes that about 50% of Americans believe the Bible is accurate in all its principles.
5. Gimmick
Set the scene for the lesson: David's last words. With death on the horizon he sings a song to God, taking comfort in the everlasting covenant with the Davidic line that God has established. Read verse 5.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Have David and the Jews been deceived? We've talked about this previously. It seems like they were. No king in the Davidic line has served the Jews for nearly 3,000 years. Can God's promises be trusted?
* Note the first two sentences of the first quote by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. Either David was deceived, it seems, or the Bible is not accurate. (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights that indicates half the public is not unalterably committed to the Bible's accuracy.)
* Previously we have talked about how the eternal covenant with David, that the royal house of David would be forever preserved, is realized in Jesus. Note the last sentence of the Luther quote noted in the previous bullet point.
* Unlike the unknown wisdom many of us have heard, that "Promises are like babies; easy to make, hard to deliver," God comes through on His promises. Let's take a look now at what this implies for living our everyday lives.
* Martin Luther's comments on this text offer us some helpful clues about what the continuation of the Davidic line in Jesus can mean for daily life. David referred to himself as the one who rules justly over people in the fear of God (v. 3b). Cite the second bullet point in Theological Insights. These references are about Jesus, David's heir, the Reformer contends.
* But then Luther notes that David never achieved what Jesus did (using the last bullet point of Theological Insights). What was promised or foretold in the Old Testament is just a pale reflection and in no way realized in David's reign. It is Jesus who truly overcame injustice, unrighteousness, sin, and death. Far more than was ever promised to David himself was realized in Jesus. David's heir Jesus has a kingship far superior to anything David's reign ever accomplished.
* But then that's God's style. He delivers on His promises, though not always the way you'd think He would.
* The aphorism that circulates widely in African-American circles is certainly appropriate in this case: "God answers prayers. But he doesn't always answer 'em de way you want'em."
* With God a promise is a promise. But the way God delivers on those promises far exceeds what we'd expect.
* Isn't that the way earthly promises work sometimes? We grow up with the promise of falling in love with somebody, with the hope of parenting, and the good job. And sometimes those earthly promises come true. And those of us who have been blessed by God's grace to have those promises and dreams realized in our own lives can say unequivocally we received more than we dreamed of. Earthly promises fail to deliver sometimes. But with God's promises, because God reigns, because Christ is king, the realization of those promises is always better than what we'd imagined.
* See the last bullet point in Theological Insights for the First Lesson, Pentecost 8, as Martin Luther notes that apart from the gospel we do not even ask the right questions. With God you get lots more than you ever believed. And that insight makes life better.
* Corrie ten Boom, the heroic Dutch Christian who saved many Jews in the Holocaust, gives us good advice for living every day: "Let God's promises shine on your problems."
* Perhaps then we can say like Thomas Jefferson: "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."
7. Wrap-Up
Christians who believe that with God a promise is a promise don't need to get so bent out of shape about what's happening, about past failures -- because Christ the king has made promises that are far better than we could have imagined. It's like that beautiful verse of the hymn "I Love to Tell the Story":
I love to tell the story,
more wonderful it seems
than all the golden fancies
of all my golden dreams.
Oh how much more wonderful than our golden dreams is what God has planned and promised us!
Sermon Text and Title
"A Kingdom That Has Already Come"
Revelation 1:4b-8
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim God's present rule as a foreshadowing of the end (Realized Eschatology and Providence), the comfort of knowing that it is a rule of love, freedom, shared power, and the gradual relativizing of earthly power.
2. Exegesis (see Second Lesson of All Saints)
* An introductory salutation to the seven churches of Asia Minor, which would receive the seven letters exposited in the book (1:9--3:22).
* The typical Greek formula of salutation at the outset of the lesson refers to God in a trifold way (Him who is, was, and will be to come). Reference to seven spirits may allude to angelic beings or to energies of the Spirit (v. 4b).
* The greeting refers to Jesus Christ in a trifold way; He is identified as ruler of kings, is said to love, and to free us by His love. Making us a kingdom of priests implies affirmation of the priesthood of all believers (vv. 5-6).
* Poetic testimony follows (vv. 7-8). Reference to the coming with the clouds and as the one who will make all the earth's tribes wail is an allusion to Daniel 7:13 applied to Jesus' eschatological coming. God is said to be the beginning and the end.
3. Theological Insights See Charts of the Major Theological Options
* The text teaches Christ's lordship, the priesthood of all believers, and Realized Eschatology, with a future dimension. The characteristics of the coming kingdom include love and the sharing of power. As such, insights are given into the benevolent way in which God governs history (Providence).
* Karl Barth provides insights about Christ's kingly rule (he refers to Him as "the royal man"), what the kingdom looks like:
Our starting-point here is the first and final fact that the being of this royal man Jesus was not only identical with the glory of God in the highest… but also identical on earth with peace among men as the object of the divine good-pleasure.
(Church Dogmatics, Vol. VI/2, p. 151)
* Barth sees Jesus' royalty as evidenced in "the pronouncedly revolutionary character of His relationship to the orders of life and value current in the world around Him" (Ibid., p. 171),
… as long as there is history at all [the orders of life and value] enjoy a transitory validity in the history of every human place… This is how He Himself deals with them, not in principle, not in the execution of a programme, but for this reason in a way which is all the more revolutionary, as the One who breaks all bonds asunder, in new historical developments and situations each of which is for those who can see and hear -- only a sign, but an unmistakable sign, of His freedom and kingdom and over-ruling history.
(Ibid., p. 173)
* Regarding the appearance reference to the last judgment (vv. 7-8) Martin Luther wrote:
Even if your sin and your conscience plague and oppress you and you stand in awe of God's judgment, you must realize that all has been changed and that judgment has been abolished. Instead of harboring fear of the final judgment you must yearn and long for it….
(Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 364)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See the poll data in this section for the Second Lesson, All Saints, regarding the significant number of Americans who do not believe in Christ's second coming.
5. Gimmick
We say Christ is king this last Sunday of the church year: But really? In view of all the sin and evil surrounding us, how can that be true?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Does the Bible lie? The whole idea of a second coming is not accepted by many Americans (see the data referred to in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights). And the idea that the end might already in some sense be realized is just an impossible reality to grasp for many. What then should we make of our Second Lesson and the celebration of Christ the King?
* Who is this king, this Jesus, who is to come? Our lesson tells us. He is said to be the firstborn of the dead. He is the ruler of the earth's kings (v. 5a). Jesus the king has conquered death and relativized the power of earthly rulers.
* Our lesson also proclaims that Jesus has freed us from our sins and made us a kingdom of priests (vv. 5b-6). He frees us, and He has us share power, all of us Christians being set apart as priests.
* Cite the first quotation by Karl Barth in Theological Insights. Barth is correct. When you have established the sort of kingdom our Second Lesson says Jesus is coming to establish on earth, the sharing of power and freedom among the brethren, you will also have peace and love.
* But we do not have this sort of freedom, shared power, love, and peace in our time. Note the wars still raging, dictatorships like those in Cuba, Iran, and elsewhere. Also consider using the two anonymous quotations in the eighth bullet point of this section for the First Lesson, Pentecost 8. So in what sense is Christ king, in what sense has His kingdom come?
* The great reformed theologian of the last century Karl Barth helps us see this. He speaks of "the pronouncedly revolutionary character of his [Jesus]' relationship to the order of life…" Use the third bullet point for this reference and the quotation that follows.
* The kingdom that has been, is already realized in Jesus, and is subversive of the world's ways, undermines the power of those in power. When kings and politicians and the rich today claim power, we Christians know that Jesus is their king. When pastors try to dominate in the church, we remind them of the priesthood of all believers. When injustices and discrimination reign, we remind them of a kingdom of justice and love. When sin and death reign, we proclaim the word of forgiveness and resurrection.
* This is a perspective that reflects the sound advice of American sociologist and writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman: "Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time."
* Christ's future kingdom really is already present in time, precisely because God doesn't tell time like we do. For Him all time is simultaneous. (See the third bullet point of Theological Insights for the Second Lesson, Advent 2.)
* And so we Christians can agree with George Burns: "I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life."
7. Wrap-Up
Despite appearances, the kingdom of Christ has come. It has come to subvert all the tragedies, injustices, deaths, sufferings, and doubts about God. Close with the last quote by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. And so we pray with longing and confidence: "Thy kingdom come!"
Sermon Text and Title
"Christ the Victorious King!"
John 18:33-37
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim that Christ is king in the sense of still contending with the forces of evil (some of these forces are noted), but that in the eschatological/ultimate sense they are conquered. Atonement (Classic View) and Eschatology (Realized) are presupposed. The comfort offered by this viewpoint is celebrated.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* An account of Pilate's interaction with Jesus prior to delivering his verdict. Note the sense in which Jesus defines His own kingship (v. 36) and that He comes to testify to truth (v. 37).
* See relevant verses analyzed in the Exegesis section of the Gospel for Good Friday.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Christ's dialogue with Pilate suggests how his kingship and reign involve contending with the forces of evil. Thus the lordship of Christ (Future Eschatology) entails a Classic View of the Atonement.
* See the fourth through the seventh bullet points in the Theological Insights of the Gospel for Good Friday.
* Regarding how Jesus' kingdom witnesses to truth and Pilate's inquiry about truth (vv. 37-38), Martin Luther made a contemporary observation that helps make this passage timely even for us today:
That word of Pilate, "What is truth?" accurately paints our age. For the way things are going, people are wondering, What is truth? What do faithfulness and faith amount to anymore in the world? What is integrity? After they take your coat, next it's your shirt. The one who has a concern for truth is already lost. The one, however, who wants to climb the ladder of success needs to lie, deceive, dissemble, and betray.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, p. 412)
* See the last bullet point of Theological Insights for the Gospel, Pentecost 25.
* Martin Luther claims that the kingdom of God comes whenever God gives us the Holy Spirit so that we might lead godly lives (The Book of Concord, 356-357).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Identify some of the negative social dynamics or natural catastrophes at the time of the sermon as the evils against which Christ contends. Certainly poverty, racism, sexism, and ecological destruction are four issues that are likely still to be in play.
5. Gimmick
Inform the congregation that this is the last Sunday of the church year. Next Sunday starts a new year. Whenever we come to the end of a year (as we do on December 31), it is natural to think of the twelve months past and then to reflect on what lies ahead. The church has recognized this by making this a Sunday when the theme is on the future, not next year's future, but the future at the end of time.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* There's an interesting tension here. To call Christ the king refers to the future but our Second Lesson (Revelation 1:8) reminds us that He is king already, was, and will be to come. When He walked the earth, even as the lowly carpenter's son, He was king!
* When He appeared before Pilate as recounted in our Gospel Lesson today, Jesus confessed His kingship (vv. 36-37): a criminal and yet a king.
* This tension addresses in part the tensions we may feel in our lives about how we can believe Christ is king in view of the fact that evil is still around, people suffer and die, friends lose jobs, the poor go hungry, and wars are fought. (Cite examples in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.) How can we believe that God is good and in charge when there is so much evil, pain, and death around?
* Suppose we see evil as a force, as something bigger than individual indiscretions, as something that takes over and drives people to sin. Certainly evil took the form of a force or power in bringing Jesus before Pilate in our Gospel Lesson. The religious leaders of Israel in the first century and the crowds they stirred up were not insidiously evil folks. But concern about possible Roman crackdowns on the Jews and perhaps the Jewish leadership's concern to preserve power created a movement that pushed Roman authorities like Pilate to do its bidding.
* In our era evil as a force is evident in slavery and racism in America, in Nazism's dominance in Germany, in Muslim terrorist movements, and in South African apartheid.
* Evil works against God and His good creation. And so God is engaged in a struggle with it, like He was in His dialogue with Pilate and the other events of the Passion.
* God and Christ are in a war with evil. But here we should not forget that He is king! As such He is the victor. The war has already been won. The end has already come (in some sense).
* If Christ has conquered, why is evil still around? Use analogues between God's conquest of evil and the Civil War or World War II. The resurrection is like the great battles of Gettysburg and D-Day in those wars. Just as both of these wars were won after these famous battles, though there were significant mop-up operations causing much tragedy and costing many lives, so God is still engaged in mop-up operations against evil. See the observations by Karl Barth in the next-to-last bullet point of Theological Insights, Second Lesson of Proper 25.
* This is the way to think of the tragedies of life. The costly mop-up operations against the forces of evil doesn't have a chance. The job loss, the loved one's death, the sadnesses, the catastrophes, they can't win. Sure, they try, just like the South, just like the Nazis kept stubbornly fighting after their fates were sealed. Consider the first quotation by Luther in the fifth bullet point of Theological Insights for the Gospel, Good Friday. See the Theological Insights observation by Karl Barth in the third bullet point of the Second Lesson of Pentecost 24.
7. Wrap-Up
Christ is king because He prevails over indifference and evil, can and does make good out of it. That's not to say that we aren't forced to encounter and experience real pain. Because Christ is king when we experience those tragedies we can have confidence that the bad times will pass away and that the worst of our tragedies can yet lead to good. We can affirm the sound insights of Corrie ten Boom, the heroic Dutch Christian who saved many Jews in the Holocaust. Note the last bullet point in Possible Sermon Moves for the First Lesson.
Christ's kingdom has already been established. The future (the end) is already present! (See the last bullet point in Theological Insights.) And so when the tough times come we can truly say with motivational speaker Gary Ryan Blain, "Your future takes precedence over your past." The hurts, tragedies, setbacks belong to yesterday. Christ is king!
Christ already reigns!
Collect of the Day
Petitions are offered that all the people of the earth now divided by the power of sin may be united by the gentle rule of Christ. The prayer is about justification.
Psalm of the Day
Psalm 132:1-12 (13-18)
* A Song of Ascent (Pilgrim Psalm) which is liturgy commemorating God's choice of Zion and the Davidic dynasty.
* The Lord is asked to remember the faithfulness of David (vv. 1-2). In verses not cited in the lesson (vv. 3-5), attention is devoted to how David provided the Lord with a sanctuary and set up a tent to house the Ark of the Covenant (2 Samuel 6:17).
* What follows (vv. 6-10) is a recollection of finding the Ark (1 Samuel 7:1-2) and bringing it to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6).
* Reference is made to the line of David continuing forever (vv. 11-12), but this is conditional on his heir's obedience.
* The final verses represent the role of Jerusalem in the Davidic dynasty, how it will be the place where the Lord resides and so will be blessed with provisions and its priests with salvation. Reference is made to an anointed One of David's line (v. 17).
or Psalm 93
* A hymn extolling God as king. This is the first of a collection of seven Psalms on this theme, composed for a festival like the Festival of Booths.
* The Lord the king is said to be robed in majesty and strength, ruling for eternity (vv. 1-2). This is certainly a most appropriate emphasis for Christ the King Sunday.
* God's rule is based on His control over the powers of chaos, symbolized by waters of the sea (vv. 3-4).
* God is praised because His law offers dependable guidance and because His temple is holy (v. 5).
Sermon Text and Title
"As Far as God's Concerned, a Promise Is a Promise!"
2 Samuel 23:1-7
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim God's faithfulness to His promises (Providence and Justification by Grace), with benevolence and love exceeding anything and everything we had previously imagined. An attestation of the truth of the Bible's prophecy is also given.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* The last words of David, a song of thanksgiving following the preceding hymn of praise (ch. 22). It is a later composition, perhaps written after the writing of Psalms.
* David's high credentials, as the anointed one of God whom He exalted, are noted (v. 1).
* Verse 2 indicates that the Spirit rests on him and his words. This could indicate that what follows is inspired, a word not just for David but for all Israel. (This point is suggested in v. 3a.) But the Spirit being on David is a reminder of his status as a leader of Israel, since the Spirit was only poured out on certain leaders in the era of the Hebrew Bible (Judges 6:34; 1 Samuel 11:6).
* The Psalm seems to move beyond David to an exposition of the just ruler. He/She is compared to the light of the morning of the sun that causes vegetation to sprout (vv. 3b-4).
* The everlasting covenant of God with David (7:15-16; 2 Chronicles 13:5; the assigned Psalm [132], above) is noted (v. 5).
* The text of the last two verses is corrupt and so the exact meaning is obscure. The reference to the godless being like thorns consumed by fire suggests that they are just the opposite from the sun nurturing good vegetables (images associated with the good ruler of the Davidic line).
3. Theological Insights See Charts of the Major Theological Options
* The text proclaims grateful thanks to God, an exposition of a just ruler (Social Justice), and for Christians can be read as a Messianic prophecy (both Christology and Providence, as well as Justification by Grace) testifying to the Bible's truth.
* John Wesley notes that the hymn is a reminder that a ruler is to govern not just with justice, but also with sweetness and gentleness, with condescension to the infirmities of the people (Commentary on the Bible, p. 205).
* Martin Luther claims that we should take David's comments about the just ruler being like the light of the morning or the sun (vv. 3b-4) as referring to the kingdom of the Messiah who is to restore and reinstate righteousness (Luther's Works, Vol. 15, p. 347).
* Luther explains how the eternal covenant has been maintained:
For if you take a glimpse at history it will seem to you that God has forgotten His covenant and not kept it. David's house and that of his descendant lies desolate and disorganized. Yet it was maintained up to the time of the Messiah.…
However, after Messiah came, His kingdom, the church, when viewed externally impresses one as more desolate and disordered. It seems that there is no more dismembered, wretched, and ineffectual dominion or reign than the Christian church, Christ's kingdom… At the same time we also observe that there always has been and always is a people that honors the name of Christ… against all the gates of hell.
(Ibid., pp. 349-350)
David wishes to say: … "For neither I nor any other king ever achieved victory over death, sin, hell, devil, and world; nor has any king in his rule over made people righteous, God-fearing, and eternally blessed."
(Ibid., p. 350)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* A 2009 Barna poll notes that about 50% of Americans believe the Bible is accurate in all its principles.
5. Gimmick
Set the scene for the lesson: David's last words. With death on the horizon he sings a song to God, taking comfort in the everlasting covenant with the Davidic line that God has established. Read verse 5.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Have David and the Jews been deceived? We've talked about this previously. It seems like they were. No king in the Davidic line has served the Jews for nearly 3,000 years. Can God's promises be trusted?
* Note the first two sentences of the first quote by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. Either David was deceived, it seems, or the Bible is not accurate. (See Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights that indicates half the public is not unalterably committed to the Bible's accuracy.)
* Previously we have talked about how the eternal covenant with David, that the royal house of David would be forever preserved, is realized in Jesus. Note the last sentence of the Luther quote noted in the previous bullet point.
* Unlike the unknown wisdom many of us have heard, that "Promises are like babies; easy to make, hard to deliver," God comes through on His promises. Let's take a look now at what this implies for living our everyday lives.
* Martin Luther's comments on this text offer us some helpful clues about what the continuation of the Davidic line in Jesus can mean for daily life. David referred to himself as the one who rules justly over people in the fear of God (v. 3b). Cite the second bullet point in Theological Insights. These references are about Jesus, David's heir, the Reformer contends.
* But then Luther notes that David never achieved what Jesus did (using the last bullet point of Theological Insights). What was promised or foretold in the Old Testament is just a pale reflection and in no way realized in David's reign. It is Jesus who truly overcame injustice, unrighteousness, sin, and death. Far more than was ever promised to David himself was realized in Jesus. David's heir Jesus has a kingship far superior to anything David's reign ever accomplished.
* But then that's God's style. He delivers on His promises, though not always the way you'd think He would.
* The aphorism that circulates widely in African-American circles is certainly appropriate in this case: "God answers prayers. But he doesn't always answer 'em de way you want'em."
* With God a promise is a promise. But the way God delivers on those promises far exceeds what we'd expect.
* Isn't that the way earthly promises work sometimes? We grow up with the promise of falling in love with somebody, with the hope of parenting, and the good job. And sometimes those earthly promises come true. And those of us who have been blessed by God's grace to have those promises and dreams realized in our own lives can say unequivocally we received more than we dreamed of. Earthly promises fail to deliver sometimes. But with God's promises, because God reigns, because Christ is king, the realization of those promises is always better than what we'd imagined.
* See the last bullet point in Theological Insights for the First Lesson, Pentecost 8, as Martin Luther notes that apart from the gospel we do not even ask the right questions. With God you get lots more than you ever believed. And that insight makes life better.
* Corrie ten Boom, the heroic Dutch Christian who saved many Jews in the Holocaust, gives us good advice for living every day: "Let God's promises shine on your problems."
* Perhaps then we can say like Thomas Jefferson: "I like the dreams of the future better than the history of the past."
7. Wrap-Up
Christians who believe that with God a promise is a promise don't need to get so bent out of shape about what's happening, about past failures -- because Christ the king has made promises that are far better than we could have imagined. It's like that beautiful verse of the hymn "I Love to Tell the Story":
I love to tell the story,
more wonderful it seems
than all the golden fancies
of all my golden dreams.
Oh how much more wonderful than our golden dreams is what God has planned and promised us!
Sermon Text and Title
"A Kingdom That Has Already Come"
Revelation 1:4b-8
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim God's present rule as a foreshadowing of the end (Realized Eschatology and Providence), the comfort of knowing that it is a rule of love, freedom, shared power, and the gradual relativizing of earthly power.
2. Exegesis (see Second Lesson of All Saints)
* An introductory salutation to the seven churches of Asia Minor, which would receive the seven letters exposited in the book (1:9--3:22).
* The typical Greek formula of salutation at the outset of the lesson refers to God in a trifold way (Him who is, was, and will be to come). Reference to seven spirits may allude to angelic beings or to energies of the Spirit (v. 4b).
* The greeting refers to Jesus Christ in a trifold way; He is identified as ruler of kings, is said to love, and to free us by His love. Making us a kingdom of priests implies affirmation of the priesthood of all believers (vv. 5-6).
* Poetic testimony follows (vv. 7-8). Reference to the coming with the clouds and as the one who will make all the earth's tribes wail is an allusion to Daniel 7:13 applied to Jesus' eschatological coming. God is said to be the beginning and the end.
3. Theological Insights See Charts of the Major Theological Options
* The text teaches Christ's lordship, the priesthood of all believers, and Realized Eschatology, with a future dimension. The characteristics of the coming kingdom include love and the sharing of power. As such, insights are given into the benevolent way in which God governs history (Providence).
* Karl Barth provides insights about Christ's kingly rule (he refers to Him as "the royal man"), what the kingdom looks like:
Our starting-point here is the first and final fact that the being of this royal man Jesus was not only identical with the glory of God in the highest… but also identical on earth with peace among men as the object of the divine good-pleasure.
(Church Dogmatics, Vol. VI/2, p. 151)
* Barth sees Jesus' royalty as evidenced in "the pronouncedly revolutionary character of His relationship to the orders of life and value current in the world around Him" (Ibid., p. 171),
… as long as there is history at all [the orders of life and value] enjoy a transitory validity in the history of every human place… This is how He Himself deals with them, not in principle, not in the execution of a programme, but for this reason in a way which is all the more revolutionary, as the One who breaks all bonds asunder, in new historical developments and situations each of which is for those who can see and hear -- only a sign, but an unmistakable sign, of His freedom and kingdom and over-ruling history.
(Ibid., p. 173)
* Regarding the appearance reference to the last judgment (vv. 7-8) Martin Luther wrote:
Even if your sin and your conscience plague and oppress you and you stand in awe of God's judgment, you must realize that all has been changed and that judgment has been abolished. Instead of harboring fear of the final judgment you must yearn and long for it….
(Luther's Works, Vol. 22, p. 364)
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* See the poll data in this section for the Second Lesson, All Saints, regarding the significant number of Americans who do not believe in Christ's second coming.
5. Gimmick
We say Christ is king this last Sunday of the church year: But really? In view of all the sin and evil surrounding us, how can that be true?
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* Does the Bible lie? The whole idea of a second coming is not accepted by many Americans (see the data referred to in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights). And the idea that the end might already in some sense be realized is just an impossible reality to grasp for many. What then should we make of our Second Lesson and the celebration of Christ the King?
* Who is this king, this Jesus, who is to come? Our lesson tells us. He is said to be the firstborn of the dead. He is the ruler of the earth's kings (v. 5a). Jesus the king has conquered death and relativized the power of earthly rulers.
* Our lesson also proclaims that Jesus has freed us from our sins and made us a kingdom of priests (vv. 5b-6). He frees us, and He has us share power, all of us Christians being set apart as priests.
* Cite the first quotation by Karl Barth in Theological Insights. Barth is correct. When you have established the sort of kingdom our Second Lesson says Jesus is coming to establish on earth, the sharing of power and freedom among the brethren, you will also have peace and love.
* But we do not have this sort of freedom, shared power, love, and peace in our time. Note the wars still raging, dictatorships like those in Cuba, Iran, and elsewhere. Also consider using the two anonymous quotations in the eighth bullet point of this section for the First Lesson, Pentecost 8. So in what sense is Christ king, in what sense has His kingdom come?
* The great reformed theologian of the last century Karl Barth helps us see this. He speaks of "the pronouncedly revolutionary character of his [Jesus]' relationship to the order of life…" Use the third bullet point for this reference and the quotation that follows.
* The kingdom that has been, is already realized in Jesus, and is subversive of the world's ways, undermines the power of those in power. When kings and politicians and the rich today claim power, we Christians know that Jesus is their king. When pastors try to dominate in the church, we remind them of the priesthood of all believers. When injustices and discrimination reign, we remind them of a kingdom of justice and love. When sin and death reign, we proclaim the word of forgiveness and resurrection.
* This is a perspective that reflects the sound advice of American sociologist and writer Charlotte Perkins Gilman: "Eternity is not something that begins after you are dead. It is going on all the time."
* Christ's future kingdom really is already present in time, precisely because God doesn't tell time like we do. For Him all time is simultaneous. (See the third bullet point of Theological Insights for the Second Lesson, Advent 2.)
* And so we Christians can agree with George Burns: "I look to the future because that's where I'm going to spend the rest of my life."
7. Wrap-Up
Despite appearances, the kingdom of Christ has come. It has come to subvert all the tragedies, injustices, deaths, sufferings, and doubts about God. Close with the last quote by Martin Luther in Theological Insights. And so we pray with longing and confidence: "Thy kingdom come!"
Sermon Text and Title
"Christ the Victorious King!"
John 18:33-37
1. Theological Aim of the Sermon and Strategy
To proclaim that Christ is king in the sense of still contending with the forces of evil (some of these forces are noted), but that in the eschatological/ultimate sense they are conquered. Atonement (Classic View) and Eschatology (Realized) are presupposed. The comfort offered by this viewpoint is celebrated.
2. Exegesis (see Introduction to Selected Books of the Bible)
* An account of Pilate's interaction with Jesus prior to delivering his verdict. Note the sense in which Jesus defines His own kingship (v. 36) and that He comes to testify to truth (v. 37).
* See relevant verses analyzed in the Exegesis section of the Gospel for Good Friday.
3. Theological Insights (see Charts of the Major Theological Options)
* Christ's dialogue with Pilate suggests how his kingship and reign involve contending with the forces of evil. Thus the lordship of Christ (Future Eschatology) entails a Classic View of the Atonement.
* See the fourth through the seventh bullet points in the Theological Insights of the Gospel for Good Friday.
* Regarding how Jesus' kingdom witnesses to truth and Pilate's inquiry about truth (vv. 37-38), Martin Luther made a contemporary observation that helps make this passage timely even for us today:
That word of Pilate, "What is truth?" accurately paints our age. For the way things are going, people are wondering, What is truth? What do faithfulness and faith amount to anymore in the world? What is integrity? After they take your coat, next it's your shirt. The one who has a concern for truth is already lost. The one, however, who wants to climb the ladder of success needs to lie, deceive, dissemble, and betray.
(Complete Sermons, Vol. 5, p. 412)
* See the last bullet point of Theological Insights for the Gospel, Pentecost 25.
* Martin Luther claims that the kingdom of God comes whenever God gives us the Holy Spirit so that we might lead godly lives (The Book of Concord, 356-357).
4. Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights
* Identify some of the negative social dynamics or natural catastrophes at the time of the sermon as the evils against which Christ contends. Certainly poverty, racism, sexism, and ecological destruction are four issues that are likely still to be in play.
5. Gimmick
Inform the congregation that this is the last Sunday of the church year. Next Sunday starts a new year. Whenever we come to the end of a year (as we do on December 31), it is natural to think of the twelve months past and then to reflect on what lies ahead. The church has recognized this by making this a Sunday when the theme is on the future, not next year's future, but the future at the end of time.
6. Possible Sermon Moves and/or Stories/Examples
* There's an interesting tension here. To call Christ the king refers to the future but our Second Lesson (Revelation 1:8) reminds us that He is king already, was, and will be to come. When He walked the earth, even as the lowly carpenter's son, He was king!
* When He appeared before Pilate as recounted in our Gospel Lesson today, Jesus confessed His kingship (vv. 36-37): a criminal and yet a king.
* This tension addresses in part the tensions we may feel in our lives about how we can believe Christ is king in view of the fact that evil is still around, people suffer and die, friends lose jobs, the poor go hungry, and wars are fought. (Cite examples in Socio-Economic, Political, Psychological, and Scientific Insights.) How can we believe that God is good and in charge when there is so much evil, pain, and death around?
* Suppose we see evil as a force, as something bigger than individual indiscretions, as something that takes over and drives people to sin. Certainly evil took the form of a force or power in bringing Jesus before Pilate in our Gospel Lesson. The religious leaders of Israel in the first century and the crowds they stirred up were not insidiously evil folks. But concern about possible Roman crackdowns on the Jews and perhaps the Jewish leadership's concern to preserve power created a movement that pushed Roman authorities like Pilate to do its bidding.
* In our era evil as a force is evident in slavery and racism in America, in Nazism's dominance in Germany, in Muslim terrorist movements, and in South African apartheid.
* Evil works against God and His good creation. And so God is engaged in a struggle with it, like He was in His dialogue with Pilate and the other events of the Passion.
* God and Christ are in a war with evil. But here we should not forget that He is king! As such He is the victor. The war has already been won. The end has already come (in some sense).
* If Christ has conquered, why is evil still around? Use analogues between God's conquest of evil and the Civil War or World War II. The resurrection is like the great battles of Gettysburg and D-Day in those wars. Just as both of these wars were won after these famous battles, though there were significant mop-up operations causing much tragedy and costing many lives, so God is still engaged in mop-up operations against evil. See the observations by Karl Barth in the next-to-last bullet point of Theological Insights, Second Lesson of Proper 25.
* This is the way to think of the tragedies of life. The costly mop-up operations against the forces of evil doesn't have a chance. The job loss, the loved one's death, the sadnesses, the catastrophes, they can't win. Sure, they try, just like the South, just like the Nazis kept stubbornly fighting after their fates were sealed. Consider the first quotation by Luther in the fifth bullet point of Theological Insights for the Gospel, Good Friday. See the Theological Insights observation by Karl Barth in the third bullet point of the Second Lesson of Pentecost 24.
7. Wrap-Up
Christ is king because He prevails over indifference and evil, can and does make good out of it. That's not to say that we aren't forced to encounter and experience real pain. Because Christ is king when we experience those tragedies we can have confidence that the bad times will pass away and that the worst of our tragedies can yet lead to good. We can affirm the sound insights of Corrie ten Boom, the heroic Dutch Christian who saved many Jews in the Holocaust. Note the last bullet point in Possible Sermon Moves for the First Lesson.
Christ's kingdom has already been established. The future (the end) is already present! (See the last bullet point in Theological Insights.) And so when the tough times come we can truly say with motivational speaker Gary Ryan Blain, "Your future takes precedence over your past." The hurts, tragedies, setbacks belong to yesterday. Christ is king!
