Christ the King

Sunday Nov 21 2010 by Mavis Wilson

Readings: Jeremiah 23. 1-6; Colossians 1.11-20; Luke 23. 33-43

With the announcement this week of the Royal engagement kings and queens are rather in the news at present. To-day we celebrate another king - Jesus or as this Sunday is called ‘Christ the King’. It is the last Sunday before the church’s New Year begins at Advent and it comes right in the middle of our series on discipleship, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the one whom we serve; hopefully as the loyal and obedient subjects of a king who is unlike any earthly ruler.

The three readings to-day focus on three aspects or models of kingship. Jeremiah tells us about the shepherd king, St Luke about the suffering king and St Paul in Colossians about the supreme king.

At a time when the kings and leaders of the people of Israel had failed to provide the kind of leadership which guided, cared for and nurtured God’s people, the prophet Jeremiah contrasts their failure with the essential goodness, faithfulness and tenderness of God. These verses resonate with the very beginning of everything. God draws his people together from the scattered experiences of rebellion and exile and there is a promise for them ‘they shall be fruitful and multiply’ words which echo the original blessing of the garden of Eden and a hint that God’ s purposes are to restore his people to a good place where they belong and where fear will be unknown.

The same idea is picked up of course in Psalm 23 where the Lord who is the shepherd makes his servant ‘lie down in green pastures’ ‘and ‘even though ‘I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil’. God the shepherd king is in control and his people will be safe. This is exactly the role which Jesus attributes to himself in St John’s gospel. Or celebrated in the words of a recent hymn written for this Sunday by our Rural Dean Andrew Body –

We praise you our Father for Jesus the shepherd
who guides us and guards us through all life can bring.
Protecting his flock made of faithful saints unnumbered.
We praise you our Father for Jesus the king.

A picture of a tender and nurturing king always wanting to rescue his people from harm is a fundamental understanding of who God is and the way he wants to bless us.

Yet as we hear the story of Jesus we discover another kind of king – the suffering king- Jesus on the cross, mocked for his weakness and vulnerability. No-one could look less like a king than a convicted criminal being crucified and yet that is where we see him. Particularly in St John’s gospel Jesus’ Crucifixion is made a sign of his glory and of his kingly status. That truth is made all the more poignant because it is the catcall with which the soldiers mock him in to-days gospel. Can it be possible that this shamed, mutilated man can be a king? Surely not! It is in only when the Cross is seen in the light of the glory of resurrection that we recognise who he is and what he has done for us.

We praise you, our Father, for Jesus our Saviour,

whose dying and rising has ended death’s sting;

forgiving for ever the worst of our behaviour.

We praise you, our Father, for Jesus our king.

It is also in the light of the resurrection and reflecting on his own encounter with the risen Lord Jesus that Paul come to his conclusion about the supremacy of Jesus which he sets out in these few amazing verses of the reading from Colossians. Just listen to the series of things which Jesus is and has done:

· through him we have freedom and forgiveness and an inheritance with all the saints; he reflects God like a mirror and shows us what God is like

· he existed before creation and he has primacy over it

· he is the unifying centre of everything holding together the universe and the church

· he was the first and therefore by implication will not be the last to return from the dead because he will bring us too to resurrection

· there is nothing in God which we do not see reflected in Christ – all the fullness of God is in him

· he is the one through whom reconciliation comes and his death brings peace, wholeness and unity.

All in all he is unique and supreme, the king over past, present and future.

These amazing phrases piled one on top of the other really need unpacking and thinking about separately. But for now let’s take just one phrase to think about because Paul constantly applies what Jesus has done to who we are and what we do as his followers. He brings it all down to our share ‘may you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience while joyfully giving thanks to the Father. So often we seem to live our Christian lives in our own strength. It seems to be a position to which we constantly revert – try harder! – we whisper to ourselves ‘God helps those who help themselves’ we say. That is frankly rubbish. Actually God helps those who recognise that power comes form him and that, like Jesus we can receive all we need if only we will be open to him. The last year has brought many challenges both together and individually; just think about the ones you have faced. Recession? Anxiety about money? Personal illness or sickness in your family? The prospect of death? A long haul over the St Peter’s project? All these and more have been around and they have not gone away yet. Who is king in these areas? Us or Jesus? Do we rely constantly on his strength or our own? Be honest! Who really is king in our lives?

When you go to visit the Queen there are all kinds of rules which have to be observed, how to walk, where to stand, only to speak when spoken to, how to curtsy and much more besides. When we come into Jesus’ presence we can stand up straight and be welcomed as beloved children and as faithful servants because he has given us the right to be there.

In the end worship is the only response to recognising Jesus as king. The words of another song which we often sing may help us to reflect this morning on a response to the king who holds together our creation, salvation and hope of glory. Who offers us all we need if only we will humble ourselves and accept his offer.

‘What can I give? What can I bring to so faithful a God to so loving a king?

We do not have to be obsequious we can come just as we are, bringing our vulnerability, our fears, our hopes, our joys, all that we are – we have nothing else. Yet that is all that Jesus wants – ourselves created in his image and saved by his love

‘What can I give? What can I bring to so faithful a God to so loving a king?

May that be the question which we consider and respond to this Advent as we worship Jesus our king. Amen

Questions

1. Shepherd, sufferer, supreme – which of these words do you most readily associate with Jesus? Which of them is the most difficult? Meditate this week on that one.

2. In which area of your life do you still need to make Jesus King?

3. Which of Paul’s descriptions of Jesus in the Colossians reading do you find most powerful and why?

4. In what ways do you hope our Queen (or a future King) might reflect the qualities of Jesus? Please pray for them as part of the prayer time together this evening.