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the freeing, supportive presence of God. So your experience of God may
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“What Makes Jesus King?”
November 26, 2006
This is the last week and the last Sunday in the universal church calendar. This last Sunday of the church year is always proclaimed as “Jesus is King” Sunday and culminates a year’s worth of studies, worship, discipling, and working for God’s kingdom on earth.
Next week, the church year begins all over again with Advent. Advent is the expectation and the hope for the coming Savior. Advent is followed by the brief season of Christmastide which is the celebration of Jesus’ birth.
Immediately after Christmas-tide comes the season of Epiphany which traditionally begins with the arrival of the Magi (or “wise men”) in Bethlehem. The rest of the seasons in the church year are Lent, Easter, and Pentecost.
Therefore, the church year begins with the pregnancies of Mary and her cousin Elizabeth who then bring Jesus and John into the world. You will note, however, that the death and resurrection of Jesus occurs not even half way through the church year. This is to emphasize that these events were only the beginning. The celebration of the resurrection of Jesus is the point at which Jesus becomes the Savior.
Pentecost, which is the coming of the Holy Spirit, is at the half way point. There was a relatively brief period of time when Pentecost was broken into two parts, the second part being called Kingdomtide which pointed us toward the activity of the church in bringing about God’s kingdom. This was returned back to one season to emphasize that with the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the real work of the church can powerfully begin. It is at this point that Jesus becomes the power in our lives.
The church and all the work that it has been given to do takes up the entire second half of the church calendar. During that time (approximately June through November based on when Easter falls), the Scriptures which tell about what Jesus did and taught are used as an example of what the Christian and the Church are to be doing.
As I mentioned, all of this throughout the year, culminates in the statement and the celebration that Jesus is King and Jesus is Lord. But what are we, as Americans, to make of a category such as “king” since we have experienced little or nothing of one-man or one-woman rule?
We are definitely at a disadvantage in understanding the kingship or lordship of Jesus. After all, as Americans, we “know our rights,” and no one is going to “lord it over us.” In this way we are truly a unique society. Historically, governments have always been repressive in order to keep control over the whims and personal preferences of people.
God prefers that we be moved and motivated by his generous and gracious love and forgiveness. This is why God gave us the gift of free choice in our lives here on earth. We can choose to follow the wise advice of our creator, or we can choose to follow the temptations of evil and dereliction.
God is not a total push-over, however. God makes demands of us in exchange for the gift of life on this beautiful planet. Jesus comes to clarify those demands and put them into perspective.
“If you love me you will follow my commandments,” says Jesus. Notice the unique relationship between love and obedience. Is this not the type of relationship we all desire as human beings? If an individual truly loves us, they will seek to make us happy or please us. And if we love another, will we not also seek to please them?
You will notice that Jesus places the emphasis on our response to God’s love and generosity. We have a choice as to whether or not to respond to God’s love and generosity.
When Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus avoids the title of king, going on the say, “My kingdom is not from this world … my kingdom is not from here.” Pilate pushes further and says, “So you are a king?” Jesus responds once again by taking the emphasis off of kingship as he responds, “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.”
Here we discover that Jesus is synonymous with truth, and that we have the opportunity of “belonging” to him simply by hearing and following his voice. The truth that Jesus is addressing is the truth that, in response to God’s love and generosity, we must be active, through faith, with all those whom God loves, in preparation for a much more perfect kingdom in the life to come.
Jesus’ kingship is truly unique. It is not imposed on people as is a worldly kingship. It is offered to people through “the voice of woe” and the voice of generous and forgiving love.
In other words, Jesus becomes king in our lives as we accept his love and follow his teaching and love his commands to serve. Jesus asks us to take care of one another because as we care for one another, we are actually offering care to Jesus himself!
Now this is the type of king to whom I can respond generously! This king is no selfish tyrant. Rather, this king is a compassionate and generous ruler—one who is dynamically interested in the health and well being of all persons—even those outside of his kingdom!
So on this day of Jesus Is King, let us commit ourselves anew to the work of his kingdom whose principles are sharing and giving, beginning with the truth of gospel. Let us always seek to respond to those whom God has placed in our path. Amen.
