Christ the King Sunday, 11/22/2015

Sermon on John 18:33-37, by Pari Bailey

Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?" Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here." 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." -- John 18:33-37

I confess—I love the British monarchy. Even 240 years after the United States won our independence from Great Britain, I am still taken with the trappings of that island state. The beautiful carriages and horses, and gorgeous uniforms. The pageantry of bands and guards. The special ceremonies, knights and dukes and ladies and lords. The pomp and circumstance that accompanies the queen and her attendants. I confess to have gotten up in the middle of the night to watch the various goings on with the royal family: Princess Diana’s wedding and, years later, her funeral. The Queen Mother’s funeral. The Queen’s recent jubilee festivities. Prince William and Duchess Kate's wedding. I’ve seen and enjoyed them all. Maybe I never lost the little-girl fascination with princesses and knights in shining armor and ceremonies at the castle. The British monarchy has fueled many such dreams.
   I know, however, that there is a more glorious ruler coming than the Queen of England. A king whose splendor is so vast, that the pageantry of Britain will be nothing compared to it. This King will come riding not in a carriage, but on the clouds. This king will not be surrounded by red-coated guards with tall black bearskin hats, but by thousands of saints dressed in pure white and shining like the sun. This King will be king of all other kings, he will rule all the nations, not just one island or one country. This King will have power over the seas, over the winds, and he will never die, his kingdom will never pass away. He will come suddenly, this King, and all who have waited for him will rejoice.

Sing Verse 1 of "Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending"
Lo! He comes with clouds descending,
Once for favored sinners slain;
Thousand, thousand saints attending,
Swell the triumph of His train:
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Christ the Lord returns to reign.

Jesus Christ the Lord is returning to reign over us. But he is no ordinary King, no earthly ruler. This King died once and came back to life. He died for favored sinners, and that’s us. He was betrayed, sold for 30 pieces of silver—hardly a king’s ransom! He was mocked and beaten and tortured. He was falsely accused and condemned. Our King was nailed to a cross, where he died a hideous death to save us. What earthly king would do that—die willingly and lovingly for the very people whose sin caused his death? Only King Jesus.
   If Jesus were an earthly king, then his followers would have fought to save him when he was taken away to be crucified. They would have assaulted Pilate’s palace and tried to overwhelm to guard and rescue Jesus. They would have staged a raid on the temple to try to free Jesus. But Jesus’ throne is not an earthly golden chair—it is a cross. His crown is not a jeweled crown like the Queen of England wears, but a crown of thorns. By his stripes we are healed and by his bruises we have been saved. This is the kind of King we have. And when he comes again, everyone on earth will see him, and wail.

Sing Verse 2 of "Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending"
Every eye shall now behold Him
Robed in glorious majesty;
Those who set at naught and sold Him,
Pierced and nailed Him to the tree,
Deeply wailing, deeply wailing, deeply wailing,
Shall their true Messiah see.

Everyone on earth will wail because when Christ the King comes again, he comes to judge. He comes to hold court. And in that Court of the King all of us are condemned because of our sin. The wages of sin is death, and all have sinned. So we all will deserve to die. But will the King, the Ancient of Days, suspend our sentence? Will the one who loved us so much that he died for us have mercy?
   Yes. Christ the King will come to reign over us forever. He will come to judge us. And that will be frightening, because we have no hope unless our King is merciful. And he is. At the judgment day, all we can say is “Lord, have mercy!” And he, who still bears on his body the marks of the nails, the scars of the crown of thorns—he will remember his great love for us. He will remember that he died for us and we are his. He will recall that he loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood. And he will look at each of us and say, “Not guilty.”

Sing Verse 3 of "Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending"
Those dear tokens of His passion
Still His dazzling body bears;
Cause of endless exultation
To His ransomed worshippers;
With what rapture, with what rapture, with what rapture
Gaze we on those glorious scars!

   Pilate didn’t understand. People throughout history have not understood that Christ the King is not an earthly ruler. He is a King unlike any we have ever known. He does not dominate his people unjustly, or take power only for the sake of power. He does not serve his own interests.
Instead he serves us, serves us with his lifeblood, with his body. He feeds us on his very self. He comes down to serve a royal banquet to the very people who sin against him, who betray him time and again—he stoops to eat with us. And he loves us as his own dear children, children of the King. He has washed us in his baptism and covered us with his kingly robe of righteousness. He has put crowns on our heads, and adopted us a princes and princesses of his kingdom. He remembers our sin no more.
What a glorious King we have! He is the Alpha and Omega, the one who was and is and is to come. He is the Almighty. And yet he has come among us as a human, born of the Virgin Mary, taking on our flesh so that he may die to rescue us, forgive us and love us. No King besides Jesus would do such a thing. No King besides Jesus would turn a cross into a throne and thorns into a crown. No other King would take the insults and spitting of a mob and return love and kindness. No other King would die to save the very people who crucified him, and called for his death with loud voices, even though he had done nothing wrong. No one but King Jesus.
To redeem a slave, God delivered up his Son. To save sinners, the King laid aside his heavenly crown of gold and took up an earthly crown of thorns. To testify to the truth, Jesus allowed himself to be handed over to liars. To take the power and glory, Jesus humbled himself even to death. Because of his sacrifice, to him is now given everlasting dominion and glory and kingship, forever and ever! Amen. Alleluia!

Sing Verse 4 of "Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending"
Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee,
High on Thine eternal throne;
Savior, take the power and glory,
Claim the kingdom for Thine own;
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!
Thou shalt reign, and Thou alone!

Rev. Pari Bailey
Belview, Minnesota, USA
E-Mail: revsbailey @ redred.com

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