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November 22, 2009
The Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
The Feast of Christ the King
Proper 29, Year B
2 Samuel 23:1-7 or Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14
Psalm 132:1-13 (14-19) or Psalm 93
Revelation 1:4b-8
John 18:33-37
Click here for sermons from previous
weeks
The Rev. Virginia W. Nagel
Episcopal Diocese of Central NY (Retired)
Today is the last Sunday of the Church year. It is called the Feast of Christ
the King or, in some churches, The Reign of Christ. Next Sunday will be the
first Sunday of Advent, and we will begin a new Church year, with most of the
Gospel readings coming from St. Luke's Gospel.
The first lesson is believed by many to be the deathbed words of King David.
Most cultures put extra importance on the words a person speaks as he or she is
dying. The person who is dying is thought to have "one foot in heaven" and so
perhaps knows a little more, or more important things, than he or she did during
the active time of life. So, these deathbed words are important.
David's deathbed words fall into two sections. One section gives a picture of
his idea of a model king, the kind of king that all kings should try to be. We
know that David himself had times when he sinned badly and did not live up to
what he knew was expected of a king. During most of his life, however, he tried
very hard to be a good king, and now, at the time of his death, he was setting
up standards for the kings who would follow him. He had tried to be a good king,
caring for the people and making sure they had what they needed to live and do
God's work. This was a revolutionary idea, because most kings at that time
looked only for their own happiness and profit. They used their office of king
to get what they wanted, not to do God's work or take care of God's people.
David was, you see, a new kind of king. He knew that all power comes from God,
and that the leaders of the nations are given a share of that power so that they
can do God's work...not so that they can get rich and famous and have their own
way all the time.
The second part of David's deathbed speech was a thankful confession. He noted
and emphasized that God had raised him up for a special purpose. This uneducated
shepherd boy from a small town, Bethlehem, had been raised up to become the most
powerful man in Israel. He brought the two nations of Israel and Judah together
into a united country, and ruled as king for many years. David is thanking God
for this privilege, and also reminding the people around his death bed that he,
and we, each have a special job or purpose which God calls us to carry out in
our lives. This purpose or job is the most important thing for us, the thing we
must try hardest to do, to satisfy God's plans for humanity. At the same time,
David was aware that he had often failed. But he knew that he had to keep on
trying to do what God had asked of him.
Each one of us also has a special purpose in life, a purpose set by God. We may
not know what that purpose is, and that's the reason we need to keep close to
God, trying to live according to God's laws, and talk with God often...that's
called praying...to find out what he wants us to do and how he wants us to live.
This is the only way we can really be happy in this life, by trying to do what
God expects from us. Like David, we will fail at times, but that is no excuse
for giving up. When we know we are failing to do what God wants, we need to
admit it, confess to God and ask for his forgiveness, and go back to trying to
live as God wants us to live, and do what God wants us to do.
The Gospel reading is part of John's description of the trial of Jesus. It is
interesting to notice that the governor, Pilate, was being sarcastic when he
asked Jesus if Jesus was really a king. Pilate did not believe for a minute that
Jesus had any power. How could he? This half-naked man, bleeding from the
whipping and the crown of thorns, bruised and dirty from being shoved and pushed
around by the soldiers, didn't look anything like a king. But Pilate was the
governor, and he had to make sure that Jesus was not leading a group of rebels
who would try to overthrow the Roman government in Israel. So he had to ask.
And Jesus was sarcastic, too, in his answer. You said it, not me...do you think
I am a king? He had the nerve to reply to Pilate, the man who could sign a death
warrant or set him free, like that! And then he asked, Are you asking me this
because you think I might be a king, or did somebody tell you to ask me that
question? Jesus knew that the leaders of the Jewish people had told Pilate to
ask that question, you see. If Jesus claimed to be a king, he would be executed
as a rebel against the Emperor of Rome. And then Jesus went on, and said, I am
truly a king, but my kingdom is not in this world. If my kingdom were in this
world, I would have many followers, who would rise up to support me when I
called them.
By now, Pilate was starting to think that Jesus must be crazy. What he was
saying did not make sense to Pilate. Pilate was even thinking of ways he could
let Jesus go free. Obviously, Pilate thought, this man is out of his mind. He
couldn't possibly be a threat to the Emperor of Rome.
But, Pilate himself was in a trap. He was an officer of the Emperor of Rome, and
his job was to keep peace in Israel. The Pharisees had brought Jesus to him, and
said that Jesus had broken the Jewish laws. Pilate didn't think that was very
important. He was not a religious man, and didn't think the God of the Jews was
any different from the many gods and goddesses of Rome and Greece.
Pilate was talking with Jesus in a room of his palace, and the Jewish leaders
were outside. It was Passover time, and if they came into the Roman palace, they
would not be able to participate in the Passover feast, so they stayed outside,
and Pilate had to go back and forth between the Pharisees and Jesus. John is
underlining for us that Pilate was stuck between the Romans and the Jews, and
had to find a way to satisfy both.
Pilate knew that Jesus had ridden into town on a donkey, as a Messiah was
expected to do. He knew that people called Jesus Son of David, because Jesus was
descended from King David. And he knew that the Jews claimed that their God had
promised that there would always be a descendent of King David to sit on David's
throne and rule Israel.
So Pilate ordered Jesus to be crucified. It was the only way he could make both
the Emperor and the Pharisees happy, and keep peace in Israel.
There are many stories of how Pilate suffered the rest of his life from making
that decision. They are not in the Bible, but there are many folk tales telling
how he carried a terrible burden of guilt and ended up killing himself, years
later, because he had ordered Jesus' death.
What does all this have to do with you and with me?
Well, if we believe that Jesus is truly the Son of God, God the Son, we have to
treat him like the King he is. And the way you treat a king is...you obey him.
You do what he tells you. You give your loyalty to him.
And so, our Baptismal promises include a promise that we will love and obey
Jesus as our Lord. They include a promise that we will keep close to him in
prayer. They include a promise that we will look for Jesus in every person we
meet, and care for others as Jesus did...just like King David said a model King
would do.
We Christians are known as a royal priesthood. We are supposed to be kings and
priests for God. That means we will stay close to God through Jesus, his Son. It
means we will strive to obey God's law. We know that we will fail, but we also
promise at Baptism that when we fail, we will ask for God's forgiveness and go
back to trying to live his way. We are to carry out both David's model of
kingship, and Jesus' model of priesthood, which means putting God first and
caring for God's people, even when we must make sacrifices ourselves to do
this....and we remember the scrifice Jesus made, giving up his life on the
cross.
We now come to the end of this Church year, and it is fitting that we look back
and see how well we did at being a royal priesthood of believers. It is also
proper and fitting that we give some time and prayerful thought to seeing how we
can improve in this lifestyle, during the new Church year that will soon begin.
Jesus, you remember form Revelation, is the Alpha and Omega. He is our beginning
and our end. And he is with us now, as we end one year and begin another, trying
our best to live in him and help him build up his kingdom. Amen.
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