Isaiah 6:1-8, Revelation 4:1-11

Isaiah 6:1-8

Revelation 4:1-11

May 6, 2012

Part 3 in Edgewood “6 Great Ends” Series

Do You Have A Heart For Worship?

As we are beginning our ministry together here at Edgewood Presbyterian we are spending some time looking at some things we might need to be doing if we are going to be the Church God is calling us to be, and using one of the first statements in our denominations Book Of Order  – what has become known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church” – as a guide as we consider some of the most important things for us to be doing as a Church.  

Listen to what the Book Of Order says:

The great ends of the Church are:

the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind;

the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God;

the maintenance of divine worship;

the preservation of the truth;

the promotion of social righteousness; and

the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (Book Of Order, Presbyterian Church USA, F–1.0304)

These are great words!  They also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing. 

You see – the Church is not about the building – as beautiful as it is –  it’s not about the Minister  – it’s about God – it’s about Christ – it’s about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lay out for us. If Edgewood is going to be the Church God wills for it to be, then we will have to be a Church that is committed to living out these “Great Ends”.

6 things that help define for us what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing.

We’ve looked at the importance of “the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind” – or evangelism – telling others about Christ – and the importance of “the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God” – or love for God, each other, and all people. The next “Great End” – the next thing we need to hold as important for our lives as individual Christians and our life together as a Church – is “the maintenance of divine worship”.

If we are going to be the Church God wants us to be we are going to have to be committed to evangelism – love – and worship. So – let’s look for a few minutes today at worship – what it’s about – and how we call can develop a heart for worshipping God.

Have you heard the story about Gladys Dunn?

It seemed that Gladys moved into a community and was looking for a Church.  She noticed one particularly pretty Church – and attended worship there one Sunday.  The Sanctuary was just as beautiful on the inside as it was pretty on the outside – and the music wonderful. But – the minister was boring and dry.  As he droned on and on, Gladys noticed that most of the congregation was nodding off.  Finally –after what seemed to be an eternity – the minister completed his sermon and said:

“Now – everyone greet your neighbor”

Gladys noticed the gentleman beside her was trying to wake himself from the nap he had taken during the sermon – so she stuck her hand out to greet him.

“I’m Gladys Dunn” she said.

The man looked at her and responded:

“I’m glad it’s done too, lady!”

Worship is one of the things necessary for us here at Edgewood to be the church God intends for us to be. If Edgewood is going to be the Church God intends it to be, we are going to have to have an attitude of worship – a heart for worship.  Not an attitude of “Glad It’s Done” when it’s over — but an attitude – a heart – for worshipping and giving praise to God.

Now — when we refer to worship, most people think we’re talking about the meeting that takes place here between 11:00 and 12:00 on Sunday morning. That’s true to a certain extent—the Sunday morning service should be a worshipful experience — but that’s not all there is to worship, because that’s not all there is to life. What we need to realize is that worship is a lifestyle — it’s a 24 hour a day, a seven day a week experience.

We can develop a bad habit if we’re not careful: the habit of “critiquing” the worship service instead of fully participating in it and experiencing it. We’ll attend a service and find ourselves evaluating the music, evaluating the hymns, evaluating the Choirs, evaluating the Sermon — and not evaluating them on how they impacted us spiritually, but on how well they were “performed”. And if they don’t measure up to our standards, we’ll say something like:

 ”I don’t know…I just didn’t get anything out of worship this morning… I didn’t like the hymns, the Choir didn’t sound as good as they sometimes do. There were too many mistakes… the Sermon just didn’t speak to me.   I just didn’t get anything out of worship.”  We can begin critiquing the worship service like the judges on “American Idol” or “America’s Got Talent” or “Dancing With The Stars”  or “So You Think You Can Dance” or “The X Factor” might critique the contestants.

Now – I must say that Eugenia, Wilson and today Jeannie, the Choir, and I strive to make every aspect of the service the most worshipful  that it can be. We want the music to speak to you, we want the message to be uplifting and life-changing. We don’t do that so you’ll give us praise – although a word of thanks from time to time is helpful – but – speaking for myself and I am sure for them – we do that because it’s our gift to God.    But the fact is that we don’t hit a home-run every Sunday in every area — and if the only way you can get something out of worship is for us to be brilliant every week, you’re missing out on the heart – and the purpose — of worship.

The purpose of worship is not so much to entertain you – or to even speak directly to you.  There are times you may be entertained by great music or spoken to by a moving message – but that is not the real purpose of worship.

Soren Kierkigarrd was a Danish Christian Philosopher who developed a theory about worship that he termed the “theatre of worship.”  He pointed out that too many people attend worship services as if they were attending a play. They see the ministers, musicians, and choirs as the actors – and themselves as the audience. Looking at it in this way, they feel they can critique the service as to how it touched them or didn’t touch them. They feel they have a right to say:  “I just didn’t get anything out of worship this morning” and name all the things that they did not like about the service. Kierkigarrd admonished people to change their view of worship.  To Kierkigarrd, worship was more of a time when the ministers, musicians, and choirs and the congregation were the actors – and God the audience.  This means that we can’t judge the service, only God can.

Worship, then, is not about us and what “speaks to you” or “does not speak to” us – but it’s about focusing on God – what God would us have be doing as a Church and as individual Christians – listening to God’s call – and responding. Worship is not so much about us as it is about God.

If we here Edgewood are going to be the Church God is calling us to be, then we are going to have to have a heart for worshipping God. 

Certainly the music, the choir, and the message can assist you in worshipping God and are important elements of the worship experience – but the main focus for worship must be on God, and your heart for worshipping God. 

Matt Redman a Christian song writer –describes it this way:   

When the music fades, and all is stripped away

And I simply come, Longing just to bring something that’s of worth that will bless your heart

I’ll give you more than a song

For a song in itself is not what you have required

You search much deeper within

Through the way things appear You’re looking into my heart

I’m coming back to heart of worship

And it’s all about you, All about you Jesus.

I’m sorry Lord for the thing I made it

When it’s all about you, it’s all about you, Jesus.(The Heart of Worship © Kingsway 1999 Thank You Music)

Friends – you and I have to have a heart for worshipping God. 

That’s the heart of worship. It’s all about God.

It’s all about Jesus.

It’s not a matter of how well Eugenia or Wilson or Jeannie  play or how well the choir sounds or how well you know the hymns — even though the music is usually a blessing – and it’s not a matter of how well I preach – it’s a matter of where your heart is.

 I’ve been to all kinds of churches throughout my life—and attended worship at many conferences.   I’ve found that it’s possible to attend services where the piano is hopelessly out of tune,  the organist plays like they are playing a dirge, the sermon is  long and dull — and yet a connection with God can be made in a very real, very personal, very intimate way. I have also found that it’s possible to attend services where the music was awesome and the sermon dynamic — and leave just as stubborn and self-willed and cold-hearted as I was when I walked in the door.

Worship is not about the production quality of the service, it’s about the state of your heart. We need to learn how to have a heart for God. This is a crucial lesson to learn in order for us to be the Christians God is calling us to be. 

The third Great End of the Church is: The maintenance of divine worship.

If we here at Edgewood are going to be the Church God is calling us to be, then we are going to have to have a heart for worshipping God. 

This means that — to be the Christian God is calling you to be — you have to be involved in the Church, but you can’t focus your eyes on the Church. You have to participate in the service, but you can’t focus on whether the service “speaks to you” or not. You have to learn from the minister’s messages and Bible studies, but you can’t focus your eyes on the minister.   You have to have a heart for worshipping God and focus on God.

Our Scripture passages for this morning from Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4 give us a vision of worship in heaven and – especially the Isaiah passage – teach three things you can do to develop a heart for worship.

First of all — get focused on God.

You need to know who it is you are worshipping. 

In the community where I first served I was talking to a woman who did not attend the Church I served – who shared with me:

“I went to church today, but my heart wasn’t in it. Knowing what I know about the pastor, I just couldn’t worship.”

Now, her pastor was not involved in anything illicit, he was just a little hard-headed, and he and she didn’t see eye-to-eye on a couple of administrative issues. Apparently he was a little stern with her husband in a board meeting, and it made her mad. Interestingly, her husband shrugged the whole thing off. He just said, “I don’t go to church to worship him. I go to worship Jesus.”

He was focused on God.

Isaiah 6:1 tells us:

(v. 1) In the year King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Isaiah mentioned King Uzziah. In some ways he had been a good king, but he was just a man and he made many mistakes. His reign was a time of prosperity for Judah, but his pride led to his downfall. Basically, King Uzziah decided to rewrite the rules of Judaism, and he was eventually struck with leprosy. Isaiah begins this chapter by saying – in effect –  “Regardless of what happened with King Uzziah, I saw the Lord. My eyes weren’t on the king; my eyes were on God.”

If you want a heart for worship – which you must have to be the person God calls you to be – and this Church must have to be the Church God is calling us to be,   you need to do the same thing Isaiah did. You need to get your eyes off people and get focused on God.

Instead of looking at people, focus on God’s majesty.

Notice what Isaiah said…

(v. 1) … I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Instead of looking at people, focus on God’s holiness.  

Isaiah wrote ..

(v. 3) And they [the angels] were calling to one another: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty…

Instead of looking at people, focus on God’s glory.

Isaiah wrote ..

(v. 3) …the whole earth is full of His glory.

When you come to church, don’t look at people as much as you look at God.

Look at His majesty.

Look at His holiness.

Look at His glory.

If we here Edgewood are going to be the Church God is calling us to be, then we are going to have to have a heart for worshipping God.  We are going to have to be people who focus on the majesty – holiness — and glory of God.  This doesn’t just apply to Sunday morning. It applies to everyday of the week.  If we’re not careful, we can let the imperfections of others prevent us from focusing on God every day. Maybe someone you work with is not as good of a Christian as you think they should be. Don’t let their imperfections prevent you from seeking God. Maybe your boss claims to be a Christian but you don’t like the way he or she does business. Don’t let your boss’s imperfections prevent you from seeking God’s presence in your life. Maybe someone you know just “gets under your skin” or “rubs you the wrong way”.  Don’t let that keep you from seeing God in them and deepening your relationship with God.

If you want to have a heart for worship — if you want to develop a worshipful lifestyle — stop looking at people and get focused on God. If, as a congregation, we can do this, the same thing will happen to us that happened  to Isaiah.

Isaiah wrote…

(v. 4) The glorious singing shook the temple to its foundations.

Get focused on God and see if the worship doesn’t shake you to your foundations.

The third Great End of the Church is: The maintenance of divine worship.

 We need to have a heart for worshipping God. 

The first step in this is focusing on God.

The second step is to get cleansed by God’s grace.

Get cleansed by grace.

There is something about seeing God for who God is that causes us to see ourselves for who we are. Isaiah eye-witnessed the glory of God, and then he said,

(v. 5) I am ruined, for I am a man of unclean lips and I live among people of unclean lips  

Pride suddenly melts away and you become aware of your own sinfulness, your own inadequacy when you get focused on the glory of God. You can’t help but respond the way Isaiah did. It’s not that God wants you to acknowledge your sinfulness merely for the sake of doing it so that you can talk about how wretched you are. God wants you to acknowledge your sinfulness so that you can experience the life – changing power of His grace.

Listen to what happened next to Isaiah…

(v. 6-7) Then one of the seraphim flew over to the altar, and he picked up a burning coal with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

That’s the purpose of being in the presence of God. You acknowledge your sin so that you can experience His forgiveness.

Having a heart for worshipping God means focusing on God – and it means that you recognize this crucial truth: you aren’t able to approach God on the basis of your own worthiness; you are only able to approach God because He has made you worthy. You  are made worthy through what Jesus has done for you. You  can be in the presence of our Holy God because Jesus died on the cross for your sins. The act of worship involves recognizing your total dependence upon God’s mercy in our lives. You don’t approach Him proudly. You don’t approach Him on the strength of your good deeds or your acts of righteousness. You approach Him with a sense of humility and with a sense of gratitude for your forgiveness. When you have this attitude, it’s impossible to get distracted by some of the aspects of the service. It’s impossible to get distracted by any superficial thing, because your heart is directed toward God. What this means in your day-to-day life is that you don’t need a Church service atmosphere to enter into worship. You don’t need a Choir or anything else. You can worship God alone, in the privacy of your room, just you and God.  

Now obviously it is important that we come together as a body and worship together each week — but this does not have to be the only time worship takes place. It can be a seven-day-a-week experience.

So – the third Great End of the Church is: The maintenance of divine worship.

You need to have to have a heart for worshipping God – and that means that you get focused on God and get cleansed by grace. Thirdly – it means that we have to be ready to go. Yea – it’s getting close to 12 and you may be ready to leave – but that’s not what I’m talking about when I say you have to be ready to go.  Listen to what Isaiah says …

(v. 8) Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to my people? Who will go for us?” And I said, “Lord, I’ll go! Send me.”

Worshipping God and working for God go hand-in-hand. Your  best response to worship is to say, as Isaiah said: “Lord, I’ll go! Send me.”  

Right worship leads to right living. When you have a one-on-one encounter with God, it affects the way you spend the rest of your day. It affects what you say and how you treat the people in your life.

Do you want to become a better person?

Do you want to be holy?

 Spend time in the presence of your holy God each day. Spend time worshipping – praising – and focusing on God each day.

Right worship leads to right living.

Right worship also leads to evangelism. The more time you spend with God, the more you want to share God with others.

Also, right worship leads to acts of compassion. It is impossible to be unmerciful to others when you have just been drenched in the mercy of God. It’s impossible to be unforgiving toward others when you have just basked in God’s forgiveness. And it is impossible to turn away from the needs of others when you have had a personal encounter with God’s goodness.

In a very real way the third Great End of the Church – “the maintenance of divine worship” impacts the first two Great Ends – “the proclamation of the Gospel” and “ the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God”.   Worship where you focus on God – get cleansed by His grace – and get ready to go for Him is an essential part of being the individual Christians and the Church god would have us be. 

The third Great End of the Church is: The maintenance of divine worship. As a church and as individuals, we need to develop a heart of worship – not an attitude of “glad – it’s done” but a true heart for worshipping God. We have to get focused on God, get cleansed by God’s grace, and get ready to go into the world and do his work. That’s the lifestyle of worship.

So – the question is – Do you have heart for worship?

Do you have a desire – a passion – for worshipping God – every day?  

Do you let yourself get focused on God, get cleansed by God’s grace, and get ready to go into the world and do Hiis work?

Having a heart for worship is essential for us to have

The maintenance of diving worship

And that’s the third Great End of the Church. Amen.

 

Revelation 19:11-20

Revelation 19:11-20

November 21, 2010

Christ The King

King Of Kings And Lord Of Lords

Today is a very special day in the yearly cycle of the Christian year.  Today is the day we call Christ The King Sunday.  It is the last Sunday in the yearly cycle of Christian celebrations that start with the Season of Advent, include the Seasons of Christmas, Lent, and Easter and the day of Pentecost – and the long stretch of what we call “Ordinary Time” between Pentecost and Advent. This yearly cycle helps us mark the coming of Christ during the Season of Advent, the birth of Christ during the Season of Christmas, the death of Christ during the Season of Lent, the resurrection of Christ during the Season of Easter, and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. It’s important to have structure to our yearly celebrations of what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

Today is a day where we stop before we begin a new cycle as Advent starts next week and remember the glorious truth we celebrate as Christians – Christ – the one we await and whose birth, death, and resurrection we remember, is King!

Christ is King!

Christ is not just our King – He is King over all creation – over all creatures – over all men, women, and children.  If it is part of creation, Christ is it’s King!

Does that mean that everyone acknowledges Christ as their King – and lives as if Christ is their King?

Of course not!

But – even the people who don’t live in Christ’s ways or follow Christ as their King will some day have to acknowledge that Christ is King – and will rejoice with Him in heaven if they have repented of their sins and taken Him as their Lord and King or they will be in anguish in hell if they have not.

Christ is King!

That is the great truth that we know and celebrate as Christians!

But – at times it might be hard to see any real and solid evidence of the Kingship of Christ. At times we might look at situations we find ourselves in – or situations in our world – and wonder if Christ is really King.

We see people being killed for little or no reason – and might wonder if Christ is really King.

We see people who are homeless and might wonder if Christ is really King.

We see our world filled with violence, war, and poverty and might wonder if Christ is really King.

We see pictures of starving children and adults and might wonder if Christ is really King.

We read about or see folks in Haiti suffering after the earthquake almost a year ago – and now suffering after Hurricane Tomas and suffering from cholera — and might wonder if Christ is really King.

We see needs in our own community – and might wonder if Christ is really King.

We might wonder – if Christ is really King, then why does He not do something about the violence, poverty, death, destruction, and suffering that is in the world – the world He is supposed to be King over?

Well, the Apostle John and other Christians who lived during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Domitian must have known what it was like to wonder why Christ – whom they knew was King – did not do something to stop all the persecution and violence they were experiencing.  Domitian had determined that every subject of the Roman Empire had to bow down and proclaim that he was their lord – and sent soldiers throughout the empire to make sure everyone complied with this.  Christians who stood their ground on refusing to bow down and proclaim Domitian as lord were killed – and thousands were martyred because they stayed true to their faith in Christ.

The Apostle John himself was imprisoned by the Romans on the Island of Patmos so that he could not travel and encouraged the Christians who were being persecuted. That’s where he had the visions that he recorded as the Book of Revelation – a book filed with many visions and many things that are hard to understand – but has one main and resounding message that may be hard to believe but is not hard to understand:

Christ is King!

Christ is Lord!

Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Throughout the book of Revelation John gives visions of the Great Beast or the Great Dragon or the Great Whore Babylon exerting power over the world and looking like they are in control – but what happens at the end?

The wonderful passage before us today – Revelation 19:11-20 – which is immediately preceded by the great chorus of Hallelujahs for Christ The King – has the Rider on The Great White Horse with the name

King of Kings and Lord of Lords

written on His robe – conquering all who would dare to rise up against Him.

At the end of John’s vision stands Christ the King – victorious over all things.

For John and the Christians suffering under Domitian who heard and read these words that were smuggled off Patmos and read to Christians throughout the Roman Empire these visions and these words brought hope and a sense that – if they would remain faithful – Christ would win out over Domitian or whoever else or whatever else might oppose Him.

These words and visions can bring hope to us today also.

Regardless of how things might look – regardless of how violent things get – regardless of how much poverty and pain and distress there may be in the world – these things will not win our in the end.

Why?

Because Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

What a wonderful – glorious – hopeful – and indeed hope-filled message this is!

While we may have problems understanding some things in the Book of Revelation, there are other things that are clear, and can understand. When we read of the fall of Babylon, when we read about the overthrow of the false prophet, the overthrow of the Beast, and the overthrow of the Dragon, and read of the Great White Horse and a Rider with his clothes dipped in blood with the name:

“King of Kings and Lord of Lords”

written on His robe –

when we read all of this, there can be no doubt of how to understand it.

It is nothing less than the great triumph and victory of Jesus Christ the Lord.

Christ – who had been despised and rejected by men – will have every knee bow before Him.  Christ – the one men had been cursed and ridiculed – will have every tongue will confess Him as Lord. Christ – who at once time had stood silent before His accusers – will have a voice will rock and shake heaven and earth.  Christ – who at one time allowed men to put a crimson robe on his back and mock Him – will wear the crimson robes of triumph. Christ – the one who once had twelve disciples – will have the whole company of angels following Him. Christ – who once had a crown of thorns pressed upon Hs head and brow – will wear many crowns upon his head.

We have before us in Revelation 19 the declaration that all wrongs will be made right. Christ — the Rider on His Great White Horse who is crowned with many crowns, will come. Justice will be served. The thundering hoof beats of the Great White Horse and its Rider will say to us:

“All is right. It’s all right at last.”

Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The great Cathedral in Milan, Italy has a graphic portrayal of the scene John gives us here in Revelation 19. The Cathedral – the 3^rd largest in Europe – has fifty-two marbled columns hold up it’s lofty dome — statues of angels from the back to the front — and the effect is one of an incomparable combination of grace and grandeur, beauty and vastness. But overseeing it all – behind the altar at the front – there is one of the largest stained glass windows in the world. This window does not depict an Old Testament scene or the birth or resurrection of Christ, nor does it depict His ascension. With tremendous imagery it depicts the triumph of Jesus Christ – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. On a sunny afternoon the window is turned into what appears to be a sea of glass mingled with fire. Michael and his angels are battling The Dragon, the great angel with the rainbow upon his head, one foot upon the earth and the other upon the heaven, is declaring in the name of Him who lives forever and ever. Bound with a chain, Satan is in the bottomless pit at last. The great white throne glows in the sunlight. The most impressive depiction of, however, is the Great White Horse. Upon the Horse sits a still greater rider with the armies of heaven behind Him.

This stained glass window stands as  beautiful statement to an even more beautiful truth – Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords – and He will come to set everything straight at last for every one of us who hope in Him, for everyone who has been subjected to the pain and prejudice of living for Him, and for all in a world that so desperately needs Him.

Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Nothing can stop Him. Nothing can change that. That means that we can have hope as we serve Him and do His will in our lives – in our community – and in the world.

The assurance of the victory of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is given to us in here is  Revelation 19:11-13:

“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on his head are many crowns. He has a name written on him that no one knows but He himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.”

This vision of victory is a necessary one for us if we are going to have hope, faith, and endurance in a world filled with so many things that go against the will of Christ – and if we are going to do His work and will – even when it seems silly to do so.  Christ calls us to be faithful to Him in a world where things can call us to be unfaithful, and in Mathew 25 He calls us to serve Him by reaching out to those in need – even when it does not seem prudent to do so. Yea, we need to have, in a sense, this vitamin supplement for faithful living and faithful serving that the book of Revelation gives us. We need a place where we see clearly the triumph of the truth and the principles that are spoken of throughout the Bible. We need this place where our problems and the problems and suffering we see around us pale in comparison to the glories Revelation 19 reveals to us.

If this vision was necessary for the early church, when the pagan Roman Empire was trying to drown the church in its own blood, how much more is it  necessary for us in this day and time when we face so much violence, so much poverty, and still so much oppression – maybe in more subtle ways – for our faith?   Don’t you get weary sometimes and want to call the whole thing off – quit believing what does not appear to be true and quit doing things to help others?

In one of the series of visions in Revelation John sees the Wicked Beast that receives a deathblow. It’s spouting blood, and goes away to hide for a while. Then that beast comes forward again with its deathblow healed, and all of the Earth follows after to worship it.

In a sense that’s what we see today: evil in men and women, evil in institutions, evil in ourselves. We give it what we hope is a death stroke — it goes away – but it comes back strong.

We might ask “Why?”

It can be discouraging. We might comfort ourselves with the truth that God can bring good out of evil, but we still say, “Why is there evil at all? Why doesn’t God destroy evil?”

The great answer that the Bible gives in Revelation 19:11 is:

“Look! A great white horse with a still greater rider.”

The answer is the certainty that Christ – King of Kings and Lord of Lords – will indeed triumph over evil.

Daniel Defoe has Robinson Crusoe’s good man Friday ask him, “Why doesn’t God destroy the devil?” – and Robinson Crusoe give him the right answer — the only answer. He says, “God will destroy him.”

That’s the comfort for us. We see the ebb and flow of history. We see the poverty all around us – the evil in the world – the tragedies in our own community – and we can lose hope – if that is all we see. But – as Christians – that’s not all we see. We also see visions that those of John – where we see Christ – King of Kings and Lord of Lords — riding the Great White Horse — with all the armies of heaven behind Him. Yes, we see this world of strife and wickedness and poverty and sin and bitterness and hatred and blood and death. Yes, we see the needs Christ calls us to address as His people and wonder how we will ever do it. But we also see this whole world – with all it’s need and sin – suddenly locked into the glory of God, and the new heavens and the new earth appearing where there is righteousness — not in just for awhile but for all eternity.

We see that Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

This can give us the strength to go on to be faithful, and to reach out to others with the love of God. We can do this because we know what’s going to happen at last.

We know that we are serving Christ – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

Christ’s future victory that John foresees and tells us about strengthens our faith in Him and our commitment to serve Him.

Some 300 years after Emperor Domitian Emperor Julian – or Julian the  Apostate – – tried put and end to Christianity once and for all. At one point some of the soldiers got hold of a Christian believer and began tormenting and torturing  him. After they got tired of torturing him, they looked into his eyes and said to their helpless victim:

“Where now is your carpenter God?”

The prisoner looked up through pain, blood, and agony to say;

“Where now is my carpenter God? He is building a coffin for your emperor.”

It’s true! For everything that seems to go against God and God’s will in the world — the coffins is now being built. You can be assured that when Christ comes to conquer, He will call those who believe in Him and have done His will into His army, and will pronounce the Divine Doom upon everything that has gone against Him and the Divine Blessing on all who have done His will.

When will Christ – the King of Kings and Lord of Lords – return and set all things right?

We don’t know.

We know He will – but we don’t know when He will.

We do know that we need to remain faithful to Him and His work and will until He returns.  When that day comes – believe me — you will not be the least bit sorry that you kept your faith in Christ and kept doing His will.

That’s why God tells us to live with faith and to do His will.

Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Have faith!

Our King will come! His cause will conquer!

Keep the faith – keep serving Him and others – for – regardless of how things might look –

Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Amen.

Revelation 5:11-14, Acts 9:1-20

Revelation 5:11-14

Acts 9:1-20

A New Way

April 18, 2010

Easter 3

Wow!

Can you imagine how confused Saul must have been?

He thought he had God all figured out!

He thought he knew what it meant to serve God!

He thought he knew what God wanted him to do.

He was a Jew – and not just a Jew but a leader of the Jews. He was from a well to do family and raised in the strictest of Jewish households.  As a young man he had studied the law under Gamaliel – something akin to going to Harvard or Princeton or Oxford Law Schools in his day – for Gamaliel was the best teacher of the law that there was.

Saul had risen in the ranks of Jewish leaders and was now a Pharisee – and not just a Pharisee but one of the leading Pharisees.

If you asked him any question about the law he could give you an answer.

If you asked him anything about God or how God wanted people to live or what God wanted people to do he could give you an answer.

Yea – he thought he had God and religion and serving God all figured out.

And not only did he think he had it all figured out – he thought he was living the way God wanted him to live.

Surely God disapproved of this radical teacher – this Jesus – who had claimed to be God’s Son and reached out to folks like sinners and Gentiles!

Surely God wanted him and others to kill anyone who held to Jesus’ teachings – just like they had killed Jesus!

Surely God would reward him for approving of the stoning of one of Jesus’ followers named Stephen – and would now reward him for going to Damascus to arrest and bring to trial anyone who followed Jesus’ teachings!

But now everything was changed.

Everything was different.

Now he was rolling on the ground – blinded by a bright light – and hearing a voice asking him:

“Why do you persecute me?”

“What?” he must have thought —

“What do you mean – Lord?”

“Why do you persecute me?” – “Lord – I’m not persecuting you – I’m serving you – aren’t I?”

Then the thought may have flashed through Saul’s mind – just as the blinding light had flashed before his eyes just moments before –

What if I’m wrong about who God is and what God wants me to do and how God wants me to live?

What if I’m wrong about God wanting me to persecute the followers of Jesus?

What if I’m wrong about who God is – and what God wants me to do?

And he cried out:

“Who are you – Lord?

I thought I knew – but maybe I was wrong.

Who are you?

If you don’t want me to be doing what I’m doing — what do you want me to do?”

Wow!

Saul must have been very confused indeed – but God was about to show him a new way to live – new things to do – and even new things to believe. God was about to show Saul a way that was more in line with God’s will – and a way that won people for Christ instead of killed people who believed in Christ.

God was about to show Saul a new way – and it changed his life – and changed the lives of so many others – and is still changing lives today!

As God told Annanias later – Saul was going to go from persecuting the believers in Christ to making believers for Christ.

God called Saul to try something new to win others for Christ.

Uncle Roy was a devout church member.

He had been raised in New Hope Baptist Church and was a devout member.  He had been baptized as a young boy in the river and given his life to following God.  He had learned his Bible verses in Sunday School and had row of perfect attendance pins he proudly wore on his jacket every Sunday.  He now taught Sunday School and worked with the teenage boys class – and he was a devoted Deacon.

The folks in the Church liked Uncle Roy. He was one of the ones you could count on to do whatever needed to be done.  He attended every service and sang the old hymns with gusto and enthusiasm – and would sit and listen as the preacher preached on and on about the evils of the world and the glories of following God.

“Amen, brother” he would say.

But – he would find himself thinking – “if only more people were here to hear this great message!”

You see – Uncle Roy knew what everybody knew – but were afraid to talk about.

It seemed that the new folks in the area and the young folks had no interest in church – at least not churches like New Hope.  Yea – there was that large church down the road that brought in a lot of people – particularly the younger ones – but it seemed to be catering to what they wanted and even had a contemporary worship service with music that sounded more like what you heard on the radio than what you should hear in Church!

Or – at least – that’s what Uncle Roy and others like him thought.

Some had suggested that New Hope try some of these new things the larger church down the road was doing and try to reach out to the young people – or at least that members of New Hope go and visit them. Uncle Roy and others had nixed that plan before it got very far, though.

There was no way their church was going to change what it was doing! They argued that these churches like the one down the road were diluting the Gospel and pandering to what the people wanted instead of sticking with what God wanted.

Uncle Roy and others were sure they knew what God wanted them to be doing and how God wanted them to worship – and nothing you could say or do was going to change their minds.

But – as he locked the doors and turned off the lights after worship or prayer meeting – he found himself wondering if there was any future for the Church. He had heard some folks laugh and suggest they change the name of the Church from New Hope Baptist to No Hope Baptist – and even though he would get mad every time someone said that – deep in his heart he wondered.

One night he locked the doors of New Hope and started home – and passed the larger church.  He saw that the parking lot was full. They were starting their service — and Uncle Roy decided to go in and see what was going on.  As he sat through the music and shook his head at how inappropriate it was – he began to listen. There were some words he actually understood – words like “Jesus” and “God” – and the folks seemed to truly be worshipping – not just going through the motions. And – when it came time for folks to tell what God had done in their lives that week – Uncle Roy was surprised to hear folks tell compelling stories of how God was making a difference in their lives.  He had not heard these kinds of stories from members of New Hope in a long time.

As he left that night, he began to think –

“Lord – could I be wrong?”

“Could it that you are using the things this church is doing to make a difference in people’s lives?”

“Could it be that our Church needs to try new things to win people for You?”

“Could it be that New Hope needs to try a new way – a way that may bring more people to You?”

“Is it time for us to try a new way?”

God was calling Uncle Roy to try something new to win others for Christ.

Easter is a season for us to celebrate the new life Christ gives us.

It is a season for us to celebrate how Christ can change our lives and make a difference in our lives. It is also a season for us to celebrate how we can show Christ to others and work to tell others about Christ.

Listen again to the passage from Revelation we looked at a few minutes ago where “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth” are singing:

“To Him who sits on the throne and to the lamb

be praise and honor and glory and power

forever and ever”

How true that is!

Praise and honor and glory and power belong to Christ – but what do you think it means to give Jesus the praise and honor and glory and power He deserves?

What does that mean?

I believe that one thing it means is to follow Him – even if following Him means giving up some of our ideas and some of the ways we do things so we can adopt different ideas and do things in new ways – and in the process help more people come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Don’t get me wrong — I don’t believe in changing or doing something different just for the sake of change or just for the sake of being different – but I do believe that we can consider how we might change what we are doing – how we might try different things – so we can reach more people for Christ.

The story in Acts 9 may not be so much a story of conversion as a story of change – a story of Saul changing from thinking one way about what it means to serve God to another way of thinking about what it means to  serve God.  It’s not that Saul did not believe in God – it’s that he misunderstood what it meant to be faithful to God – and misunderstood what it meant to follow God.

Like Uncle Roy, God may have wanted Saul to find a new way live and a new way to serve Him – a way that may have included a completely different attitude and a completely different way of reaching out to others with God’s love.

God may have wanted Saul to discover an attitude that was more open to reaching out to others.

God may have wanted Saul to discover an attitude that that looked for new ways to show others God’s love.

God may have wanted Saul to discover a passion for finding new ways to bring others to Him.

Friends — what about us?

As I read this Acts 9 passage and the more I thought about it and prayed about it this week,  I started thinking:

Is God calling us try new ways to serve Him?

Is God wanting us to consider new ways to reach others for Him?

Is God wanting us to consider new ways to reach people who might not ever come to know Him if we just keep doing what we are doing?

Are we like Saul – or like Uncle Roy – refusing to accept new ways to do things or new ways to show God’s love to others?

Do we stifle new ideas instead of encouraging them – even though they may be what God wants us to do to serve Him and bring others to know Him?

These are indeed questions we might want to consider!

I read a story not long ago about a Church that was similar to the one Uncle Roy belonged to. It was a typical, traditional, Baptist Church – but like many typical, traditional churches it was having a hard time keeping the doors opened.  The attendance on Sunday morning was not what it had been “in days gone by” – and attendance at the Sunday night service was down to about 15 faithful folks.

Where is everybody? the members asked.

Where are the young people and the young adults?

Certainly not at church!

Well, instead of just sitting back and watching their Church die – and worse the folks in the community not know about Christ – they decided to find out where the folks were on Sunday night. They discovered that the skating rink was full on Sunday nights – so they decided to try something different.  They approached the owner of the rink and asked him if they could have a special skating time for an hour on Sundays nights. Folks could come and skate – but the Church would provide the music – some contemporary Christian music — and the minister would have a message about what Jesus could do for your life.  The owner of the skating rink agreed – and the Church began holding this community outreach service on Sunday nights that attracted over 100 instead of the service at the Church that brought in about 15.  Before long people were making professions of faith at these services and lives were being changed in powerful ways. All this happened because this Church was willing to try something new – try a new thing – to bring others to Christ.

You know — God had to do something dramatic to get Saul’s attention and change his attitude.  He had to literally knock him to the ground to show him that he needed to look for new ways to reach people for Him and serve Him.

I wonder — what is God going to have to do to get our attention?

Saul developed a passion for bringing others to know Christ – even if it meant doing things  he may have never thought of doing or may have never considered to be a part of what it meant to serve Christ – but these new things worked – and these new ways he tried brought others to Christ.

Friends – we can look for new ways to do things!

Let’s look for new ways to serve God – and have a passion for trying anything and everything we can to bring others to knowing Christ.  Amen.

Revelation 1:4-8, John 20:19-31

Revelation 1:4-8

John 20:19-31

Something You Can Believe In

Easter 2

April 11, 2010

The Lord has risen!

He has risen indeed!

As Christians, we confess that Christ has risen.  We believe that He has risen and lives in our hearts — but we also believe that He has truly and physically risen.

We confess that the tomb of Christ is empty.

We confess that the power of death has been broken – broken for Jesus and broken for us.

We also confess that Jesus is at work in the world through us and changes the world through what we say and do as we reach out to others in His name and with His love.

But – does our confession of the resurrection of Christ change us and really make a difference in how we live?

Does our belief in the risen Christ – and our belief that Christ is at work in the world and changing the world through what we say and do – really make a difference in how we live?

Does our belief in the risen Christ change how we live – and does it give us something to believe in – especially at those times in our lives when situations try to  rob us of hope and take away everything we thought was secure?

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in.

Friends — we can believe in and have faith in the risen Christ.

We can believe in and have faith in the fact that He is active and is making a difference in the world through us.

We can let the risen Christ change us and take the change He is making in us into the world as we proclaim in word and deed that He has risen – that our lives have been changed – and the world can be changed – because Christ has risen.

The resurrection of Christ and His power in our lives and our world is indeed something we can believe in.

In our Gospel text for today – the story immediately following John’s version of the Resurrection of Christ – the disciples were looking for something to believe in – some sure sign of hope – something they could trust and have faith in.

Can’t you imagine how the disciples felt that first Easter night?

One by one they may have crept back to the upper room where they’d last eaten together with Jesus only 3 nights before. The aroma of Passover lamb and bitter herbs may have still lingered in the air.

They must have been a sorry, scared, and pitiful lot.

Some women may have been weeping in one corner.\

Mary may have stared down at her own hands and shuddered – wishing she’d held on to Him that morning — despite what He’d said.

Peter and John may have been sitting back from the others, lost in their thoughts.  Along with Mary, they’d been the first to go out that morning – and they had been the first to run back — incoherent with shock and grief and hope and a crazed rant about an empty tomb.  No one had believed them of course.  They hardly believed it themselves.

Others may have crouched by the wall near the locked door – flinching at every sound on the stairs outside.  It was not unheard of for a condemned man’s followers to be rounded up and executed also. The Romans were efficient at that sort of thing.

Maybe one whispered: “We can’t stay here — this is the first place they’ll look!”

Peter may have thought of the sword he’d struck one of the Roman soldiers with – then the fact he had denied Christ 3 times!

Others may have sat under the window and shuttered every time a sound came from the street below.

All of them probably sat in silence, unwilling to give voice yet to just how angry and deserted and ashamed they each felt.  They had loved Him.  They had trusted Him. But now – even though Mary told a wild tale of seeing Him and Peter and John a wild tale of an empty tomb – they could not bring themselves to believe that He had risen.

Some were missing from the room.

Judas had betrayed Jesus – and they had heard that he had hung himself.

Thomas was gone also.  Maybe he was seeking out the news in the streets –– were they being accused of robbing his body from the grave?  Were the gates being watched?  Had the two from Emmaus gotten through or were they already being held and questioned?

Then – a gentle breeze ruffled the air.  Suddenly the one they all were thinking of was standing in the room before them.

“Shalom,” He said — which means, “Peace be with you.”

He didn’t say: “Where were you?” or “How could you abandon me just when I need you most?” but He said: “Peace be with you.  Peace be with you.”

He said, “The work our Father gave me I now give to you.  Go out among my people.  What you forgive will be forgiven.  What you do not forgive will stay unforgiven.”

He said, “Don’t be afraid.  I’m not sending you out alone.  I’m coming with you.”

And He breathed on them all and they were filled with wonder and inarticulate joy — and the He disappeared — and maybe that’s when Thomas knocked on the door.

Maybe Thomas felt that he was stepping into a room in chaos.  The men shouting and the women wailing and everyone’s arms waving – some of them might have even snatched at his sleeve to snatch at his attention.

“Silence!” he may have shouted — then he may have shouted “You’re mad!” – and he may have added  ”You’re as mad as the women this morning!” and flung himself into the far corner to stare at the others in amazement.

Thomas had been a faithful follower of Jesus – in fact he had been one of the first to follow Him.  He’d been ready to lay down his life for Him.  He was faithful — he just wasn’t fanciful. He wasn’t going to pretend to believe in something just because he wished it were so.  He shook his head. They needed to get on with their lives if they were going to survive this — not open their wounds all over again with hysteria.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he may have whispered.

He may have desperately wanted something to believe in – but this wild tale of Jesus being raised from the dead was just too much for him to believe.

Well, a week passed.

The room was silent and airless.  They still huddled in fear behind the locked door.  Thomas may have now been thinking that it was a pity that what the others  had said was true a week ago so obviously wasn’t.  None of them had begun to do the work they claimed their Lord had given them to do.  None of them had gone outside to heal or to preach or even to feed a hungry child.  None of them stood straight and tall and confident like they really believed what they said they’d seen.  They looked the same sorry, scared and pitiful lot they’d been a week ago.

Thomas may have sighed.

But then – a gentle breeze may have ruffled the air – just as it had a week ago — and suddenly Jesus was again standing in the room before them – and this time Thomas was there!

“Shalom,” He said, “peace be with you.  Thomas.”

“Touch my side.  My hands.  This is what death feels like.  But Thomas, now feel life.”

But instead of touching Him, Thomas fell to his knees, and whispered, “My Lord and my God.”  And Jesus laid his hands upon him and said, “Friend, friend, do you only believe what you experience through your eyes?  How much happier are those who believe what they experience through my spirit.”

Then Thomas knew that Jesus had risen – and that he indeed had that something to believe in he so desperately needed.

The experience with the risen Christ changed the lives of Thomas the rest of the disciples. It gave them something to believe in when they desperately needed it. – something to believe in and hope in when it seemed that all hope was gone.

Their experience of the risen Christ – and their belief in the risen Christ – changed their lives – and with the power of the risen Christ they set out to change the world.

The fact that Christ had risen was something they could believe in and have faith in. Once they saw the risen Christ and believed that Jesus was at work in the world through them and that Jesus was making a difference in the world through them their lives were changed – and the world was changed.

You know — we all are like the disciples.

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in – something that can help us keep going when the situations in our lives might dictate to us to just give up.

We all look for something to believe in when our lives seem to become much too difficult for us to handle – something to hope for when our lives seem to be hopeless.

We need something to believe in and hope for when we lose our jobs – because we know that it could happen to us at any time.

We need something to believe in and hope for when we become sick – or are diagnosed with cancer – or a loved one has a serious illness or dies.

We need something to believe in when we seem to be “swimming in debt” and don’t know how we are going to pay off all we owe.

We need something that will assure us that God is with us and we can have hope when our lives seem to be hopeless – because there are times when the situations in our lives don’t seem to give us much to hope for.

And – whether you realize it or not – others in the community are looking for something to believe in also – and might be looking at us and how we handle the times in our lives when things look hopeless to see if we or the Church has anything to offer them when they need something to believe in.

They might be looking for something they can believe in – something that they can have faith in – something that can help them keep going when the situations in their lives might dictate to them to just give up.

They might be looking for something to believe in when their lives seem to become much too difficult for them to handle – something to hope for when their lives seem to be hopeless.

They might be looking for something to believe in when they lose their jobs –or when they become sick – or are diagnosed with cancer – or a loved one has a serious illness or dies.

They might be looking for something to believe in when they seem to be “swimming in debt” and don’t know how they are going to pay off all they owe.

They might be looking for something that will assure them that God is with them and they can have hope when their lives seem to be hopeless.

Friends – it was the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives that changed the lives of the disciples and gave them something to hope for and believe in.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives us that can change our lives and give us something to believe in.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He offers that can change the lives of those around us and give them something to believe in.

You can believe in the power of the risen Christ — experience it for yourself — and share it with others.

You can believe in the power of the risen Christ and let it change your life – and let it give you something you can believe in and hope for when your life seems to be hopeless. Then, you can share your hope and the difference Christ makes in your life with others – and help Christ make a difference in their lives.

Before the disciples really experienced the risen Christ and His power in their lives they let the situations in their lives fill them with despair.  After they experienced the risen Christ they were brave followers of Christ and worked to change the world with His power and love. That group that was huddling behind closed doors on Easter night and even a week after Easter was changed by their experience with the risen Christ. Once they experienced the risen Christ  the disciples became brave followers and brave witnesses to the world of the power of Christ – and did not let any threats against them stop them from witnessing about Christ or believing in His power in their lives.

Have you ever heard how the disciples died?

The Bible doesn’t really tell us about how most of them died – but legends have grown around the deaths of each of them.

The only apostle whose death the Bible records is James – who in Acts 12 King Herod has “put to death with the sword,” likely a reference to beheading.

Legend tells us that Matthew suffered martyrdom in Ethiopia, killed by a sword wound.

Legend has it that John faced martyrdom when he was boiled in a huge basin of boiling oil during a wave of persecution in Rome but was miraculously delivered from death then sentenced to the island of Patmos where he wrote his book of Revelation on Patmos. He was later freed and returned to what is now modern-day Turkey and died as an old man, the only apostle to die peacefully.

James, the brother of Jesus, who was not officially a disciple, was the leader of the church in Jerusalem after Jesus’ resurrection. Legend has it that he was thrown from the southeast pinnacle of the temple (over a hundred feet down) when he refused to deny his faith in Christ. When they discovered that he survived the fall, his enemies beat James to death with a club.

Legend has it that Bartholomew, also known as Nathanael, was a missionary to Asia and witnessed in present-day Turkey – and was finally killed for his preaching.

Andrew, legend has it, was crucified on an x-shaped cross in Greece.

Thomas, legend has it, was stabbed with a spear in India during one of his missionary trips to establish the church there.

Legend has it that Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace the Judas, was stoned and then beheaded.

Peter, according to legend, was allowed to be crucified upside down because he refused to be crucified in the same manner Christ was.

The group of scared individuals became brave followers of Christ when they experienced the risen Lord. Their experience with the risen Lord gave them something they could believe in and hope for when their lives seemed to be hopeless – and gave them a message of hope that they proclaimed for the rest of their lives.

It is the risen Christ and the power of the new life He gives us that can change our lives and give us something to believe in.

But – you might ask – what it the best way for me to truly experience the risen Christ and the hope He offers?

The only way to experience the risen Christ and the hope He offers is to take Him at His word and believe Him. We can’t see the risen Lord as Thomas and the others did, but we can still believe Him.  We can take Him at His word and let Him change our lives so that we can have the hope and faith we need when the situations in our lives seem to lead us to hopelessness and despair. We can ask Him to be our Lord and Savior and ask Him to change our lives so we can be bold witnesses to Him and the hope He gives us.

The only way to experience the risen Christ and the hope we can believe in when we need it the most in our lives is by taking Him at His word and remembering His hope for our lives when the situations in our lives might dive us to hopelessness and despair.

The only way to experience the new life of hope the risen Christ offers is to live it. The only way for Christ to change you is for you to let Him change you. The only way to know the promises of Christ in your life is for you to take Him up on that promise and let Him show you His hope that you can believe in when situations in your life might try to dictate that everything is hopeless.

Active involvement in the work of Christ in the world is the best way I know of to find the hope Christ offers you for your life. Being actively involved in the worship, study, fellowship, and work of the Church is the best way to discover the new life and hope Christ offers.

Active involvement in the work of the Christ and living the life Christ calls you to live is also the best way to let others know the hope the risen Christ offers you and offers them.

John Chrysostom – one of the early Church leaders – once wrote:

“Let us astound them by our way of life.  This is the unanswerable argument.  Though we give 10,000 precepts in words, if we do not exhibit a far better life, we gain nothing.  It is not what is said that draws their attention, but what we do.  Let us win them therefore by our life.”

The resurrection of Christ and His power in our lives and our world is indeed something you can believe in.  When you find the situations in our life try to fill you with doubt and despair, you can let the risen Christ fill you with hope and faith. Like Thomas and the other disciples you can experience the life changing hope of the risen Christ by being involved in His work in the world — and you can share His life changing, hope-filled love with others.

We all need something in our lives that we can believe in – something that we can have faith in – something that can help us keep going when the situations in our lives might dictate to us to just give up.

It is indeed the life changing love of Christ that gives us something – in fact the only thing – we can truly believe in and share with others.  Amen.

Revelation 1:4b-8, John 18:33-37

Revelation 1:4b-8

John 18:33-37

Is Christ Your King?

November 22, 2009

(Christ The King Sunday)

“I am the Alpha and the Omega”, says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” (Revelation 1:8)

Very powerful words, are they not?

Very powerful words – and a perfect text for this last Sunday of the liturgical year, the one designated by the Church around the world as Christ The King Sunday. Of course, the idea that Christ Is King came long before the church incorporated it on the liturgical calendar. Go back to the gospels and you find all four of them recounting the confrontation we read about a moment ago between Jesus and Pilate.

The Jewish religions authorities had dragged Jesus before the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate, in hopes he would be found guilty of treason – and Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the king of the Jews?” To which Jesus banters back, “Is that your own idea, or did others talk to you about me?”

Pilate replies, “Am I a Jew? It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”

And Jesus answers:

“My kingdom is not of this world.”

Of course, Jesus is right. How could His kingdom be “of this world” when the title “King of the Jews” was the inscription posted over Jesus’ head as He was nailed to a cross — not above a throne that kings of this world would sit upon?

Still, we know the kingdom is real. After all, why have we ever heard of Pontius Pilate? Or the high priests, Annas and Caiaphas? The only reason we know those names is because they were once part of the story of Jesus. Or what about Pilate’s great Roman Empire, or all the others of the past 2000 years? They have risen and fallen — their kings and kingdoms have come and gone. Presidents and Prime ministers, despots and dictators have had their moments of glory. But through them all, millions upon millions all over the world have humbled themselves at the foot of that cross and bowed their heads in homage and honor at the name of Jesus.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

“The Alpha and the Omega.” Some of you may know that those are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet – so to say something or someone is “the Alpha and the Omega” is to affirm completeness – to affirm that they are the beginning and the end — the A to Z — and everything in between.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

While this is a true statement, it is an interesting choice of words for the writer of Revelation to write down.  When he wrote these words, John was living in a time of vicious persecution. To make a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ was to put your life in danger of, at the least, becoming a social and commercial leper or, at worst, being legally murdered as an enemy of the Roman empire. John himself was on the prison island of Patmos as he wrote and prison islands were not simply places of incarceration – they were holding cells for those awaiting execution. John pictured the awful conditions as they existed in his day. He noted how human beings could become monsters and destroy a society from within; he saw the disastrous results of violent conflict. But with eyes of faith, John gazed into the future and saw a better day — a day in a world ruled by King Jesus – the Alpha and the Omega, the one who was and is and is to come, the Almighty.

Others have seen that “better day” as well.

This Thursday we will join some of those as we sit around our Thanksgiving tables. We will remember the Pilgrims’ journey that had begun so full of hope for a new life of religious freedom in a warm and welcoming land called Virginia. Then things began to happen. Instead of the land called Virginia they landed at Plymouth Rock – in what is Massachusetts — on December 21, 1620 — not the best time of year in Massachusetts. Until they could build houses and establish themselves on the land, they made their home on board the Mayflower, the vessel in which they had sailed. The men went ashore every morning to work, returning to the little ship at night. They built a “common house” to which the sick and dying were transferred, placed their four little cannon in a fort, which they built on a hill close by, built two rows of houses with a wide street between and finally landed their stores and provisions. Then the whole company came ashore toward the last of March, and in April the Mayflower sailed away. The ensuing winter was hard and bitter. At one time all but six or seven of the pilgrims were sick. Eighteen women denied themselves food so that their children could eat. Thirteen of them died. Half of the 102 pilgrims died of malnourishment, disease, and exposure. Only about 30 of those who survived were over the age of 16. Those who died were buried in unmarked graves because the pilgrims did not want the natives to know how small their numbers had become. In the spring they planted three crops; English Peas, Barley, and Indian Corn. The peas were planted too late – though they came up beautifully, the hot sun parched the blossoms and the plants died. One of the settlers described their barley crops as “indifferent;” apparently the barley was not worth harvesting either. Only the corn survived. Of course, not the corn we are used to with big, plump yellow kernels — this was “Indian Corn” with ears only two to three inches long and kernels of different colors. The pilgrims harvested only twenty acres. And to top it all off, a second shipload of thirty-five settlers arrived without any provisions because they expected to live off the crops the first settlers had raised. By the end of their second winter in Plymouth, food had to be rationed again: five kernels of corn for each person per day.   A hard life. In fact, some proposed a Day of Mourning to honor all those who had perished. But others said no, a Day of Thanksgiving would be more appropriate. After all, even though half had died, half had not. They saw this as reason to give thanks to the God who had seen them through. The eyes of their faith were the same as those of John so many centuries before. They saw their world in the loving care and control of “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Christ is King!

Regardless of whatever else may happen – the world is in the loving care and control of “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Regardless of what may happen in your life – your life is in the loving care and control of “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Even when Jesus hung on the cross and the title “King of the Jews” was hung over his head in what the Jewish leaders and Pilate thought to be a cruel joke –  He was still “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Christ is King!

What this means is that Christ is not only is King over all creation – He is also King over your life! He not only rules over everything – He rules over your things!

The question is – do you serve Him?

The question is – do you serve Him and acknowledge that He is King over your life – or do you let other things rule and govern you?

Is Christ your King?

You know – you can make all kinds things king over your life. You can give all kinds of things control over your life.  You can let all kinds of things rule your life.

You can let your life be controlled by money. You can let your life be controlled by power.  You can let other people rule and control your life. You can let your desire for things like the best cars – the best computers – the best houses – or whatever else is the “latest and greatest” according to society – control your life. You can let these things control you – but you are not living out the truth that we know as Christians.

As Christians, we know that Christ is King! As Christians, we know that only Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

As Christians, we know that all the things of the world will fade away – and only Christ will last.

As Christians, we know that Christ is King!

You can let the bad things and bad situations in your life rule your life also. You can look at the bad things going on in the world and let fear rule your life – and  it could be said that you would have good reason for that. You can look the trials you may be going through in your life — whether they be health issues or fear of losing your job or trying to get the health coverage you and your family need or getting out of debt or family problems or so many other things that may be happening and let fear rule your life – and again it could be said that you would have good reason for that also.

You can let the things of the world rule your life or situations rule your life – or you can be like the Apostle John and the Pilgrims. They saw the bad things – the terrible things – the devastating things – but they would not bow down to these things or give homage to them or give them control over their lives. They saw all these things – but they had eyes of faith – and realized that only Christ is “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Christ is King!

So – is Christ your King?

Do you serve Him?

Or – do you just like to say that Christ is your King – but live as if your serve other things?

Is Christ really your King – or do you just like to play like He is?

In 1957 the Board of the Ideal Toy Company thought they had come up with a surefire marker hit: a Jesus doll! The majority of kids in America were Christian, so they figured parents would jump at the opportunity to make playtime a religious experience. After a lot of research, they introduced their product to great fanfare and sparing no expense in the marketing campaign. Unfortunately, they did not consult any parents, who probably would have told him the idea was a loser  – which is exactly what it turned out to be. In fact, very few sold because parents were horrified at the idea of undressing the Jesus doll, dragging it around, sticking it in the bathtub, and the like. Jesus dolls – packaged in a box that looked like the Bible – were probably the biggest doll flop in American toy history. Why? Because even though people of faith celebrate the fact that Jesus was truly human – walked, talked, ate, drank, suffered, and even died – we know there is more to His story: He is “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” That is not doll house stuff!

But – here’s the thing.

Too many times we like to “play like” Christ is our Lord and King — “the Alpha and the Omega” of our lives – the “beginning and the end” for us – “the A to Z and everything in between” – but we don’t really live like it.  We might want to have Jesus like a doll or a toy we can pull out when we need Him – play with Him a bit – then put Him back in the box or throw Him down until we need Him again.

The truth is that Christ is King.

Christ is King over all creation.

Christ is King over you.

Do you live like Christ is your King?

Regardless of how you live – Christ is your King – and wants you to live like He is your King. The things of the world – whether it be things others say should rule your life like money or possessions or whatever else it might be – or the devastating things that can control you and bring you to despair –  do not have to control your life.  Christ is King – and wants to have control over your life.

Is Christ your King?

Is Christ “the Alpha and the Omega” of your life – the “beginning and the end” for you – “the A to Z and everything in between”?

Christ was  not simply some ancient itinerant rabbi who taught timeless truths – He was not simply some helpful Hebrew healer who had remarkable power over disease and even death – He was not simply a compassionate, caring friend who reached out to those whom society rejected — but He was God of all creation come to earth – “the Alpha and the Omega, the one who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty”.

Christ the King.

Do you believe it?  Do you?

Then how do you show it?

How do you live like Christ is your King?

A good start would be by taking your King’s orders seriously – and living as His servant. If you want a quick manual on how He wants His servants to live, take a look at Matthew 5-7 what we call the Sermon on the Mount. If Christ is truly your King, your sexual behavior will be in control. You will be honest in your business dealings. You will go above and beyond the call of duty in response to appeals for help. You will care for the welfare of, not only your neighbor, but your enemy as well. You will be religious, but not showy about it. Possessions will have their rightful place in your life, not the be-all and end-all of existence. You will not be judgmental, but you will use good judgment. You will trust God to meet your needs. The things of the world will neither rule you nor terrify you.

Is Christ your King?

If so, you will do your level best to do what He says.

Piece of cake?

Of course not.  But you have the promise of His abiding presence to help you on your journey of serving Him. He is, after all, our living Lord. This is the one who is ultimately in charge, and that, my friend, is a wonderful word of hope for you or me or anyone who has ever been drenched in the storms of life.

True, He wrote no books, composed no songs, drew no pictures, carved no statues, amassed no fortune, commanded no army, ruled no nation on this world —   And yet, He who never wrote a line has been made the hero of unnumbered volumes. He who never wrote a song has put music into the hearts of nameless multitudes. He who refused the kingdoms of this earth has become the Lord of millions. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Christ the King.

Is Christ your King?

Live like it!

Follow Him.

Serve Him.

Amen