Sunday, November 24, 2024

Christ the King
Isaiah 51:4-6
Psalm 93
Revelation 1:4b-8
Mark 13:24-37

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

I remember camping with Girl Scouts in the mountains of Pennsylvania. Our campsite was on the top of the mountain, far away from the lights of the city. We’d had some terrible weather, rain that ran like rivers on the ground under platform on which our tent was set. When the storm passed and the clouds cleared, I saw the night sky as I had never seen it before – with millions of stars twinkling above.

I remember the first time I went to see the giant redwood trees in northern California. No matter how many pictures you see or how many television shows you watch, there is no way to know the magnificence of those giants unless you stand at the base of one. I might have been embarrassed by my stance – I nearly fell over as I leaned back to look up to the very tops of the trees. My mouth hung open in amazement. I might have been embarrassed by this stance if there weren’t a dozen other people standing exactly the same way.

I remember attending the Evensong service one night at York Minster in York, England. It had been a cold and dreary day, drizzle falling during most of our trip. Though we’d enjoyed our sightseeing, we were cold and tired by the time we reached the church. We planned our day around the service as we often did when we spent a day as tourists. We were pretty tired by the time we sat down in the pew, but that soon passed. Though it was cold and dark outside, inside the cathedral there was an unearthly light that cast a warmth over us all. When the choir began to sing, I could almost imagine the voices of heavenly angels singing praise to God, an image that was enhanced by the carvings of angels that seemed almost alive. That worship service was, to me, as close to heaven as I will ever get in this world. We were drawn into the presence of God and we caught a glimpse of His glory that day.

I am still processing our experiences in the national parks and in Colorado Springs, but I’ve had many of those moments through my life, moments when I was awestruck. How do you feel when you watch the sun rise over a deserted beach, during a storm with pounding rain and thunder that rattles the walls, the first time you hold a baby. How do you feel when you experience a “God-incidence,” which is when events in life make it very clear that something miraculous happened that could not have happened without the hand of God Himself.

Yet, no matter how awesome those experiences might have been, no matter how awestruck I was at seeing those stars or trees, or worshipping in that beautiful place, no matter how often I see God’s hand in my everyday living, nothing will compare to that which I will see in that day when I come before the throne of God. The most beautiful things in the world will pale in comparison. The most furious storms will seem calm. The largest trees or stars or mountaintops will seem small compared to the majesty of our God. In that day we will be truly awestruck, beyond anything we can even imagine.

As a writer and an artist, I have struggled with describing in words or paint those experiences that left me awestruck, but can you imagine how difficult it would be to describe what John saw during his vision on Patmos? It is difficult to talk about the awesome experiences in this world, but words do not exists that can truly describe what heaven will be like.

Teachers will often present strange questions as a way to get students to think outside the box, especially with writing assignments. One teacher asked her students, “If you were a cereal, what would you be and why?” It is an exercise in describing oneself. What characteristics do you share with different kinds of cereal? You might choose a healthy cereal because you are fit and active. You might choose chocolatey puffs because you are loveable and deliciously fun. You might choose fruity cereals because you are a little loopy. One student said he was Rice Crispies because he snaps, crackles, and pops.

You can play this game with other questions like “If you were an office supply what would you be?” “If you were a game, what would you be?” “If you were a great American city, what would you be?” “If you were an ice cream flavor, what would you be?” These questions and many more can help us think about different aspects of our personalities, interests, and lives. No one question could possibly describe everything there is to know about someone; it takes many words. I suppose that is why it is so hard to answer when someone asks you to describe yourself in just one word.

If it is hard to describe us, imagine how hard it is to describe God. Even if we use the statement, “God is love,” we do not come close to fully describing the God whom we worship. In the beginning our text from Revelation, John wrote, “Grace to you and peace from God, who is and who was and who is to come.” This might seem like a long-winded way of saying that God is eternal, and yet does eternal even describe God? We have eternal life in Christ, but we have not always been. God is, was, and is to come. He is the past, the present and the future and yet not at all definable by time or space.

Perhaps that phrase is simply John’s way of trying to describe the indescribable. There are dozens of different names which are attributed to God. A website about the names of God include these Hebrew phrases which describe how God has revealed Himself to man, “Adonai-Jehovah -- The Lord our Sovereign; El-Elyon -- The Lord Most High; El-Olam -- The Everlasting God; El-Shaddai -- The God Who is Sufficient for the Needs of His People; Jehovah-Elohim -- The Eternal Creator; Jehovah-Jireh -- The Lord our Provider; Jehovah-Nissi -- The Lord our Banner; Jehovah-Ropheka -- The Lord our Healer; Jehovah-Shalom -- The Lord our Peace; Jehovah-Tsidkenu -- The Lord our Righteousness; Jehovah-Mekaddishkem -- The Lord our Sanctifier; Jehovah-Sabaoth -- The Lord of Hosts; Jehovah-Shammah -- The Lord is Present; Jehovah-Rohi -- The Lord our Shepherd; Jehovah-Hoseenu -- The Lord our Maker; Jehovah-Eloheenu -- The Lord our God.”

There is one Hebrew word that is meant to encompass the fullness of God, and even that is not truly a word. It is the Tetragrammaton, which is the ineffable name of God. “Y,” “H,” “W,” and “H.” Though we do not know what vowels really belong, this word is rendered “Yahweh” in some version of the Bible, including the World English Bible which I use in this devotion. It is also rendered LORD (all capital letters.) YHWH is proper, because the Tetragrammaton is inexpressible. It is suggested that it is not even to be spoken by human mouths.

Yet, YHWH is about the only thing we could write that would come close to the indescribable. Perhaps this is what John was thinking when he began writing the book of Revelation. When he wrote that God “was, is, and is to come” John was speaking the unspeakable. God is not limited as we are limited, and yet we try to limit Him by our words. He cannot fit into time and space as we know them. We can’t describe Him with a cereal or other human construct. A million words will never be enough, but we can call Him LORD.

God is too great to fit into our small personalities, interests, and lives. We embrace the characteristics that most fit our needs. Perhaps that is why God has revealed Himself to us in so many ways. He knows that there will be something which draws us to Himself. Yet, no matter what it is we like about God, we should never forget that He is indescribable. It is in this that we truly have hope, because if God could be held within the limits we define, then He would not be God.

The Psalms can be divided into different categories. There are at least two types that deal with authority: the royal psalms and the kingship psalms. The royal psalms deal with the spiritual role of kings in the worship of Yahweh. In ancient Israel the king was thought to have a special relationship to Yahweh and thus played an important role in Israelite worship. The royal psalms are all Messianic, and though they talk about the human kings, the ultimate King is Jesus. The kingship hymns focus on God as Sovereign, rather than on the human kings.

Psalm 93 is one of the kingship hymns. It was possibly used as a hymn for an enthronement festival that reasserted annually God’s kingship. It could also be a foreshadowing of the Messiah. It might also refer to God’s victory over the chaos at the beginning of time. The psalmist praises God’s majesty and His power over the seas. The psalmists often made references to the foreign gods, comparing them to the true God, and in this psalm he points toward the ancient water gods. The point is that God is greater than all the others. God is stronger than anything He made. He controls the waters. He is King, the Sovereign over everything. He is holy. He is worthy of our awe.

Advent is coming and the stores are filled with Christmas merchandise, but in the Church we are not quite ready for the countdown to Christmas. Sunday is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the Church year. It is on this day that we look forward to the Day of God’s Judgment and His full reign over all creation. On this day we look to the end, but an end that is actually the beginning of forever.

At Advent and at Lent we look forward to the coming of the King. We see the King-making in two very different ways during those times. At Christmas the King comes humbly, born in a manger in Bethlehem. At Lent, we wait for the fulfillment of all God’s promises, and yet it happens in an even humbler manner. On Good Friday, Jesus is crowned King in the most offensive way possible: at His death on the cross. He was raised on Easter Sunday, and He will rule forever at the right hand of God.

We celebrate Christ the King now in hope of the day when He will rule over all forever. That day is the end, but it is really only the beginning. The pages of our calendars continue to turn, and after Christ the King Sunday we will begin a new year and a new Advent. Yet, in the reality of God’s reign, we do not know if there will ever be another tomorrow. We do not know when the Day will come. Perhaps it will be tomorrow, and we will never experience another Advent or Christmas.

This might seem like a frightening or disappointing proposition, but it is the hope of our faith. The hope of our life in Christ is that the Day will come soon so that we can live fully in the grace of God in eternity. The Day will probably not be tomorrow, so until then we will live fully in the grace of God in this world. Living in grace we are called to praise God with our mouths, with our hearts, and with our lives. We are called to live with Christ as our King in our daily and everyday experiences, sharing His love and mercy at every opportunity. In this way Christ will be King in the here and now even while we wait for Him to be King over all.

The Gospel text reminds us that we are waiting for the second coming of Jesus Christ. Though Christ has already come, died, and been raised, we still live in a topsy-turvy world. The work of salvation is complete, but it still needs to be completed. We are already there, but we still wait. We live in the already and the not yet. Our text today makes that clear.

We might be tempted by this text from Mark to look for the signs that are described. Many people have done so throughout time, pointing to stars, blood red moons, comets and other signs in the heavens. They point to natural disasters like hurricanes and earthquakes as signs that the time is near. They use the newspaper headlines to suggest that every event points to the time when Christ will come again. Throughout history there have been times when it seemed like the warnings were about to be fulfilled.

Jesus is quoting the Old Testament scriptures throughout this text. The people listening would have been very familiar with these words, particularly those from Isaiah. They knew what God promised and they knew how to respond. This isn’t a time for us to stop and watch for signs; it is a time to turn our focus on the One who would be King. “Stay awake,” Jesus says, not to be constantly interpreting the signs, but to be actively living the life God has called us to live.

The world is in chaos. People are worried and afraid of what tomorrow might hold. Many are crying out to God to shine His face so that they might be saved. We are His face. We have the message they need. We have the gifts that will bring peace and hope to those who are lost. Each year there seems to be more reason to cry out to God. We can see suffering all around us. People are jobless, homeless and hungry. Our prisons and hospitals are filled to the brink. Last week Jesus called us to meet the simple and ordinary needs of our neighbors. This holiday season will not be wonderful for everyone, but we can make the world a little brighter by sharing Christ in word and in deed with those who are in need.

In Mark’s “Little Apocalypse” we see how to respond to the darkness and chaos of our world. We wait, not only for the baby, but also for the King. Here in darkness we begin our journey to the manger. But while this is a time to wait and watch, it is also a time for us to live and shine the light of God. It isn’t a time to hide behind our safe walls, but to get out into the world to tell the truth: we are all sinners in need of a Savior. The baby we await and the King who will come is the One who will truly save us from ourselves.

Come, Lord Jesus.

This is my battle cry, especially when I see something in the world that reminds me how upside down and topsy-turvy it has become. I want Jesus to return when I look around at the world in which we live today. Up is down and down is up; good is bad and bad is good. We fool ourselves if we think that our day is worse than any other time in history, but we have our own struggles and hope for a better day. We hope for the day when God is truly King.

Even so, are things really that bad? I read an article that reports that scientists came to the conclusion that the worst year in the history of mankind was 536 A.D. They came to that conclusion based on the conditions that were pervasive in the northern hemisphere that year. At the very least, 536 A.D. was the beginning of a very bad time in human history. It all began with a huge volcanic eruption in Iceland which covered a landmass from Europe to Asia with a cloud of ash that made it dark for eighteen months. Bubonic plague and an incredible cold snap made life even worse. The lack of sun and cold led to devastating crop failure resulting in starvation. The economic downturn caused by this devastation lasted a century. In the end, it was the lead in the ash that spurred a transformation, thus saving the people who survived when the cloud and disease disappeared. Lead was vital to the production of silver; more lead meant more silver which meant more commerce and better conditions for all.

We might think that things are terrible today, but are we struggling with eighteen months of darkness due to a volcanic eruption? Are we dying from the plague? Are we struggling to find food for our tables? Some may be hungry, but many of us have the resources to help so that they won’t starve. We may think our world has gone made, but we are not the first generation to have political and religious problems. Thankfully, earthly troubles are temporary. We might want the good times to last forever, but all human beings are sinners, and we will fail. Tough times are temporary, too. That’s why we live in the hope that God has promised through His Son, our Lord Jesus, Christ our King..

As I look at this topsy-turvy world each day, I see too many who do not believe. Human beings have rejected God as He is revealed in the scriptures, choosing instead to believe in false gods and self-centered ideology. There seems to be nothing that can convince them that salvation is found only in our Lord Jesus Christ, for He is the God they seek to worship. He is the only one who deserves our awe. Sadly, they look for other ways to fulfill their needs and desires, they stuff their bellies with good things and their hearts with warm fuzzies. They do not want to commit to the life that is expected of those who believe in the One true and living God. They want what they think is best, to have control over their own destiny, to grasp on to their own faith.

They have fallen for the lies of the enemy. They think that they will be able to stand on the works of their own hands on the Day of Judgment, if they even believe there will be a time when they will be judged. They do not know their own sinfulness and inability to stand before the Creator’s wrath. They do not know they need Jesus to stand for them, to be the advocate before the righteous judge. In that day, “one like a Son of man” will approach the Holy One on our behalf, and His righteousness will cover our unrighteousness. That one is our Lord Jesus Christ. Only through Him will we see the glory of God. He is awesome, worthy of being worshipped.

We worship a whole lot of other junk. We demand other kings to rule over us, rejecting the God who is King of kings. We have faith in the gods of this world, and though we do not worship the Baals or the other gods of history, we do put so much ahead of our God. Our jobs, families, relationships, material possessions and ourselves are more important than our relationship with our Creator. While we do not get down on bended knee to honor these things, we do worship them when we put them ahead of God.

In today’s Old Testament passage from Isaiah, God was speaking to His people through the prophet. He said, “Listen to me, my people; and hear me, my nation, for a law will go out from me, and I will establish my justice for a light to the peoples.” The stories of the Old Testament were irrevocably woven into the lives of those who heard Isaiah’s words. The promise on which they lived was given first to Abraham, a man alone with no hope for a future to whom God fulfilled His promise of becoming the father of many nations. The people listening were the fulfillment of that promise. They were the children of Abraham.

Christians today are also the fulfillment of that promise. We are of those many nations that came from the bosom of Abraham. The promise was fulfilled, so we can rest in all God’s promises, including those found in this passage. We will be comforted. God will look upon His children with compassion. He will restore His people, and they will rejoice. We will become the light that shines to the world, manifesting God’s justice and peace. God will grant us His righteousness and His salvation. It is ours to live in hope, waiting patiently for that which will last forever.

The Church year is ending, and we expect Advent to begin again next week. We follow a calendar, but God does not; when the Day of Judgment comes, there will be no tomorrow. Tomorrow may never come; Advent may never begin again. Are we ready to face the King? This question is not meant to bring fear into our hearts, but to cause us to look to the One who is our advocate. We can’t wait until tomorrow to get to know the Lord Jesus. We should not wait until He comes in glory because now is the day of salvation. Now is the time to praise the God who saves us through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is not the kind of king we expect. His coronation throne was the cross. There was no pomp and circumstance. There was a crown, but it was roughly made of thorns ripped from a bush. Royal robes were given to Jesus not to do him honor, but to make fun of Him in front of the crowds. He was covered in blood from the scourging He faced at the hands of the Roman soldiers. There were no willing attendants to carry His things; He was forced to carry His own cross up the long hill until He could carry it no more. There were no royal or political visitors to witness the coronation except those who came to jeer at Him. There were no parties or fancy balls. Yet that coronation changed the world.

Jesus did not rule to set the Jewish people free from the oppression of the Romans, but rather to free them from the oppression of the sin that has kept humankind bound and separated from God since the beginning of time. Sin and death, oppression and injustice have been around for a long, long time. But God is, was and will be. He is greater than our sin and He had a plan from the very beginning of time. When we finally see the King for whom we are waiting, we will be so awestruck that we will fall on our knees.

We do not know if we will ever have a tomorrow. John wrote in Revelation, “To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins by his blood - and he made us to be a Kingdom, priests to his God and Father - to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever.” Christ is King. This is a future promise, but it is also a present reality. We are called live in His reign now as we wait for that Day when He will reign forever. We are part of His kingdom, priests of His temple, made and freed to give Him glory from now until the end of days and then forever and ever.

Come Lord Jesus, King forever!