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Jeremiah 31:31-34 31 The days are surely coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt– a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.
Colossians 1:11-20 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13 He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers– all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 0 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
Now I realize most of us are thinking about Thanksgiving this week but this Sunday is a special Sunday in the Christian year. Today is Christ the King Sunday. This current season began with Pentecost, the day when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the church. Next week begins Advent when we look at the predictions of the Messiah’s birth and wait for His return. This Sunday we celebrate that in the Kingdom of God where Christ is seated at the right hand of God the Father and reigns from on high.
One problem we have with this holiday is that we no longer understand kings. In our country we haven’t had a king in almost two hundred and fifty years. The idea of one ruler over all is just not part of our culture in America. About the only place we have kings is in entertainment. Elvis is still the king of rock and roll. Benny Goodman is the king of swing and Paul Whiteman is the king of jazz. Michael Jackson is the king of pop. I read that baseball is the king of sports. In games we have kings in chess and a checker piece is crowned and becomes a king when it reaches the other side of the board. Children play king of the hill. There are four kings in a deck of cards.
But what do we really mean when we say king? A king is a sovereign or a monarch. When we say Christ is king we are talking about the sovereign rule of Jesus Christ over all the universe.
In our first scripture this morning the prophet Jeremiah foretold of a marvelous promise from God. Over six hundred years before the birth of Jesus, Jeremiah told of a new covenant to come. God would make a new covenant with His people. A covenant not of laws written down to be learned but a new covenant that God would write on the hearts of His people so we would know that God is our God and we are His people. God said through Jeremiah that “they shall all know me for I will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more.” Notice that the ability to know God is tied here to being forgiven.
Let’s consider where Jesus is called king in scripture. The Wise Men sought Him at His birth as the King of the Jews. When Nathanael meets Jesus in the gospel of John he says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Again in John’s gospel after the feeding of the five thousand it says, “When Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” On Palm Sunday the crowd shouted, “Hosanna! Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord– the King of Israel!” In Thessalonica, Paul and Silas were accused of acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.” In all these accounts Jesus is called the king of Israel. Pilate placed a sign over the cross that called him the king of the Jews. It is only after the resurrection that the disciples began to understand that Jesus was far more than any earthly king could be. When Paul writes to Timothy he calls Jesus “the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.” Twice in Revelation Jesus is also called the King of kings and Lord of lords. This is His rightful title for He is far above all earthly rulers, Jesus is the only Son of God and as God’s Son He is indeed the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
Our second scripture from Colossians makes many more claims about who Jesus is. The first three are in verse 15 and the last in verse 18. Let’s examine them.
First, He is the image of the invisible God. The word behind image is “icon,” making visible what is otherwise invisible. When we hear the word image we usually think of something that looks like something else but image is also a representation of something made visible. Jesus makes God visible to us. He is the manifestation of God in flesh and blood. God became flesh so we might know who God is and what God is about in our world and what it is God wants of us. Jesus, as an icon of the invisible is more than simply what God looks like. He is the One who brings us into God’s eternal presence. This is what icons do for us; they transport us into the reality they signify. Think of icons on your computer. An icon represents a program on our computer. When we click on the icon the program behind it opens. We are transported into the world of that program. Focusing on an icon is meant to draw us out of our reality and into the very heart of Christ. Jesus is the icon of God, the image of the invisible.
Second, Jesus is the first-born of all creation. This is not referring to Jesus’ actual birth. This has more of a sense of rank. Jesus comes first before all creation. He was before all creation. As John said about Jesus, “All things came into being through Him and without Him not one thing came into being.” The One who entered the world in order to redeem it is the One through whom God created the world in the first place. Or let’s use Paul’s own words, “for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers– all things have been created through him and for him.” Jesus Christ is supreme.
Third, Paul said, He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Jesus is the One who holds this universe together, moment by moment. Something we can always hold onto in times of trouble. Our world is not under the control of national leaders or multinational corporations. It is not under the control of those who serve evil, dividing people and seeking hatred. What holds this world together is not the survival of the fittest. What holds this world together is the power of Jesus Christ, the One who created and redeemed it and who in sovereignty over it all continues to hold it together.
Finally, Jesus is the head of the body, the church. Not just the Presbyterian church, not just the Roman Catholic Church, not just the Orthodox Church, not just any of all the other kinds of Christian churches. He is head of the church universal. Wherever Christians are present, Jesus is head and He is in each and all who faithfully proclaim His Word and celebrate his sacraments. Those are the two marks John Calvin used to identify the true church when that question was being asked in the 16th century. In this 21st century, let’s take it a step further. Another mark of the true church–where women and men not only hear Christ speak in the proclamation of the Word and receive Christ present in the sacraments, but then make Christ present in this world as they bear Him faithfully in their daily living. There, in the world, the church, regardless of its denominational name, demonstrates who is the one true head–its Lord. The church, as body of Christ, becomes His living presence in this world when we bear Christ from our church into all the places God has called upon each one of us to bear witness to and serve Him. We are to be Christ in our neighborhood where we live, in the places we shop and where we work, in the hospital and nursing home where we visit, in all of our associations and relationships, public and private. Each of us who has put on Christ in the waters of baptism, as we will see Savanna baptized today, and lives into that identity–listening for him to speak as God’s Word is read and proclaimed and waiting upon him in faith as we receive Him in bread and wine–becomes a means by whom Christ is present in this world–a sacrament, if you will, of his real presence in 21st century life.
Christ reigns in and through each of us. Because of this we are called to be Christ to others, seeking reconciliation where there is alienation, healing where there is brokenness–brokenness in the church, brokenness in this nation, brokenness in this world. This is our mission, our purpose. Those of us who claim the name of Christ must bear Him, heeding His call to heal divisions, restore life and seek peace; that is what it means to be a Christ bearer. For, you see, Christ not only saves souls–reconciling them to his Father–Christ calls on all souls to be reconciled to one another and work for peace between enemies. Christ commands that we find ways to address whatever injustices we encounter, wherever we encounter them in this world, and resolve them peacefully. As Christ bearers, we are called to be as concerned for the value of life in Gaza as we are for the unborn life in a mother’s uterus…the value of a life incarcerated in our prisons as we are the value of the growing child. Why? Because it is Christ’s life that is at the center of all life in this world, holding it together for his and his Father’s purposes. He is head of the church and becomes present in this world each time you and I make him sovereign in our own lives.
Jesus is the beginning, not only the One through whom creation came into being, but the One through whom the new creation is unfolding–the new beginning–the firstborn from the dead. Our hope in the face of death is the resurrection of Jesus, the Son of God. As God breathed His creative Spirit of life back into Jesus’ dead body to raise him to life beyond this life, so too God promises that same act for each one of us who embraces that promised gift in faith. God promises to raise us beyond the power of death and give us life so radically transformed that we can only speak of it as a new beginning, a new creation.
Jesus is the end–the firstborn of God’s new creation–the one in whom all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, not only to redeem and restore, but also to reconcile things–not just some things, but all things, making peace through the blood of his cross. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was not simply in order to reconcile us to God. The evil that invaded creation, revealed in the chaos, hatred, warfare and brokenness so apparent in life today, has been overcome through the blood of Christ’s cross and has opened Christ the King’s reign of peace to any who will embrace it in faith and faithfulness.
These marvelous words from Colossians today show us the present kingdom of Christ our King. Paul’s prayer for them is also for us. May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
The wonderful promises we heard in Jeremiah have been answered through Jesus Christ. We share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. We are rescued from the power of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of God. We are redeemed. And, as Jeremiah promised, we are forgiven our sins. Because our sins are forgiven we can know God. His promises are written on our hearts and Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. On this Sunday before Thanksgiving, let us give thanks that Jesus Christ is King.