November 20th, 2011:
Call: Ephesians 1: 15-23
Text: Matthew 25: 31-46
Read: Ezekiel 34: 11-16, 20-24
The King's Sheep or Thankful Sheep
I am your king!
You are my subjects.
I have authority to judge over you.
I have the power
To reward you
and I have the power
To punish you.
I have every right to expect you to obey.
And every right to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure you do.
For I am your king!
Can you imagine someone standing up here
Or standing up in front of you anywhere
And seriously saying that to you
WOW! I don't think that I would like to hear that
From anyone
I think I would be inclined to want to rebel
Against any such proclamation.
For you and I respond as people who see our rulers
As getting their power and authority from the consent of those of us who are to be governed.
Kings are a foreign breed to us.
And yet on this, the last day of this Christian year,
The Sunday we celebrate that Christ is King - our king
We have to acknowledge
That we are his subjects;
We have to acknowledge
That he has authority to judge over us;
We have to acknowledge
That he has the power To reward us
and that he has the power To punish us.
And we have to acknowledge
That he has every right to expect us to obey.
And every right to take whatever steps are necessary to make sure we do.
And on this Sunday we not only are expected to acknowledge,
But we are also expected to celebrate
That Christ is our king!
In 21st century America
This is not easy
This does not seem natural
This is not entirely comfortable.
But The image of Christ as a king judging his people
Separating them
as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats
is the image of our scripture.
And it is an image
that is a part of the Advent season
that we begin next week.
The image of the coming of the promised great king
Is exactly what Advent is about.
In fact, it is an image
That is also a part of our Holy Week celebration
The triumphal entry into Jerusalem
With its hosannas and its cheers
The allegation that that he is the king of the Jews
And thus a traitor to Caesar
The plaque on the cross proclaiming just that.
And being our king is an image inherent in our calling him "Lord."
Oh, yes, the image of Christ as a king is a part of our Christian tradition
A part that you and I, living where and when we do,
Often ignore or miss
Not always maliciously or selfishly
But because such an image goes against our
Grain, against our nature
And is not a part of our life experience
But Christ as king is not the only image of Christ in our scripture
For Christ's own imagery in this passage
Includes the image of him as a shepherd
The image of Christ as a shepherd
Is easy and does seem natural
Is entirely and satisfactorily comforting.
Just look at the window in the Good Shepherd Room
Upstairs over the Fellowship Hall
For the last several weeks
I have been writing my sermons in that room
And each time I enter it
I see that window
I see Christ carrying the little lamb
I see five other sheep walking with him
Almost crowding around to be close to him
Looking honored and joyous to be doing so.
And I am comforted.
The shepherd looks out for and protects the flocks.
And you and I are the flocks
Grateful for that care and protection.
The image of Christ as a shepherd
Is also a part of the season ahead
For the shepherds welcomed one of their own
By telling others of his birth
The image of Christ as a shepherd
Is a part of what the prophets had said when they indicated that he would be coming
(we just read such a passage from Ezekiel.)
The image of Christ as a shepherd is also a part of the post Easter appearances
Where Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?"
And when Peter says "yes"
Christ instructs him to feed his sheep and his lambs.
The image of Christ as both shepherd and king
- The twin images of this remarkable scripture -
Intertwine to inform us
as we try to understand and strengthen our relationship with God.
We like the one image
Because it is comforting Oh, yeah!
We fear the other image
Because it is intimidating. Oh, yeah!"
Seeing Christ as a shepherd
can help us understand Christ as a king,
as a loving, just, and kind king
But seeing Christ as a king
Can help us understand that Christ even as a shepherd
Has power and authority over us
and has certain expectations of us.
And this scripture makes it clear what those expectations are
By causing us to ask
"Lord, have we seen you hungry and given you food?
Or have we failed to?
Lord, have we seen you thirsty and given you something to drink?
Or have we failed to?
Lord, have we seen you as a stranger and welcomed you?
Or have we failed to?
Lord, have we seen you naked and given you clothing?
Or have we failed to?
Lord, have we seen you sick or imprisoned and visited you?"
Or have we failed to?
And I envision Christ answering,
"have you done those to the least of my people?
Have you? If you have, you have done them to me."
"Or have you been selfish and self centered?
Have you?
If you have, you have failed to do these to me."
We answer the questions ourselves.
Next week, on the first Sunday of Advent
we begin
another Christian year,
another annual cycle of life and love
of learning and serving
We will do so by pleading for God to send a king to save us.
Today we complete this year, this cycle
By giving thanks for the fact that God has indeed
Heard and answered our prayers
By sending that king.
It seems so appropriate that the Sunday we set aside
To give thanks for that king
Is always one of the two Sundays that bookend Thanksgiving
That may make it hard for people like me to decide which observance to highlight in sermon titles,
But it is oh so fitting.
And thus today, we celebrate and give thanks
That we have the opportunity
to be the king's sheep.