“Lord or no Lord”

John 18:33-37; Rev. 1:4-8

 

“Lord, or no Lord”; “King or no King”

          I must admit the title for today’s sermon was inspired

by the popular game show “Deal, or no Deal”.

          In the show, contestants are asked to choose one brief case

                   Which might have anywhere from one dollar

to a million dollars.

Then they start opening

The cases they didn’t choose and after each round

          The announces offers them money

                   To give up the suitcase they have.

                   Of course they don’t know what’s in their briefcase.

                             They only know what’s in the briefcases they

                                      Didn’t choose as those briefcases are opened.

                   Now I have to admit that when I have watched the show

                             I find myself calculating the probable value

                                      Of their briefcase based on the remaining money

                                                And then I compare that number to the

                                                          Offer the announcer makes.

But the premise of the show is whether the contestant is satisfied

          With what he or she has or whether they want more.

                   And to make it more trying for the contestants

                             They get to choose three friend or family members

                                      To coach them.

 

On this Christ the King Sunday, I was struck by the idea that

          Faith is sometimes like that game show.

                   We have the promise of the Kingdom in our hands.

                         We have the Lordship of Christ before us.

                             The world offers us many options and temptations

                                      And at each point in our lives a voice asks

                                                “Deal, or no deal”; “Lord or no Lord.”

And we have to choose do we keep what we have or compromise.

 

Today’s lesson is not nearly as benign as a game show.

          It is the trial of Jesus before Pilate to determine

                             Wheterh Jesus will live or die.

                   “Are you King of the Jews?” Pilate asks;

          Jesus answers “My kingdom is not of this world.”

                   “So you are a king” Pilate responds   

          Jesus says; “You say that I am.  For this I was born,

                   And for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.

                   Everyone who belongs to the truth hears my voice”

          Pilate asks: “What is truth?”

And we want to respond for Jesus:

          “I am the way, the truth and the life”

                   We know that answer to Pilate’s question   

                             Because Thomas had asked the question

                                      when Jesus was eating with his disciples

                                                and washed their feet in John 14.

          We know that Pilate has the million dollar case in his hands

                   But all Pilate knows is what the world is saying.

                             “You’re soft on crime Pilate”;

 “The Jews are beginning   to rise up against Rome”

                   “The Jewish leaders don’t respect you.”

And so Pilate makes a deal that condemns Jesus,

“the way the truth and the life” to death.

          And we think, “If only you knew.”

 

But then we have to look at ourselves.

          We know that Jesus is the way the truth and the life.

                   We know that Jesus is the King of all creation.

                             It was proclaimed at Jesus birth by the Wisemen

                                      “Where is he who is born king of the Jews?”;

                   It was proclaimed by the angel to Mary:

                             “He will be called great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob forever.” (Luke 1:32-33)

 

As we prepare to enter into the season of Advent next week

          We are entering a season in which we proclaim the

                   Kingship of Jesus Christ from his birth.

                             As Jesus said to Pilate “For this I was born,

                                      For this I came into the world”.

 

So we are not like Pilate, we are no like the contestant on ‘Deal, no Deal’

          We know what we have, “the King, the Messiah of the world”

                   And yet even we have a hard time with the question

                             “Lord, or no Lord”; “King, or no King”

          We are able to love God with a lot of our life,

                   And to commit some of our life to the one who is

                             King of all creation

but we struggle to commit everything, our whole being.

          We are tempted by the world’s promises.

 

Robert Morgan wrote a book called “He Shall Be Called”

          And in the book he talks about the name of Jesus as “king”.

                   He lifts up the two different kinds of monarchs.

          First there is a Parliamentary Monarch like Queen Elizabeth.

                   She is revered and honored but the Prime Minister

                             Holds the real power, the reigns of government.

          Then there is the absolute monarch whose office is both

                   Ceremonially impressive and politically powerful.

                             This monarch is the head of state, his authority is

                                      Supreme, he leads the nation.

          Morgan challenges us today to think

 about which role of King Jesus is in our life.

          Is he the ceremonial monarch that we honor

                   But don’t untilmately listen too?

          Is he the actual ruler of our life, to whom we

                   Give both honor and obedience?

That’s the question for us to ask on this

          “Christ the King Sunday”

 

Of course as American Christians we tend to shy away from

          The whole notion of King since we fought a war

                   To free ourselves from the tyranny of King George.

                             Of course as American’s we don’t know any thing

                                      About this King George that our ancestors

                                                Sought to be free of.

          Morgan tells a story about King George.

                   He loved to wander around the kingdom and one day

                             He was wondering around Windsor Castle area

                                      And he encountered a woman milking a cow.

                   King George asked where the other laborers were.

                             The women, who didn’t recognize the king, said:

                                      “They went to see the King.  I wouldn’t give a pin

                                      to see him.  Those fools will lose a days work and I

 can’t afford to- I have 5 children.”

                             The King gave he some coins and said:

“You can tell your friends, that today

 the King came to see you.”

 

You see, even if we have a hard time with the notion of Kingship,

          As aloof and separated from us, the King we follow

                   Is one who came down to us.

                             “Who though he was in the form of God, did not count

equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness.  And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to death- even death on the cross.

          Therefore God also highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

As we celebrate Advent the year, the coming of Christ into the world    ,
We are celebrating the King who became us
so that we might know him as Lord and Savior.
 
And it is not in the big events of life that we confess Jesus as
          Lord and King,
                   It is in the little everyday events.
          I’ll give you an example from our church life.
                   The name Lord in Latin is “Dominus”
                             The words in English that we know that reflect that
                                      Latin root are “Dominate” and “Dominoes”
                   The Domincan monks loved the game that we now call
Dominoes.  When they placed the last tile and won

                                              They would cry out “Dominum”

(which means roughly dominate).

          For us Dominoes is a game that we play on mission trips

                   (because Donna and Virgil like it so much)

                             But now we know it is a particularly

appropriate game to play because it reminds us of the Lordship of Christ in our live

                   and that Lordhip connects us not only with God

          but with each other in acts of mercy and mission and love.

 

So when we are confronted with the question in life

          “King of no King”; “Lord or not Lord”.

                   We can reply with confidence “Dominus”

                             Jesus really truly is Lord of our life.

                                                          Amen