II Samuel 23:1-7 November 22, 2015

Transcription

1 II Samuel 23:1-7 November 22, 2015 Revelation 1:4-8 East Brentwood Presbyterian Church John Hilley A Sermon on Christ the King Sunday Introduction We are in the week of Thanksgiving moving towards Christmas and our service reflects this. You will notice our Thanksgiving hymns and that we will hang the Greens in preparation for Advent. In addition, today is Christ the King Sunday. Little did you know but today is the end of the church year, with the festival of Christ the King; next Sunday, we begin a new church year with Advent. That it is Christ the King Sunday might prompt the collective response from you: okay,sooo--ooo? After all, this image of King doesn t get us too revved up. In America, we are distanced from the image of King; it is unfamiliar, even a little suspicious to the American mind. Does royalty really do anything? Do we need it, especially up against the workings of modern governments? And in popular theology people in our churches are more intrigued with the image of Jesus as a CEO a leadership role, to be sure, but hardly comparable to that of a King with a Kingdom. We say that Christ is King and we speak of the Royalty of Christ, but it begs the question: Do we view Christ as one surrounded with the art and beauty of a tradition that is more antique than active? (Is it of a bygone period, much like the beautiful Root of Jesse stained glass about the Kingship of David that adorns the magnificent Chartres Cathedral in France and is our bulletin cover for today. Do we see this figure of power and salvation as hopelessly outdated and practically mute in these days? If we stretch ourselves to think in royal terms we remember that although King may be an unfamiliar symbol, it is a political term. The first confession of Christians was Christ is Lord which was first of all a political statement Christ was King (or Emperor) and not Caesar or in the case of the Book of Revelation and the persecution of Christians in the reign of the Emperor Domitian - and how you answered that question to the Roman authorities determined everything, including your life. What is more, kings rule a particular piece of geography. They may rule over a particular ethnic group. They have subjects they have a people. What we declare on this last Sunday of the church year known as Christ the King Sunday is Christ has made of us a people. i When I moved to Nashville back in 1994, it was the first time I had heard the question who are your people? I was used to the question what is your name? and Where are you from? But I had never been asked the third question: Who are your people? -- a question that wanted to know your family blood line. ( She s one of the so-and-sos, part of the Harding family, great granddaddy started the Life and Casualty insurance business, long time Belle Meade family. ) 1

2 That s different from what it was like when we lived up in New Jersey where people was used to describe, more than likely, an ethnic group. I think of the Catalanos when we lived in Southern New Jersey, whose people were more than a biological unit of common DNA people was used to refer to their Italian roots, and how they called spaghetti sauce gravy, and the experiences they endured through generations. It s good to have a people. Those who have been baptized into Christ Jesus are the people of his Kingdom. To say Christ is King implies that we are God s people we are his subjects. The heart of this relationship is our dependence on a ruler who holds our lives in God s hands. We do not choose a ruler as we elect a President, elect a State House Representative, and hire a CEO or contract with a therapist. We are Christ s people we share the same Eucharistic foods, we share the same story of faith, we stake our lives on the same hopes. Christ has made of us a people and part of his kingdom. The first confession was the Nicene Creed: For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. This kingship is unique, unlike any earthly kingdom that is bound by geographic borders or political agendas. Of Christ s kingdom, the writer Mary Anderson, wrote: It is boundless. Christ s rule is not limited to a particular racial or national group. All are welcome, especially the chronically unwelcome ones. Christ reigns from the cross, we say. Christ rules, as many earthly rulers do, because he has waged battle and been victorious. But Christ s enemies are sin and death, all defeated by Christ s death. In a kingdom of lowly stable and an empty tome, death birthed life. ii We turn to this morning s Old Testament passage and we look at the transfer of power in David s kingship in ancient Israel. The jest of this obtuse passage is that the King s authority is not a political convenience but belongs to God s ordering of creation. Kingship has as its concern the public well-being of all, including the rich and poor, the widow, the orphan, the outsider. The just king is one who knows that all life and power belong to God. Understanding that all life and power belong to God is to have the fear of God. (II Samuel 23) Faith and Fear It s helpful to be reminded of the healthy notion of the fear of God, especially in light of all of the chaos of this past week with the violence in Paris and Mali and the pronouncements of half of our US Governors and State elected officials to stop accepting Syrian refugees, going so far as to suggest using the National Guard to round up the Syrian refugees that have been settled in TN. 2

3 It seems that all around us in our culture, we including people of Christian faith - are busy redefining what it means to be a people fueled by a different fear. Fear is such a powerful emotion for humans that when we allow it to take us over, it drives compassion right out of our hearts. iii In the aftermath of last week s bombings in Paris, our collective hearts are heavy and we are angry. Because one of the terrorists had a Syrian passport that showed entry through Greece as part of the wave of exodus, we are struggling with the risk that a terrorist could be among the Syrian refugees. The responses have been varied. I do not find it helpful for either "side" in this matter to belittle others or impugn motives. I understand the fear that motivates some to want to close the borders. Who could not watch those images from Paris and not feel fear, and the nagging question of whether it could happen here? But I also understand the desire of many those among us who are Christians to bring our faith to bear on this question, a faith which many of us interpret to command the welcoming of those who are in trouble and afraid in the name of one whom was himself a small, vulnerable refugee child on the run from terror. God is all powerful. That is the claim John of Patmos makes. But be careful to note the nature of the power. Jesus Christ is the faithful witness, he says, which means that if you want to know what God is like, there is one place to look, and that is at Jesus Christ. What was the nature of his power? You see it most clearly, not when he situs upon a throne, but when he hangs upon the cross. Christ is the King who gives himself, his entire life as a ransom. He shows the power of suffering love. He shows us power that is different from the power that the world understands. It is the power of tenderness, patience and solidarity with the outcast and the broken. iv This week I have been thinking about the life and writings of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who was wellacquainted with the terror of Nazism as he witnessed soldiers in the Third Reich round up Jews and placed in concentration camps. In his writings he has me thinking how if we are not careful we have a tendency to make ourselves the King (or Queen) of the world and place God in the role of subject: "Either I determine the place in which I will find God or I will allow God to determine the place where He will be found. If I say where God will be, I will always find there a God who in some ways corresponds to me, is agreeable to me. But if it is God who says where He will be, then that will truly be a place which, at first, is not agreeable to me at all, which does not fit well with me. That place is the Cross of Christ. And whoever will find God there must draw near to the cross in the manner which the Sermon on the Mount requires. That does not correspond to our nature at all." v Not long ago Presidential candidate Donald Trump, before he said he wanted to have a database for Muslims living in America, you may remember Trump said he wanted to have a beautiful big wall at 3

4 our Southern border to keep immigrants out. What you may not know or remember during that time, Trump went on record when asked about his religious affiliation that he was a Presbyterian. vi In response, The Rev. Gradye Parsons the stated clerk of the Presbyterian Church wrote Mr. Trump a letter. vii If Mr. Trump was going to talk about being Presbyterian and leverage that relationship for his political or social gain, Rev. Parsons was right and it was his obligation as our Stated Clerk, to call him to account for his actions and words. In fact, if I read the letter correctly, this letter was not only written to Mr. Trump, presidential candidate, but also to remind any of us who claim to be a part of the Presbyterian Church (USA) of our history and biblical grounding. The letter reads as follows: Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. 725 Fifth Avenue New York, New York Mr. Trump, I am the Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the denomination of the congregation in Queens, New York, where you were baptized. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) develops its policies through councils of teaching elders and ruling elders. At the national level it does that through the General Assembly. I would like to share with you the Presbyterian policies on refugees and immigrants. Presbyterians profess a faith in Christ, whose parents were forced to flee with him to Egypt when he was an infant to save him from King Herod. Knowing our Lord was once a refugee, faithful Presbyterians have been writing church policy urging the welcome of refugees and demanding higher annual admissions into the United States since the refugee crisis of World War II. Presbyterians have a mission presence in many refugee-sending countries, including Syria and Lebanon, where we have been present since Our relationship with people of faith and communities in these countries gives us knowledge of the root causes of the flight of refugees and further cements a commitment to welcome. Presbyterians through decades of policy have demanded humane treatment of people of all nationalities and faiths who find themselves within our borders. We have challenged our government when it neglects to acknowledge the refugee status of those fleeing persecution As a Presbyterian I acknowledge my immigrant ancestors and my new immigrant sisters and brothers. I also respect that we came uninvited to a land already occupied by people. This creates a sense of humility about my citizenship that shapes my views on those who seek a place here. I hope you will find this helpful. I especially hope it will inform you on your policies going forward. In Christ, The Reverend Gradye Parsons Stated Clerk of the General Assembly Presbyterian Church (U.S.A. 4

5 That letter written weeks ago is very relevant in light of this week s news. Conclusion I think about our country in light of the tragedy of Paris of this past week, in the fast moving dynamic of votes and as we head into the week of Thanksgiving, a celebration based on those who came from distant shores to escape persecution. They had their harsh winter of despair turn to hope because unexpected friends showed up with food. My purpose, in light of Christ the King Sunday, is to hold out this image of Christ the King of whom we are the people and subjects of God s kingdom. I want to hold it before us this morning because it is so easy to be hooked by the culture of fear that is being fed by those feeling fearful and powerless against the changing landscape of our society instead of being guided by the culture of Christ s Kingdom. I don t want to lay this on you, but a lot that happens around us depends on who our people are and who is our King. Are we citizens of the Kingdom of God? Indeed we are. Does it look as if we are? Sometimes it may be hard to tell, unless you keep your eye on the cross toward which God is drawing us to live under. Hard to tell, unless we keep our eyes on the brightness, the completeness, the peace, that is promised and not get hooked by the rhetoric and actions of this culture of fear. There is tension between our fear and our faith. Let us not fail to name our fears and to treat each other with mercy in the naming of them. And, by God's grace alone, and God's strength...let us take up our cross and follow. i Mary Anderson, Royal Treatment in Christian Century, November 15, 2003 ii ibid iii This statement has been attributed as a quote by Thomas Aquinas in Summa Theologica. What Aquinas writes in ST II.II q30, a2, ad2 is: On like manner this applies to those also who are in great fear, for they are so intent on their own passion, that they pay no attention to the suffering of others. iv Marva Dawn, Joy in our Weakness, (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2002), p. 13. v Bonhoeffer, 1986, pp vi Donald Trump is a Presbyterian? Who Knew? vii Stated Clerk writes letter to Trump on Refugees, Immigrants 5