Pastor Chris Matthis Epiphany Lutheran Church, Castle Rock, Colorado Proper 9, Series A (Pentecost 4) Saturday, July 5 th, 2014 Sunday, July 6 th, 2014 Sermon: Here Comes the King! Text: Zechariah 9:9-12 Focus: Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Function: That they would fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Structure: Text-Application Locus: We should fear and love God so that we do not despise our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them (SC, 4th Commandment). Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The Word of God that engages us today comes from the prophet Zechariah: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9:9, ESV). 1 Here comes the King! That s basically what Zechariah says in our Old Testament lesson today. Rejoice! Celebrate! Hurray! Hallelujah! Here comes the King! I hope you notice the irony of hailing a king on America s Independence Day weekend! The last time we had a king was back in 1776, and we got rid of him during the Revolutionary War. That s what we celebrate on July 4 th : our Declaration of Independence from George III, King of England. Our entire system of government is based on the premise that kings are bad, and power belongs to the people. The writers and signers of the Declaration produced a litany of grievances against the King of England, including tyranny, taxation without representation, the quartering of British troops, and more! The colonists complaints about monarchy boiled down 1 All Scripture references, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.
Matthis 2 to this: they paid a lot and suffer greatly under the weight of the king s rule but didn t get much for it in return. The great distaste we Americans have for monarchy shouldn t be surprising. The long history of Israel s and Judah s kings in the Old Testament is a witness to the failure of kings. When the Israelites wanted to depose Samuel as their judge and prophetic leader, they demanded a king so they could be like the other nations around them. The LORD God, Yahweh, was angry with their request, and he warned them that if they wanted to do king, they weren t going to like it. Kings would bring military conscription, forced labor, slavery, taxes, and the seizure of property (1 Sam.8:11-18). God gave the people a chance to reconsider their request for a king like the other nations. God tried to warn them what kings are really like. But they wouldn t listen and repent. They rejected God as their king--and Samuel his servant and so God gave them what they asked for: horrible, godless, tyrannical rulers. You want a king? Okay, I ll give you a king! You re not going to like it, but I ll give you a king. I guess we should be careful what we ask for! Yet we shouldn t be deceived into believing that democracy or a republic will automatically save us from tyranny and godless rulers. A majority can trample the rights of the minority. And a majority can be wrong too! Remember: it was a majority that elected Adolf Hitler to be chancellor of Germany. What is democracy at its worst, if not mob rule and anarchy? As Winston Churchill once said, The best argument against democracy is a fiveminute conversation with the average voter. In the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States, we read, We, the people of the United States of America, do ordain and establish But what a minute! We ordain? The people establish? What about God? Isn t he supposed to be the one running the show?
Matthis 3 In Romans 13, the apostle Paul writes, Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God, for he is God s servant for your good (Rom. 13:1, 4). The government is God s servant, his minister (KJV). That includes the U.S. President and Congress and the English kings before them. Now that doesn t mean I m in favor of monarchy (I m not!). I m certainly not a royalist. But I do believe that as Christians, we must be mindful of the fact that idolatry is the original sin to seize control and be like God (Gen. 3:5), usurping his authority. Quite simply, we human beings are not in charge. God is in charge! And that is cause to rejoice! Rejoice greatly! Behold, your king is coming to you! (Zech. 9:9). Good news! The King is coming! And he is like no king, emperor or president you have ever known! There is nothing corrupt or unpredictable about his rule. He is always righteous and just. And he does not come to collect taxes, coerce, or destroy us. He comes with salvation to bring judgment on unrepentant sinners and the wicked ways of the world and to bring the forgiveness of sins for all who receive him by faith. Amazingly, this mighty King of king and Lord or lords is humble and mounted on a donkey. He comes to end all warfare, most especially between God and man. He comes to break the bow and shatter the spear (Ps. 46:9). He comes to speak peace to the nations (Zech. 9:10). And his kingdom will have no end (Psalm 145). Did I mention that his name is Jesus? You are probably used to hearing Zechariah 9 as an Old Testament reading for Palm Sunday. Two of the Evangelists, Matthew and John, quote this verse in their telling of Jesus so-called triumphal entry into Jerusalem (Matt. 21:5; John 12:15). But when Jesus entered Jerusalem at Holy Week, he did not come as a conquering king. No, he came as a humble servant, journeying to die on the cross for our sins. Righteous and having salvation is he (Zech. 9:9). And so Jesus came to bring salvation to all who believe and
Matthis 4 receive him. Jesus died with a crown of thorns and a sign above his head that read JESUS OF NAZARETH, KING OF THE JEWS. The cruel crown and shameful marquee were meant to mock and shame him. But Jesus was better than all that. He is the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6), and so even from the cross he spoke words of peace to all who have ears to hear: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do (Luke 23:34). Jesus gave up his ghost and died. But three days later he rose again, triumphant over sin, death, and the devil, and proving once and for all that he is the Lord of Life and the One who is really running the show! God is in charge! Yahweh reigns (Ps. 93:1; 96:10; 97:1; 99:1). That s how we say it in the Old Testament. Jesus is Lord! (Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 12:13). That s how we say it in the New Testament. The Lord reigns, and Jesus is Lord! He is the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 17:14; 19:16) the Best King, the Best Lord. And yet calling Jesus the Messiah our King is as much a political statement as it is a spiritual belief. If Yahweh reigns, it means that, ultimately, God is running the show. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar is not! (Aside: Neither is President Obama, for that matter or any of the other presidents before him!) In the 1 st century A.D., the Roman emperors began to accept worship as gods. They claimed such titles as the son of a god and Savior of the world. Notably, early Christians reclaimed these titles and applied them solely to Christ. Jesus is The Son of God. Jesus is the only name by which we are saved. Jesus is Lord! And he is King! So why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? (Ps. 2:1). In our sinful, selfish arrogance, we try to elevate ourselves above God and seize his throne. We want to do it our way, not God s way. (That s sin!) We pretend that we establish governments and make the world turn. But truly it is the Lord who rules. Which is why the Christian s pledge is the
Matthis 5 Apostles Creed, and our prayer is the Lord s Prayer: Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done. Not my will, not our will, but Thy will! And so on this Independence Day, let us remember that we are actually creatures, and that we remain utterly and completely dependent on our Creator! More necessary than certain inalienable rights, are God s wonderful, gracious gifts: the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. And that matters more much, much more! than the pursuit of happiness or making ploys for political power. As Christians, we hold dual citizenship. On the one hand, our citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20), but we still live in this world. We are in the world, but not of the world, as early Christians liked to say. But we are still here for the life of the world, and God calls us to exercise our duties and rights as citizens of this country and citizens of the world for the love of neighbor and good of our fellow citizens. As Christians living in a democracy (or, at least, a republic), we must vote our conscience, pray for our leaders (1 Tim. 2:1-2), and be involved in the political process. We must submit to the governing authorities when the law of the land is good and just. But when the law of the land comes into conflict with God s Law, we are captive to the Word of God. We must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29). As the Psalmist says, Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation (Ps. 146:3). Remember that our leaders are people like us: sinners in need of God s grace. Our leaders are sinners elected by sinners to govern sinners. Sounds like a lot of sin to go around! So don t be surprised when politicians disappoint you and let you down. They are not gods; they are servants of the One True God. And if they forget that, we have a Christian duty to remind them of their place (which
Matthis 6 is what the Continental Congress was trying to do back in 1776 remind George III of his place). Ultimately, every ruler and every institution of human government will end. But Jesus kingdom, because it is not of this world (John 18:36), shall not pass away (Dan. 7:14). His is an everlasting kingdom (Psalm 145). So Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey (Zech. 9:9, ESV). 2 Good news, folks! The King is coming! Long live the King! In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 2 All Scripture references, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version.