The Readings
Old Testament
Jeremiah 23:1-6
Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the Lord. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the Lord.
The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: "The Lord is our righteousness."
The Gospel
Luke 23:33-43
When they came to the place that is called The Skull, they crucified Jesus there with the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots to divide his clothing. The people stood by, watching Jesus on the cross; but the leaders scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Messiah of God, his chosen one!" The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine, and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews."
One of the criminals who were hanged there kept deriding him and saying, "Are you not the Messiah? Save yourself and us!" But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed have been condemned justly, for we are getting what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong." Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." He replied, "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
The Sermon
This is Christ the King
Sunday. It makes sense to celebrate this Feast Day just before the
Advent season because Advent is not only a time when we look forward
to Christmas but we also look forward to the second coming of Christ
the King.
Christ the King Sunday had
an interesting beginning. In the early 1920's Pope Pious 11 was
greatly distressed that the world, especially Europe was becoming too
secular and nationalistic. People were getting too material and not
giving their spiritual lives the focus that those lives deserved.
They were no longer Christ centered.
He decided to create
Christ the King Sunday as a response to this concern and other
denominations, including ours, decided to follow suit.
I wonder what Pope Pious
would think of our world today, a hundred years later. Have we as a
nation improved. Are we more Christ centered and less nationalistic
than we were in the 1920's? I don't know for sure because I was not
alive then but I suspect things are going in the wrong direction.
The good news is that you are all here worshiping as a church family
on this day and I do believe that because we are here, our spiritual
lives are stronger. Jesus Christ has changed us. We have accepted
Him as our lord and king.
In the reading from
Jeremiah the prophet uses the metaphor of shepherd as a term for
kings who guide the people along the right path. He chastises these
kings for not doing their jobs. He says the sheep have wandered off
and are not following the right path. Along with a warning God tells
the people, The
days are surely coming, says the Lord,
when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign
as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness
in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in
safety. And this is the name by which he will be called: "The
Lord
is
our righteousness." Jesus was from the House of David and we as
Christians believe he is the one who was promised by God to lead the
people along the right path.
In
our bible study last Tuesday the question was asked, Who are the
shepherds in your life and whom do you shepherd. So lets talk. How
would you answer this question?
In
the gospel reading Jesus is suffering the agony of death on the
cross. A plaque has been placed on the cross which says, 'king of
the Jews'. This in not my vision of a king but Jesus was not your
normal king. He was willing to sacrifice everything for his people.
He sacrificed everything for us and at the same time he forgives us
for our shortcomings just as he forgave the criminal who was
crucified with him.
Jesus
gave us a model for how we should lead our lives. The question for
me is, am I following his lead by forgiving others and asking God's
forgiveness for all the mistakes I have made in my own life?
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