What King do you see?

Today is the feast day of Christ the King. I wonder what kind of picture comes into our heads when we hear the word, “King”. I wonder how we react to the idea of someone being King over us? What does it mean to have a King? These questions are difficult enough when we’re thinking about a King here on earth, but I think that sometimes they seem even more difficult to answer when we are talking about Jesus as King. But that is what I’d like to do this morning. We’re going to have a look at the three readings, at the things that they show us about Jesus as King, and think about what that means for our lives now.

The first reading we heard is part of the book of Daniel. You probably know him best from the story of Daniel and the Lion’s Den. Daniel was an Israelite, probably from one of the ruling families in Jerusalem, who had been carried off into exile in Babylon when Jerusalem had been defeated about 600 years before Jesus was born. He was a faithful worshipper of God, who, throughout his exile proved the practical wisdom of following God faithfully.

A few years before the incident with the lions, Daniel had a series of dreams or visions, in which he was shown things that were to come about in the future. The descriptions of the things that he was shown sound foreign and strange, even when they’ve been translated into English. What is it with all these beasts and horns, and wheels on a throne?

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How much is enough?

He ran up to Jesus.

He knelt. He must have thought a lot of Jesus. He knelt in the road. He must have heard and been impressed by Jesus’ teaching. He knelt in the road, in the dust. How highly must he have rated Jesus.

Have you ever run up to someone and knelt in front of them? Can you imagine doing so? How highly would you have to think of someone before you did that?

Have you ever been asked to do something that was just impossible? Have you ever felt like you couldn’t live up to the expectations of someone you loved? Has someone you respected said that all your hard work was OK, but wasn’t enough?

His face fell. He couldn’t do what was asked of him. He was heart broken. He couldn’t learn the thing that the teacher he rated so highly wanted to teach him. He was shocked. He’d been told that he lacked something, that he wasn’t perfect.

He went away.

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A hot favourite?

Imagine a meeting. With all the words about courts and judges, James is probably picturing a kind of court room, a place where disputes are sorted out, maybe even between fellow Christians. So, picture the scene, the church has gathered to sort out a disagreement between two of its members. The first one arrives, looking very fine. He is wearing his best suit, and his heavy jewellery shows that this is someone to be reckoned with. He is given one of the best seats, so that everyone can see him and he can command the room. The second arrives, he’s not washed for a couple of days. His clothes are tatty and he needs a hair cut. He’s made to sit on the floor at the edge of the room. What do you think the chances of a fair hearing are? How confident would you feel if you were the rich man sat, with everyone admiring you? How much despair would you feel as the poor man, crouching in the corner, overhearing the muttering of rude comments? What are the chances of a fair hearing? They don’t seem to be great, do they?

James then goes on to give three reasons why favouritism is wrong, why it is not to be practiced by those who believe in Jesus and follow him.
1) God has chosen the people you are discriminating against for special blessing. So you’re setting yourself up against the will of God.
2) The ones you are fawning to are the very ones who are attacking you and blaspheming against Jesus.
3) It breaks the law that has been acknowledged as the heart of the law, a status that was reaffirmed by Jesus – love your neighbour as yourself.

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Whose Image?

Put yourself in the sandals of those who had been following Jesus and learning from him. Three years ago you had a proper job. Who were you back then? Were you an outdoors type, maybe a fisherman? Were you more of an office worker, with pens, paper and calculations everywhere? Were you a widow, catching up with friends for a natter and sitting in the sun, looking after the grandchildren?

Whoever you used to be, you're someone different now. Spending three years with Jesus changes you. There was something about him that you'd found irresistible, and you'd left everything to follow him. You'd travelled round the country as he'd taught and done things that had left you breathless, confused and sometimes scared witless.

Now there's a funny feeling in the air. Recently Jesus has started going on about his having to die and some really far out stuff about coming back to life again. We've all come to Jerusalem for the passover festival but things are definitely a bit odd. A few days ago Jesus sent a couple of the lads to fetch a donkey which he'd ridden into the city. The crowds gathering for the festival had gone nuts, cutting branches off the trees, throwing clothes on the path, shouting out songs of the Messiah, of God's rescuer. The powers that be hadn't liked that one little bit.

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Motivation

What makes people do the things that they do? What is it that motivates people? What makes you get out of bed in the morning? As I was watching the Olympics a couple of weeks ago these questions were going through my mind a bit. What really struck me was the respect that interviewers and commentators had for the athletes who had devoted so much of their lives to the goal of competing at the Olympics, and perhaps to winning a medal. Now the Paralympics have started and we hear even more amazing stories of people overcoming huge obstacles to achieve their ambitions and dreams. These guys are seriously motivated.

In the reading we had from Romans, Paul is writing about what motivates people who follow Jesus. It seems to me that that there are two themes, or big ideas, that Paul wants to get across. He uses examples of the kinds of behaviour that Christians aspire to or should avoid, but he uses these examples not for their own sake, but in order to tell his readers something about our motivations, about the underlying reasons that we live the way that we live. There are two big ideas that Paul wants to get across. The first is to do with love and the second is to do with recognising the time that we are living in.

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Included

Misha is desperate. She came to the UK from the Czech Republic because she had heard that there was work. She's been here six months and is still paying back the loan she took out to fund her ticket. Four days ago she got a letter from home. Her little sister, Anya, has taken ill and her parents can't get hold of the medicine she needs in Prague. Misha goes to the local health centre and asks if they can provide the medicine Anya needs. At first she can't even make an appointment, but she makes such a nuisance of herself that eventually the receptionist persuades the doctor to see her. The doctor explains the situation to Misha. Anya isn't even in the UK, and the NHS has a definite rules about the limits of where it can work. It wouldn't be fair to UK tax payers to pay for medicines for people all over the world.

Sean is desperate. He's just completed a five year sentence in prison. Because one of the things that got him into trouble were the lads he used to hang out with, part of his bail conditions are that he's had to move away from his home town. He's got a little bedsit, but no friends and no family to support him. Sean missed his daughter growing up. She's seven now. He wants to be able to keep in touch with her, and his ex is OK for him to visit, but he can't afford to pay the train fare.

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