{"id":9504,"date":"2023-11-20T17:37:42","date_gmt":"2023-11-21T00:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=9504"},"modified":"2023-11-20T17:38:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T00:38:37","slug":"king-of-kings-and-lord-of-lords","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/?p=9504","title":{"rendered":"
King of kings and Lord of lords<\/div>"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click here for a pdf version.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the church year this Sunday is New Year\u2019s Eve and the new year begins next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. As we typically do on New Year\u2019s Eve, we take stock of what has been and look ahead at what is to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back at this past year we see that Christian churches in our country and elsewhere are struggling, as we are individually, due to a volatile world, financial pressures, and a corrosive secularism. On top of all that is the ominous rise of Islamic jihad and a timid, confused response by many Christian leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Along with looking back, we look forward mindful of the growing troubles of this world, and we also look forward to Advent, which tells us about God coming to help us, and then Christmas, which is pointing to Good Friday and Easter, where God solves the problem and then sends his Holy Spirit who leads us and guides us as individuals and Christians together to the end of the next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we know, to speak of \u201cthe end\u201d has two meanings. It means termination, and it also means goal. At the end of the church year, as on New Year\u2019s Eve, we think of the people who have died this past year. We also think of the fact that things will come to an end for us individually, and that they also come to an end for the whole of creation. God the Creator who made the earth is also is the Lord who brings it to an end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then there\u2019s the end as the goal. The goal for you and me individually is significantly pointed out by the fact that the Lord has made us his own in Baptism. Then there is the fact that we have a goal in him and with the cosmos. After all he is Lord of the whole cosmos. Therefore he brings it all to its fulfillment and goal because he made it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is one Lord of heaven and earth beside whom there is no other. He is the great shepherd, spoken of in Ezekiel 34:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBehold, I, I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. . . . I will rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness . . . I will feed them . . . I will seek the lost . . . bring back the strayed . . . bind up the crippled . . .  strengthen the weak, and the fat and strong I will watch over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are more familiar with the tenth chapter of John, the good shepherd chapter, where it says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am the good shepherd. . . . I lay down my life for the sheep. . . . My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of my hand. My Father who has given them to me is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father\u2019s hand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The one and only Lord of the cosmos is the good shepherd. The Lordship of the good shepherd is precisely that he is able to bring about both the care and the final goal for each one of us, as well as for all of creation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also know the Twenty-Third Psalm, which begins: \u201cThe Lord is my shepherd.\u201d He shepherds us. We sometimes don\u2019t think of the fact that in the last two verses of that Psalm, the image changes to that of giving a banquet. \u201cThou preparest a table before me in the presence of my enemies; thou anointest my head with oil, my cup overflows.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not only that he takes care of us in the valley of deep darkness or the shadow of death, but it is also that he cares for us in the day by day feeding. The Lord\u2019s Supper which we celebrate not only forgives us and gives us life but it is an anticipation and beginning of that great supper, like a wedding feast, that great banquet that is to come. When we celebrate the Lord\u2019s Supper, we are taking part in and beginning that great feast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other image, which is a statement of the fact of the matter, is that of being Lord. Psalm 95:3 states: \u201cFor the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.\u201d He is the Lord of Lords and King of kings. We know that and when we hear the phrase \u201cLord of lords, and King of Kings,\u201d we can\u2019t help but sing that great stanza from Handel\u2019s Messiah.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Psalm 95 the Lord is our Maker, our Creator, the one who is in charge. When Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 about the end, he does two significant things. In 1 Corinthians 15:26 he writes: \u201cThe last enemy to be destroyed is death.\u201d That\u2019s counter-intuitive. That\u2019s against what people commonly think that death is normal, just one of those things. That\u2019s not what God\u2019s plan has been. That\u2019s plan B because of sin, and we remember that sin, death, and the devil are all the same thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his original plan there was to be no death. And when he restores the new creation, death is no more. Then it concludes in 1 Corinthians 15:28: \u201cWhen all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things under him, that God may be everything to everyone.\u201d The Lord will be Lord. He is Lord, and it is great that we are his because the Lord is Lord and not somebody else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, it is appropriate to think of the Lord\u2019s Prayer. We often take it for granted because we do it so automatically, but as you well know it says \u201cThy kingdom come.\u201d As Luther writes: \u201cGod\u2019s kingdom comes by itself, without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may also come to us.\u201d He goes on in the Large Catechism to say that this is the most important petition because when his kingdom comes that is everything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lord\u2019s Prayer goes on to say: \u201cThy will be done.\u201d That\u2019s important for us because we basically say: \u201cMy will be done.\u201d Luther\u2019s explanation goes on to say: \u201cTo be sure, the good and gracious will of God is done without our prayer, but we pray that it may also be done by us.\u201d We celebrate the fact that he is the King who brings in his kingdom and his will is done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This brings us to the conclusion to the Lord\u2019s Prayer: \u201cFor thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.\u201d We know that Roman Catholics don\u2019t have that ending. That happens to be a matter of textual traditions. Today Catholics go along with Protestants here because of course Catholics also affirm that his is the kingdom and the power and the glory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we pray the Lord\u2019s Prayer we are confessing and affirming that his is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It concludes, as we know, with Amen, which means Yes! It is true! We acclaim that God\u2019s kingdom and power and glory are forever and ever and so we say Amen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Or to put it another way, as Paul does in 2 Corinthians 1:20: \u201cFor all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why we utter the Amen through him, to the glory of God.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what we celebrate as we come to the end of the whole account from the first of Advent to the end of the church year: Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, and \u201call the promises of God find their Yes in him.\u201d Amen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday<\/p>\n

In the church year this Sunday is New Year\u2019s Eve and the new year begins next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent. As we typically do on New Year\u2019s Eve, we take stock of what has been and look ahead at what is to come. <\/p>\n

Looking back at this past year we see that Christian churches in our country and elsewhere are struggling, as we are individually, due to a volatile world, financial pressures, and a corrosive secularism. On top of all that is the ominous rise of Islamic jihad and a timid, confused response by many Christian leaders. <\/p>\n

Select here<\/a> to read more or here <\/a>for a pdf document.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9504"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9504\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9511,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9504\/revisions\/9511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crossalone.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}