1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,800 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, 2 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,120 O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. 3 00:00:15,120 --> 00:00:16,120 Amen. 4 00:00:16,120 --> 00:00:26,680 Well, happy Christ the King Sunday. 5 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,320 This is sort of like the New Year's Eve of the church year. 6 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:37,360 This is the last Sunday we have in year A. This is the last Sunday we'll be reading exclusively 7 00:00:37,360 --> 00:00:45,560 from Matthew's Gospel, and we always get this last parable on judgment. 8 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:55,120 Christ the King Sunday came about in the 1920s during the rise of nationalism, right after 9 00:00:55,120 --> 00:01:00,560 the Great War, World War I, the war that was supposed to end all wars. 10 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:07,240 The Pope at the time, Pope Pius, thought that Christ the King Sunday would combat nationalism. 11 00:01:07,240 --> 00:01:14,120 It was a great idea, but nationalism, for better and for worse, is still very much a 12 00:01:14,120 --> 00:01:17,960 part of our global politics today. 13 00:01:17,960 --> 00:01:22,360 Nationalism is sort of this idea that our nation is better than your nation, and we're 14 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:24,360 going to prove it. 15 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:35,160 In 1970, the church moved Christ the King Sunday to the last Sunday in the church year. 16 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:41,360 And again, like I said, we get this image of Christ judging the nations by separating 17 00:01:41,360 --> 00:01:43,320 the sheep from the goats. 18 00:01:43,320 --> 00:01:50,240 Now, in the United States, we don't really have a, how do I say this, a history of the 19 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:51,800 monarchy. 20 00:01:51,800 --> 00:01:58,560 We actually are a country because we didn't like the idea of a king or a king ruling us. 21 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:05,320 We thought that the monarchy, as it was, gave too much power to one person, and so we created 22 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:07,760 this republic. 23 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:13,920 And so other than watching the crown on Netflix, we don't really have a good grip on what's 24 00:02:13,920 --> 00:02:15,440 going on here. 25 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,920 Our Jewish ancestors learned that a monarchy isn't necessarily the best way to go about 26 00:02:19,920 --> 00:02:20,920 things. 27 00:02:20,920 --> 00:02:22,120 They learned the hard way. 28 00:02:22,120 --> 00:02:27,680 They learned that too much power in human hands can be dangerous. 29 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:35,560 Even the best king of the Israeli monarchy ends up falling, King David. 30 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:38,280 He kills someone to get what he wants. 31 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:45,040 King Solomon, another great king, is a little lax in how he governs and lets people worship 32 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:49,120 other gods, which leads to a civil war. 33 00:02:49,120 --> 00:02:54,080 So in short, these kings, even the best of them, even the best rulers of this earth, 34 00:02:54,080 --> 00:02:58,480 let power go to their heads, which leads to a downfall. 35 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,920 So Jesus, Christ the king, is set in contrast to the kings of this world. 36 00:03:03,920 --> 00:03:06,880 He is a different kind of king. 37 00:03:06,880 --> 00:03:11,920 For him, power is something that is not gathered or gained. 38 00:03:11,920 --> 00:03:14,280 It's something that you give away. 39 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,160 Power is something that is given away. 40 00:03:18,160 --> 00:03:22,920 Christ the king says, if you want to serve me, go and serve food to the hungry. 41 00:03:22,920 --> 00:03:26,320 If you want to give me a gift, lay it at the feet of an orphan. 42 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:31,480 If you want to shower me with words of praise, encourage someone this world has forgotten 43 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:32,880 or beat down. 44 00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:37,400 If you want to spend time with me, hang out at the homeless shelter or prison. 45 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:42,200 If you want to shake my hand, then sit at the bedside and pray with someone who is sick 46 00:03:42,200 --> 00:03:43,200 or lonely. 47 00:03:43,200 --> 00:03:46,280 That's how you can serve me. 48 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:51,160 Now we should be careful not to turn this lesson or this idea into a prescription to 49 00:03:51,160 --> 00:03:53,360 get right with God. 50 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:55,840 Jesus has made us right with God. 51 00:03:55,840 --> 00:03:57,880 That is the good news of the gospel. 52 00:03:57,880 --> 00:04:00,920 We can easily turn this into a to-do list. 53 00:04:00,920 --> 00:04:04,200 We can go through the motions and not be changed. 54 00:04:04,200 --> 00:04:10,360 This parable is really descriptive of what it means to know that God has made us right 55 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:11,880 through Christ. 56 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:17,160 This parable is descriptive of what it looks like to live toward Christ. 57 00:04:17,160 --> 00:04:23,200 These works of mercy, these works of charity that these sheep perform are the result of 58 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:26,600 knowing God's blessing, not the cause. 59 00:04:26,600 --> 00:04:30,360 They are the fruit of knowing that they are blessed by God. 60 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,180 We don't do things so that we will get blessed. 61 00:04:33,180 --> 00:04:36,680 We do these things because we know that we are a blessing. 62 00:04:36,680 --> 00:04:41,000 These are the fruit of the knowledge of God's love for us. 63 00:04:41,000 --> 00:04:45,240 Jesus, Lewis, who the church celebrated this week on the liturgical calendar, said it like 64 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:51,640 this, the Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but God will 65 00:04:51,640 --> 00:04:55,400 make us good because he loves us. 66 00:04:55,400 --> 00:05:00,520 That's why we gather in church from week to week to remember that God loves us, to remember 67 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:06,040 our blessing, to remember that we belong, that we are invited to this great banquet 68 00:05:06,040 --> 00:05:08,920 that Jesus is talking about in today's parable. 69 00:05:08,920 --> 00:05:14,160 We also gather to remember that not all the sheep are here, but some are wandering off, 70 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:20,080 to remember that Jesus goes to find those lost sheep who were among the poor whom the 71 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:21,580 world has forgotten. 72 00:05:21,580 --> 00:05:24,760 Jesus is among those who have forgotten about him. 73 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:31,200 Jesus is going to be with those who do not know him or do not know his love. 74 00:05:31,200 --> 00:05:35,520 Here at Ascension, we do this in several different ways. 75 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:41,080 Out of your own way in your work or your school or your leisure life, we have programs that 76 00:05:41,080 --> 00:05:47,280 help you do this, help you find Jesus among those whom the world has forgotten. 77 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:52,240 Right now, our Giving Hope ministry for the month is through our Angel Tree program. 78 00:05:52,240 --> 00:05:58,120 We're partnering with Greater Birmingham Ministries to make sure families in our community can 79 00:05:58,120 --> 00:05:59,680 give presents to their children. 80 00:05:59,680 --> 00:06:04,360 Obviously, Santa Claus brings presents to everyone, but moms and dads like to bring 81 00:06:04,360 --> 00:06:06,120 presents to their children too. 82 00:06:06,120 --> 00:06:12,720 We help parents in the community give presents to their children. 83 00:06:12,720 --> 00:06:17,840 Through the Abbey, we meet Christ in the face of the hungry men and women who come for food 84 00:06:17,840 --> 00:06:18,840 every week. 85 00:06:18,840 --> 00:06:24,160 The same through First Light Shelter, the women and children there. 86 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:32,120 Our pastoral care team regularly checks in on those in our parish community who are homebound. 87 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:37,400 And our youth group wrote cards to our homebound this past week. 88 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:45,920 I don't know if Christ the King Sunday can totally combat nationalism, but it's a really 89 00:06:45,920 --> 00:06:52,040 good message, especially to hear right now, that our allegiance ultimately belongs to 90 00:06:52,040 --> 00:06:53,880 Christ. 91 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:59,280 Our gathering here on Christ the King Sunday can help us remember our common humanity, 92 00:06:59,280 --> 00:07:04,240 regardless of what flag hangs in the courthouse square. 93 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:08,960 Reminds us to seek the face of Christ and all people, regardless of what race someone 94 00:07:08,960 --> 00:07:10,760 might identify with. 95 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:16,040 To remind her to live into our baptismal call to respect the dignity of every human being, 96 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:18,240 regardless of their gender or identity. 97 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:23,720 Yes, we can still be proud to be from the United States, still be proud to enjoy the freedom 98 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,000 that many have fought and died for. 99 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:32,840 But we can no longer remain blind to how even the best countries in this world fall short 100 00:07:32,840 --> 00:07:34,560 of the Kingdom's call. 101 00:07:34,560 --> 00:07:39,440 We can no longer remain blind to how our earthly allegiances, and I'm not just talking about 102 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:46,080 America, but our allegiances to football or our allegiances to entertainment can get in 103 00:07:46,080 --> 00:07:49,960 the way to our allegiance to Christ the King. 104 00:07:49,960 --> 00:07:54,640 Because above all, that is where we are called to serve Christ the King. 105 00:07:54,640 --> 00:08:00,640 And the hope is that we grow the more and more we return to Christ the King, that we 106 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:06,600 grow more and more proud of our citizenship as members of Christ's heavenly kingdom, 107 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:13,200 until that day when all nations and all races gather once and for all around the one true 108 00:08:13,200 --> 00:08:17,640 King, Christ the Lord of all. 109 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:18,640 Amen. 110 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:25,640 And now we proclaim our faith with the words of the Nicene Creed.