King Of Kings

Christ the King Sunday

Psalm 95: 1-7

Matthew 25:31-46

Sermon

The King of Kings

Psalm 95

95:1 ¶ O come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!

2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!

3 For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods.

4 In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.

5 The sea is his, for he made it; for his hands formed the dry land.

6 O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

7 ¶ For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. O that today you would hearken to his voice!

Matthew 25:31-46

31 ¶ "When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats,

33 and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.

34 Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ’Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world;

35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,

36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

37 Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?

38 And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?

39 And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?’

40 And the King will answer them, ’Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’

41 Then he will say to those at his left hand, ’Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels;

42 for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,

43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

44 Then they also will answer, ’Lord, when did we see thee hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to thee?’

45 Then he will answer them, ’Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me.’

46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."

Grace and Peace to you from Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus who is the Christ. Amen

The king is here, hallelujah. The king is here. This is Christ the King Sunday, a minor festival in the church year. The festival where we celebrate the kingship of Jesus as he sits on his heavenly throne. As we celebrate his kingship, we see in the Psalm for today what kind of king we have, and we see in Matt. gospel how that king rules his subjects. ~

Psalm 95 speaks about the Lord as the king of all creation, as the ruler of all that is. (read psalm)

I would like to tell you about the king of kings, the king that reigns in our lives. Listen closely as he is described in all of his majesty.

"He appeared in one of the dead spots of human history, when a vast world empire--Rome-- was midway to self-destruction. He was born in, Bethlehem, the most bigoted backwards of the most rigidly ethnic culture of all time. He grew up in Galilee, the hotbed of short tempers, revolutionary zealots of the most fierce and narrow nationalism. He lived his life in a nation long past its prime, ruled by rigid religions, divided by racial ghettos segregated into perfect apartheid and bled by foreign exploitation.

Occupation? Crossroads carpenter. Offices? None. Real estate or property holdings? None. Family? none. Education? Average village routines. Travel? Never more than 200 miles from his birthplace. Writings? none known.

While still a young man, the tide of public opinion turned against him. His enemies had him arrested. His friends deserted him. He was tried in a kangaroo court. Condemned on the testimony of paid witnesses. Executed with two felons. Died by crucifixion on the town garbage dump. Buried by charity. The most unlikely setting for the king of kings. But he is the first among us. Christ, the man for all time. Commanding in manner. Compelling in message. Conquering with compassion. Challenging to a mission of ministry."