“Who We are Under the King”
Jeremiah 23:1-6
In five weeks we will be singing “This, this is Christ the King, whom shepherds guard and angels sing; haste, haste to bring him laud, the babe, the son of Mary!”
This Thursday is Thanksgiving, and on that very day, many stores will be open and filled with shoppers.
People will be looking for Christmas bargains as Christmas songs of every type and stripe blare in each store.
Some of us find this unsettling.
I mean, aren’t we supposed to be giving thanks on Thanksgiving?
Can’t the Christmas shopping wait for, at least, one more day?
Also, because many malls and department stores will be open on the Thanksgiving Day Holiday, a large percentage of folks who work in retail won’t be able to spend the day the way it was intended.
In any event, while many of the Christmas songs we hear over the next several weeks will be about Santa Clause, Rudolf and Frosty the Snowman…
…a fairly sizable amount will be referring to a King Who was born in a stable approximately 2,000 years ago.
With that said, what exactly does it mean that Jesus Christ is King?
And if Christ is King what implications does that have for those of us who seek to live under His rule?
In Jeremiah Chapter 23 the word “shepherd” was another word for “king.”
And during the time that Jeremiah was doing his prophesying Israel was going through a terribly difficult time.
Jeremiah names 5 kings who he says are directly responsible for the downfall of the nation.
He says that greed for power and money led these kings away from serving the people.
They didn’t look out for the poor, the widows, the marginalized, the oppressed.
And because of this the “sheep” of God’s pasture have been scattered and driven away.
And the “sheep” or people are “afraid”—“terrified” even.
And so God promises to “raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right…”
The people who live under the rule of this King will be brought together and saved.
And the name by which this King will be called is: “Our Lord Our Righteousness.”
Of course, the King Whom Jeremiah is referring to is Jesus Christ.
And Jesus as King is not some grand military ruler.
He is not arrogant nor is He greedy.
He is a radical King Who hangs out with poor people and marginalized people and then hangs on a Cross for the sake of God’s love to save a lost and broken world.
“This, this is Christ the King!!!”
And we are the sheep of His pasture.
And as the sheep of His pasture we are to model our lives, our actions, our attitudes—our very thoughts after His!!!
But this is not an easy task in a world that struggles with war, famine, poverty, inequality and a horrifying tendency to judge the worth of others based on things such as nationality, race and color.
As you know, a number of us had a great time a little over a week and a half ago as we reached out to those who came to our building in order to vote on election day.
Approximately 400 people walked through the classroom behind this sanctuary to grab a donut, a cookie, a cup of coffee or a bottle of water.
One thing which became evident was that although the majority of the people we spoke to claimed to be Christian or to have a “home church”—many do not regularly attend the churches to which they belong.
Some haven’t been in years.
A large percentage of folks were unable to give the name of the current pastor of the church to which they identify with.
I wonder how these people are able to model their lives after their King without a community with which they worship, study the Bible, pray, serve, witness and help to hold one another accountable.
We are to be the sheep of God’s pasture.
And God’s pasture is His Church.
I know the church is far from perfect.
And that is because it is made up of sinful human beings.
But if it truly is the Church of Jesus Christ—the people are seeking to be faithful disciples of the One True King.
We are to love and forgive one another along the way as we faulty human beings seek to follow the Only One Who is Perfect.
In the Bible, there is no such thing as a Christian who is not intimately involved in the community of faith which is called the Church.
Christianity and the Priesthood all believers go hand in hand.
Christians eat together, pray together, worship together, learn together and grow together.
Christians stick together.
It seems that the times we live in are not terribly different than the time of Jeremiah, which was somewhere around 600 years before the birth of Jesus Christ.
The sheep are scattered.
People are afraid—terrified even.
And because of this, a lot of good which could be getting done—isn’t.
As many of you know, Mary Ellen made her middle school basketball team this past week.
Over the past several months Mary Ellen has taken quite an interest in basketball, and it has been a lot of fun for me.
When Mary Ellen decided she wanted to try out for the team, I started to teach her some of the fundamentals of the game—things I knew she would have to be able to do in order to make the team.
We spent hours and hours learning how to make lay ups.
Mary Ellen worked on her dribbling, and learned to use the correct form while shooting.
We played tons of pick-up games with one another and with some of the other kids in the neighborhood.
And Mary Ellen got good enough, over time to make the team.
And when practice starts and then the season, she will be coached and learn a whole lot more about the game.
She will learn that basketball is not about one person.
It’s a team sport.
It’s about making sure your team does the best it can—not one single person--through passing, unselfish plays, sacrifice and good leadership.
There are eleven girls grades 6, 7 and 8 on the middle school basketball team.
But without the coach and without the team—what are they?
They would just be a bunch of individual kids who like to shoot baskets in their own driveways, and ultimately, they wouldn’t be able to accomplish much.
But with the right coaching, direction, and teaching they can grow closer to one another, get a chemistry going, and do great things.
They can achieve their goal.
They can win games.
And the same thing goes for us.
Without the Church we are just a bunch of people who might say we are “Christians” wandering around in this world…
…by ourselves.
We wouldn’t learn to worship with God’s people.
We wouldn’t learn about Jesus by seeing His love at work in one another’s lives.
We wouldn’t be “in mission” for Christ with others in our community and in our world.
We wouldn’t be able to get anything done for God’s Kingdom.
We wouldn’t be serving the poor, the marginalized, the homeless, the lost.
We wouldn’t be teaching Sunday school, sharing our money in Christ’s name, giving our time, and putting our God-given talents to work for the sake of the Kingdom.
And we probably wouldn’t be thinking much about Jesus, except maybe when we are in dire trouble or extreme danger or need.
And not only do we need the church—for it is where we live out our faith, learn about Jesus and grow as God’s people…
…but the Church needs us.
Think again about a basketball team.
During a game, each basketball team must have 5 players on the floor playing together at a time.
But there also have to be players on the bench.
These players cheer on the players on the floor and also go in and sub for them when those on the floor need a rest.
Also, even if a player, perhaps because she is only a 6th grader rather than a big 8th grader doesn’t get much of any playing time—she is still a very important member of the team.
That’s because she is learning and preparing to be a major player in the years to come.
If the basketball team is going to have a future it must have younger players who are preparing to take the lead when the current starters are too old to play.
Basketball teams also need ball-boys or girls, people to get water for the players, folks who make the uniforms, and raise money for the team.
In other words, everyone plays an important role, and if someone isn’t performing their role or is missing from the game or from practice—everyone suffers.
And when people aren’t part of the church—the church suffers.
When someone decides that they would rather sit this season out…
…or skip a week or month or whatever—things get stalled.
Christ’s Body is weakened.
Everyone loses.
Let’s face it; this world is a mess.
Homeless and hungry men, women and children walk our streets and live under bridges, in the woods or in extended stay hotels.
The rich are getting richer; the poor are getting poorer—it seems that everyone is out for themselves.
People are scattered, lost, divided, afraid.
But God has not given up on us.
Because we cannot make it on our own, God, out of His great love for us sent His Son into this world to be our Leader, our Savior, our King.
And Jesus, as God’s Son, taught us how we are to treat one another.
He reached out to everyone in love and concern.
He sought relationships with the people of His own race, but also with people of the “so-called” enemy races.
He brought together people divided by gender, class, and color—and called it His Church.
As Paul puts it so well in Galatians 3:28: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
So, here in 2016…as we approach Thanksgiving, Advent and then Christmas when we are supposed to celebrate the birth of our King—can we sincerely say that “There is neither American nor foreigner, Democrat nor Republican, rich nor poor, black nor white, Mexican nor European, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus”?
In our Scripture passage for this morning, the good promise of God comes in the midst of a bad situation.
Humans have messed up what God is still able and willing to fix.
There is hope.
There is assurance, no matter how bad things might look.
Jeremiah speaks powerfully both to what God will do in the future and to what God is doing through those who will be the sheep of His pasture right here and right now.
There are great possibilities for your life, for my life, and for the life of this Church and community.
Will we allow Christ to gather us together and lead us and be King of our hearts, our lives, our time, our talents, our gifts?
Will we live together in love for God and neighbor?
Will we work together in mission as the Church of Christ the King?
If so, we will grow closer to one another and to other people and accomplish great things.
If not, we all will lose.
Including those outside the Church.
God’s Word is for right now and it also looks forward to the future, a different future, that belongs to God.
And since God is the Only One with a truly secure future, don’t we all want to be found in Him?
