Christ the King A, 2023

Christ the King Sunday, Year A

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Brothers and sisters in Christ: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Christ the King Sunday - the very culmination of the Church Year. This is the day when we most especially look forward to the return of our King in His final victory…in His great glory…to judge between the sheep and the goats, and to make all things new. To sit on the throne that is rightfully His - the Throne of Glory… as we hear at the beginning of our Gospel lesson:

Matthew 25:31 (ESV)

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

What comes to mind when you hear the word “glory”? Did you think of the “glorious” victory of your favorite football team over this long weekend? Or did you think of the movie “Glory” with Matthew Broderick as a much-too-young Civil War colonel fighting on the Union side, leading a company of freed slaves, who were some of the hardest-fighting men of the entire conflict…?

Personally, I think this is one of those words that we use a lot on Sunday mornings, but we really don’t have a good-enough grasp of its meaning. We don’t really use it in our lives outside of church. At least not in the sense that it means in the Bible.

In the New Testament, the word for glory is “doxa”, which has a variety of meanings in biblical Greek. In ancient times, Doxa was used as a name for both women and ships. In this use, we have an original name for light comparable to other names for women. These names have helped to preserve the oldest and most concrete meaning of this word: “light” or “radiance”, a definition we see time and again throughout the Bible. [Kittel, 235] In later Greek (as it is used by the writers of the New Testament), the word “glory” starts to be associated with the meaning of “doxa” - as in today’s Gospel. Doxa can also mean:

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (B. The NT Use of δόξα, I.)

“reflection” in the sense of “image”: man is the δόξα [of God] and woman the δόξα [of man], 1 Cor. 11:7.

There are other scholars who give the word doxa a more abstract meaning, something like “the one who stands in good repute.” This certainly fits with other uses of doxa in the Gospels: honor or reputation.

So far, the most complete example I found to define doxa is this: “it denotes ‘divine and heavenly radiance,’ the ‘loftiness and majesty’ of God, and even the ‘being of God’ and His world.” [Kittel, 237] It also is the root of our word “doxology” - doxa, plus logos (word) gives us “song or hymn of praise”.

But the New Testament word in Greek is linked - obviously - to the Old Testament word in Hebrew kabode, which means prestige among the nations… that which gives it standing and importance.” How well does that work for “the glory of God”?

What struck me next in the study of this Hebrew word is how it uses the characteristics of a thunderstorm, especially of the lightning from the storm, as in:

Psalm 97:2–4 (ESV)

Clouds and thick darkness are all around him;

righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.

Fire goes before him

and burns up his adversaries all around.

His lightnings light up the world;

the earth sees and trembles.

God’s “light” and “radiance”…like a bolt of lightning!

Moses asked if he could see God’s glory…but what God allowed him to see was quite different from a thunderstorm or a bolt of lightning. When God’s glory *is* present with His people, He typically uses a cloud. He led them with a pillar of cloud by day. When Moses ascended Mt. Sinai, the cloud hovered above and then covered the mountain. In the tent of meeting, the cloud covers the tent and then fills the inside of it. Do you remember the dedication of Solomon’s temple?

2 Chronicles 7:1–2 (ESV)

As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. And the priests could not enter the house of the Lord, because the glory of the Lord filled the Lord’s house.

The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (C. כָּבוֹד in the OT.)

The nature of the [glory of God] itself is to be [thought of] as a radiant, fiery substance. [Fire then comes from it] which consumes the awaiting sacrifice, and after speaking with God Moses has a radiance of [his face] which dazzles the Israelites.

So the cloud is actually more of a veil, not God’s actual “glory”. When the cloud is lifted in the tent, and Moses is exposed more directly to God’s glory, his own skin takes on some of God’s glory, and he then also “shines” with a Godly radiance.

Sometimes in the Old Testament, especially in the psalms, this Hebrew word for glory really comes across as just another word for Yahweh Himself. Other times, it is used to acknowledge the greatness of God. There are many demands to “give” glory to God (Jeremiah 13, Psalms 29, 96, 115), but it’s important to remember that glory is not something that God is ever without. In this sense, we - the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand - are being asked to recognize the glory He already has, and what is due to Him - the importance of His deity and the greatness of His Lordship…His Kingdom…His reign.

Maybe even more important is that the glory of God is also a theme of hope and a significant part of our expectations of God’s final victory. In this sense, God’s glory is the final accomplishment of His claim to rule the world. [Kittel, 242] Let’s just absorb that for a moment. God’s glory is talking about when He accomplishes - finally and fully - His promise to rule over everything.

Matthew 25:31–32 (ESV)

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

To have that much authority over people is to be fully in control of their destinies. Complete and total power to do with them as He sees fit. The authority of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

This glory is “to be given to Him by those who praise Him, i.e., confirmed and accepted by their conduct.” [Kittel, 244] Now this is where we can see how we - the members of His flock - fit into the picture. We give God glory by our conduct… by doing all that Christ mentions in Matthew 25: giving food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty; welcoming the stranger; clothing the naked; visiting the sick and the imprisoned.

I know this passage is hard for us Lutherans to hear - it certainly sounds like works righteousness, doesn’t it? I submit to you that it’s not the works themselves - these acts of ministry that Jesus describes - that determine whether He will put you at His right hand or His left. It’s *why* you did or did not do these things.

Remember how we are saved? Paul tells us

Ephesians 2:8–9 (ESV)

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

When you have the faith that saves, the “works” that Paul is talking about will naturally flow from that faith.

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

If we don’t do good works, do we really have faith… saving faith? I don’t think so.

And here’s something else to consider about Jesus’ explanation of the sheep and the goats: “the sheep had no idea whatsoever that, in their compassion toward people in need, they were providing ministry to the Son of Man, and, likewise, the goats had not a clue that, in their indifference, they were in fact neglecting the Lord of all nations. Both groups are stunned and exclaim, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison?’” [Long, 284] Not knowing who they were tending to or who they were ignoring, they showed their true colors. They showed their hearts. They lived out their faith…or lack thereof.

I have to tell you… I have lifted up Advent Lutheran Church to my own congregation and to some of my friends; what a act of faith it was to sell your building to follow God’s Will for your lives together! I’ve spoken with Pastor Jones at length about your journey and your discernment and I continue to marvel at your story. It’s clear to me that you *are* living out your faith. May God continue to lead you on His path, especially with what’s on the horizon for you!

I’ll close with the words of biblical scholar Thomas Long, whose books on preaching have been commended to me by several of my most respected mentors. He says this: “the Christian church is sent out to the world on a vital mission—to bear witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. The ‘good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the world, as a testimony to all the nations’ (Matt. 24:14). The gospel, however, is more than mere words, and the church proclaims the gospel by living in the world as Jesus lived. The disciple is to be like the teacher (Matt. 10:24); the church must become humble like a child and show hospitality to those in need (Matt. 18:1–5). In Matthew’s Gospel, if you want to find Jesus, look among those who are ‘harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd’ (Matt. 9:36). The church that is faithful will be found in precisely the same place.” [Long, 286].

Brothers and sisters: you, too, have been sent out to the world on this same vital mission. As you follow God’s will for your church family, may you never lose sight of the call to bear witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone around you, both within the walls where you gather to worship, and outside those walls. And may all who hear your witness see you as a church that is indeed faithful.

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.