Christ the King B, 2024

Christ the King, Year B

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

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

Our sermon this morning is focused on the Gospel lesson, in which Jesus tells his followers that no one knows when he’s coming back, but that there will be signs. This morning we will consider how we wait for the return of our King.

A mother was asked by her young son “Mom, what was the highest number you have ever counted to?” She didn't know but asked about his highest number. He replied “5372.” “Oh,” she said. “Why did you stop there?” “Church was over.”

Waiting can be hard. It’s bad enough when you know how long you have to wait. Like a child waiting for Christmas morning. Or an adult waiting for Friday afternoon. You know it’s coming. You know how far away it is. You count down the days, the minutes…maybe even the seconds.

How much harder is it when you have to wait for something that you *don’t* know how long it will be? You can’t have a countdown, because you don’t know what your starting number is. This feeling is described in the old saying “like watching water boil”. Eventually it will get there… you just don’t know when. Like looking at your watch and wondering how long the sermon will go on...

That’s a big part of what today is about. Christ the King Sunday is the day when we bring an end to the anticipation of the long, green season - the Season after Pentecost. Since early June, we’ve been hearing lessons about growth and discipleship and the life of faith. More recently, the lessons have turned to looking forward to the end times… that day that has a few different names, but is most well known as Judgment Day.

The season began right after Christ’s ascension into heaven to sit at the right hand of Our Father. And now the season ends with a look forward to when He returns from heaven in glory “to judge the living and the dead.” What comes next? “…and His Kingdom will have no end.” He is our King. We are citizens of His Kingdom.

As Americans, we don’t live under a king. In fact, our very nation was founded as a rejection of an earthly king. I sometimes wonder if that doesn’t hinder our ability to accept our heavenly king… Maybe it would help if we define the term. Luther describes this in his explanation of the 2nd article of the Creed:

“‘I believe that Jesus Christ, true Son of God, has become my Lord.’ What is it to ‘become a Lord’? It means that he has redeemed me from sin, from the devil, from death, and from all evil. Before this I had no Lord and King but was captive under the power of the devil… [Now, Jesus] has snatched us, poor lost creatures, from the jaws of hell, won us, made us free, and restored us to the Father’s favor and grace. He has taken us as his own, under his protection, in order that he may rule us by his righteousness, wisdom, power, life, and blessedness. Let this be the summary of this article, that the little word ‘Lord’ simply means the same as Redeemer, that is, he who has brought us back from the devil to God, from death to life, from sin to righteousness, and now keeps us safe there. The remaining parts of this article simply serve to clarify and express how and by what means this redemption was accomplished—that is, how much it cost Christ and what he paid and risked in order to win us and bring us under his dominion.” [Tappert, 414]

How does it feel to know that you have been bought? That someone has purchased you? Make you squirm a little bit? It sure does me. We don’t think in those terms, for reasons that should be obvious - we see one person owning another as both illegal and immoral. It’s just plain wrong. But we’re not talking about a mere person who bought us. This is the Son of God. And he bought us to deliver us from destroying ourselves. He bought us to set us free from the bondage we had doomed ourselves to. And in that purchase, we became servants. We became subjects in his kingdom. But we also became his brothers and sisters. And this is the only king who does not demand that we bow to him, but rather it is he who humbles himself. Instead of us on our knees in front of him, it is he who washes the feet of his disciples. This is a king like no other king.

So why does he not tell us when his return will be? Wouldn’t that be more practical? More reasonable? Well, first of all, Jesus tells us that even he doesn’t know when that day will be: “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” [Mark 13:32, ESV]

Jesus doesn’t tell us because he doesn’t know. Kind of hard to imagine, huh? That there’s something the Son of God doesn’t know... It seems pretty clear from the writings of Paul and the other evangelists that they believed Jesus would return during *their* lifetimes. The early Christian Church fathers - at least some of them - also seemed to think that Jesus’ return would be during their lifetimes. And so as the centuries passed between Jesus’ ascension into heaven and today, many people have claimed that Jesus was coming again “soon” and that Judgment Day was imminent. Not so much.

I think - and this is just my belief - that there is a reason that God doesn’t want us to know when it will happen. One more illustration. At the US Air Force Academy, from the very beginning of freshman year, cadets are told how many days until they graduate. The freshman class are tasked with keeping track of this so that anytime a sophomore, junior, or senior cadet asks “how many days until I graduate” the freshman can rattle off a number. Then, 100 days before the annual graduation ceremony, the seniors start a very visible countdown. Many will take a roll of toilet paper and label 100 sheets with the numbers from 100 to 1 and tear off a sheet each day. They focus on the numbers. They can’t wait to get until the end of that roll, to see that last number torn off to mark the end of the journey.

How much time and energy was put into watching the calendar, counting the days, memorizing and updating the numbers, labeling the TP rolls? How much attention did it take up? And because of that, what did they miss? If you’re so caught up looking at the calendar, what could you have been doing? What opportunities pass by while you’re counting?

Of course we want to be with God. That’s what all of our church year points us to. That’s what Christ’s death and resurrection have achieved for us - eternity with God in paradise (eternal life) instead of an eternity damned to be separated from God - true, eternal death. That is our ultimate goal. But we cannot be so utterly focused on the end that we neglect the present. There is much kingdom work to do. There are others who don’t yet have the Gospel. There are those who need care and help. There are those whose feet we need to wash. And so our King calls us to stop looking at the calendar and the clock and do his work.

Four times in Mark 13 Jesus tells his friends “stay awake”. He uses a parable to explain it, but it bears a closer look. This is more than merely making sure the door is open when the master returns. The sense here is not that the master will return soon, but unexpectedly. We simply cannot anticipate when it will happen.

For instance, if Jesus were to walk in the doors right now, what would we do differently? Remember that whole “what would Jesus do” movement? Maybe it should have said “what if Jesus was here?” Why don’t we conduct ourselves like he could appear in front of us at any moment? Isn’t that what this passage tells us? If Jesus’ physical presence in front of us would cause a change in our behavior, why? Why would we not conduct ourselves the same whether he’s physically standing in front of us or not? We know he’s in our hearts…or we claim to… we should not let that be different.

A doorkeeper’s responsibility is to “be awake and ready at all times to open the door when his master returns.” [Hultgren, 266] For the doorkeeper “to be found asleep is the worst of possibilities. Metaphorically the term can mean to be spiritually lazy or indifferent. Here it [is slightly different], meaning to be spiritually unprepared.” [Ibid., 267]

There are several other parables that Jesus uses that talk about a master leaving for a while and putting servants in charge during his absence. All of them apply to us. This one gives us another angle in how we should view his absence and look forward to his return. Yes, we are to be constantly vigilant in awaiting his second coming. But not at the expense of what’s going on in the world around us right now. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite. I like how Arland Hultgren explains this: “As each of the slaves was given his own work to do during the absence of the master, so each follower of Jesus has tasks to do between the time of Jesus’ resurrection and his coming again… If one is faithful to one’s calling, the matter of the timing of the Lord’s coming is of no consequence. The force of the need to be vigilant means that the Christian will be ever open to the advent of God and always prepared for the coming of Christ. That will be, first of all, a spiritual readiness that allows for the presence and reign of God and Christ in one’s daily life. And that, in turn, implies a readiness for Christ’s return in glory.” [Ibid., 268]

I hope you heard the word “advent” in that last section. We’ll look at that next week.

Brothers and sisters, let’s not be the ones looking at our watches. Let’s be the ones who are remembering why we hope in the Lord and the eternity He has won for us. Let’s be grateful for our Savior who went to the cross to pay the price we couldn’t pay. And instead of counting days, let’s count the blessings we have because of the King who gave himself up for us, and conquered death and the grave to ensure our eternity is secure. Let’s count the opportunities we have to do the work He has entrusted to us. That way, when He does return in glory, we’re not only ready, but we will face the surprise not like it’s a pop quiz, but like it’s a surprise party, and we get to celebrate with Him. That’s the King we celebrate today. Let’s look forward to His return in faithful obedience, just as he has taught us in His Word.

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