Christ the King or Reign of Christ, Proper 29

Grace to you ....amen

today is Christ the King Sunday

a peculiar festival for Christians

a day - placed at an odd time for us

sometime around thanksgiving

that marks the end of one church year

and the beginning of another

Christ the King Sunday

sets the stage for advent

a season in which anticipate

the festival of Christmas

a celebration of the God

who has come to abide with us

but also a time for us to focus

on the return of Christ

in Gods fullness

and how all will know the truth

that Christ is indeed sovereign over us all

all three lessons for today

help us understand

the nature of Christ - rule

and Christ's place in God's overall plan

for humanity

we start with a reading

from the book of Ezekiel

which describes God

as the good shepherd

that God is the shepherd

you want to have for a shepherd

and - as Rolph Jacobsen

professor at Luther Seminary

reminded me in a podcast this past week

whenever you hear Shepherd language...

...know that it always refers to the king

it refers to the political leader of the day

this chapter

in Ezekiel

contrasts God as the good shepherd

the good leader

the good king

with the worlds shepherds

with the world's kings

with the world's political leaders

ezekiel warns us:

the worlds shepherds

are focused on feeding themselves

the world shepherds

are focused on lining their own pockets

the worlds shepherds

care only for themselves

that was true back then

would you agree with me

it rings true - for us today as well

that the worlds shepherds

care less about the needs of the sheep

than they care about themselves

ezekiel depicts that...

when a lamb is injured

when a little lamb is wanting

when the one under their charge

is hurting

or despairing

the worldly shepherds

care not

the worldly kings

care not

the worldly political leaders

care not

they have no compassion

in contrast to the world's shepherds

to the worlds political leaders

God promises to set up over all

one shepherd

a righteous shepherd

a shepherd - called David

that passage in Ezekiel

tells of Gods rescue mission

that this shepherd will carry out...

a rescue mission

that seeks to gather

the people back unto God

they have been divided

the herd has been split

they have been driven away from each other

this is language - that thousands of years ago

and yet - incredibly

describes so well -

the world in which we live

todoy

do you feel that we're split apart

torn asunder

divided

do you feel as if we are two or more communities...

in speaking of God's flock

and God's rescue mission

in Ezekiel the 34th chapter

it is to gather them in

under one godly shepherd

do you -

like i do -

yearn for that reunion...

not one that occurs under the banner of this politician

or that politician...

but under the reign of Jesus Christ

and there

i will feed them with good pasture - says God

and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture

they shall lie down in good grazing land

they shall feed

on rich pasture

in the mountains of Israel

and I myself will be

the Shepherd of the Sheep

and I will make them lie Down

says the Lord God

I will seek the lost

I will bring back they strayed

I will bind up the injured

and I will strengthen the weak

that is Gods saving mission

to bring back all peoples

the whole flock

that has been divided

hither and yon.

in Ephesians - today - we read

i pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ

the father of glory

may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation

as you come to know him

so that with the eyes of your heart

and enlightened

you may know

what is the hope

to which he has called you

what are the riches

of his glorious inheritance

among the saints

and a little further down

god has put his power to work

in Christ

when he raised him

from the dead and seated him

at his right hand in the heavenly places

far above all rule and authority

and power and dominion

and above every name

that is named

not only in this age

but also in the age to come

...

scripture is saying - even now

even now - in the future

Jesus has power and dominion

that power

that Dominion of Christ

present even now

even now we confess that

i Jesus is Lord

The world of course doesn't recognize it

in our gospel lesson

Jesus describes the values

of life lived in this kingdom

one that turns everything upside down

that isn't based on power

and might

in the traditional worldly sense

but draws its power and might

from acts of service

given without even realizing it

to the least of these

Jesus turns what it means to be powerful

and kingly completely on his head

in the world didn’t know what to do with it

back then

Scripture says

that immediately after Jesus teaches them

about the kingdom of God

the scribes and the Pharisees

come together

seeking to have Jesus killed

but they don't wanna do it

for fear of uprising

during the Passover

they won't wait for long though

and our world

still today

doesn't seem as if

it has changed much

leaders still seem to be focused more on themselves

self-preservation and their own welfare

while the welfare of the poor

and the lowly go on taken care of

and the sheep

due to this lack of leader ship

seem more and more dispersed

as a flock all the time

it is therefore

so very important for us

to remember

our true citizenship - in Gods kingdom

and remember our name as a community of faith

Lord of life Lutheran Church

for this description that Ezekiel talks about

of the gathering together of the flock

and the good pastor that they are

that god desires for us

the good life that God desires for us

in the hope spoken about

in this passage

in ephesians

is none other

than a life that is lived

in its fullness

it is completeness

and it's joyfulness

and the truth of the gospel

is that we get our fullest joy

we get our greatest satisfaction

we are filled with life

and life abundantly

when we don't live it for our selves

instead live it for others

but we embody the gospel

for all those

who have whatever need

they might have left to our own

we might conclude

as we read this gospel text

that God is all about the law

it's just do you do good stuff

to other people

but in fact Rich and full life

is one as we looked at I'll look to

in the book of Matthew

is one in which

is it's marked by compassion

for others

elsewhere in Matthew

we read of many acts of mercy

the feeding of the multitudes

because he has compassion on them

<more here>

but the fat and the strong I will destroy

i will feed them with justice

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