"Allegiance to the Reign" - Sermon, November 24, 2019

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Community UMC, Quincy
“Abiding in the Reign: Allegiance to the Reign”
Rev. Andrew Davis
November 24, 2019
Jeremiah 23: 1-6
Luke 23: 32-43

            Once again, time has flown by this year, as here we are at the edge of another holiday with Thanksgiving coming this Thursday, then it will be all about Christmas until December 25.  Meanwhile, in the church, we come to the end of the church year with today being Christ the King, or Reign of Christ Sunday.  It’s one of those preacher’s conundrum’s, as we have both Thanksgiving and Christ the King Sunday, as this is the first time this has come up in my time of being a pastor.  While Thanksgiving has been around much longer, Christ the King Sunday is a fairly new construct in the Christian year, as we look at Jesus’s kingship this morning and conclude our November worship series, “Abiding in the Reign.”   
To set some historical context for this morning, Christ the King Sunday was created in 1925 by Pope Pius XI.  During that time, much of Europe was still dealing with the aftermath of WWI, while some of the world powers were beginning to assert their control and rise to power, and the world at the time was quite frankly a giant mess.  In a historical article explained by The Rev. Dr. Lucy Lind Hogan, “the Pope felt that the followers of Christ were being lured away by the increasing secularism of the world.  They were choosing to live in the ‘kingdom’ of the world rather than in the reign of Christ.”[i] Of course, Christ the King is different than any king and his kingdom will be much different than any of the kingdoms here on earth today.  It will be a kingdom that will turn any other kingdom upside down, although we stand in the in-between times of Jesus’s birth, death, ascension, and second coming, which we will be talking some about when we begin a new church year with the season of Advent next Sunday.  It is also an opportunity to swear our allegiance to Christ as we swear allegiance to the reign of Christ.  
When we think about kings and kingdoms, we might think about something of the Legend of Zelda video games, Game of Thrones, fairy tales, nations where there is a monarchy, or even our own government in DC or Sacramento.  As a follower of Christ, I swear allegiance to Christ and the kingdom of heaven, which can lead to some healthy tension with those who believe in the kings and kingdoms of the world.  That’s okay, as Jesus does say to “give to Caesar what is Caesar and give to God what is God’s,” as like the rest of us, I pay my taxes, serve jury duty when summoned, vote, and other civic duties.  It doesn’t mean that we disavow our nation and world. As followers of Christ an swear allegiance to his reign, “our faith in its most basic form is about a relationship with this person Jesus, whom we call Christ, or the Messiah.  
He is the one who reigns over us, the one in whom we find our identity and our being.”[ii]. In our allegiance to the reign of Christ, “we will find ourselves more completely.  When we bow to this Christ, we stand stronger and taller than at any time, with any other allegiance.”[iii]
As we engage with our texts this morning, we revisit the prophet Jeremiah whom we’ve encountered quite a bit this Fall.  In this morning’s lesson from the prophet, there is a lot of chaos happening in the kings and kingdom of the world.  God is not happy with the rulers of the land of Judah, as shepherds are equated with rulers in this context.  The rulers of the land have neglected their people, failed to listen to their people, and as a result, will be scattered about, just like Judah would be carried off into exile in Babylon.  On the other hand, God will ultimately return the good rulers to their land with their people, although is implying the coming Messiah in verses 5 and 6 when God says through the prophet, “the time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David.  That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land.  When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace.  He will be called ‘the Lord of our Salvation,” in other words savior of the nations (Jer. 23: 5-6, GNT).  Like other prophetic texts, we see a message of judgment followed by a message of hope.  And this lays the groundwork for the season of Advent, as we will hear other prophecies, mainly from Isaiah that proclaim a messiah, many, many years before Jesus will be born and long before his crucifixion.  
In our Gospel lesson, we come right back to Good Friday, the moment when Jesus was crucified and being proclaimed ‘King of the Jews,’ which is placed above his head on the cross in a sarcastic fashion, as he is mocked mercilessly by the soldiers and one of the criminals who is crucified with him.  Yet, the other criminal being crucified with Jesus has a little more compassion, and Jesus tells him, “I promise that today, you will be in Paradise with me” (Luke 23: 43, GNT).  It’s a poignant moment of the grace that Jesus offers the criminal being executed alongside him, as crucifixion was a shameful and barbaric way to die in public.  At the same time, it’s the same grace that Jesus offers us today, that we too can be in Paradise with him.  Instead of cursing those who mock him, Jesus asks God for their forgiveness, even if they may not necessarily swear allegiance to the reign of God.  Jesus can forgive us too, giving us an example to live by. 
When we abide in God’s reign here on earth and swear allegiance to the reign of God, I find more and more hope by swearing such an allegiance.  As I had some valuable conversation with my clergy mentor these last couple weeks, I’ve been taking Tony’s advice and have found myself not watching the news first thing, while finding the need to spend more time in quiet before starting the day, lighting one of those McCall’s candles that makes the house smell nice, and enjoying that first cup of coffee while self-reflecting on how I swear allegiance to and abide in Christ’s reign here on earth.  We’ve considered challenges in our world today, challenges in our church, or challenges in our own lives, and I continually find my hope in Christ our King, Christ our shepherd, and Christ the lamb who died on the cross out of his great love for humankind, so that he could conquer sin and conquer death.  And, join him in Paradise.  Christ’s death and resurrection is what swearing allegiance to the reign of Christ is about. On the cross, Jesus invited “his new friend to join him in this garden of suffering, this moment of glory.”[iv]  He invites us on that journey too, even when it calls for us to go where we don’t want to go or love someone we don’t want to love.  Even when he was hung on the cross, Jesus said “father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they’re doing.”
            Likewise, when we think of what is happening in Jeremiah and the need for a savior, we need to be mindful of our actions here on earth today.  Even though we live in a different time and place from when Jeremiah spoke and from when Jesus was crucified, Hebrew Bible scholar Kelly J. Murphy explains that
Our choices might not be as dire as “the way of life and the way of death,” but they are nevertheless significant and can affect both those near to us and those a world away. While we live in a world where we often want to place the blame for societal ills on political leaders or larger institutions, our choices -- political, economic, ideological, ecological, and more -- matter. Our voices, as people, count, as does our engagement or lack of engagement with the world around us. And so while we might hope that our political leaders will "execute justice and righteousness," in the here and now we make choices and we act -- and the choices we make impact whether justice and righteousness are found in the world around us.[v]  

When we swear our allegiance to the reign of Christ and as we abide in God’s reign, we need to keep on working towards bringing that kingdom here to earth today, particularly through our faith and through our works of love and mercy.  We aren’t always going to get it right 100% of the time because we are human and we are not perfect, yet it is by God’s grace that we are saved, and we accept that grace by responding in faith.  When we respond in faith, and in turn go out to share about our allegiance to the reign, 
The church’s witness is – counter to what the culture sees – that there is a grace-filled, crucified and risen, forgiving, spirit-transforming Lord whose reign is both here and yet coming.  It is all around us and still, not fully present.  It breaks in all the time and yet, we await its fullness.  The message is this: the lamb of God reigns.[vi]

            The Good News is that by swearing allegiance to the reign, ALL of us can receive God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness when we abide in the reign.  We are invited to join Christ in Paradise, even if we feel like we’re not worthy, because it’s Jesus who invites us to join him.  And by putting our faith and hope in Christ, and swearing allegiance to the reign, we have this king that is greater than any king or kingdom of this world, as we can join Christ our King in that glorious kingdom when it is our time to reach eternal life.  

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, let the church say, AMEN!

[i] Lucy Lind Hogan, “Commentary on John 18: 33-37” in WorkingPreacher 
[ii] Derek Weber, “Week Four: Allegiance to the Reign” in Discipleship Ministries Worship Resources, Accessed 20 November 2019, 
[iii] Ibid.
[iv] Ibid.  
[v] Kelly J. Murphy, “Commentary on Jeremiah 23: 1-6” in WorkingPreacher, Accessed 20 November 2019, 
[vi] Rolf Jacobsen, “Commentary on Luke 23: 32-43 in WorkingPreacher, Accessed 19 November 2019

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