November 20, 2021 Christ The King Sunday

https://youtu.be/tWr3zCAma6k

John 18:33-37   ³³Pilate went back into the Praetorium and summoned Jesus. He asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷“You are a king then?” Pilate asked. Jesus answered, “I am, as you say, a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

 

The Truth Is...

 1. Our King was handed over in place of us.

2. Our King’s rule is out of this world.  

In the name of Jesus, the King of Love, dear fellow redeemed, 

     Recently I ran across a page of jokes on the internet.   One of jokes went like this….”You may be 58 years of age, but your knees are 81 years old and  your back is 68 years old.  But the good news is your sense of humor is still frequently 10 years old.”  Isn’t that the truth!    Another one said, “You work five days a week.  You shop seven days a week.  No wonder your finances often don't work out well by the end of the year.”  I guess that’s true too.  Truth- it is something we look for but don’t see very often in our world.  One of the places we look for truth in is the courtroom.   Sometimes even with expert witnesses and sophisticated technology, it is still pretty hard to sort out the truth even in the courtroom.

     Today in God’s Word we get a look into the courtroom where the Only True and Holy One is on trial.   Many people didn’t see the truth in Pilate’s courtroom that day years ago.  But you have seen Him.  Over the last year, on the pages of Scripture, you have seen the truth.   As we have gone through the church year, we’ve seen the King.  In His Word He was born just as God promised in Bethlehem.  We saw him nailed to a cross and buried in a tomb.  We thrilled to hear the news of Easter that he did not stay dead but rose again.  We heard about his ascension into heaven and his promise to return.  We’ve had a chance to review his promises.  On this Christ the King Weekend, we wrap up the church year reminding ourselves of the truths of our King Jesus!  The Truth Is... 1. Our King was handed over in place of us.  2. Our King’s rule is out of this world.

     Imagine going to a baseball game and seeing the umpire on the pitcher’s mound, the fans in the outfield and the batter on 1^st base.  Nobody is where they are supposed to be.  If you had been come upon the scene in front of Pilate’s palace that morning, it might have seemed like no one was where they were supposed to be.  It would have been difficult to see the king and the truth He brings.   Even Pilate, the one who was supposed to be judging the situation, was confused.  "Pilate went back into the Praetorium and summoned Jesus. He asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” "  Jesus wasn’t sitting on a throne. He was bound and standing where criminals stand when they are on trial.  The Lord of heaven and earth was all bloody and beaten up.  The truth is Jesus was standing exactly where he wanted to be- handed over in our place.  All of that was Jesus handed over in our place because  “he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant and became obedient to death even death on a cross.”

      Jesus made clear that the Son of Man came not to be served like so many earthly kings throughout history wanted to be served.  Jesus came to  serve and give his life as a ransom for many.  Even as Jesus was giving his life, here he is handing out invitations for people to know about Him and put their faith in Him. Jesus’ returned Pilate’s question with another question.  Jesus’ question was an invitation to learn more about the true King.   “Jesus answered, “Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”  

      In his response Pilate marvels that Jesus was turned over by his own people and he scoffs at the idea that Jesus could mean anything to him.  "Pilate answered, “Am I a Jew? Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done?”   What have you done, Jesus that your own people have handed you over?  Since the Romans normally looked for someone who had military experience to be a governor, he had probably seen the horror on the faces of the people when one of their own people were stretched out on a cross to die.   It all begs the question of what Jesus had done to make his countrymen so angry that they handed him over with the demand that he be tortured to death on a cross.  

     It was true in more than one way that Jesus’ own people turned him over to be crucified.  Judas betrayed him.  The chief priests and teachers of the law turned him over to Pilate.  Many people in the crowd shouted for Jesus to be killed.  They all turned him over but the truth is…we did too.

      This king died to pay for the sins of his own people.  God punished him for the things we did wrong.  The Bible says, “He was crushed for our iniquities and by his wounds we are healed.”   All too often Satan has tricked us into betraying Jesus-maybe we’ve sung Stand up Stand Up for Jesus and then promptly sat down when the pressure was on.   In our sinful foolishness we listened to the devil time and time again.  We turned him over.  But Jesus the King turned the tables on the devil.  He redeemed sinners.  He saved His people.  He saved you and me.  Jesus is the king handed over by His own people.  And the truth is that’s how he saved His people!

    Did it ever happen that when you asked your mom or dad to do something and you began it with a compliment that Mom or dad was a little suspicious?  Pilate is a little cautious like that on Good Friday morning. Standing before him were the Jewish religious leaders pretending to be a great friend to Caesar when they really could not stand the Roman government. Even though Jesus had made clear on many occasions that he had no interest in setting up a kingdom here on earth, they accused him of being a rebel, a threat to Caesar’s throne. Pilate seemed to know something wasn’t quite right as he pokes around a little.  Jesus makes it clear.  The truth is….2.  Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. 

     Jesus makes clear that what He is about is bigger than Pilate or even the Roman Empire.  This was the plan of God!  The fact that some of the leaders of his own people handed him over to Pilate instead of making him an earthly kingdom did not signal the end of God’s plan.  Jesus had told his disciples before what God’s plan was.  “We are going up to Jerusalem and the son of man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law.  They will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified.  On the third day he will be raised to life!”  Jesus knew that God had woven the sinful actions of these so called religious leaders into his plan.  

     “Jesus replied, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I would not be handed over to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here.” 37“You are a king then?” Pilate asked. Jesus answered, “I am, as you say, a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”   Pilate was right Jesus was a king! But fighting people to establish a kingdom here on earth was not what he had in mind.  Remember he said, “I lay down my life of my own accord.  No one takes it from me.”  Jesus was not interested in setting up or keeping an earthly kingdom.  That’s pretty clear.  Remember just one angel killed 185,000 soldiers in Sennacherib’s army in one night.  So keeping Jesus from being arrested would have been simple. 

      There were no soldiers lining up to defend the honor of their king, rather here was the King fighting for His people. What kind of tools does a king use?  Jesus, the King of all, uses truth as His weapon. “I am, as you say, a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”   The truth says that without Jesus we are all doomed to suffer eternal punishment in hell without Jesus. "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." That by the way is a truth that people in our world do not want to hear-our sinful natures don’t like to hear it either.   But the truth also says that Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world on the cross. "He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."  The truth says that it is by God given faith that Jesus’ payment benefits you and me and makes us children of God and servants in God’s Kingdom. "It is by grace you have been saved through faith and this not from yourselves it is a gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast." The truth says that because of Jesus we are going to live in the mansions of our King in heaven when we die that are "out of this world."  Jesus isn’t talking about some tinfoil hat out of this world place.  He is talking about heaven, where things aren’t all messed up by sin.  No more hurt.  No more hate.

       Getting pretty tired of all the lies in our world?  Jesus is a good king. He doesn’t lie.  The truth He tells brings life. The truth is we have a King who laid down his life for us.  The truth is he is with us and will one day take us home.   Looking back on a church year we thank him for his truth.  With confidence in our King we move forward into the future.  Amen.

 

November 6-8, 2021 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Malachi 4:1-3 “HAPPY JUDGMENT DAY!”

 

LAST JUDGMENT

November 6-8, 2021

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Malachi 4:1-3

 

“HAPPY JUDGMENT DAY!”

1.     A day when Jesus will be honored.

2.     A day when Jesus will honor you!

 

Malachi 4:1-3 EHV “Look! The day is coming, burning like a blast furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord of Armies, a day that will not leave behind a root or branch for them. ² But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and there will be healing in its wings. You will go out and jump around like calves from the stall. ³ You will trample the wicked. They will surely be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I take action, says the Lord of Armies.”

 

          We have this way of greeting people when they come to a special day. Happy Birthday! Happy Retirement! Happy Anniversary! You’ve said or heard them before. How about Happy Judgment Day! Now I realize it’s not here yet but normally Judgment Day is not pictured as a day of happiness. If the entertainment industry tries to lure you to watch a movie sequel or buy a video game and attaches Judgment Day to it, they are promising a lot of destruction. Several times this past year you have heard a Gospel lesson where Jesus told parables picturing the last day. He often ended them with something like “and throw those rascals into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” And what did we pastors say right after reading that? “This is the Gospel of the Lord.”  Gospel? Doesn’t that mean Good News? Doesn’t sound like good news. But it is. Brothers and sisters join me today as we look at what God says so we are prepared one day to say, “Happy Judgment Day!”

          The word of God we are looking at comes from the last book of the Old Testament to be written. The last chapter. For the next 400 years God would tell no prophets to write anything down until after Jesus came. These were the last things God wanted His Old Testament people thinking about as they waited and waited. While they waited, they would see worshippers of false gods seemingly having it better than they. They would be ruled by foreign governments and pressured to follow foreign gods. 

          God gave them something to look forward to. Judgment Day. “Look! The day is coming, burning like a blast furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble. The day that is coming will set them on fire, says the Lord of Armies, a day that will not leave behind a root or branch for them.”  Judgment Day is going to be a happy day when the followers of the one true God will see Him honored. But for some it will not be a happy day. For whom? The arrogant and the evildoer. Now at first glance we might find ourselves getting a little scared. Have I ever been arrogant? Have I ever done evil? Yes, many times over. But the particular arrogance and evil that God is talking about here is rejecting Jesus as Savior and replacing Him with anything else. Think on this, brothers and sisters. When our first parents, Adam and Eve, fell into sin God would have been well within His rights to wipe them out and all of us along with them and starting over. He would have been well within his rights to say, “OK, I’ll give you another chance but it will cost you, every one of you, your firstborn. They must die.” Now think of who fills that spot in your family. Fathers, think of having to do that deed. But that is not what God said. He said I will give my firstborn, my only begotten Son, instead, and I will lift my hand against Him and He will pay for you have done. No greater love.

          And then some dare to say Jesus is a prophet but Muhammed is greater. We will follow him. And others say Jesus? He’s the illegitimate son of a Roman soldier and some Jewish whore. And still others say “Jesus is great. But if you really want to be with God you have to do your part.” In other words. Jesus you weren’t quite good enough. Your sacrifice on the cross was not enough. Blasphemy! And others. There is no God. I am the captain of my soul. I will steal if I want to. I will kill if I want to. I will do it my way. Others crave earthly power and wealth so much that the murder thousands of their own people using torture and imprisonment and fear to stay in power. Why? Because they have rejected what God says about earthly and eternal life. All of that is the type of evil and arrogance that God is talking about.

          On Judgment Day they will be readied for the furnace of Hell. That there will be no root or branch left means there is no hope. No second chance. If you have seen and paintings of Hell or videos that have tried to portray it you may still find yourself thinking that Judgment Day can’t be happy. It doesn’t seem something to celebrate. But then maybe you think of some of the worst people the earth has produced and you waver. Take Hitler for instance. Several times as people have grappled with grace, they have asked, “Could Hitler be forgiven?” And the true answer is Yes. God’s grace is such that any believer no matter what they have done is fully forgiven. But did Hitler believe? There is nothing in what he said or did that can lead you to that conclusion. His existence is a constant crematorium.  Is it not right that people rejoice when justice is done? Of course it is. But Judgment Day is more than that!

          Jesus will be honored. All those who rejected Him, replaced Him with their own way to heaven and have said much worse about Him will acknowledge Him for who He is. All those who chose to use His name as a curse word rather than in prayer will say it with awe. All of those who used His words and His people as moneymaking schemes will honor Him instead of themselves. Yes, the Devil and all the evil angels will publicly, in front of everyone, bend the knee and acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord. Now that’s something to be happy about. Jesus, our Lord, our Savior, our substitute, finally treated with the honor He deserves by every one! That’s a day to look forward to. Happy Judgment Day!

          But there’s more. The Bible reveals that on Judgment Day Jesus will honor you. Sounds a little out of place doesn’t it? Let’s go back to birthdays. On a birthday it’s the one who birthday it is that gets celebrated. Take Delores Gunkel who last Sunday celebrated her 93^rd. Rightly she was honored in special ways that day. Hopefully all year long by her kids too. Maybe some of you have run into this too. When my girls were young and the birthday parties were a big thing often they would get invited to a classmate’s birthday party and come back with all sorts of candy and toys they were given for attending. I found myself asking, “Now just whose birthday was it anyway?”

          A similar thing on Judgment Day. “But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise, and there will be healing in its wings. You will go out and jump around like calves from the stall.”  For you who fear my name. This isn’t fear as in I’m scared of you. This is the revere fear. I respect. I don’t want to disappoint. I want your approval. It’s the perfect father child relationship that is a response to a perfect Father’s love. You can just put in there, “For you who believe in My Son Jesus, it’s Happy Judgment Day.” It’s like watching the sun begin to rise after a long cold night. It’s the healing of souls who are told you have no sins to pay for. Jesus has paid for them in full. It’s you. Any of you who have seen calves let out of the barn for the first time in spring know the joy they have as they do their own version of Jump Around. That’s you and me on Judgment Day. Jesus will publicly claim us as His own. He will tell everyone we are innocent and we will be with Him forever and we were right.

          And we will join Him in pronouncing judgment. “You will trample the wicked. They will surely be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I take action, says the Lord of Armies.” You know what this is? Vindication. You have your feelings right now. You chafe when evildoers seem to get away with things. You feel the sense of hurt and betrayal when it seems like God does not reward your efforts or lets evil grow in our country despite your prayers and your efforts. A part of you thinks of the time you have spent, the money you have given, the sacrifices made and a doubt creeps in. Is it worth it? Happy Judgment Day! Then those who have mocked or made fun of will not be laughing. But you will. Not at the suffering they will get but that Jesus honors you in letting you be part of that Judgment.

          Now before we let God’s goodness to us with public vindication turn to unholy glee or schadenfreude, a word of warning and encouragement. Judgment Day is also called Last Judgment. It’s called Last Judgment because it’s not the first. The first, as you heard in the lesson from the Hebrews, is when you die. That means today is the day to be found standing among those who believe. And today you do. Keep it up. Take care of your faith and you will have a Happy Judgment Day. Amen.