There’s an old adage that contains the words,
"God’s in his heaven and all’s right with the world," but we can simply look
around and see that this is not true. Though we celebrate Christ as King today,
it is perfectly clear that this has not yet been realized in full. There are
many people who do not accept the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There are many who
don’t even acknowledge that there is a Creator. We are left with the belief
that this must be a virtual reality kind of thing. We need to be looking at
the world through certain lenses--the lenses of faith--to see that it is indeed
true that Christ is King.When we approach life with this attitude it becomes easy for us to recognize the various ways that God is at work in our world despite all the evils and difficulties we see. We know that this is the real truth that people long to see, but many for whatever reason are kept from admitting it, being blinded by Satan or the lures of the world or their own sinful natures.
The Gospel truth is that Jesus is King whether or not any choose to admit it and serve him. We who trust in him for salvation are thrilled to know how the story ends. He wins! And because he wins, we also win. Christ came 2000 years ago in a humble way, but the next time we see him, he will be coming on the clouds in all his royal splendor. All who love him will rejoice and bow down on that day. But all who do not love him will also bow, but they will bow in fear. There will be no question as to who Jesus is then. Even Pilate and the others who condemned him to death will know and tremble. All evil will be vanquished and those who believe in Christ will reign with him in his Kingdom.
So what should our reaction be to a day like today? I think it should move us to do several things. First it should move us to want to share the news of the salvation Jesus made available to us through his death on the cross and glorious resurrection. When we are confronted with the fact that Christ is coming again we want to be sure we and all our loved ones are on the right side.
Second, we want to get ready for that day by learning how to worship. It is important that we see ourselves as loyal subjects in the presence of the Ruler of the Universe. I read, "Carl Jung told of a man who asked a rabbi, "How come in the olden days God would show Himself to people, but today nobody ever sees God?" The rabbi said, "Because nowadays nobody can bow low enough." Let this mind be in us which was in Christ Jesus, who emptied Himself, and became a servant." [1,001 Contemporary Illustrations-www.heavenword.com]
We may not be perfect worshipers, but with practice we can stretch our worship muscles and learn to bow lower and lower. We learn how to worship by actively and regularly worshiping God ourselves and seeing the examples of others worshiping. I don’t know about you, but I want to experience the great varieties of worship that is out there; that is one way to stretch our spiritual muscles. I also want to shape up my vocal chords so I will be in rare voice when the King of Kings comes to listen to my song. I want to learn as many songs as I possibly can so when Jesus has a request hopefully I can say, "I know that one," and sing along.
Thirdly, we will want to study the Scriptures to discover the character of the King we serve; we also desire to learn what Jesus had to say about the Kingdom and how it is made known in daily life. As we study Scripture we need to find out what it is God is saying to us through that Word, which brings us to the fourth response to being reminded of Christ’s kingship.
We will want to be in communication with the One from whom we take our marching orders. All this month we have been emphasizing this topic. It’s called prayer. As we sit in meditation on God’s Word and open ourselves to all that God might be saying to us, we gain direction and power to accomplish what it is that God wants us to do.
God wants us to come to him in this way. God promises to give us the ability to do whatever it is he is calling us to do I’m reminded of the story of a certain father and his son. The "...father was watching his young son try to dislodge a heavy stone. The boy couldn't budge it. "Are you sure you are using all your strength?" the father asked. "Yes, I am," said the exasperated boy. "No, you are not," the father replied. "You haven't asked me to help you."" 1,001 Contemporary Illustrations-www.heavenword.com]
Our heavenly Father has all the power of the universe at his disposal and he offers us the opportunity and even encourages us to call upon it. If we don’t, we are as unsuccessful at tapping all the resources available to us as the little boy in the story.
Too often our prayers are either tentative and ask for little, or go to the other extreme and not want to bother God with what we might consider small matters. Both of these come from not being truly acquainted with the great love God has for each of us. God is desperately, hopelessly in love with us. We are the apples of his eyes. We need to discover what Nancy Spiegelberg discovered and wrote about in this poem: "Lord, I crawled across the barrenness to you with my empty cup Uncertain in asking any small drop of refreshment. If only I had known you better I’d have come running with a bucket."[Green, Michael P., ed. Baker Bookhouse:1989. Illustrations for Biblical Preaching, p. 273.]
On the other side we also need to keep all of life in perspective and not consider anything too trivial to bring to God. Those prayers are really easy for God to grant, and God loves to provide good things for his people as we love to give good gifts to our children. A conversation between G. Campbell Morgan and a woman is most instructive as we decide what is too small a thing to bring to God. She asked, "‘Do you think we ought to pray about even the little things in life?’ Dr. Morgan, in his typically understated British manner, replied ‘Madam, can you think of anything in your life that is big to God?’" To God causing a war to cease or helping us to find a parking place is equally easy. It is only when we realize that does the awesomeness of being invited to pray and being assured that our prayers influence our God really strike us. Knowing this is true brings us to my next point.
The fifth reaction we should have to a day like today is to live out the knowledge that Christ is King in our daily lives. Through our prayer and study we learn the course God wants us to take and gain the power to accomplish what God asks us to do. Being made aware of and empowered to do God’s will, we can bring God’s reign to bear on our communities as we live righteously and call others to do so as well. Michael Green reminds us of the influence early missionaries had on the state motto of Hawaii. "It expresses a great truth in the Hawaiian language: Ua mau ke ia o ka aina I ka pono, which means, "The life of the land is preserved in righteousness."
Righteousness is what preserves a nation, not a Declaration of Independence or a Constitution, [a Supreme Court, or a president]and not even Congress or its laws. What sustains and perpetuates a national identity is the righteousness of its people--the reflection of their recognizing their need for God, worked out in their relationships with one another." [Green, p. 307]
We wish that were more true in our society. Especially since the national election there has been an overarching feeling of distrust and accusations of unrighteousness in our land. We want to know the truth about who is supposed to be president. We want God’s truth to protect us as we face encounters with others in our workplaces, schools, homes, and communities.
We long for that day when Christ’s rule will be apparent, but that will not happen until he comes again in his glory. What a time of rejoicing that will be for those of us who acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior--when life in the Kingdom will be anactualized rather than simply a virtual reality! But in the meantime, we are left as hints of what is to come. We are his ambassadors. We live in the already, but not yetness of the coming Kingdom. We love our brothers and sisters in Christ and we reach out to those who do not yet know our king. We show them just what Christ’s reign would mean and how wonderful it would be if everyone lived under his righteous rule and spoke his truth. May our lives declare Christ’s lordship and may they lead many others to know the truth, listen to our Savior’s voice, and come and worship.