Colossians 1.11-20 Luke
23.33-43
Let me begin by reading again some of those verses from Colossians...
Now Christ is the visible
expression of the invisible God. He existed before creation began, for it was
through him that everything was made, whether spiritual or material, seen or
unseen. Through him, and for him, also, were created power and dominion, ownership
and authority. In fact, every single thing was created through, and for him. He
is both the first principle and the upholding principle of the whole scheme of
creation. And now he is the head of the body, which is composed of all
Christian people. Life from nothing began through him, and life from the dead
began through him, and he is, therefore, justly called the Lord of all. It was
in him that the full nature of God chose to live, and through him, God planned
to reconcile in his own person, as it were, everything on earth and everything
in Heaven by virtue of the sacrifice of the cross.
Laying my words against
these is not unlike laying Cubic
zirconia next to a high cut diamond. However, I will prevail because of the importance of our subject matter this morning – Christ the King.
Today brings to a close our Lectionary Year C and next
week we begin with Year A.
What could be more fitting as we begin the journey to
the crib that we reflect once more on the journey to the cross as we have done
in our Gospel reading.A journey summed up perfectly in Philippians 2 as Paul encourages the Christians in Philippi to live as the people of God in that place by reflecting upon Jesus…
‘Who
always had the nature of God,
but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God.
Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant.
He became like a human being
and appeared in human likeness.
He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—
his death on the cross.
For this reason, God raised him to the highest place above, and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
And so, in honour of the name of Jesus
all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below
will fall on their knees,
and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.’
but he did not think that by force he should try to remain equal with God.
Instead of this, of his own free will he gave up all he had, and took the nature of a servant.
He became like a human being
and appeared in human likeness.
He was humble and walked the path of obedience all the way to death—
his death on the cross.
For this reason, God raised him to the highest place above, and gave him the name that is greater than any other name.
And so, in honour of the name of Jesus
all beings in heaven, on earth, and in the world below
will fall on their knees,
and all will openly proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.’
‘There was a written notice above him, which read;
THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.’
And we proclaim as the Scriptures we have considered
so far attest, Jesus is not only the King of the Jews but King over all the
earth.
As one Facebook post said, Trump may be President but
Jesus is King – we do well to remember that.
Proclaiming Jesus as King is one of the reasons I like
the Christus Rex.
‘That God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.’
That is why when we sing a
certain song I change the words from ‘the wrath of God was satisfied’ to ‘the
love of God was glorified.’
The cross of shame became
the crown of glory by the redeeming power of God’s love for the world.
That is the bit we often
miss in John 3.16, ‘for God so loved the world...’
For, we are saved not from the world but for the world.
‘For God so loved the
world…’
And if we are ‘in Christ’
If we have accepted His
amazing gift of love and grace
Then each and every one of us
has a God given task and a vocation as a disciple of Jesus.
‘Michael Quoist in his book
‘The Christian Response’ writes;
‘You are a unique and
irreplaceable actor in the drama of human history, and Jesus Christ has need of
you to make known his salvific work in this particular place and at this
particular moment in history.’
We proclaim Christ Jesus as
Lord of all creation.
As we heard from Colossians…
‘He is both the first
principle and the upholding principle of the whole scheme of creation.’
And it was St Augustine who said;
‘If Jesus is not Lord of all then he is not Lord at all.’
I hope by now you will have
noticed the far reaching implications of this proclamation, Jesus is King, and
the radical nature of the Lord’s Prayer 
He has been like some
peculiar old man who lives up in the attic visited by those who like that kind
of thing.
Christian faith, indeed any
faith belief, was considered an outdated notion that over time would wither and
fall away in the bright light of reason and rationalism.
Science offered a hope of bright
new future; science would be the saviour of all.
And we must accept that it
has brought us enormous benefits.
However, it has also brought
us as one of its first inventions the guillotine, an effective way of killing
people. Then Nazi scientist and engineers who devised a way of killing vast
numbers of people took this to a whole new level.
For Christians however,
following Jesus is much more than paying the occasional visit or saying the odd
prayer. We proclaim Jesus as King, Lord and Saviour over all creation and over every
aspect of our lives – and this is but the first step.
Paul writing to the
Corinthian church says…
‘You show that you are a
letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with
the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human
hearts.’
That is what we are called
to become – a letter from Christ to our family and friends, to our community,
to our nation and to the world.
A letter that proclaims
Christ Jesus as Lord and King.
A letter that demonstrates a
better way of ordering our affairs
A letter that shows how to
live an authentic beautiful life in pursuit of holiness.
A letter that speaks to
those in authority reminding them that one day they will be judged and called
to account.
A letter that commends
anything that bears the hallmark of the Kingdom of God.
Today we hear a good deal
about ‘make the switch’ from banks to utilities to phone companies.
Today you can make the most
important switch you could ever make… Colossians1.13
‘For he has rescued us from
the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son’
Let me ask you this morning
– which kingdom are you living in?
The offer is there – but you
have to make the switch and accept Jesus as King, Lord and Saviour.
And this is more, much more
than a way of introducing a spiritual element into your life.
This is not some detox destress
type thing.
This is the real deal that affects
everything…
Paul writing to the
Corinthians reminds them…
‘Do you not know that your
bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received
from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honour
God with your bodies.’ 1 Cor.6.19-20
Therefore, if we are loyal
and devoted disciples of King Jesus how are we going to live out that reality
in the days, weeks, months and years ahead? 
On the 23rd February,
the Church remembers blessed Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna in the 2nd
century. During a time of severe persecution by Rome Polycarp was arrested and
brought before the Proconsul.
“Swear,” urged the Proconsul, “reproach Christ, and I will set you free.” “86
years have I served him,” Polycarp declared, “and he has done me no wrong. How
can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?”
Going back even further Joshua put this choice before the people of Israel…
“But if serving the LORD
seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will
serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods
of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household,
we will serve the LORD." Joshua 24.15
Part of our human make up is
that we all live for somebody or something – we all in effect chose to serve
someone or something.
Brothers and sisters in
Christ may this be our song, our prayer and our pledge…
Lord for ourselves; in living power remake us-self on the cross, and Christ upon the throne,
past put behind us, for the future take us:
Lord of our lives, to live for Christ alone.
Amen
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