"Destination: Kingsland"

Matthew 25:31-46

This is Christ the King Sunday. The last Sunday of the church year. Next year is a new church year. This is like New Year's Eve in a way. A time to remember what we have gone through and Who we have been with as we have journeyed.  Jesus, our Christ, is today lauded as our King.

Perhaps you do not like the term King. Perhaps that becomes baggage for you. Perhaps you do not like to think of Jesus as a royal king with a scepter and a crown as some hymns portray him on this Sunday.  Perhaps you do not want to journey to our destination this week, which I am calling Kingsland.

And yet, this scripture reminds us so clearly of what it means to be a KING in Jesus terms.
Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,  I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.'


The world, the KINGdom, that Jesus ushers in is a kingdom where the hungry are fed, the thirsty are refreshed, the strangers are welcomed, the naked are clothed, the sick are cared for and the imprisoned are visited. That is the KINGdom that Jesus brings. Not a world where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, but a world where everyone is loved and appreciated.

Our statement of welcome posted on the church website and on our community bulletin board reads:
Niwot United Methodist Church welcomes and honors everyone without regard to sexual orientation, race, nationality, gender, family structure, ethnic background, economic circumstances, difference in ability, culture or age. You are actively invited to visit, fully participate in, and join our Christian community.

Knowing this about ourselves, we should actively participate in living into these words, which are echoed also in Matthew's words to us this week in Chapter 25.  We are, of course, not supposed to sit on the sidelines and wait for Jesus to create the Kingdom of God. We are not supposed to sit on the sidelines and wait for the church staff to create, along with Jesus, the Kingdom of God. We are, as people who call ourselves Christians, supposed to be ushering in the Kingdom of God along with Jesus here and now... just as we claim to do in our website welcome.

You see, Christ the King Sunday is a day to honor the radical nature of being Christ the King. A king who washes the feet of his friends, a king who touches the unclean, a king who welcomes and embraces those the world does not.

This Sunday, let us remember that radical leadership and radical embracing and welcoming that Jesus teaches us. And may we move into the next year fully ready to be just that radical in our sharing of God's love.   That is how we reach our Destination: Kingsland.  That is how we move into the neighborhood of God. Kingsland is on our doorstep.  Let us fling wide the doors and find it.

We will glorify the King of Kings, we will glorify the Lamb; we will glorify the Lord of Lords who is the great I AM. Hallelujah to the King of Kings, hallelujah to the Lamb; hallelujah to the Lord of Lords, who is the great I AM. 

He has made me glad, he has made me glad. I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

Questions? Comments? Email me or comment below.