Not to be confused with devotionals, the so - called `sermonettes.' This sermon was so close to the subject of this site that I will just present my notes from his sermon here. They are notes, so they aren't totally complete recordings of the sermon, but the general idea is what is most important about them.
(Shows the children a statue representing Christ the shepherd). Is this what Jesus looks like?...We don't really know what he looks like?...Well, Jesus is the king who sits on the throne of our hearts, so, to see Jesus, all you have to do is look at someone who knows Jesus and you will see him. See this guy over here? Jesus has gray hair!...And over here...Jesus has red hair.
Jeremiah 23:1-6. "The Lord our Righteousness."
Christ the King Sunday was established in 1925 by Pope Pius 11. Christ rules in our hearts, and we ought to proclaim it to the world. Christ the king Sunday was on the last Sunday of October. Catholics could celebrate it, but we were too busy celebrating the reformation. The Vatican council made it the last Sunday so we could all celebrate it together.
Today we celebrate Christ's meekness and majesty. Meekness is complete dependence and trust in God. Christ showed meekness in Gesthemane in his prayers. We want to have the meekness of Christ. But you can't have the meekness that trusts in the majesty of God until you have a personal relationship with Jesus.
I was at a prayer meeting one time. We were discussing this very same point, that it is not enough to have religion, that you need to have a personal relationship with Christ to go with it. Quite a few asked me, "What does that mean?"
Religion is you and I trying to see God. We try to get God's attention through our actions and good works and tithing. We hope God will notice. That's religion. We try to barter with God, or we see it as an insurance policy, something not to be taken too seriously. People either see it as a casual or a serious thing. They are either casual or serious in their seeking of God.
When Jesus said that "not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, he was teaching a bunch of guys that just sat there nodding their heads. He warned them that God wouldn't be impressed when they said, "Lord, lord, did we not cast out demons in your name?" This was because they had religion, not a personal relationship with God. They had acts of praise, not a relationship with Jesus.
In a relationship, God finds you, instead of you finding God. There is no "trying" here. God finds us. God found us, you and I.
Religion says, "I want to be a child of God." Religion says, "I sure hope I can be forgiven." Religion says, "I hope God will love me."
Relationship, on the other hand, tells us every day that God loves you. Religion is institutional. You can be a Catholic or a Lutheran or a Baptist, that's religion. Religion says, "I want to be a saint." In Christ, in our spiritual relationship, we are saints. "It is not I who live, but Christ who lives in me."
Jeremiah speaks of a relationship in the Old Testament. "The Lord is Our Righteousness." Jehoiakim was in the temple of God every day. He had religion, but not God. He didn't have a relationship with God. He was too stuck on himself. Cain had religion. Abel had a relationship with God, so God rewarded Abel instead of him.
When Jeremiah spoke of the Branch who would bring justice, deal wisely with the people and take care of God's people, he spoke of Jesus. He talked of one who went to the cross. "The Lord our righteousness." Most of the time, we focus on the other descriptions, like Jesus as the prince of peace. But Jesus is also "the Lord our righteousness."
The epistle from Colossians 1:13-20 says we are called from the dominion of darkness to the kingdom of the Son. We all have been in the dark. The darkness of bad relationships. Things we shouldn't have done. We say to ourselves, "I can get out of this through religion." But we never got out until the light of Jesus came.
Because of our relationship, God says we are "my holy, my beloved."
Why are we forgiven? Because God says so. We don't have to "feel it." You can have a headache and back pains and still be forgiven and loved by God. God says you are loved. We have the righteousness of Christ.
God contacts us through Jesus. We are free to be children of God, because you are. You no longer need to say, "I'll try to be a child of God," because you already are one.
We're Christian, free to love. We don't choose who to love. It doesn't matter what economic level others are at, or what they look like. And we don't love others to get brownie points with God. We are free to forgive.
Some people hear of Jesus' forgiveness and still get angry at their neighbor. But they're free to forgive as we are.
To love and forgive others won't get you any further into heaven, because we're already "there" through Jesus.
We are free to love, we don't need good deed jars.
We don't have to explain anything away. I can't explain why people die or why certain people suffer. We have the righteousness of Christ, and we know that God will work through all things for good. Trust God. God knows our needs. We don't have to understand it. God takes care of it.
God is our king. He rules with equity and justice. We are free to face the reality of who we are. We are sinful and frail creatures, dependent on Jesus. We are the meek who know the majesty of his love.