Rapture in Reverse    -    Christ the King Sunday -  Thanksgiving November 20, 2005

There are two things happening this Sunday. It’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays. It’s also a church holiday, “Christ the King Sunday.” These two holidays don’t mix so easily. Thanksgiving is out of the kingdom of this world, straight from American history. Christ the King is the born in history of the church, the kingdom of God. Today I want to talk about politics and the Christian faith. There is a natural tension between the two kingdoms.

If you’re planning to travel, remember this Wednesday is the most heavily traveled day of the year- even bigger than Christmas. Across the country, families will gather, eat and celebrate together. I hope most of you all will say some kind of prayer. Thanksgiving is one day we can give thanks to God in our families. And that’s all well and good. Thanksgiving is also a community event. There are lots of football game to watch before or after the meal. I have to promise my family I will turn off the football game during the family meal.

The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday. For retailers, it’s a day to turn a profit. They will all get out of the red, and go into the black. For more and more people, Christmas shopping is more important the message of Christmas, the coming of Christ. This emphasis on shopping has robbed Christmas of it’s meaning. Christmas is time to remember that Jesus came down to us. But it’s hard to compete with all that stuff people like to buy, and the money they spend.

Frankly, I look forward to going to the annual parade and Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in downtown Fort Worth, if it’s not too cold. I image the mayor will say a few words before throwing the switch. Maybe this year they’ll have a minister give some kind of blessing or prayer before they light the tree. Of course, there could be a controversy over prayer.

The controversy over prayer at a public event or at in schools is always a heated discussion. Many Christians want to be able to have prayer in public places. But even among those who like public prayer, it gets dicey and divisive.

A few month ago, I was invited to give an invocation for the city council meeting. But they also sent me a letter telling me to leave out references to Jesus Christ, and pray simply to God. That way, people of all religions could join in. I simply started the prayer, “Almighty God,” and ended “ ...in your precious name we pray, amen.” I don’t have a problem with that.

But some ministers do have a problem with that. They believe that they must pray only in the name of Jesus Christ. So they must decline invitations to pray at city council meetings, or other public places. So how can we do both? This morning we’re doing that. We’re celebrating both a national holiday, Thanksgiving, and this church holy day, Christ the King. I think our Lutheran heritage has taught us something.

In the Reformation of the early 16th century, one of the issues was the authority of the local state, and the authority of the church, the Pope. Before the Reformation, there was confusion between the power of the Pope, and the power of the local government.

Dr. Martin Luther taught that Christians are members of two kingdoms, the kingdom of the world, and the kingdom of God. Both kingdoms belong to God. The kingdom of the world is driven by rulers, politics, and civil laws. The worldly kingdoms guard our economy, and provide order in the world. The kingdom of the world where we have in our country and flag. It’s the kingdom guarded by our soldiers, police and fire fighters.

Of course, government is always in need of revision, and fraught with corruption. I remember when I was fourteen years old, the Democratic National Convention was held in Atlantic City, my hometown. That meant that President Lyndon Johnson, and may other important political leaders were coming to town. Everyone was excited. The city did it’s best to roll out the red carpet.

On the day President Johnson arrived, my father took me to see him. It was huge crowd that lined the Atlantic Avenue down Park Place all the way to the Boardwalk. There were police everywhere. We waited and waited. Finally the motorcade came, and for about two seconds, I got to see president Johnson was waving out his car window to the crowd. That was 1964, and Johnson went on to defeat Barry Goldwater in a landslide. But in 1968, with the Vietnam War, trouble with the Civil Rights movement, inflation and the economy in decline, Johnson decided not to run again. He went home to Texas, and seldom went out in public.

Political power is kind of ironic, isn’t it? They come and go.

Thank God, we are also citizens of the kingdom of God. The power of God’s Kingdom comes out the power of Jesus Christ. It comes to us through those who followed Christ, the saints. Children of God, the kingdom of God is our eternal kingdom. It is the place where the saving grace of God is preached and given through baptism and Holy Communion.

The kingdom of God was the core of Jesus message. His purpose was to establish it. The kingdom of the world rejected him, and crucified him. But God raised him up, and Jesus promised to come again. He is now with God, but he told us that he would come again to judge the world and establish his kingdom over both heaven and earth. So what will it be like when Jesus comes again as king to judge us?

There has been a great deal of talk about the rapture. The rapture is based on the first part of the Book of Revelation, where God takes up all the good people, and leaves all the sinners for the final judgement. But at the end the book of Revelation, the heavenly city comes down to the earth. In the bible, the final word is not us going up, but God coming down. It a rapture in reverse, when God comes down to us.

One of the most striking portrayal of the final judgement is the one we find in Matthew 25:31 46. Jesus says he will come in all his glory with all the angels, he will sit on the his throne as the king of all creation. All the nations (25:32) will be gathered like a shepherd gathers his flocks. The word nations means foreigners of every kind. He will separate them like a shepherd, sheep on his right and the goats on the left. Those on his right, the sheep, will inherit the kingdom. Those on his left, the goats will be sent to hell.

The separation between all people is made according to how they treated the poor, the hungry, the sick, and the homeless. That’s as plain as possible. This is why in our congregation we are always helping the poor. Part of our benevolence to The ELCA and Synod is to help to poor. We give to Crowley House of Hope, Lutheran World Hunger, Lutheran Disaster Relief, in response to Christ. We helped with Habitat for Humanity. We helped Oaks Indian Mission for orphans.

But the reading from Matthew is more than just a command to help the poor. It is seeing Jesus himself. Jesus said that both those on his left and right will ask, "Lord when did he see you?" This is the question that we all want to know. Where is Jesus? When and how can we see him? If you ask someone where God is, most will point up to the sky, others might even point to the cross or to the altar. But here Jesus gives a startling answer. They saw Jesus hungry and gave him food, saw him thirsty and gave him drink, saw him sick and took care of him, saw him in prison and visited him. Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it to me." (Matthew 25:40)

Jesus says he is already here, but that no one saw him. Jesus says that when we see those in need, we see Christ himself. This is not Jesus way of trying to shame us into helping the poor. He’s not trying to leave us feeling guilty. The feeling of guilt is one way we our hearts can be transformed by the blood of Christ. Rather he is promising us that as we help those in need, we will see him and his kingdom coming down to us.

As a pastor, I have the privilege of visiting the sick. Many times as I pray with them, I know Christ is there, for both me and the one who I’m visiting. Christ is truly with us in those who are in need of any kind.

Let us pray. Our father in Heaven, this Thanksgiving National Holiday, we give thanks for all the nations of this world, and their leaders. Fill them with more of your wisdom. In your kingdom of heaven, give us eyes to see your son, Jesus Christ in those in need, and love them as you have loved us. Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. Amen!

Amen!