When Jesus was
baptized a voice from heaven declared Him to be the Servant King: "Thou art my beloved
son, in thee I am well pleased." That voice from heaven marked out the peculiar
nature that His ministry would possess.
The
first words "Thou art my beloved Son" are a direct quote from Psalm 2:7, the coronation
formula for a King. The second phrase "With
thee I am well pleased" comes from Isaiah 42:1, the ordaining formula of a Servant of God who is sent forth to establish
justice in the earth even at the cost of suffering.
Right
from the start, Jesus' ministry embodied both the authority and power of a world ruler and the atoning power of a world servant.
This
fusion of the roles of ruler and slave is well pictured in Graham Kendrick's hymn, The
Servant King. He speaks of God entering our world as a vulnerable child with
His glory veiled and coming not to be served but to serve. He vividly pictures
the King of Creation as the Christ who died for us:
"Come see His hands and His feet,
The scars that speak of sacrifice;
Hands that flung stars into space,
To cruel nails surrendered."
This
is our God! The Servant King! This
is the Savior who calls us to follow His example in 2006. Let me tell you of
two things for which He calls us.
1.
He calls us to recognize our inheritance.
God
wants us to know whose we are and who we are.
Growing up in Great Britain back in the 1970’s
I was well acquainted with the humor of the comedy show, Monty Python's Flying Circus. There
is a skit in their film, The Holy Grail, where Sir Launcelot is standing with his son and heir, Prince Herbert, looking out
of the castle window and surveying the hills and valleys of the land that stretches before them. Sir Launcelot bids the child look out of the window and says, "One day, lad, all this will be yours!" Prince Herbert glances at the drapes and replies, "What, the curtains?"
Such small mindedness and narrowness of vision is not limited to the Herbert's of this world. Myopic vision is a malaise of many Christians as they fail to discern their inheritance as children of God.
Our God is the King of Creation. He
has made this world a place full of beauty, extravagant beyond our wildest imaginings. St Paul struggled to describe the richness
of His blessings. In Ephesians 1:18 Paul writes: "I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may
know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing
greatness of His power toward us who believe."
God
wants us to know whose we are and who
we are.
The
character, Mr. Magoo, is famous for his blundering escapades as he makes his short sighted journey through life. He can't see anymore than what is right in front of him. Shortsighted Christianity defines religion in terms
of the church, and the church in terms of what happens for an hour or two on a Sunday.
For
Jesus to be enthroned in our lives means something far greater. It means that
His rule must be the one that. . .
affects our thinking when we are in our place of work,
guides our decisions as to how we relate to our families and friends, and
determines the choices we make in regard to our lifestyle.
Until
our religion encompasses every area of our lives, it is nothing more than a lifeless echo of something that could be. God calls us to recognize our inheritance. God
wants us to know whose we are and who
we are and to act accordingly. God adopts us into God’s family for a purpose.
2.
He calls us to Service
When Jesus was baptized it was an action of commissioning for service. For
thirty years He had stayed in Nazareth and worked as a carpenter. But as early as the age of
twelve, He had an awareness that His true destiny lay elsewhere.
Maybe the emergence of John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness was the sign He had been waiting for. In response to John, Jesus knew it was time to launch out on His own unique mission. Because the bible tells us that Jesus was fully human, I like to think that He wandered down to the Jordan's banks with a few doubts
in His mind. I like to picture Jesus scrambling down the bank with some unanswered
questions swirling around – Was this really the time and the place? Has my Father really called me to this task?
Why? Because in every life there are moments of decision which can be accepted or rejected. New Years are a times for resolutions. The
bread and wine that are laid on the communion table present us with a choice. To
receive them in faith is to say to God, "Yes I hear Your call, and yes, I will follow."
But
there may be a few doubts in our mind – Lord, what if I let You down? Lord,
what if I can't see this through to the end? Lord, I will go, but will You provide
me with what I need?
Notice
this. It was at His moment of decision that Jesus received affirmation from God:
Matthew 3:17 – “You are my beloved Son.” Right then Jesus knew whose
He was and who He was. Right there
and then He was equipped by God for the days that lay ahead, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him.
God
calls us His beloved daughters and sons. God expects us to respond. God wants us to know whose and who we are and to live like children of the most High God. God seeks
to equip us with His Holy Spirit and tells us, "Go into the world as my representatives,
my ambassadors. Go in the name of Jesus, bearing my love.”
Though
we may have doubts, though we may have fears, though we may feel ‘Lord, I don’t know if I can make it as a disciple’;
when we come to the place of surrender we can find the assurance and empowering to see it through.
I
invite you as we come to a time of commitment around the communion table to come not only with your doubts and fears but also
with a faith in your heart that recognizes that God is greater than whatever this year may bring your way.
Come
to the table with that sort of faith whispering in your heart, and the Holy Spirit will take that mustard seed of faith and
help it to grow. You will find both the strength to see things through and the
assurance that you are doing the right thing. Though we are weak, the love of
God is strong. What God requires is that we come to the place of surrender, in
order that His love may take us to places we cannot reach without God’s strength.
Away
with myopic short-sightedness, limited vision, self seeking, only-on-Sunday Christianity!
The only place that can take us is down a street called loneliness and to a place called despair. Remember the song Elvis Presley, the ‘King’, sang?
“Well, since my baby left me, I found a new place to dwell.
It’s down at
the end of lonely street, At heartbreak hotel.
It’s ever so lonely baby, ever so lonely,
I get so lonely
I could die.”
Elvis
Presley, a singer of great talent whose life ended so tragically, was a King of this world, but he was not the sort of King
that God calls us to follow. Our God is the King of Kings, not the Concierge
of the Heartbreak Hotel. Our God calls us to life, not death, and to a life that
knows His presence, not a life of loneliness.
God
wants us to know whose we are and who we are and to give ourselves to the task of doing Christ’s will.
The
concluding verse of the hymn "The Servant King" takes the form of a prayer.
"So let us learn how to serve,
And in our lives enthrone Him;
Each others needs to prefer,
For it is Christ we are serving."
To
be a follower of Jesus Christ is both an awesome privilege and an awesome responsibility. We
are called to be servant people, committed to doing the will of the servant king.
We
are children of the most High God. We are those God calls by name and empowers
for Christ’s service. We are disciples of Jesus Christ, the living Lord
and Savior, forgiven by Grace and being renewed by love.
We are ambassadors for the Kingdom of God. We are called to transform the life of this world through
the action of God’s Holy Spirit inspiring us to live Scripture centered, spiritually focused, prayerful lives that lift
up the name of Jesus Christ and bring His love to others in as many different ways as we are different people.
Know whose you are.
You are a child of the most High God.
Know who you are.
A unique creation of God whom God calls by name.
Know what you are called to do.
To lay your life before God, that God may accomplish great things in you and through you
that will assure you of God’s presence and affirm the truth of His Word in your life.
To God’s name be the Glory!
Rev. Adrian J. Pratt
