Shepherd and King

Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24, Psalm 100, Ephesians 1:15-23, Matthew 25:31-46

Twenty Seventh Sunday after Pentecost, Christ the King Sunday

Heritage Congregational Church, Madison, WI

He is the Son of Man who is seated on the throne, the central character in Matthew’s gospel story. He is the One of glory with riches to bestow in Ephesians. He Ezekiel’s shepherd who will gather the people together from all the nations and place them in their rightful home. And, in Psalm 100, He is both King, the only sovereign, and Shepherd, the one who cares for the sheep of His pasture. He is Christ. And He is both King and Shepherd.

Today is Christ the King Sunday, the day celebrating Christ’s rule for all eternity which ends the church year and leads us back to the beginning, to the season of Advent where we await His birth.

I find it appropriate for this day of Christ’s Kingship to end the year that begins with the anticipation of His birth. We begin with God’s promise coming to life through the birth of a child. As the church year progresses, we watch that child grow into His birthright and take hold of His ministry. We share with Him as he teaches and heals and prays. We suffer with Him as He is mocked, tortured and dies. We rejoice at the miracle of His Resurrection. And then we spend the rest of the church year learning to live as He would have us, all because in the end it is He who we worship and adore, for He is King of Heaven and earth. It is He who is King of our lives. And so on this day, we celebrate Christ the King.

But in today’s passages we have two very interesting images of Jesus presented. We have a King—filled with majesty and power and riches to bestow. And we have a gentle Shepherd—working with the sheep for their protection and their good. We have on one hand a picture of a far away King in Heaven, and on the other a Shepherd working with the people where they are. One is removed, and one has a hands-on approach. How do these two images reconcile themselves into one being, into the one Christ we worship and adore?

In Ezekiel, we find the people scattered and lost. In most of Ezekiel’s text we are faced with prophecies of doom and gloom, of destruction and exile. But in this text we find a different kind of prophecy. The promise of a Shepherd is one of hope and wholeness, of restoration. When the Shepherd’s work is done the people will be back where they belong, together with each other and together with their Shepherd. The reference to David is one of Messianic hope, so even in this passage we find the Shepherd who is also a King (one like David).

In our beautiful Psalm, we also find a message of hope and joy. This Psalm is like today in the church year—a celebration—a festival proclaiming God’s goodness to us. The Lord is God, the Psalm says. God made us and we belong to God. We are the sheep of God’s pasture. In other words, we know who God is and we know who we are. So let’s celebrate! Let us give thanks and praise! There is no greater thing than the Lord’s goodness and steadfast love. God is faithful to us for all eternity. God is King!

The beautiful text of Ephesians is filled with a multitude of sermons about who Christ is and who we are as Christ’s people. But in light of Christ’s Kingship, we find the following truths: Jesus is the glorified One. He has riches to bestow upon us. These riches are our inheritance. Christ’s power is more than just large in size, it is immeasurable in its goodness, in its greatness. And, Christ will be King forever, over all things. He is far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, over every name that is named, in this life and in the life to come. Jesus is King over the Church, His body here on earth.

And in Matthew, we find Jesus the King, sitting on His throne, sitting in judgment of the people of the world. This King talks to the people directly and challenges them to see His need and to act as He would act, with compassion and love that is practical. Jesus’ Kingship is one of authority and power, a political position, but it is also one of social awareness, one of meeting all people where there are and providing for their needs.

All together, we find a Christ that is both King and Shepherd. A Christ that has all the authority there is, and yet is concerned with the lives of each and every person. Truly, there is no better example of Christ’s transcendence and immanence. God is both here and there. He is both seated at the Father’s right hand in Heaven, and here with us on earth, working with us personally to restore us to wholeness and right relationship.

This is the truth of Jesus. He is both King and Shepherd, both humble and strong, both here and there. This is the wholeness of who He is. This is why we follow Him. This is why we worship Him.

I find the complexity of Jesus’ being reflected in our own lives of faith. We are to be both confident in our faith, sure and strong, and at the same time humble, meek and mild. We are called to believe with all our hearts, to be passionate and to act in faith, and yet we are to put others before ourselves and help to meet the very real needs of God’s people. Living with this contrast can be quite a challenge, quite a balancing act. How can we be both humble and sure? How can we be confident in our faith and put others first? It can be a puzzle, and sometimes we think about it way too much!

In Ephesians, Paul says that we are Christ’s body, that the Church is the fullness of Christ who fills all in all. I think that means we are supposed to feel this pull, this contrast. We are to reflect Christ, to live out His ministry on this earth. We are to reflect both King and Shepherd. We are to embrace all of who Christ is and live it. We do not need to lord ourselves over one another to prove confidence in our faith, we only have to live our faith with confidence, accepting Jesus’ challenge to look for His face in the faces of those we meet. That is where our confident faith will serve us best. If we believe, we will love. If we love, we will serve. If we serve, we will work to alleviate suffering. If we believe, we will let our confident faith lead us to be the Church, Christ’s body, living out the fullness of His being, both King and Shepherd. Compassionate and caring, we will give of ourselves as Christ did, relying on His Father in Heaven for strength and guidance, freely and humbly offering what we have been given so that others may see Jesus and come to know Him. It begins here, within these walls, and when we leave here it extends outside our doors. This is our wholeness.

May our lives show that Christ is King! May we celebrate our love for Him each and every day with our faith lived to its fullest. May we be the whole people Christ would have us be. Amen.