An Audience with The King

Text:  Matthew 25:31-46

Theme:  “An Audience with The King”

Christ the King Sunday

November 23, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

It’s not pope, president, prime minister, speaker of the house, senate majority leader, or Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, etc., and so forth.  We can be glad of that!  The text begins with “Son of Man”  -- a rather ordinary title, actually.  And then it no longer shows up in the reading.  We do get word of the “King”, though – two times!  The King has a word with both the sheep and the goats.

“Son of man.”  Jesus used that of Himself – and King too.  In addition, Jesus is referenced and confessed as “the Christ” (which means “anointed one” or “Messiah”).  Mix it all up, throw it in the air, and it gently and safely lands on this Sunday:  Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday in the church year.  Johann Sebastian Bach wrote “Wachet Auf” for just this day!  Even “Joy to the World”, that traditional Christmas carol, was not written for Christmas; it was written for today (but that’s another story)!  The chances are slim that you’ll find these musical items on an iTunes “Hip Hop” list!  Hyun-Kyung Lee, our organist, got us focused with today’s prelude, “Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven” (which fits perfectly on Christ the King Sunday)!  And we’ve just had the gift of hearing Christ confessed as “Lamb of God” (another great title for our Lord) in the choir anthem with its echoes of language from the book of Revelation.  There’s nothing in there about executive orders, comprehensive immigration legislation, or civil strife in Ferguson, Missouri.  Instead, it’s “Worthy the Lamb that died to be exalted thus!”

Our souls do not need advice.  They need food.  And what blessed nutrients, what rich fare is ours to enjoy in the liturgy – Lord’s Day worship -- as it works its way through the church year. 

So here we are on the last Sunday in that church year.  It’s always important to get one’s bearings straight.  You can get your bearings straight in the Apostles’ Creed too! 

I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.  We’re not in heaven; we’re on earth – the earth that God the Father made.  So, we’ve spotted/located ourselves in the first article of the Creed!

I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord – who was conceived by the Holy Ghost; born of the virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, dead, and buried.  He descended into hell.  On the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.  There we are – right between the ascension into heaven and the return to judge!  I thought we were lost for a moment, but no!  We spot ourselves in the second article.

I believe in the Holy Ghost; the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting.  Bingo!  There we are again – between the forgiveness of sins (which we already have – thanks be to God!) and the resurrection of the body (which we do not yet have – with Brother Jesus being the only exception)!  Whew!  I feel relief.  We’ve spotted ourselves in all three paragraphs of the Creed.  We’re not lost after all!

The question, though, based on today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, is this:  Are we among the sheep or the goats?  As we think of this, let me introduce the thoughts of a South African Bishop by the name of Peter Storey:  “You cannot ask Jesus into your heart alone. He will ask, ‘Can I bring my friends?’ You will look at his friends--the poor, the marginalized, the oppressed--and you will hesitate. But Jesus is clear, "Only if I can bring my friends."

One estimate is that roughly 2.1 trillion dollars of accumulated wealth is held in overseas tax havens.   Is that legal?  Yes.  Moral?  That’s a little more difficult to answer, isn’t it?   Well, someone crunched the numbers and discovered that just 1% of that could provide every homeless child with housing.

Although Snopes.com will not confirm or deny the story (they call it a “mixture”), the account of Rev. Jeremiah Steepek is fascinating.  Called to be pastor of a ten thousand member-plus congregation, he introduced himself in a strange way:  as a homeless beggar.  Beaten down and bedraggled looking, he wandered aimlessly through the cavernous sanctuary for thirty minutes before the service.  Thousands of people were there, only three people said hello.  He asked for change for food.  None was given.  Immediately before the service began, ushers asked him to sit in the back.  Time came to introduce the new senior pastor of the mega-church.  The congregation rose.  The beaten, bedraggled beggar walked down the aisle and took to the pulpit.  And he quoted our text; he said what Jesus said: 

34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

The difference between the sheep and the goats, when you get right down to it, is this:  the sheep have no idea that they were serving their King.  “When did we (do this)?” they ask.  The goats, on the other hand, blurt out the following:   “When did we see you (in need) and NOT help you?”

As days stretch into weeks, weeks into months, and months into years, I notice something more and more:  there’s a yearning for something out there.  I believe it’s a yearning for someONE!  It’s hard to put into words, but I think what folks are looking for is this:  an audience with the King.  They want to truly connect with God and with others.  They may never say it, but they’re desperate for it. 

As the church year draws to a close, we can always have an audience with the King; we can  be connected to God right now.  We just need to know where to look.  “Whatever you have done to the least of these my brothers and sisters, you have done to me.”

Amen.

Got Oil?

Text:  Matthew 25:1-13

Theme:  “Keep It Burnin’, Burnin’, Burnin’!”

22^nd Sunday after Pentecost

November 9, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

In case you didn’t know, there are 46 days remaining until Christmas! So now you know!   Do plan accordingly.  In some retail establishments, Christmas is already here!  The decorations are up.  The big Rockefeller Center Christmas tree for New York City, however, was – as of late last week – still sitting on the 18-wheeler.  I get the feeling that they’re slowing it down a bit at Starbucks, too.  There were some large, cardboard boxes in the back of the store here on University Drive.  They were wrapped in festive, red tape with the company logo.  The wording on it was as follows:  “Do not open until November 12^th.”  That would be this Wednesday.  Verizon Fios already has 24/7 Christmas music on channel 1840.  Satellite radio (Sirius/XM) will have four different “holiday” channels this year; the first one starts on Tuesday.  That should about cover it for now. 

We do tend to get ahead of ourselves.  I am grateful this morning that the church year puts on the brakes a bit.  If allowed to, it slows us down and lets us savor the moment (and moments!) we are in.  Traditionally, this is harvest time.  The Bible has quite a bit to say about harvest – what it means and what is to be done.  Also, it’s the stewardship season.  We are invited to consider our time, talent, and treasure and how best these gifts can be used to the glory of God.  Finally, this is that time of year when the appointed Scriptures bid us to look ahead – to the future and, even, the end.  Today’s Gospel from Matthew 25, our Lord’s parable of the wise and foolish virgins, illustrates this. 

The question on the table, offered up by the disciples for Jesus to answer, was this:  “…What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”  This inquiry was made privately and just days before Jesus was betrayed, arrested, tried, and crucified. 

What is the sign (or signs) of the end?  They wanted a little bit of a “heads up” on that, and who could blame them?   For starters, Jesus said nothing about zombies or a zombie apocalypse. More to the point, neither did He say:  “Well, I’m coming on February 18^th, in the year 2030, at 4:15pm Central Standard Time.  Put it on your calendar.”  He said not a word about when it would be. In fact, He said at the end of our passage:  “You do not know the day or the hour.”   

What He did describe is what it will be like.  “It will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. “  I’m thinking:  “That’s cool!  The end is going to be like a wedding with, presumably, a reception afterward.  It’s going to be party time!  No doom or gloom, fire and brimstone, or anything like that!  But wait.  What’s this bit about five of the virgins (or bridesmaids) being wise and five being foolish?”

So I keep thinking this through as I read the parable:  “The wise ones get into the party.  The foolish ones do not.  I better be doggone certain I’m a wise one, or, if not, that door to the party, that gate of heaven, that portal to paradise is going to get slammed shut in my face!

“What’s the difference between wisdom and foolishness here?  It’s certainly not educational attainment.  Getting a degree, or even studying the Bible backwards, forwards, and sideways, might make me knowledgeable, but not necessarily wise.”  Sometimes we forget, especially down here in the Bible belt, that the devil could quote the Bible with the best of them. So what really are the factors in play here?

“Oh, wait a second!  It’s all there in the story.  The wise ones took extra oil for their lamps.  The foolish ones did not.  The fools didn’t figure that the bridegroom, as Jesus said, was ‘a long time in coming.’“ The foolish ones didn’t plan on the bridegroom’s delay.  They fell victim to figuring, and they suffered burnout.  The oil ran dry.  The door was shut.

“So the wise ones took extra oil; they would be ready for any contingency.  The foolish took only as much as they figured they needed.  Did they have anything in common?  It looks as though they did.  Jesus said ‘They all became drowsy and fell asleep’ They nodded off.

When we, as disciples and followers of Christ and presumably wide awake, affirm our faith together, we say (in the second paragraph – or “article” – of The Apostles’ Creed):  “He ascended into heaven and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father almighty.  From thence, He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.”  We live between those two sentences – between the ascension of the Lord and the future return of the Lord.

Obviously, this is not the world’s narrative and not the way the current culture looks at it.  “Eschatology”, which is the branch of Christian theology dealing with the end times, is just a worn-out fairy tale.  People might speculate about the proverbial end times and even write Hollywood screen plays about it, but mostly it’s a bunch of nonsense, the stuff that religious fairy tales are made of.    Even in the church, where we confess as an article of belief that Jesus is coming again to judge, we don’t think about it very much.  The watchfulness and readiness and the yearning are all missing; I certainly know they’re missing from my life more than I care to admit.  We carry on day after day after day; it is just business as usual. We try to manage the drama.   It’s been that way as far back as our eyes can see, and it stands to reason that it will be this way as far ahead as the eye can see. 

Believers and non-believer alike, foolish ones and wise ones alike – we’ve all become drowsy and fallen asleep.  We’ve nodded off.

Jesus declares:  “At midnight the cry rang out:  ‘Here’s the bridegroom!  Come out to meet him!’”

I can’t make you believe that this midnight cry is going to come some day.  I believe it will.  I hope you will, too, for I want fellow travelers for this journey.  I believe that cry will come.  And makes no difference whether my earthly life is over or I’m still around. I want to be ready – even if I’m drowsy, nod off, and fall asleep.  I want MORE THAN ENOUGH oil for my lamp.  I don’t want to EVER fall victim to figuring – because I don’t want to suffer burn out.  I’ve been there; I’ve done that.  I don’t want to go back.  It’s almost like the sound of a door being slammed shut.  You feel absent from God and even absent from your own life.

So I want oil for my lamp – a lot of it, more than enough of it, always more than enough of it.  I want a blessed addiction, dare I say, to that oil of grace!   In the grace of Jesus, the Son of God, who was put to death for my sin and raised for my justification, I have endless oil for my lamp.  He has done the figuring.  He knows the day and the hour, and that is more than enough for me. 

Therefore, I can rejoice and smile when I think of that old youth group song – and I hope you’ll rejoice and smile too!

Give me oil for my lamp, keep it burning;

 
Give me oil for my lamp, I pray.

 
Give me oil for my lamp, keep it burning, burning, burning –

Burning ‘til the break of day!

Amen.

Meditation for All Saints Sunday: "Sir, You know"!

Text:  Revelation 7:9-17

Theme:  “Sir, You Know”

All Saints Sunday

November 2, 2014

FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Denton, Texas

Rev. Paul R. Dunklau

+In the Name of Jesus+

9 After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice:

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:

“Amen!

Praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks and honor

and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever.

Amen!”

13 Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

14 I answered, “Sir, you know.”

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God

and serve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne

will shelter them with his presence.

16

‘Never again will they hunger;

never again will they thirst.

The sun will not beat down on them,’[a]

nor any scorching heat.

17

For the Lamb at the center of the throne

will be their shepherd;

‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’[b]

‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’[c]”

Well, we better not leave the book of Revelation just to sit there at the back of the Bible.  It’s a lonely book that way; it isn’t read very often.  It isn’t read because it’s hard to understand, and we tend to shy way from what we do not understand.

Still, good things come your way when you read it.  Verse 3 of chapter 1 says:  “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”

Time “is near”, huh?  Time, as measurable as it is (did you set your clocks back?), is relative in this instance.  If this book, written by John (one of the sons of Zebedee and one of our Lord’s twelve disciples), showed up between, say, 65 AD and 96 AD, what’s so “near” about that?  It was a long, long time ago.  While we’re left scratching our heads on this, we should note, then, that Revelation was written during a time when the violent and systematic persecution of Christians began in the Roman Empire.  Caesar was lord – and not Jesus.  Hold on to Jesus, and you get thrown to the hungry lions.

When the time was “near” then, it was the Romans.  When the time is “near” now, it would appear to be ISIS and/or ISIL.  There are heart-wrenching stories of the killing of Christian children now that we can barely take in.

Persecution of believers, either then or now, is not pleasant to think about.  It is, to use the language of Revelation, a “great tribulation.” 

Today, All Saints Sunday, is the day when the holy catholic church focuses on those who have COME OUT of the great tribulation. 

A “saint”, quite simply and by way of review, is a “holy one.”  “Holy” has two meanings.  First, it means “without sin”.  If it’s holy, it doesn’t have any sin.  Second, holy means that it “belongs to the Lord.”  If it’s holy, it’s the Lord’s.  We, here today, are saints more fully in the second meaning.  We are the Lord’s.   When we move to the church triumphant, when our baptisms are complete at the time of our deaths, we shall be fully holy in both meanings. 

In Revelation, “those who have come out of the great tribulation” are “holy” in both meanings.  They are saints.  “For all the saints, who, from their labor rest, who, thee, by faith before the world confessed:  Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Hallelujah!”

In our snippet from Revelation, Jesus is referenced as the “lamb”.  The saints have “washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.”

John gets to see the whole kit and caboodle.  “I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count.”  It was a diverse group; every “tribe, nation, people, and language” was represented.  The robes, the palm branches, the crying out, and the worshipping – these are the things this diverse group had in common.

Poor John; he can scarce take it in.  Then one of the Presbyterians asks him a question.  (Actually, it’s not “Presbyterian”; it’s presbuteron – which is the Greek word for “elder”. In addition, it’s the word “Presbyterian” is based on.)  So a heavenly presbyter/elder asks him:  “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?”

Now John, to his everlasting credit, does not sit down and think the question over.  He wasn’t seeking brownie points in the hope that he, one day, would win a spot among the countless, happy throng of saints.  He didn’t speculate.  Speculation is one of America’s favorite indoor and outdoor sports!  Witness the call-in talk shows, the letters to the editor, the blogs, the posts, the opinion pieces. 

“Who are these folks?” asks the Presbyterian to John. Knowing who these folks are is not so important to John.  More important is that he knows who does know.  He replies to the elder:  “Sir, you know.”

Sadly, sometimes we Christians do our profiling and picking.  We claim knowledge of knowing who is – or who is not – one of us.  What happens then is the arrival of cliques, factions, and, eventually, schism.  The devil – or the dragon thrown down, as is portrayed in Revelation – licks his chops.

John didn’t pick and profile.  Even if he knew who they were, he wasn’t about to say.  More important to him was that the elder from heaven knew.  “Sir, you know (who they are),” says John.  He wasn’t ignorant.  He was being faithful:  “Sir, you know.”

Allow me, as your minister today, to affirm that and beef it up with another reference.  You can’t get much better than 2 Timothy 2:19a.  Paul writes:  “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription:  ‘The Lord knows those who are his”. 

This morning it is our joy to celebrate the lives of the saints and to rejoice that the Lord, our Lord, knows who they are. 

The “time is near,” says John.  The saints that John saw are nearer than we think!  In the Service of the Sacrament, moments away, this elder will cry out:  “Therefore, with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Thy holy name.” 

What of the “company of heaven”?  It is that impossible to count multitude that John saw – all those who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.  Who are they?  First thing to be said is that the Lord knows – and they, in turn, by the grace of God, knew who the Lord was and is.  As our text declares, they are “before His throne” and “serving” God “night and day.”

So we take our communion today – not apart from but with Helen Anang, Pat Langford, Jean Hollingsworth, Virginia Thomas, John Haynie, and, yes, with the today’s martyrs in the middle east.  We’re together with all who have gone before us who have heard the Lord’s Gospel, believed its truth, and, by faith, lived its way. 

They are in the church triumphant.  Meanwhile, we remain in the church militant.  Often, we are faced with questions, difficult questions, even questions for which it seems there are no answers.  When life hands you those types of questions; when the answers are not forthcoming, remember John:  “Sir, you know.”

The Lord knows – and that Lamb of God is gracious and merciful to you.  He has the scars to prove it.  So, Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world, grant us Thy peace.  Amen.