Sermon Illustrations on the lordship of christ

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Background

Kin and Kindness

…I started reading The Kindness of God by Catholic theologian and philosopher Janet Soskice. In her examination of the etymology of the word kindness, Soskice helped me see it for the first time as a strong virtue rather than a weak one. “In Middle English,” she writes, “the words ‘kind’ and ‘kin’ were the same—to say that Christ is ‘our kinde Lord’ is not to say that Christ is tender and gentle, although that may be implied, but to say that he is kin—our kind.

This fact, and not emotional disposition, is the rock which is our salvation.” I paused after reading this sentence to try to take it in, to try to peel the sentimental layers off my definition of kindness and replace them with this fact: to be kind meant to be kin.

The word unfolded in my mind. God’s kindness meant precisely that God became my kin—Jesus, my brother—and this, Soskice said, was a foundational truth about who I was. Not only that, but for speakers of Middle English, Lord had a particular meaning—a lord was someone from the nobility, the upper social classes. To say “our kinde Lord” was to say the difference in social or economic status between peasants and nobility was also erased through Jesus the “Lord” being of the same “kinde” as all, landowners and peasants alike. Jesus erased divisions that privileged some people over others.

If Soskice is right, then practicing kindness requires, at minimum, a willingness to see the image of God in, and to find a point of honest connection with, every person—even, and especially, those I dislike.

Amy Peterson, Where Goodness Still Grows: Reclaiming Virtue in an Age of Hypocrisy, Thomas Nelson, 2020.

Lord of Lords

Though lords still exist today in some parts of the world, the term is used mostly as an honorary badge, so it’s easy to forget what the term even means. Throughout history, lords were rulers who had authority, control, or power over others. In feudal societies lords passed their title from father to son, and their subjects were expected to give immediate and full obedience to whatever their lord ordered.

But Jesus is not just a lord. He is the Lord. He is the Lord of lords, the Lord of righteousness, and the Lord of glory. As such, He is more than just one of a few who rule; He is the Ruler of those who rule.

…Many people who came to Jesus addressed Him as Lord, but did not place themselves under His rule. To call Jesus “Lord” but to allow Him no influence over our daily decisions is to make a masquerade of our spiritual lives. He is not our Lord if He does not have supreme authority to direct our actions, from the big-picture decisions of life to the minute daily details. We cannot bring only parts of our lives into submission to our Lord.

…When we submit to His lordship in our lives, we can rest assured that we are in good hands. Unlike earthly lords who are motivated by greed and pride, our Lord is motivated by goodness and righteousness. Our best interests are intimately woven into His, so when we act on what He tells us to do, we inevitably do what will bring us into a more abundant life of joy.

Asheritah Ciuciu, Unwrapping the Names of Jesus, 2017, pp. 58-59, Moody Publishers.

Stories

Finally Discovering Lordship

“A young man came to visit me with a question on his mind. He asked, “I prayed to receive Jesus as my Savior, but why has nothing really changed in my life?” I asked him, “Who is running your life?” He replied, “I am!” I inquired further, “Has anyone informed you that Jesus wants to be your Lord and run your life?” “No one has,” he answered. I then asked him, “Would you be willing to pray right now and give Jesus complete charge over your whole life?” He said, “Yes, I will.” He was very willing. After he accepted Jesus as his Lord and gave Him full authority and control, the young man’s life changed. He reported having a new desire to be with Christians, to pray, to read his Bible and also to share about his new life with others.

Allowing the Lordship of Christ in our lives, that is allowing the Lord Jesus Christ to own and manage our lives as our Lord, is actually a step toward real freedom. Every person must wrestle through the question of who will own and manage his or her life. This involves coming to a place of acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord, including surrendering and yielding his or her will to Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ will never be an assistant. Our role is always subordinate to His role. He cannot play a back-up position. He will either have full authority or no authority. If we ever think we can share the top sport, we are just fooling ourselves. Either we are in charge or we have surrendered to Him, and surrender can never be forced…He needs to be number one, every day, all the time! He wants us to follow Him 100%.

Les Goertz, Not-Yet Christian, Miles Marker Press.

If He Gets Crucified

There’s a story told in Soviet Russia during the reign of Joseph Stalin. An elderly woman was praying in a Russian Orthodox Church. Walking to the front of the church, she came to a cross of Jesus and kissed the scarred feet. As this was happening a Russian soldier approached her, saying “Babushka, are you willing to bend and kiss the feet of Stalin like you’ve kissed the feet of Christ?” The woman demonstrated a quick wit as she replied, “Yes. If he gets crucified for me.”

Stuart Strachan Jr.

The King Belongs in the Middle

In his wonderful book, God’s Big Picture, Vaughan Roberts gives readers an overview of the Bible, focusing on the importance of context for developing a deeper understanding of holy scripture. In this short illustration, he points out the importance of keeping Jesus (the king) at the center of the greater narrative of the Word of God. Thus, when the king is at the center, we are more likely to find a faithful reading of a text than when we do not:

Two boys were bored on a rainy summer’s day, so they began to do a jigsaw puzzle. (That tells you how bored they must have been.) They made no progress until one of them turned the box lid over to see the picture they were trying to create. It was of a medieval court scene with a king surrounded by his courtiers. One of the boys cried out, ‘Now I see it – the king is in the middle!’ Once they recognized that, the puzzle was easy and they were soon able to finish it.

The Return of the King

Lord John Culpepper was witness to a dramatic turn of events in English history. He was a member of the privy council of King Charles I, who was executed in 1649, apparently contrary to the law and the will of the Parliament. John Culpepper was entrusted with the safety of Charles II and accompanied him into exile during twelve years of Oliver Cromwell’s reforms, experiments, excesses, and bloodshed.

Then, in 1660, six weeks before John Culpepper’s death, Charles II returned from exile. The cry “Habemus rei! We have a king!” rose from the people. Sir Winston Churchill wrote in his History of the English Speaking Peoples: “It was most plainly the wish of the people that the King should ‘enjoy his own again.’ This simple phrase sprung from the heart of the common folk. . . . It was carried . . . on the wings of a joyous melody from village to village and manor to manor.”

On May 25, 1660, Charles II landed at Dover and was escorted in triumphal procession to London. Churchill described the scene: “All classes crowded to welcome the King home to his own. They cheered and wept in uncontrollable emotion. They felt themselves delivered from a nightmare. They now dreamed they had entered a Golden Age. . . . It was England’s supreme day of joy.”

Do we yearn, deep in our souls, for a king—for a different kind of king? The king of sinners and outcasts, the poor and the oppressed, calls us to join the worship of the one who “has brought down the powerful from their thrones,/ and lifted up the lowly . . . filled the hungry with good things,/ and sent the rich away empty” (1:52–53), the God who “has looked favorably on his people and redeemed them” (1:68), the God who gives “light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,” the God who will “guide our feet into the way of peace” (1:79).

Do we long for the day when “the King enjoys his own again”? Here is the Messiah who gives hope to all who serve him, no matter how lowly.

R. Alan Culpepper, New Interpreter’s Bible Commentary: Volume IX, Luke-John, Abingdon Press.

Standing for a King

Cody is a member of our church who moved to Thailand to share the gospel with college students. One night, a student named Annan invited Cody to go to a movie. The two of them arrived and sat down in the theater to watch the film, but before it began, a video was shown about the king of Thailand. Immediately, everyone in the theater rose and applauded, including Annan. Some people began to cry tears of joy. As this short video played, people were visibly moved simply by the sight of their king on the screen.

When the movie ended and Cody and Annan walked out of the theater, Cody asked, “Why did everyone react with such emotion when the video about the Thai king was played?” Annan responded, “Oh, Cody, we love, respect, and honor our king, for he is a king who cares for his people. Our king will often leave his palace and come to villages and communities in Thailand to be with the people—to know them and identify with them. We know that our king loves the Thai people, and we love him.”

As Cody listened, he knew that this description was setting the stage for him to share the story of a much greater King. In the days to come, Cody told Annan about how God, the King over all the universe, loved us so much that he came to us in the person of Jesus. He came to identify with us, even to the point of taking all our sin upon himself, in order to save us and to make it possible for us to follow him. Upon understanding this glorious reality, Annan began pursuing King Jesus, but because he realized that King Jesus had pursued him.