Does anyone here know the name Carl Gustav? No? Let me tell you some of his titles, perhaps it will help you figure out who he is. Carl Gustav is the Lord and Master of the Order of the Seraphim. He is Lord and Master of the Order of the Sword. He is the Commander Grand Cross of the Order of the White Rose. He is the Grand Cross of the Order of the Redeemer. Did that help any of you? Well, Carl Gustav is more commonly known as the King of Sweden and during my senior year of high school, I lived in his kingdom. Have any of you lived in a kingdom?
Fortunately for me, Carl Gustav isn’t a king with any real powers. Most of his duties are ceremonial, but for the most part, people still admire and respect him. Because of this, I don’t really know what living under the authority of a king with actual power is like. I don’t know what it would be like to live in a kingdom where the last and final word was that of the King. In fact, as Americans, on some level, we are taught that to disagree with our leaders is a positive attribute. I’m going to go ahead and assume that most of us have disagreed with our out going president at some point in the last 8 years.
Over the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to ponder what it would be like to live under another person’s kingship. What came to mind was the fact that whether or not we actually know the king on a personal level, we would undoubtedly know what the King expects of us. Whether out of love or fear, we would most likely do things which would please the King in order to gain his favour. We would know which laws were in place for the good of the public, and which laws were considered treasonous and going against the good will of the monarchy. All of these things would help to keep us in line, doing the things which would please our ruler.
This sounds well and good if our King is good. If our King isn’t so good, it might be rather unpleasant. Now, at this point, after hearing the gospel lesson for today, as well as listening to my sermon so far, it might be fairly safe to assume that you know where my sermon is going to go from here. Perhaps you’re thinking that I’m going to talk about feeding the hungry, welcoming the stranger, clothing the naked, and taking care of and visiting the sick. These things are the heart of the good news, and after spending just a few months here in this congregation, I can honestly say that you are doing your best to live it out. Through the new Angel Food ministry program, you are seeking ways to provide food to the hungry. I’ve witnessed how you all have welcomed Christie, previously a stranger, into the life of this congregation. It is evident that you all care about orphans in Africa who cannot clothe themselves, and you are raising money to do that. And every week since I’ve been here, in the announcements, I hear about the concentrated effort the church is making in order to reach out to those who have not been here in a while, and while that’s not being sick in the traditional sense, it is certainly sick in the spiritual sense. Congratulations. You are all doing things which are at the heart of God’s kingdom.
Now I’d like everyone to open their bulletin and pull out the nametag and either slip it into the nametag you’re currently wearing or stick it somewhere on your shirt. Each one of you is now wearing the name Jesus. I ask you to wear it now to remind you of two things. First is to remind you that you as a part of this congregation are doing your best to live in a way which Jesus, our King, desires. The second thing is to remind you that when someone outside these walls, who doesn’t know what Jesus’ Kingdom is all about, realizes that you are a member of this Kingdom, they do not see the same thing as you.
The question I hope you are asking yourself is: “What do they see when they come to realize that I am living in God’s kingdom?” Unfortunately sisters and brothers, the answer is not nearly as positive as the way we see ourselves.
There’s a book out by two authors entitled “unchristian: What a new generation really thinks about Christianity… and why it matters.”
The authors identify six different areas which non-Christians use as reasons for not becoming a part of the body of the church. They say that the church is hypocritical, too focused on getting people saved, that we are anti-homosexual, we are too sheltered, that we are too political, and that we are too judgmental.
These are the six main perceptions of Christians from those who are not Christians. Some of them are true, some are not, but whether or now we think they are true, it is how we, followers of Christ, are perceived.
The first is that we are Hypocritical, which is the perception that Christians say one thing but live something entirely different. To be fair, we are all, at some point, hypocrites, but as people living in God’s kingdom, we are held to a higher standard by those outside the faith. There’s a story about a 24 year old single mother who went into a church, and she found that lots of advice and thoughts were shared with her, but the church members kept reminding her that she had no husband, and that she ought to have one…unfortunately, some of them were divorced and the young mother took those giving her advice to be hypocrites. This perception needs to be changed. We as people living in God’s kingdom need to work at being transparent about our flaws and act first, talk second. (pg 41)
The second perception is that we are insincere about loving people and concerned with only converting others. As Moravians, I’m going to guess that most of you feel that we’re really low on the “Christians who try to convert others” scale. This is probably a safe thing to say, but we are called to make others disciples of Christ. The question is not if we should be doing it, but how we go about doing it. Our new perception must be that we are people who cultivate relationships and environments where others can be deeply transformed by God. (pg 67)
The third perception is that we Christians show contempt for gay’s and lesbians. As I’m sure anyone who watches the news, this is a center issue, known as proposition 8, in California. It is church members who have funded the opposition to this bill, and now the homosexual population are especially hostile towards people of faith. As people in Christ’s kingdom, we are to show compassion and love to all people, regardless of their lifestyle. We don’t have to agree with them, but we must love them. (91)
The fourth perception is that we are very sheltered. Non Christians consider us boring, unintelligent, old-fashioned, and out of touch with reality. They consider Christians to be caught in a Christian “Bubble”. Raise your hands if you think you have more non-Christian friends than Christian friends? This is one of the toughest battles we face as we grow in faith. The longer we are Christians, the fewer non Christian friends one has. The new perception we must cultivate is that we as Christians are engaged, informed, and offer sophisticated responses to the issues people face in their every day life. (121).
The fifth perception is that we are too political. This definitely comes from what we now know as the “religious right”. Currently, there is a movement of the religious left which is trying to gain momentum as a response to the conservative movement. If you’re a part of my Sunday School class, you would know that we’re looking at different ways which Jesus was political but how we might not be a member of a particular political party. We must be characterized by respecting people, thinking biblically, and finding solutions to complex issues. (153)
The sixth and finally perception is that we are too judgmental. We are seen as prideful and quick to find fault in others. It is unfortunate that we do this. The truth is that we are all judgmental. The Children’s Chat today was a thinly veiled attempt to point out how we are judgmental about things like clothing, lifestyle, anything which makes a difference between “us and them”. The new perception we must show the world is that we show grace to the world by finding the good in others and see their potential to be Christ followers. (181)
Perhaps you are now wondering, after all these things have been identified, why I think they are important. After all, I have already mentioned what is at the heart of the Gospel. If we’re doing the work of Jesus, what does it matter what others may think? It matters because if we cannot begin to overcome our image, we will have trouble fulfilling another commandment Jesus gave us, which is to make more disciples. If the negative perceptions and realities of the citizens of God’s kingdom (that’s code for you and me) are mainly what people see when they know we belong to Christ, then we cannot begin to make them disciples, and therefore, cannot have them join us in doing the work of the kingdom.
As I come to an end of this sermon, we are going to rise and sing a hymn, and then, once it is over, we are going to greet one another. But this time, we will be greeting one another, hopefully with a new view for two reasons. The first is that when you put it on, I want you to remember that Christ’s kingdom is within you. The second reason is that I hope that we all begin to change the perception that non Christians have of us by us doing a better job of seeing Jesus in others. When we combine the feeding of the hungry, clothing the naked, and visiting the sick with an attempt to change the way we as Christ followers are perceived, is when I think we will see the kingdom of Jesus become alive in ways we have yet to imagine.
The question is, can we do this? Can we continue to do the things God calls us to do in today’s scripture while trying to be transparent about our flaws so as not to be viewed as hypocrites? Can we be truly interested in other people, inviting them into not only a relationship with God, but with ourselves as well? Can we show more compassion and love to people with whom we disagree? Can we offer sophisticated responses to the issues people face in their every day life? Can we show that we are biblically literate and share it in a meaningful, transformative way? Can we show grace to the world by finding the good in others and see their potential to be Christ followers? I think we can, and I hope you will all join with me in taking a step on the right path, by standing and greeting everyone around you, not by viewing their name, but by trying to see Christ in them, for that is how we best see Christ’s kingdom. Amen.
