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Celebrate The Birth Of The King

            Rama IX has been the king of Thailand for sixty plus years.  He is revered by Thai people, and his birthday celebration lasts a week.  Huge crowds gather each night.  At a certain time everyone lights the candles which were handed out, and the people start singing the king’s song.  Anyone who has spent an extended amount of time in Bangkok knows it because it’s played in the city park every day at six o’clock and at movie theaters before a movie starts.  The celebration winds up each night with a big fireworks display.

            Queen Elizabeth II has been on the throne in the United Kingdom for fifty-seven years.  Her birthday is April twenty-first but is observed in England on the third Saturday of June.  It’s not a national holiday.  Nevertheless, her birthday is celebrated with the Trooping the Color ceremony, also known as the Queen’s Birthday Parade in which the most senior military units of Britain pay personal tribute to her by displaying their flags.

            If you act now, you can still get tickets to the birthday celebration of the king, January seventh through the tenth in Memphis.  Elvis’ seventy-fifth birthday will include tours, a parade, a trivia contest, a visit to Elvis Presley Park and museum, a picnic lunch, and even a stop at Tupelo Hardware where his mother bought him his first guitar.

            We have recently entered a new year, and we’ve got our hands shading our eyes as we peer into the future and wonder what the new year and new decade will bring.  But as we gaze forward, we also glance back and with pounding hearts we stare – a child, a son, the Prince of Peace was born, a birth we celebrate on this January day even as the Christmas season fades like a sunset dropping into the waters of a distant ocean horizon.  Christmas decorations and displays may be coming down.  Christmas sales may have ended.  Christmas gifts may have been returned for something we can actually wear or use, but our Christmas celebration is no less intense this day and every day because God comes through the prophet Nathan in the first lesson from second Samuel chapter seven with a message for King David and for us; Celebrate The Birth Of The King.

He is an eternal king

            “King David!”  The mere mention of that name made every Israelite sigh with contentment, relief, and plain old joy.  David was everything the Israelites wanted in a king and more – handsome, brave, bold, a fearless fighter, an energetic general, an intelligent tactician, and on top of all that, a masterful musician.  Oh, if only David could have remained king forever!

To the delight of every living soul in Israel, God gave a promise to David through Nathan the prophet, “When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you … your house … will be established forever.”  But how could an offspring of David be just as great as he and remain king forever?  The Israelites weren’t stupid.   They knew David was eventually going to die just like every other human being and so would his descendants.

            There was only one possible solution.  God was giving David a peak into the future, pulling back the veil for a clearer view of the coming Messiah.  The blood line of the Savior may have seemed to be dangling loose in Israelite history like a frayed rope draped over a cliff.  But now it was tied tightly into David and his family.  With these words through Nathan God promised that the Savior would come from the house and line of David.  Sound familiar?  Yet the baby born of Mary was no ordinary child.  He was a blood descendant of David yet at the same time every bit of what the angel told Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son … He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High”(Luke 1:31-32).  As the Son of God he is the eternal king.

            Some people wallow in Christmas greed, revel in holiday consumerism, and end up ignoring Jesus.  But he won’t go away.  He is an eternal king.  Of course, we don’t want him to go away, although there are times when we act like it.  We pack the crèche into its box, dismantle the artificial tree for storage or lug the dry, needle-shedding mess to the curb, fold our red and green sweaters with the stars and snowmen away in the drawer and hope they’ll fit next year, debate on how long to keep the Christmas cards and letters stacked in a basket on the coffee table – do we re-read them or toss them into the recycling bin – all the while hoping against hope that the warm fuzziness of the season and kind greetings will continue, knowing full well that the meanie in cubicle four is still going to laugh at my commitment to Jesus, that property taxes will go up, that terrorists still won’t get that Americans just want to live in peace and don’t want them to bomb us, that an entitlement mentality coupled with personal laziness is at the root of our financial woes.  But don’t worry.  Our King won’t go away.  Your body may wear out.  Your mind may become foggy.  Your friends may change.  But no matter how old you get, no matter where you live, no matter what goes on in society, culture, and the world, Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever(Hebrews 13:8).  So, let’s celebrate the birth of the King.  He is an eternal King. 

He has an eternal kingdom

            When David took over the throne of Israel in the year 1010 B.C., the people had just experienced the inept rule of their first king, Saul.  Saul started out OK, but his rule deteriorated when he started singing, “I’ll do it my way!”  The result was just what you might expect when a created being has the unmitigated gall to stand toe to toe with the Creator and claim, “I know what’s best.  I don’t need your advice or your help, Lord!”  Sure enough!  Saul’s power swirled down the drain.  Philistines infiltrated Israelite lands.  Instead of weapons there was weakness.  Instead of expansion of the kingdom there was erosion.  Finally the Lord plucked Saul from the scene like a dandelion from Israel’s lawn and planted David on the throne.  Under David the whole situation changed.  He led the warriors of Israel and expanded the borders farther than they ever had been or would ever be.  Israel became a world power.  David gave people in military, industry, and agriculture job security.  He stabilized the economy.  Oh, the blessings of living in David’s kingdom!

            To the delight of every living soul in Israel, God gave a promise to David through Nathan the prophet, “The Lord himself will establish a house for you … I will raise up your offspring … I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever … Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.”  How could David or one of his descendants have a throne, that is, rule forever?  David lasted forty years.  His son Solomon ruled forty years.  Of the remaining twenty kings of Judah only one sat on the throne any longer.

            There is only one possible solution.  God was giving David a peak into the future, pulling back the veil for a clearer view of the coming Messiah and his kingdom.  Permit me to read Luke again.  The angel told Mary, “You will give birth to a son ... The Lord will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end”(Luke 1:31-33).  Not only would this King live forever.  His kingdom would endure forever.  Throughout Scripture the kingdom of the Messiah is described not as a physical piece of Palestinian property but as a spiritual force that comes to us through the words and promises of God.  That force has dynamite power to explode stony hearts stuck in doubt and unbelief and pin-prick sharpness to burst the balloon of pride-filled egos.  But it also has soothing power to heal broken hearts and the life-giving energy to restore hope and joy to burdened consciences.  You can’t feel it, but that awesome power and energy from the words and promises of God, that kingdom of his Christ, is working in your heart right how, and it will continue to work on your heart every time you read, hear, discuss, ponder, and think about those promises from God.  His kingdom, his ruling power, will never grow dim and fade away.

            Here’s another reason why we celebrate the birth of the King.  He is an eternal King with an eternal kingdom, and we are part of it.  The apostle Paul wrote, “You are members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone”(Ephesians 2:19-20).  Kingdoms of the earth will pass.  The Taliban and Al-Qaeda won’t endure.  Neither will the USA.  But the kingdom of our Savior, his power to turn our hearts toward God, is eternal.  Do you need a pick-me-up once in a while?  Are you sad because you took stock of your spiritual portfolio and found the graph dipping each day faster than the stock market a year ago?  Did Doctor God give you a prognosis of death unless you go under his knife to cut that recurring dirty thought out of your brain, that mean comment off of your tongue, that sticky-glue greed off your fingers which refuses to release funds joyfully and generously to Jesus and keeps them all for your own personal fun?  Do you need healing for your ouchie soul?  Are you scared that you’re not good enough to be forgiven?  Then pay attention to what Jesus has to say to you in the words of his holy book.  Those words activate in your heart and mine his kingdom, the power of his forgiving love.  So let’s celebrate the birth of the King.  He has an eternal kingdom.

He gives us his eternal love

            David had gained quite a reputation for his bravery already at a young age.  Remember the story of Goliath?  There were other great victories over other enemies.  David was also kind and fair.  An all-around guy!  But he was far from perfect.  Oh, the depth of filth into which he fell!  Adultery, murder, lies, public disgrace.  Then like every human father he passed sin on to his son.  Solomon ruled wisely but demonstrated a truck-load of stupidity by forging political alliances through marriages to heathen wives and by giving in to their demands for idol worship in Jerusalem.

            As every Israelite might expect God gave this warning to David through Nathan the prophet, “When your descendant does wrong, I will punish him with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men.”  But to their surprise the prediction went on, “But my love will never be taken away from him.”  Solomon never was flogged for his sins.  He didn’t see bad days.  He died a wealthy man.  How could this promise to David come true?

            There is only one possible solution.  God was giving David a peak into the future, pulling back the veil for a clearer view of what the Messiah would do for all people.  The King of kings would make himself lowly and trade places with sinners.  Though totally innocent, he would suffer the full heat of God’s anger which really should have been aimed at sinners like David, Solomon, me, and you.  He was literally punished with the rod of men, with floggings inflicted by men – all the while never losing the approval, support, and love of the heavenly Father.  God has that same unique mix of anger and love pouring out to us, but Jesus filters out God’s anger and funnels to us only God’s love.

            Here’s the main reason why we celebrate the birth of our King.  Kings and rulers demand and command support.  Jesus simply channels God’s love to us, not sporadically or intermittently, but constantly and consistently, and that love changes us.  Your worship, prayers, kindness to others, faithfulness in going about daily tasks as a student, parent, spouse, co-worker are all gifts to the King which he inspires and gratefully accepts.  So, live your life as a Christian, and you will be celebrating the birth of the King because he gives us his eternal love.

            The Christmas season may be drawing to a close with the Festival of the Epiphany and the Epiphany season of the church year beginning on January sixth.  But as we look forward to a new church season in this new year, we’ll always keep one eye glancing back, not necessarily to Christmas 2009 but to the first Christmas, and with pounding hearts we stare – a child, a son, the Prince of Peace, the King of kings – for me, for you.   Amen.

Preached at Grace Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI (www.gracedowntown.org) on January 3, 2010

Services

Sundays 7:45, 9:00 & 10:30 am

Mondays 6:30 pm

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church | 1209 North Broadway Milwaukee, WI 53202 | (414) 271-3006

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