First Presbyterian Church
King from A to Z
Sermon for date
by Pastor Susan Barnes

Childrens' time: “You are valuable”

Have you ever felt as if you weren't worth anything? I have. Mostly it's when I make a lot of mistakes. Instead of saying “I made one little mistake” I think “I can't ever do anything right.” Does that ever happen to you?

What do you think God thinks about that?

When do you feel really small?

When do you feel unimportant?

It's easy for me to feel unimportant, looking at the stars.

Here's a dollar bill. Does anyone want it? What if stepped on it? What if I put it in the dirt? What if I sat on it? What if I sneezed on it? What if I gave it to a baby and the baby drooled on it? Would you still want it?

What if I crumpled it all up? You would still want it?

Yes, it is still worth a dollar, even though it's dirty and crumpled and damp.

You know what, whatever happens to you isn't going to make you less valuable to God. You are always worth a lot to God.

I'm going to tell a story in my sermon about some money that had a lot of messy things happen to it, but people used it anyway.

Let's pray.

Our psalm probably was used by Israelite pilgrims when they arrived at Jerusalem. The psalm recalls David's work to bring the ark of the covenant from Jaar 1 to Jerusalem. Zion is God's chosen place. Listen for the word of God as we read it together from Psalm 132.

1 A Song of Ascents. O LORD, remember in David's favor all the hardships he endured;

2 how he swore to the LORD and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob, 3 "I will not enter my house or get into my bed; 4 I will not give sleep to my eyes or slumber to my eyelids, 5 until I find a place for the LORD, a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob."

6 We heard of it in Ephrathah; we found it in the fields of Jaar.

7 "Let us go to his dwelling place; let us worship at his footstool."

8 Rise up, O LORD, and go to your resting place, you and the ark of your might.

9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness, and let your faithful shout for joy.

10 For your servant David's sake do not turn away the face of your anointed one.

11 The LORD swore to David a sure oath from which he will not turn back: "One of the sons of your body I will set on your throne.

12 If your sons keep my covenant and my decrees that I shall teach them, their sons also, forevermore, shall sit on your throne."

13 For the LORD has chosen Zion ; he has desired it for his habitation: 14 "This is my resting place forever; here I will reside, for I have desired it.

15 I will abundantly bless its provisions; I will satisfy its poor with bread.

16 Its priests I will clothe with salvation, and its faithful will shout for joy.

17 There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.

18 His enemies I will clothe with disgrace, but on him, his crown will gleam.

This ends our reading from the psalms.

At the end, it says that I will cause a horn to sprout up. A horn is a symbol of power. What was lost will be restored. The lamp will shine again.

The psalm celebrates David as king, but in other places in the Bible, David is criticized. The prophets exposed the corruption, murder and greed of David's dynasty. David didn't always follow God's commandments, and neither did his sons. Their dynasty came to an end.

Many times Israel 's king was a puppet of the ruling power of Babylon or Rome . Sometimes the high priests of the temple needed to compromise with the king to keep the temple going. The temple was the clearing-house for all taxes, religious as well as royal.

In Jesus' day, the temple gave a percentage of its offering to the ruler of Israel , who passed the money on to Rome . Pontius Pilate was the Roman ruler, trying to keep peace with the Jewish authorities who themselves were eager to keep their powers in the temple intact.

Our gospel reading is a part of Jesus' trial, and happens just before Jesus is crucified. Pilate interrogates Jesus but then Jesus questions him. Pilate is motivated by political expediency. He'll do what he can to further his career, line his pockets, and hold onto his power. He scorns the Jews he's supposed to govern; calling Jesus the king of the Jews mocks both Jesus and the Jews. Listen for the word of God as it is found in John 18:33-37.

33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"

34 Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?"

35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"

36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."

37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice."

This ends our gospel reading. Pilate, who thinks he has power, in fact has little, and the power he does have (to put Jesus to death) will be overturned. Jesus, who appears utterly powerless, knows where real power comes from and what it means. Let's listen to the choir sing of real power.

Anthem

Our last reading is on page 245 in our New Testaments. It's from the book of Revelation. The author, John, “writes from Patmos , not one of the centers of influence or power. He is an outsider, yet he glimpses the mystery of God's purposes.” 2 Listen for the word of God as it is found in Revelation 1:4-8.

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia : Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

7 Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen.

8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

This ends our reading of God's word. May the same spirit who inspired these words interpret them to our understanding this morning,

The early Christians with a Jewish background would have heard the words about God as the one who is and was and is to come as an allusion to the name of God, Yahweh, a form of the verb to be, which can be translated as “I am.” They would make the connection that the God the Christians worshiped was the same God that the Jews worshiped.

The Christians with a pagan background might have remembered a saying about Zeus (on an inscription) that said, “Zeus was, Zeus is, Zeus will be, O great Zeus.” Remember that Zeus was a Roman god, the one Caesar was related to. They might have recognized that the Lord God, the alpha and the omega, is more than Zeus. Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, and omega is the last. It's as if God is the king from ‘a' to ‘z,' the beginning and the end.

In our gospel reading, we know that Pilate didn't have any eternal power; only the one who stands at the beginning and the end holds real power. Jesus' kingdom, his power, is not from here on earth, but from God.

In the Roman world of the New Testament, at the crucifixion it looked like after all, Rome and its minions had all the power: the power to punish troublemakers, the power to execute, the power to intimidate by displaying the bodies of those executed. But at the resurrection, it became clear, at least to those who followed Jesus, that Jesus had all the power after all. But his power was not of this world, it was something else. Something more. His life, death, and resurrection revealed what God was about.

A year ago this summer, Mike and I were at Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii . The restaurant had a buffet lunch ready for the busloads of tourists who came, and because Mike and I were still on Pacific Standard Time, by 10:00 we were ready to have lunch. We were the first in line at the buffet. It seemed odd to travel all the way to Hawaii and fill our plates from a steam table of fried chicken, corn, potatoes, and white rolls and a salad bar with iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. But the view was exotic. Our table was next to the window. Straight down from our window was Halemaumau crater. The crater is 3,000 feet across and 300 feet deep. We could see the steam coming from the vents on the dry floor of the crater. We could see the hikers walking all the way across the crater, passing right by the steam vents. There weren't any fences around the steam vents, either. Tourists were just supposed to know better than to get too close. I expect the sulphur fumes were supposed to keep them away.

Later, during a hike led by a ranger, we saw another steam vent. The ranger took us by a stem vent that did have a fence around it. We could see steam coming up through the trees and plants that grew around the vent. The plants grew up to the edge and even inside the vent. They were lush and wet from the steam. There's a fence because if people get even a little close, it's easy to slip and fall into the vent.

It was hard to be around all that grandeur and not think of God. It's easy to see why Hawaiians consider this a sacred spot. I think it is natural human emotion to feel awe at the sight of something that is huge or grand or beautiful or terrifying. Or when we hear something magnificent and overwhelming, like the sound of the ocean or thunder. I think this feeling of awe is an indication that somewhere deep inside, we are aware of God's existence and presence.

But then there are smaller things that remind me of God. One hair from my head, or seeing two sparrows, when I find a single coin, or see a single sheep on a hill, feel a child's hand in mine, knead bread dough, hold one pearl, look at an oil lamp, a stalk of wheat or a mustard seed, a cushion, all these little ordinary things remind me of God too, because they are the things in Jesus'stories.

And in these small things, I don't feel awe, I feel comfort. Our Presbyterian Constitution, The Book of Order, says “In Jesus Christ the word became flesh, and God hallowed material reality. Jesus presented his body as a living sacrifice. In his ministry, he used common things like nets, fish, baskets, jars, ointment, clay, towel and basin, water, bread, and wine. Working in and through these material things, he blessed and healed people, reconciled and bound them into community, and exhibited the grace, power, and presence of the kingdom of God .” 3

Thinking about how big and powerful God is encourages us to feel humble. One theologian said that this humility “helps us grapple with the enormity and mystery of suffering. A humility that allows for our instinctive solidarity with those who suffer wrongs. A humility that makes room not only for the awe God's creation inspires, but for the love the Gospels command.” 4

And so the king we worship inspires not just awe, but also fills us with love.

My daughter loves to watch Animal Planet on television. She used to like watching veterinarians saving animals lives. My dad is a veterinarian, and I asked him to write a story about being a vet. I thought maybe he'd write stories about how he diagnosed a mysterious illness, or rescued an animal from the brink of death. Instead, he writes stories like this.

“Daffy was a sort of cocker spaniel. She did some stupid nutty things quite often, which is why she had her name. She lived with the Carpuzzi family who loved her dearly in spirt e of her nuttiness. She was a nice dog, who liked Dr. Barnes. The Carps always called her a cockle spaniard. So Dr. Barnes knew who it was when he got the telephone call. “Dr. Barnes, Dr. Barnes, we need you real bad. Our cockle spaniard just ate the rent money. Our landlady says she really needs the money, we have to get the money back so we can pay her tomorrow.”

So Dr. Barnes went down to his clinic to see Daffy and the Carps. Dr. Barnes gave Daffy a shot of apomorphine. This made Daffy throw up. Dr. Barnes put on some rubber gloves and found the five on hundred dollar bills in the throwup. He rinsed them off, put them in a plastic baggie and gave them to the Carps when they came to pick up Daffy. Daffy gave Dr. Barnes a real dirty look when she left, but the next time she came to see Dr. Barnes, she liked him again.

The Carps were really happy to get Daffy and the rent money back. The next day they told their landlady, “Here is your stinking rent money.” The landlady was one of Dr. Barnes' clients too. She told Dr. Barnes about it when she came in to pay her bill. She told Dr. Barnes, “So here is your stinking money for fixing my cat.” This time Dr. Barnes washed the money before he took it to the bank. The ladies at the bank laughed at the story and thanked Dr. Barnes for washing the money.” 5

The love of God through Jesus Christ washes over us, and makes us able to be useful, even when we have experienced terrible things. The power of God through the holy spirit hallows us, makes us holy people, so we can carry out God's valuable holy work on earth.

1 Probably Kiriath-jearim, 1 Samuel 6:19-7:2, the location of the ark.

2New Interpreter's Bible, v. XII , p. 562.

3 W-1.3032

4 Causton, Peter James, “Can Evolution & Christianity Be Reconciled?” Commonweal October 6, 2006 / Volume CXXXIII, Number 17.  

5 Barnes, Charles, “Dr. Barnes, Daffy, and the Rent Money,” personal communication. Used with permission of Eleanor Barnes Ferguson.