Is He Your King? A sermon based on Revelation 1: 4B-8, preached on November 24, 2025

A couple months ago, I invited a new pastor in town to lunch. Matt Armstrong is an associate pastor at a neighboring church on Rose Lane. We met here and walked down to Marietta Proper, where it is possible to pay $12.00 for iced tea, but it’s worth it. Before the Rev. Matt Armstrong took his first sip of $12.00 iced tea, he lifted his glass and said, “To the King.” Today is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the year before Advent begins. Each year on this date, we acknowledge Him Lord of all, but let us heed the warning in our second Scripture lesson from the book of Revelation. This morning, we read: 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. All the tribes of the earth will what? All the tribes of the earth will wail, Scripture says. Why would they wail and not rejoice? It is because the King of Kings was not their king. Having kneeled before the earthly powers, they were not prepared for His arrival, which sometimes is the case. Think with me about what happens to Prince John at the end of Robin Hood. My tastes are not too refined, so it’s the cartoon version that I’m thinking of. I loved the one with that Bryan Adams song in the soundtrack; however, as we read about the return of King Jesus, I’m thinking of the Disney cartoon version of Robin Hood where Robin Hood is a fox, and the king sitting on the throne sowing injustice and oppression in the land is the false king of England, depicted by Disney as a thumb-sucking lion named Prince John whose head is too small to wear the crown. Do you remember what happens at the end of that movie when the real king, King Richard, a noble lion, returns to England? Our second Scripture lesson is something like that. Here comes the True King of Heaven and earth descending from the clouds to put all things right. In the Disney version, King Richard runs that usurper, Prince John, and all those who bowed before his throne, stealing from the poor and raising taxes ever higher, Sir Hiss, his advisor, and the Sheriff of Nottingham all end up on the chain gang. Our second Scripture lesson is meant to evoke such an image as that one. Descending from the clouds, the True King returns to reign. His rule is defined by justice. His call is to stamp out oppression. He’s more interested in love than in money. He came not to claim status, but to serve the lowly. He takes His throne to put those who abused power in their places. All that is wrong shall be made right. The prison doors will swing open. The hungry will be filled. The widows will be provided for. The orphans shall have an inheritance. The refugees, a home. And those who pierced Him will wail, for they’ll finally get what they deserve, but, wait just a minute and consider with me who it was that pierced Him. One of the finest hymns in our hymnal is number 218. I wish we could sing it every Sunday: Who was the guilty? Who brought this upon thee? ‘Twas I, Lord Jesus, I it was denied thee. I crucified thee. My friends, this morning I ask you, who is your king? Have you bowed before the throne of Prince John who sucks his thumb, or do you await the return of the true King of Heaven and earth? Sometimes I wonder because Santa sits on the throne, and we take our children to the mall to meet him, and we’re willing to wait in lines for hours upon hours to see him, but when it comes to Sunday school and the opportunity to learn about the King of Kings, is there the same level of dedication? Last Wednesday morning, I was having breakfast with a bunch of pastors and one rabbi. That sounds like the beginning of a joke, right? We were talking about travel baseball and college football, and one pastor said of the members of his congregation, “If they invested in their kid’s religious foundation half as much as they invested in his travel baseball career, our church’s roof could get replaced, and the kid would have a faith to sustain him once he gives up trying to play in the major leagues.” Is He your king? Now, the truth is, I’m not any better. Our daughter Cece was asked to play on a flag football team. She got invited to try out. It was an out-of-district team who wanted her. The coach made a concession just for her. It was a special thing, and I had told so many people about it, at some point my wife, Sara, had to say to me, “Joe, you know it’s not you who got invited to try out, but your daughter?” Friends, I want what’s best for our two girls, but if we believe that what is best is eternal salvation and freedom from this broken world, then let us all look ourselves in the mirror asking ourselves to consider this question: Who is Lord of your life? If you can name the starting lineup for the Georgia Bulldogs but can’t call the names of the twelve disciples, who is your king? If you stretched so far to buy the car of your dreams that you don’t have anything left to put in the offering plate, you can’t claim to be like the Wise Men, who offered the Christ Child gold, frankincense, and myrrh. My friends, why is it that we live in a world where the quarterback for the Georgia Bulldogs drives a Lamborghini, but the Son of God has no place to lay His head? It’s because we live in a broken world with misplaced priorities, and we all end up kneeling before the false kings of this present evil age. Not a one of us is blameless. Not a one. I’m as guilty as you are, and you are as guilty as the one you’re sitting next to, and we really get into trouble when we forget that part. Let me now get down to it: If we blame the one across the aisle, convinced that we’re right and he’s wrong, that she’s the enemy and we’re the heroes, then who is our king? Did the true King not say, “love your neighbor as yourself?” Did He not say, “Bless those who persecute you. Bless and do not curse them?” Did He not say, “Judge not, lest ye be judged yourself?” Who is our king? If the aftermath of the presidential election has us worried about what it’s going to be like at Thanksgiving dinner this year, then who is our king? I was at a Thanksgiving service last Thursday night. Two members of our youth group spoke, Lydia Marcum and John White. They were incredible. We all gathered in Temple Kol Emeth, that synagogue in East Cobb, representatives of more than 30 houses of worship, and we stood and said the pledge of allegiance, “one nation, under God,” all those people representing all the nations of the earth, and my eyes welled up with tears because it was like I was in that Norman Rockwell painting. Do you know the one? Moreover, do you know his Thanksgiving picture? Freedom from Want is the name of it. It’s a full table at Thanksgiving, and Grandma is laying down the turkey while Grandpa is getting ready to carve it. All the family and friends are getting ready to eat. I imagine that they had not all voted for the same candidate for President. I imagine that they don’t always get along so well. That sometimes they argue. That sometimes they judge each other. That sometimes they get so mad at each other that they think about not showing up at the table, but once they’re there, the Spirit reminds them that regardless of what they can’t agree on, Christ is still King, and they find a balm for their hurting souls. May it be so with you on Thursday. Put aside your arguing and break bread together. If you’re preparing for Thanksgiving by sharpening your arguments rather than prepping your pie crust, I call on you to lay down your sword and take up your cross. You don’t need to fight any battle, for the war is already won. The King is coming. On Thursday, I want you to raise your glass with the uncle with whom you can’t get along, and the aunt who made the comment about your weight, and the sister who never returns your phone calls, and Grandpa who never says the right thing, and your mama whose love language is criticism, and your dad you loves you but can’t ever say the words, and Grandma who let everyone know for whom she voted, and along with them all, I want you to toast to the King. Some may say, “Preacher, I’m not giving them that. They’re wrong and I’m right, and I’m not letting them win.” To that righteous indignation, I say, “Is not the battle already won?” Is He not King over Heaven and earth? Indeed, He is, so let us live like it. The King is coming, and He is your King, and He is mine.