Sermon manuscript:
Donald J. Trump will begin his term as president at noon,
January 20th. Have you been planning for what will happen January 21st?
Have you been making lists, getting everything ready, rehearsing what you will
do for the day after the inauguration? Probably not. I haven’t either. I don’t
think a lot will change with our new president. It isn’t really about him. I’m
cynical about what elected officials can do in general. The people who hold the
reins of power—the people who are massively wealthy, who can write the checks—won’t
let too much change, unless it is to their own benefit. Things will probably
keep going on like they have for a long time. I am not expecting any massive
changes.
What about Christ’s kingdom? Is our attitude the same there
as well? Our festival today is somewhat like Jesus’s inauguration as the
Christ. Jesus’s baptism marks the beginning of his great words and deeds that
are recorded in the Gospels. Immediately after his baptism Jesus was very busy.
He was tempted by the devil, swamped by sick and demon possessed people,
teaching in the synagogues, doing one miracle after another. Things looked like
they were changing for the better, but then Jesus was arrested, crucified and
died. That was when the cynicism began in earnest. Folks had wondered whether
Jesus might have been the Christ, but he couldn’t have been since he died.
That was the end of the road for the vast number of people
who had once believed in Jesus. At one point there had been many thousands who
were interested in Jesus being made king by force, but any hope of that was
gone when everyone could see him hanging dead on the cross.
Even after Easter the picture didn’t improve very much as
far as the disciples were concerned. John chapter 21 seems to indicate that the
disciples went back to their old livelihood of fishing. Acts chapter 1 tells us
that the number of believers in Jerusalem was only about 120. That is a far cry
from many thousands. Even with the great day of Pentecost, when 3,000 repented
and were baptized—that was less than the feeding of the 5,000, or the feeding
of the 4,000.
Cynicism is a way to protect yourself from being
disappointed. Cynicism is when you don’t get your hopes up. Having your hopes
dashed is painful. The higher the hopes, the more intense the desire, the worse
the pain. To prevent getting hurt you can check yourself out. Things will stay
the same. Why bother? Just go gentle into that good night.
This is a way to insulate yourself from pain. Disappointments
will not hit you as sharply. But there is a terrible cost. With cynicism things
will, at best, stay the same, but more likely get worse. If you won’t get
involved, if you won’t change your ways, if you won’t hope for change, then
nothing is going to change. It is forfeiting to the powers that be.
This defeatist attitude is disastrous in all areas of life,
but it is especially devastating for faith in Christ’s kingdom. If we would not
have hope in Christ, then we are left with how things are. Paul calls these the
elementary principles of this world, to which we are enslaved. We are enslaved
to the devil. We are enslaved to our desires. We are enslaved to pursuing mere
self-interest. Our chains have been put on by ourselves, which are our fears
and insecurities, our dread of pain and suffering.
How differently the bible speaks about Christ’s kingdom! Paul
says: “For freedom Christ has set you free!” The
Gospels speak of Christ “proclaiming liberty to the prisoners!”
And indeed, Jesus set people free from all kinds of disabilities and ailments
in the Gospels. The people loved that! We slaves love to get a little taste of
freedom. But a lot of people thought that that kind of thing was over and done
with when Jesus died, and even when he rose. The risen and ascended Christ
remains at work in his kingdom, but a lot of people would like it better if he
would do those old sorts of things that helped people along in their pursuit of
their own self-interest.
But here is what we should realize: the work of Christ in
his kingdom is not less after his death and resurrection, it is more. The work
of Christ with his death and his resurrection, the baptism with which he
baptizes, and the body and blood that he distributes is more. It’s deeper. It
gets to the root. The root is evil itself, and Jesus reverses it. The seemingly
invincible powers of sin, death, profit, power, and all the rest are not
invincible. Jesus promises a reckoning for the powers that be who so often oppress
and steal and murder and seemingly get away with it. They will be burned with
an unquenchable fire. Everything will be turned upside down. The first will be
last and the last will be first. John baptized with water; Jesus baptizes with
the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Whatever hopes we might have about Christ’s kingdom, they
are inevitably inadequate. You want to be healed of an ailment, a defect, old
age, and son. You want to be the man that you should be. You want to be the
woman that you should be. “For freedom Christ has set
you free!” These things and more are yours. If they are not already
fixed somewhat in this life by the healing work of the Holy Spirit, then they
will be completely fixed by the resurrection. The goodness of the resurrection
is more than we can imagine. Paul says, “No eye has
seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of the heart of
man what God has prepared for those who love him.” Even if you try to
imagine what Jesus’s kingdom will be like, you’re going to fall short. What
comes to pass will be greater.
Cynicism, therefore, is incompatible with Christianity.
Cynicism is managing your hopes so that you won’t get hurt when they inevitably
don’t come to pass. If you are managing your hopes for Christ’s kingdom, you
are simply being an unbeliever. If you believe that Jesus can’t or won’t help
you, then you are an unbeliever.
Unbelief is by no means uncommon, even among those who would
like to consider themselves to be Jesus’s disciples. We see that all the time
in the Bible. We see that in particular with the Gospels’ accounts of the
resurrection. Even the closest of Jesus’s disciples lost their faith when Jesus
died, and they were slow to believe after the resurrection. They were flesh and
blood, just like us, with all our hiccups and insecurities. However, we cannot
let our doubts and insecurities interfere with what is plainly testified.
Jesus’s kingdom is glorious, even if we lack the faith to believe.
Jesus’s kingdom is glorious among us. Let us not doubt that
either. Whenever anyone comes to believe that the seemingly invincible powers
are not invincible because Jesus is greater—that is a miracle worked by the
Holy Spirit. Whenever anyone remains in the faith—that is an ongoing miracle of
the Holy Spirit. These believers will one day be caught up together with the
Lord in the clouds for an adventure that is too great for words to describe.
It does not please me, therefore, when I hear something that
is quite common among us. It is quite common for people to comment on how large
or small a gathering is—and usually it is how much smaller the gathering is
these days. This strikes me as largely missing the point. It would like the
people in Jesus’s day who could have scoffed at the smaller number who gathered
after the resurrection. I could imagine that some of them must have said: “Do
you remember how many people there were at the feeding of the five thousand or
the four thousand? The attendance these days is greatly reduced.”
Christ’s kingdom is not about crowds or impressing those who
have the ability to count. Christ’s kingdom is about setting people free and changing
hearts and minds. This is always an individual affair. Each individual either
remains enslaved in their unbelief or they are set free through faith in Jesus.
Whenever a sinner repents, the angels rejoice, and we should too. The kingdom
of God remains at work. It is glorious, but the glory is only apparent to those
who have the eyes to see and the ears to hear.
So as we consider the inauguration, so to speak, of Christ’s
kingdom with Jesus’s baptism, we should cast away cynical thoughts. Cynicism is
not very attractive or useful in general, but it is particularly inappropriate
when it comes to Christ’s kingdom. Our problem is not that we have too low of thoughts
and hopes and dreams. Our problem is that we do not think as grandly as we must
if we are beginning to understand Christ’s kingdom. We are too earthly minded.
Therefore, I’d like to close with a passage that speaks to
this. In Colossians chapter three Paul says: “If you
have been raised with Christ, then seek the things that are above, where Christ
is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above,
not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden
with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will
appear with him in glory.”
When Christ appears, you will appear with him in glory. That
is more than enough for anyone who is hungry for that which is good.
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