C, Post-Pentecost 20 Proper 25 - Luke 18:8b, 9–14 "Postures of Faith"

Luke 18:9–14 (ESV)  He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:  “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.  The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’  But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’  I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

Jesus sets the scene for this parable.  The scene is set with the final words of his last parable, the parable of the faithful persistent widow, who never gives up crying out for justice.  His final words are, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8b ESV)

Jesus then sets the scene with the arrival of two men at the temple.  He, the Son of Man, allows us to take his place to see if we find faith on earth through the parable!  In it we get to examine the faith posture of the two persons who have come to the temple in Jerusalem.

Temple worship is set around the daily atonement sacrifice for the people of Israel.  Jesus gives us his privileged position of hearing the faith of the pharisee and the tax collector.  Who are these two characters? 

One is a socially acceptable individual in the person of the pharisee.  This is a good person in the eye of the public, a law-abiding citizen, or a good bloke one might say!

The other man is a socially objectionable figure in the form of the tax collector.  He is a bad person, a rogue, a scoundrel, a lawbreaker, an extortioner, an enemy of the state, or one who works against the common good!

Against the background of public thanksgiving for the daily atonement of sins, through the priestly sacrifice of animals on the altar, to take away the sins of the nation, Jesus gives us the privilege position of hearing the private prayers of both men.

The pharisee’s posture is opposite to that of the tax collector.  I, I, I!  I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get. I, I, I!

The tax collector beats the heart of his sinful being, from within where his extortion, unjustness, adultery, and unacceptability breeds loneliness, contempt of self, separation from God and from others.  He cries out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!”  Or literally, “make atonement for me, one who misses the ability to atone for myself!”

In this parable Jesus gives you a front row seat in finding the faith of these two. 

It’s obvious to us that the faith of the tax collector was firmly grounded in the fact that he was a sinner and could not atone for himself through acting good or bad.  No!  This was no act of false humility,  appearing bad to be good, or good to be bad!  He knew if his sin was to be atoned for, he needed an act of mercy on God’s part.

Whereas the pharisee, had great faith too!  However, his faith was in himself and what he did, separating and placing himself apart from those whom he thought were below him.

Now that Jesus has given you access into the hearts of the two, which one are you in this parable?

Scene two!  As we ponder who we are in the parable, the Holy Spirit paints a picture of you in this congregation.

When you got out of bed this morning, what were your thoughts about coming to church today?  “Do I really have to go?”, you may have asked yourself!  “I hope such and such is not there today!” Or, “I hope others are there, I don’t feel like it’s church unless such and such is there.  I, I, I, yet again, you hear!  I want more modern songs, I want more older hymns, I want, I want, want!  Jesus looks on, “will he find faith at church today?”

Perhaps your soul longs for the courts of the Lord, you love to dwell in the hearing of his Word, receiving the forgiveness of sin as you confess and receive absolution, and the reception of Jesus’ body and blood for your life and salvation.  But as you do, you receive resistance from others who seek to hinder you from coming to dwell in God’s atonement through word and sacraments.

And maybe you have come to observe.  You think, “Good sermon, good service pastor, THEY really needed to hear that! 

Or weighed down by the weight of your sin, you think, “If only I could stop doing that thing or stop acting this way, I would be a better person.”  Maybe you imagine,” If I was more like that person over there, I would be more acceptable before others — before God!” So, I’ll act humble or a certain way to appear as someone different.

There are those who live as if their goodness is too good for God, and there are those who believe their badness is too evil for God.  But then there are the faithful who focus not on their good or evil but on Jesus Christ, knowing they’re sinners — being forgiven, and they’re seated amongst likewise sinners — being forgiven. 

Together they collectively beat their chests and cry out for mercy.  They look for knowledge outside themselves for the atonement of their sin.  In the knowledge of Jesus Christ, they cherish and find the means of freedom from themselves.

They live with a steadfast struggle, feverishly fighting the pharisee within.  The old man within, seeking resurrection again, after sins have been forgiven.  He seeks to turn the repentant tax collector within, into a pharisee.  Going out once again to maintain separation from those from whom they are glad they are not like. 

Jesus watches on, as we picture ourselves in the parable, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

The reality in our knowledge of Jesus Christ is that we all have within us another tendency to be both a pharisee and a tax collector.  That is, we practise a good or bad faith in oneself, rather than practising faith in God for our atonement.  

We come as sinners each week and there is a real temptation to leave as pharisees and return as pharisees next week.  Such is our human nature we are tempted into a posture of prayer and practise saying, “God, I thankyou that I am not like that pharisee, as well as the tax collector.”

With a Holy Spirited knowledge of Jesus Christ, in submission to God’s Word, revelation of our sinfulness and the covering of sin in Jesus’ death and resurrection, we can pray,” I thankyou heavenly Father that being like all others you have saved and redeemed me a lost and condemned person.”

You and I can serve both the pharisee and the tax collector, knowing that without Jesus Christ we suffer from self-righteousness and unrighteousness.  Or put it another way, without Jesus Christ we die from the sin of believing we are not sinners and from the sins we know we cannot put right. 

We can lovingly serve the pharisee and the tax collector knowing that without Jesus’ love, we are the pharisee and the tax collector, the law faker and the law breaker, the socially acceptable hypocrites, and the socially separated undesirables.

Scene three!  As we leave this place and travel towards the cross in our lives.  Do you stubbornly set your face towards knowledge of your good and evil?  Or do you purposefully set your face towards knowledge of Jesus Christ, as he did towards you and the atonement of your sin when he resolutely set his face towards Jerusalem? 

“When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

Jesus quite clearly says, “For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” (Luke 18:14b ESV)

Scene three plays out on the stage of eternity.  In fact, the old covenant temple worship, the new covenant worship of Jesus Christ, have been prerequisites for our re-creation and our eternal recreation with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

The Son of Man will come once and for all, but he also comes to us now.  The faith he seeks in us is the humble willingness to be served by this Son of Man, to have faith and trust in his faithfulness, despite the pharisee and tax collector within. 

He calls us to humbly run the race in the power of the Holy Spirit, not in our haughty human spirit which fails to follow in the strength of Jesus’ seemingly weak walk to the cross. 

Running in the Holy Spirit has its victory in the Son of Man’s exaltation from servant to the King of Creation!

This Son of Man is also the risen Son of God who serves us with the Holy Spirit, who fights the good fight within and with the world without our work or worry. 

Jesus Christ, both Son of Man and Son of God, in true humility, is now exalted at the right hand of the Father.  Likewise, our true humility will see us, in the eternal third act, exalted with Jesus Christ in eternity.  Amen.

C, Post-Pentecost 18 Proper 23 - Luke 17:11-19, 2 Kings 5:1–3, 7–15c, Psalm 111, 2 Timothy 2:8-15 "Remember, Endure, Remind, and Give Thanks"

 Remember, endure, remind, and give thanks. 

We remember what our parents taught us, we continue in their practices teaching them to  our children, then over and over again we remind them of what we have taught them.

Say, “please”.  Say, “thankyou”.  We teach our children good manners just as we were taught by our parents.  And we repeat this over and over again in our saying please and thankyou by way of example to our children, as well as reminding them to do the same and discipline them when they fail to follow what we’ve taught.

Imagine that having been taught to say please and thankyou by your parents you teach your children to do the same, but in practise you never say please and thankyou to your children or in front of your children with others!  What do you think they will learn?

This “do as I say and not as I do” lesson will be seen with all the hypocrisy it deserves by the young learners.  And they might just ignore the lessons from your lips, in favour of the practice of not saying please and thankyou.

The readings today focus us on thanksgiving — giving thanks.  Naaman, the commander of the Syrian army, after initially ridiculing Elisha for his direction to dip himself in the Jordan seven times, is convinced to put his anger aside and do as commanded.

We hear, “Then he returned to the man of God, he and all his company, and he came and stood before him.  And Naaman said, “Behold, I know that there is no God in all the earth but in Israel.” (2 Kings 5:15a-c ESV)

Saint Paul calls Timothy to remember Jesus Christ, the gospel of promise that, “If we have died with him, we will also live with him; if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.”  (2 Timothy 2:11-13 ESV)

Here Paul encourages Timothy in the Christian life cycle of death and resurrection — remembering, enduring, reminding, and giving thanks. 

When we die with him, we live with him.  Daily dying to self, letting the pride die, to confess sin, to serve sinners with the love of Christ, bearing the cross that Jesus and the Holy Spirit have set aside for you to bear, even before this world was created.

By enduring in this “death and resurrection cycle”, comes the promise of reigning with Jesus Christ.  When we are reminded of Jesus’ covenant made through his death and resurrection, we remember the many big and small deaths and resurrections we face in this life is a preparation for the great day of resurrection that awaits our final death.  This final death reminds us and causes us to remember our first death and resurrection, when we were baptised into Jesus’ death and resurrection outside Jerusalem two thousand years ago.

Paul then says, “if we deny Jesus, he will also deny us”.  Denial here is a refusal to endure, a rejection of remembrance, and stopping all means of being reminded.  It’s here we look at the ten lepers. 

Lepers are ritually unclean.  They cannot come into the presence of God in the temple until they are made clean (Lev 14:1-32).  Jesus sends the lepers to the priests after they say, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” (Luke 17:13 ESV)  They say, “please”.  But only one returns to say, “thankyou!”

This thankful healed leper is a Samaritan.  The other nine are assumed to be Jews.  Can you hear the levels of irony here? 

For the cleansing of leprosy, the priest goes to the leper, but here the lepers are sent to the priests by Jesus.  They plead for mercy and Jesus commands them to go.  Did the other nine realise they were healed on the way?  We are not told.  We are only told of one Samaritan who returns having been healed and is called by Jesus to, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.” (Luke 17:19 ESV)

To where would he rise and go?  Jesus is going to Jerusalem, he has sent the other nine there as well, to the priests in the temple.  This cleansed Samaritan is told by Jesus, “go your way.”  This is the way of faith.

One would  hope after the nine went to the priests in Jerusalem, they would have witnessed Jesus’ death and resurrection and with the Samaritan would have acknowledged Jesus as Lord.  In this way they would die with Jesus and be raised to life.  They then having died to self would have been strengthened to confess Jesus Christ in the face of denial, rejection, and death at the cross.

However, we know Jesus had no support at the cross.  All denied him.  But having been raised from death we now are one with him in his death and resurrection.  Denying him now, puts us on slippery ground knowing he has been raised.  Continuous denial of Jesus Christ is serious stuff, especially when we hinder the Holy Spirit’s work of our death and resurrection in Jesus Christ.

Saint Paul warns Timothy of the seriousness of denying Jesus’ death and resurrection having died to sin and enduring in our resurrection through him.  But even in the face of denial, Paul tells Timothy of Jesus’ faithfulness.

While we are alive, while we remain in the death and resurrection of our baptism, Jesus will continue to be faithful to us despite our faithlessness.  This is good news, as the way of death and resurrection always remains open for us, to be returned to our baptism into Jesus Christ, and the Christian cycle of death and resurrection.  This return is enacted by the Holy Spirit also because of  Jesus’ death and resurrection.

We are reminded here we are always remembered by Jesus Christ; he is faithful to us despite our forgetfulness and faithlessness.  This is why he sends the Holy Spirit as our helper, our reminder, the one who endures with us, setting up events, bringing lepers into our lives to remind us of Jesus’ love and faithfulness, despite the leprosy of our sin.

We are tempted to deny Christ, deny our sinfulness, and deny our subsequent salvation in these times.  Ridicule, being treated with contempt for revealing sin in others through our confession of Christ, being despised and mocked for our faith, tempts us to deny Jesus Christ.  We say, “please save us”, but find it difficult to say, “thank you Lord”, especially before others and the world.

Like Naaman, the leper, and the Samaritan leper, we are reminded of the leprosy of our sin and caused to remember our healing in Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit calls us out of denial and unfaithfulness into remembrance, reminding, and endurance. 

Jesus has healed you and says to you, Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.  We are reminded that our faith is faith given to us in Jesus’ death and resurrection.  We remember his promise that the Holy Spirit will guide us on our way through death to eternal resurrection.  This way causes us to give thanks and praise.

Like Naaman and the Samaritan leper we who see our healing and the way of death and resurrection are faithfully given words by which we too can say, thankyou God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, for reminding me of your faithfulness and remembrance of me, despite my sin. 

Therefore, let us daily thank him for his daily faithfulness to us in our death and resurrection in the words of Psalm 111…

Praise the LORD!  I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.  Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them.  Full of splendour and majesty is his work, and his righteousness endures forever.  He has caused his wondrous works to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and merciful.  He provides food for those who fear him; he remembers his covenant forever.  He has shown his people the power of his works, in giving them the inheritance of the nations.  The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy; they are established forever and ever, to be performed with faithfulness and uprightness.  He sent redemption to his people; he has commanded his covenant forever.  Holy and awesome is his name!  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding.  His praise endures forever!  (Psalm 111 ESV)

Amen.

C, Post-Pentecost 16 Proper 21 - Luke 16 "Rich in God"

In Psalm 116:12 the psalmist asks a question, “What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?”  Another way of asking the question. “What can I do for God as I ponder all that he is doing for me?”    The psalmist in answer to the question then looks out from himself for his answer,   “I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the LORD,  I will pay my vows to the LORD in the presence of all his people.  Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.”  (Psalm 116:12–15 ESV)

The psalmist thinks about his death.  He calls on God’s name as he ponders his mortality, lifting up God’s cup of salvation.  In the presence of his people, he peacefully can make promises to God.  A confession made, and paid with God’s peace, even while he remembers his forthcoming death.

Elsewhere in the Psalm he cries out to the Lord, “The snares of death encompassed me; the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me; I suffered distress and anguish.  Then I called on the name of the LORD: “O LORD, I pray, deliver my soul!”  For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling;  I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living.”  (Psalm 116: 3–4, 8–9 ESV)

In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, Jesus focuses us on death, heaven and hell, or Hades.  This parable follows on from the beginning of Luke chapter sixteen, where Jesus tells of another rich man who recalls the management of his dishonest servant.

Both these texts put life in context with our upcoming death.  In the parable of the dishonest manager, which we heard as our Gospel reading last week, the rich man says, ‘What is this that I hear about you?  Turn in the account of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’  (Luke 16:2 ESV)

Jesus puts it to us that one day our management will end.  We hear how the manager reacts; how do you react as Jesus puts the question of your death before you?  What has your management of God’s gifts been like?  Digging or begging like the dishonest manager is not going to work.  After all, the more you dig the more you realise you are only digging you way further into dishonesty!  And begging seems shameful because of corrupt pride within.

The dishonest manager then decided to cut the rich man’s debts in half so the rich man’s debtors will receive the dishonest man into their houses.  The dishonest man can’t dig or beg, so he does what he is good at!  He is dishonest with the rich man’s money!

This parable messes with our heads, because we think the dishonest manager should be disciplined for his dishonest affairs with the rich man’s debtors.  But no!  The master commends the dishonest manager for his shrewdness, his thoughtful actions.  Why does he praise him?  Why does it mess with our heads?

Jesus sets us up in this parable, to expose the reality of our human nature.  Our sense of human justice and the richness of our righteousness is cornered by our human-centred sense of right and wrong; good and evil.  This parable messes with our heads because our focus is on ourselves and money, rather than God or the rich man’s mercy.

The parable starts to swing into context when we realise, we are the dishonest managers and death recalls our management.  Payment of debt is not money, but rather the cost of sin before God.  The dishonest manager acts shrewdly by not exacting the full debt from the rich man’s debtors.  Likewise, we who have wittingly and unwittingly misused God’s gifts, dishonest managers in God’s eyes, forgive others their debts just as our debts are forgiven, by he who honestly manages our affairs.  

Jesus is the one true honest manager serving God in the face of death.  He ends by saying, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”  (Luke 16:13 ESV)

However, Luke reveals not just the disciples were listening to Jesus but also the pharisees who were lovers of money, and they ridiculed Jesus.  These temple men saw themselves as rich men.  Like us their focus and perspective was wrong.  Their sense of right and wrong was built on a richness other than the mercy of God and his love.

He addresses the pharisees with the Gospel reading for today, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus.  But in doing so introduces the parable with four very unusual verses. 

“The Pharisees, who were lovers of money, heard all these things, and they ridiculed him.  And he said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.  “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then the good news of the kingdom of God is preached, and everyone forces his way into it.  But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one dot of the Law to become void.  “Everyone who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery.”  (Luke 16:14–18 ESV)

Jesus, who brings the good news of the kingdom of God, speaks to those under the Law and the Prophets.  But their justification and righteousness was not looking for a Saviour through the Law and the Prophets.  Instead, the dishonest pharisees were seeking to force their way into the kingdom of heaven, through their own richness.

Then there is the strange inclusion of verse eighteen about divorce and adultery.  It seems completely out of place.  However, this is the link verse for the dishonest ones who don’t see God as the merciful rich man.  Those whose earthly management of God’s gifts has been dishonest and are seeking to violently push their way into his eternal dwelling.  All but Jesus Christ have divorced themselves from God and were yoking themselves in adultery to their riches.

Both parables have rich men in them, showing they are linked, but where the rich man in the parable of the dishonest manager is God, here in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the rich man is not God but one under Abraham having descended into hell.  The theme is still death, but this parable speaks to the pharisees, and us, from the other side of death from two eternal  dwellings.

Here on the other side the rich man is nameless in Hades, literally the place “unknown below existence and on the bottom”.  He looks up and sees Lazarus with Abraham.  The poor man has a name in the parable, unlike the rich man unknown by God.  Lazarus is with Abraham the father of God’s promise, the father of Israel, who was rich in both possessions and faith.  Jesus sets the richness of the rich man against the richness of Abraham and now Lazarus.

The rich man appeals to Abraham to send Lazarus back, to be resurrected to save his brothers.  But Jesus ends the parable, saying, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.” (Luke 16:31 ESV)

Jesus has risen from death, and the Holy Spirit encourages us to hear these words of Jesus as we ponder our death, what our wealth and treasure is, and the great chasm that exists between eternal life with God and the eternal separation from God.

We cannot force our way into the Kingdom of God, the Law of God cannot be avoided, only those who are holy can be in the presence of a God who is holy.  However, we are received into God’s holy and eternal dwelling through the richness of Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit wants and wills each of us to turn over our management to Jesus Christ who has bridged death’s great divide, the great chasm between sin and salvation, with his cross.

The psalmist in psalm one hundred and forty-six praises God for his existence even while he is in the prison of death and a tired traveller on the road of salvation, from death to life eternal in ever-present richness of God.     

Praise the LORD!  Praise the LORD, O my soul!  I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.  Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation.  When his breath departs, he returns to the earth; on that very day his plans perish.  Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,  who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, who keeps faith forever;  who executes justice for the oppressed, who gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free;  the LORD opens the eyes of the blind. The LORD lifts up those who are bowed down; the LORD loves the righteous.  The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.  The LORD will reign forever, your God, O Zion, to all generations.  Praise the LORD!  (Psalm 146 ESV)

Let us pray.  Heavenly Father infuse within us, the righteousness of Jesus, godliness, faith, steadfastness, and gentleness.  Continue to fight in us the good fight of faith with your Holy Spirit.  Help us to use the richness you have given to us to love and serve one another.  To your glory, Amen.

C, Post-Pentecost 15 Proper 20 - 1 Timothy 2:1-7 "Our Common Wealth"

1 Timothy 2:1–7 (ESV)  First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour,  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,  who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.  For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Being a King, Queen, President, a leader of people, presents with it, a whole bunch of pressures that can render their office of leadership dysfunctional.

Dysfunction of the office of a leader might occur for many different reasons.  It might be dysfunctional because it’s not performing its proper function, not doing what it was originally intended to do.  It might be socially malignant, sapping society of the things it needs to remain balanced and stable.  It could be disobedient or rebellious in some way.  Or it might exist for no particular reason, good for nothing, unproductive and a waste of everyone’s time and energy.

There’s cause for us to reflect on the leadership under which our nation lives.  The royal monarchical system in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s death and the succession of King Charles III.

Before we go any further this is not going to be a sermon on the benefits of a monarchy over against a republic.  This issue is already a discussion in the media and public galleries.  But our focus here today is on the status quo, and it would be the same if we were a republic and our president had died.

That aside, the pressure of leadership to remain functional is one a leader has to take seriously.  Throughout history many a leader has had his or her leadership overthrown because it has become dysfunctional.  Sometimes the leader has been dethroned by being decapitated, literally beheaded. 

Deposition of a leader happens for a number of different reasons.  Coveting power, some will seek to seize control by overthrowing a leader, regardless of their office being functional or dysfunctional.  A revolution might occur, and a leader is deposed.  Or, at an election, a leader might be voted out democratically.

On the other hand, the leader might be a tyrant, a psychopath, a sociopath, or a fool.  These leaders are narcissist, egotistical, and self-absorbed.  Their leadership is one driven by the principal that there is no one greater than them.  Often, they live with a “saviour complex” or a “white knight syndrome”.   This might be as subtle as a desire to help someone that really does not want help, or it might be as extreme as Adolph Hitler and his Führer Principal.

Our focus is not on leaders who get thrown out for whatever reason.  But rather, what makes a good leader, how we benefit under this said good leader, and what we can do to encourage them in their leadership.

Jesus Christ is our obvious “go to”, as the benchmark for a truly good king.  He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.  His leadership is truly impartial, for the benefit of all people, just, reconciliatory, all-conquering, enduring, leading to a peace that is eternal which surpasses all human understanding.

Why is his leadership, the go-to leadership of all leaderships?  Jesus’ leadership is one of complete transparency.  God has no hidden desire in Jesus’ mediation between himself and humanity.  Jesus hides nothing!  He brings sin out of darkness and into the light.   He goes into the hearts of men and women, exposing sin and shame, and takes it to the cross  for all to see forgiveness in his death.

This leadership is second to none because not only does he mediate between God and humanity, in his death, but that he is  both innocent in himself and God the Son, holy and eternal.

It is leadership many believe too good to be true!  Why?

Because if you or I were a leader we would place ourselves in a  favourable position.  We would take privileges, not give them up.  We would seek pleasures rather than endure suffering and pain.  We would enjoy our rights rather than give them up and serve in second place.  That’s why, for some, it is easier to believe Jesus’ leadership is too good to be true!

But Jesus did this, as God the Son, in the Man of Nazareth, born to Mary, laid in a humble feed trough, and enthroned as King on the cross.  And we put him there because  we deemed his leadership as useless, joining in with his people, saying, “we have no king but Caesar.” (John 19:15 ESV)

You might say, “O, but I was not there, I am not a Jewish leader.”  But your human spirit is no different to that of the scribes and the pharisees who condemned his leadership, nor Peter and the disciples who fled in fear! 

That’s why Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to convict all people of sin, and bring to repentance, those who bow down in the exposing light of our true Leader’s Love and life giving.

Because Jesus is our King of Kings, truly unhiding the reality of our sinful being, we can learn a lot from King David also.  Even though he was before Jesus Christ in a chronological sense, Jesus was before him and above him, even though Jesus was born as a human, after David.

When Jesus was born, he could have easily made himself second to none, but he gave up his divinity as the Son of God and placed himself under humanity, as the Son of Man, the servant Saviour of sinners.  In doing this he fully submitted to the will of God the Father.

Unlike Jesus, David was a sinful man, his being was sinful, and he did sinful things.    But despite his sinfulness he, like Jesus, placed himself under the authority of God.  When he sinned, he received God’s correction.  When he was successful, he gave the glory to God.  David was honestly aware of his humanity, its weakness, its desire, and its sinfulness.   David knew he was not second to none, but that he was a distant second to God his Father.

The un-hiddenness of David’s kingship was blessed by God as David collected and penned Jesus’ prayers in the Psalms.  The reality of David’s great joys and deep sorrows are ours in the Psalms.  We hear the heart of David, but even more so, we hear the heart of Jesus Christ, God the Son.

How amazing we have the Word of God, in the heartfelt words of these kings who placed themselves under the authority of God the Father.  Especially since the greatest threat to us is not what is going on outwardly with others, but inwardly within us!

Leaders, even more so than us, deal with the demons within, as those without, seek to disrupt faithful leadership.  It’s very real that the Old Adam, the human spirit within, finds allies with the spirit of the world, and spirits within the world.  Even when the world attacks us, we often find the Old Adam within, joins in with the attack on our new nature in Jesus.

When King David wrote the imprecatory Psalms, Psalms denouncing his enemies, David wanted God to have victory over the enemy within him, just as much as he wanted a kingdom without the threat of his enemies.  David wanted to be without chaos within as well!  He wanted peace with his God.

Jesus and King David stand as examples of good leaders because they, having the authority to be second to none, willingly placed themselves under the authority of someone greater.  We can too, being voluntary princes and princesses in God’s kingdom!  In fact, we have the authority from God to be such!  We are his people, allowing the Holy Spirit to place us under God’s supreme rule.

We can praise God like David and Jesus did to others, and we can intercede for those around us, faithfully praying to our Heavenly Father to bless our enemies and our friends.

Like Paul encourages Timothy, we too are encouraged, “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour,  who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”  (1 Timothy 2:1–4 ESV)

We pray for our leaders knowing that both us and our leaders are under the one head, Jesus Christ.

We do so with hearts of praise like King David who calls us to, “Praise the LORD! Praise, O servants of the LORD, praise the name of the LORD!  Blessed be the name of the LORD from this time forth and forevermore!  From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the LORD is to be praised!”  (Psalm 113:1–3 ESV)

In these days remembering Elizabeth our Queen of blessed memory, we realise and praise God for her faithful service under God.  We could see her position as Queen of Australia and the Commonwealth as not being very functional.  Indeed, that is why some are calling for Australia to become a republic. 

You might be tempted to see her leadership, King Charles III’s leadership, a republican leadership or even the political landscape at home as useless and dysfunctional.  But you and I need to remember we live under our common wealth of God in Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. 

Queen Elizabeth II could very well have seen her royal duty as redundant in this age.  But like Jesus she served her people before God the Father, regardless of them serving her or not.

We praise God that under her submission to him we have lived peaceful and quiet lives.  And now that we have a King its time for us to join under our common wealth in Jesus Christ to hold up in prayer King Charles III, that he too might follow in his mother’s footsteps of submission and servitude to our Heavenly Father.  Amen.