Sophie was a popular and well known  scrub woman at a large office building in downtown New York City.  One of the executives at the building where she worked stopped one day and began to talk to her. The man said to her, “Why are you always so happy here at work scrubbing floors on your hands and knees when nobody ever seems to appreciate you?  I see you sing and always smiling  while you are at work!  Why is that?  What is your secret?
       “Sir, I’m A Christian and  I am a child  of  the  King,"  was her immediate reply. "Oh! So you must be a  princess, since God is your King.", said the executive.   "I sure am.", Sophie replied.  "Well, Sophie, if God  is  your King and you are a child of the  king,  do  you  not  think  it  is beneath your dignity to be found  here  in  New  York City scrubbing these dirty steps?"
       "No, sir",  Sophie  replied,  "There  is  no humiliation whatsoever.  You see, I am  not  scrubbing these steps to try to keep my  boss, Mr. Brown happy and satisfied.  I  am  scrubbing  them for Jesus Christ, my Savior and my King!"  The man went away shaking his head and smiling as he watched Sophie singing and smiling as she was scrubbing the steps because he had never thought of Sophie’s job in that way.
       "Who is the King of your life?"  Who do you work for and serve in your life?  Who rules  and governs your life and its activities?  Whoever  or  whatever  that  is‑  IS YOUR KING!  Seeing as how we are at  church and we just  finished reading the Scripture lessons for  today:  the  best  answer would be "JESUS CHRIST IS MY KING!"
       Let me ask you the  same  question in a little different way  regarding "WHO IS THE  KING  IN  YOUR  LIFE?"  Who do you turn to when you are in trouble and need guidance and help in your life?  Who really controls and rules your life?
       Your first thought might be as a child or youth, it's my PARENTS.  They are the  ones  who  tell  me  what to do or at least try to tell me what to  do.  Or if you are married, you might reply, it's my husband or my wife, as they like to tell me what to do and can RULE  MY  LIFE!  Or it might be another family member, even your  children  or  your  boss if you are married to your job!
       The truth is‑ we often rebel against the idea of someone being a KING over us and ruling over us because we don't like to be UNDER THE CONTROL OF  ANYONE.  We often change Kings in our life depending upon our  mood or situation in life.  Many times we like to be "OUR OWN  KINGS"  and do not want to turn to anyone for help or  to  show  any  weakness  in our life.  We think we can take care of  all  of our needs without anyone's help!
       In fact the United States  was  founded in the 1700's on the basis of people  trying  to  escape from the rulership of Kings of  Europe.   They  were  dealing  with  the  need  for "FREEDOM" in their life and  were experiencing the familiar saying especially  regarding  earthly   kings   and  rulers‑  "POWER CORRUPTS AND ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY!"
       Like the 1700's  many  people  prefer the principle that each of us is FREE‑ at least  we  think we are FREE to decide things for ourselves!  We have the privilege of selecting our leaders, of telling them  HOW  THEY  SHOULD GOVERN US so that they can keep most  of  the  people  happy  and be elected to office once again!
       Many times this same attitude  applies in our lives as a Christian, especially when we  think  of  Jesus Christ as our King.  We don't  mind  Him  in  our  lives  as  long as it is convenient for us, but when  there are problems or hassles in our life we decide that we want someone else in charge of our life.  We may even  treat  Jesus  like we treat other people; "DON'T BOTHER ME; I'LL  ASK  FOR  YOUR  HELP  WHEN I WANT IT; BESIDES WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY JESUS?"
       We may think of Jesus as  our King when things are going well for us and we feel like  we are on the top of the world. It  may  be  when our "PROMOTION AT WORK CAME THROUGH" or when the graduation diploma was in our  hand;  or when the new car was proudly parked in our  driveway  or when the medical test came back negative and we were  relieved  of the worry over a serious illness; or when we  receive the Academy Award and in our acceptance speech call  ourselves  "I  AM THE KING OF THE WORLD".
       Each of these are times  of joy and happiness, but their joy soon fades away when  the next challenge or crisis occurs in our life or in our  world!   I  know  that at times we may wonder if Jesus Christ is  truly  a "KING" because He doesn't seem to be in control  of  the  world  and because of all the visible problems in the  world  SUCH  AS ABUSE, DRUGS, CRIME, FAMILIES BREAKING UP,  A  LACK  OF  SPIRITUAL  GROWTH  IN THE CHURCH, A  LACK  OF  BIBLE  KNOWLEDGE  AND  STUDY,  A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING OF HOW  OUR  CHRISTIAN  FAITH AND SERVICE TO GOD IN OUR EVERYDAY LIFE ARE  CONNECTED TOGETHER!  We  hear  the words, "JESUS CHRIST IS LORD AND KING OF THE WORLD"  in church, and we may nod our heads in agreement, but we may  NOT  REALLY BELIEVE IT IN OUR HEARTS.  We have doubts about Jesus Christ as our King!
       But the Good News is  that  we  have  the RIGHT KING AND BEST KING AND RULER FOR OUR LIVES  and  He is here with us in His Word and in  the  Sacraments  and  He is Jesus Christ‑our Lord and Savior and  King!   And by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ- we are His Kingdom- we are his brothers and sisters. We are Children of the Most High King.
       Brigadier General Theodore Roosevelt, Jr. was waiting at an airport for a plane during World War II.  A sailor stepped up to the ticket window and said, “I want to see my Mother, she’s ill and I don’t have much time.”  The ticket agent explained to the young man that there was no space available on the flight he needed. 
       Overhearing this, Roosevelt stepped up to the window and told the ticket agent to give the sailor his seat.  A Major asked General Roosevelt, Sir, Aren’t you in a hurry too?  Roosevelt replied, “IT’S A MATTER OF RANK.  I’m only a general.  This man is a SON!  And that applies to our life as a Christian.   AS the Bible tells us, We are sons and daughters of the King.   It would be great is every child and person in the world could grow up singing the little Gospel song, “I’M A CHILD OF THE KING, I’M A CHILD OF THE KING, WITH JESUS AS MY SAVIOR, I’M A CHILD OF THE KING.”
       We are the people for whom Jesus Christ gave His life.  The celebration of Christ the King tells us about Jesus, but is also tells a great deal about us as a Child of the King. Jesus  Christ  is the "RIGHT AND BEST KING" to WORSHIP AND TO FOLLOW and  Revelation  1 gives us the reasons why!
       Jesus Christ is the  FAITHFUL  WITNESS,  a martyr as the Greek text tells us, someone who  was  willing to die for the truth.  Jesus Christ  was  willing  to  seal His testimony and witness and life as God's  beloved Son and promised Savior of the World with HIS OWN BLOOD SHED ON THE CROSS OF CALVARY FOR YOU AND FOR ME!
       Jesus is also the FIRSTBORN OF THE DEAD which reminds us that Jesus Christ  rose  from  the  dead to defeat the eternal power of  sin,  death  and  the  devil  as  the GUARANTEE and PAYMENT FOR OUR ENTRY INTO  HEAVEN.  And Jesus Christ is also the RULER OF  THE  KINGS  which  tells  us  that Jesus Christ reigns in heaven and on earth  because He is the one true God with all the power and glory  that  will be fully revealed on the Last Day!
       Jesus  Christ  loved  us  enough  to  DO  all  that  was necessary to save people  from  eternal  death in hell and to make all believers as workers  and servants in HIS KINGDOM OF FAITH here on this earth!   Jesus  Christ has commissioned us through our Baptism to  serve  as  his witnesses in the world
today‑ to share the Good News of the Gospel that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World  and  faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and King in  the  only way to eternal life in heaven!
       Jesus Christ is THE ONLY TRUE KING for our life as God's people!  Why is He the right King.  Because Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose  from  the dead‑ THAT'S HISTORY.  Jesus Christ died on the  cross  and  rose  from  the grave for US‑ that's the CHRISTIAN FAITH!  Jesus  Christ  died on the crossand rose from the grave  PERSONALLY  for  YOU AND ME‑ that is SALVATION AND ETERNAL LIFE IN HEAVEN..
       Many times we forget who  is  the  King in our life as a Christian, but our text from  Revelation 1 reminds us that it is Jesus Christ, who loves us  and has freed us from our sins by His blood and has made us  to  be a Kingdom to serve God!  To Him be glory and  power  forever  and  ever‑ words fit for our King‑ JESUS CHRIST!

Copyright © 2007 by Pastor Mark Cattau.  All rights reserved.

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  Epiphany logo designed and provided by Dale Bargmann at daleb@ecentral.com