In 1957, Ben Michtom, president of the Ideal Toy Company, had a brainstorm: why not sell a Jesus doll? The majority of kids in America were Christian, so he figured parents would jump at the opportunity to make playtime a religious experience. Other Ideal executives were horrified, but Michtom consulted with some religious leaders, including most notably the Pope, and the Jesus doll was born. It had beautiful brown glass eyes and was wrapped in molded swaddling cloth. It came in a 12” x 16” package, brown with gold on the edges, made to look like a Bible.
As Sydney Stem describes the doll in Toyland, The High-Stakes Game of the Toy Industry, the Jesus doll was a horrible flop. Parents were horrified at the idea of their child undressing the Jesus doll, dragging it around, sticking it in the bathtub. Ordinarily, there is a no-return policy on products already shipped, but in this case it was such a horrible mistake that Ideal took the dolls back. It appears that what Ideal did with them was give each of its employees a doll and then ground up the rest and put them in landfills. (1)
If the president of Ideal Toys had asked you or me, we could have told him a Jesus doll or even a Jesus action figure wouldn’t work. For one thing, you simply can’t reduce Christ to the level of Barbie or Batman or a rock star, or a politician, or even a monarch. Jesus towers over every real or imagined figure that has ever graced the pages of literature or starred on the silver screen. Jesus is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In today’s lesson from the Revelation, the writer calls him “the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” This is that day in the church year we celebrate Christ’s reign in human life. There is none to whom Christ can be compared.
Oh, there have been attempts to elevate human figures to Christ’s stature. I understand that there is now a First Church of Jesus Christ, Elvis. I’m not making this up, though surely the whole effort is tongue-in-cheek. The catchphrase of this particular church is, “For unto you is born this day in the city of Memphis a Presley, which is Elvis the King.” This church’s picture of Elvis is rather Catholic: the sacred heart is beating in his chest.
If you feel more Protestant, you could opt for The First Presleytarian Church of Elvis The Divine. Their picture of Elvis makes the furor sometime back of Madonna singing suspended from a cross in Russia look tame: Elvis is hanging on a cross made to look like a guitar. (2)
Surely someone has let their sense of satire run wild, but who knows? We live in a crazy world. When people fail to believe in Christ, they begin to believe in all kinds of foolishness. That’s why this day is important. Today on this last Sunday of the church year before we begin the season of Advent, we celebrate Christ the King of Kings.
In our lesson from Revelation the Apostle John writes to the seven churches in the province of Asia: “Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”
Our lesson from the Gospel is from the Epistle of John in which we read of Christ’s appearance before Pontius Pilate. Pilate is inside his palace. He summons Jesus and asks him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”
“Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others talk to you about me?”
“Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied. “Your own people and chief priests handed you over to me. What is it you have done?”
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
“You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
It is a cryptic passage. There was no way that Jesus could explain to Pilate the nature of his kingdom. How do you explain to a person who is totally immersed in a material world what a spiritual kingdom is? It is like trying to explain color to a person who has never even seen light, or music to a person who has never heard a single sound.
“My kingdom is not of this world.” How do we ourselves get our tiny brains around such a lofty concept? “My kingdom is not of this world.” Let’s begin here.
Christ’s kingdom is about how you live rather than where you live. In this world, citizenship is determined primarily by geography. If you live in California, you are by definition a Californian. You may not look like a Californian, whatever a Californian looks like; you may not act like a Californian that’s a line I am not going to touch. I’m just kidding, of course. There are some nice, normal people who live in California. If you live in California, you are a Californian. You are also probably an American. Citizens of other countries may live in California, but if you were born in that state, you are an American. Citizenship in this world is determined primarily by where you live or at least where you were born. Citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is determined by how you live.
The Rev. John H. Pavelko tells about a man named Tom. Tom was born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. As a high school student in the mid-sixties he opposed the desegregation of the public schools and eventually joined the Ku Klux Klan. By the age of 21, he was a designated terrorist in the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, once described by the FBI as the most right-wing terrorist organization in America. After a bloody shoot-out with the police and FBI, in which his partner was killed and he nearly died, Tom was arrested. He was eventually sentenced to thirty years in the Mississippi State Penitentiary, one of the worst in the nation at that time. A few months later, he escaped from prison, but was later apprehended by the FBI after another shoot-out in which one of his accomplices was killed.
While in prison Tom began reading as if for the first time about Jesus and his love for all people. After several weeks of reading and soul searching, Tom surrendered his life to the King of Kings. Slowly his animosity toward black people began to dissolve. He renounced the Klan and his past life of racial hatred. After eight years Tom was released from prison and he began a remarkable new life. Instead of going back to a life of hatred, Tom worked to promote racial reconciliation. He co-authored with Dr. John Perkins, a black minister, a book titled, He’s My Brother. He’s since been ordained into the ministry and has served as a campus pastor and parish priest in Washington D. C. He is now serving as the President of the C. S. Lewis Institute. (3)
This is to say that Tom has a new spiritual residence. Tom is now a citizen of the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Christ. Citizenship in that kingdom is not based on where you live, but how you live.
This is to say that citizenship in Christ’s kingdom depends on where you place your ultimate allegiance. In the U. S. we place our hands over our hearts and say, “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America . . .”
Where do you pledge your ultimate allegiance? If you say, your country, that’s noble. You are a loyal citizen of the United States of America, and I admire you. But it does not make you a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom. Nations, any nation, are made up of people. People can as easily be stirred up to evil as well as to good. There may come a time when you might have to make a choice between the flag and the cross. This would be very difficult for many people. Some will resent that I even raise the possibility that our nation could do wrong. However, the Bible makes it very clear we can have no other ultimate allegiance than our allegiance to Christ.
Our Jehovah’s Witness friends understand this principle. They’re the folks who ring our doorbells and want to drop off the Watchtower publication. We can learn from their commitment.
They refuse to serve in the Armed forces because of their religious convictions. Most of us believe that this is naïve. We believe there are times when military force is necessary to stop the advance of evil in the world. However, we can disagree with them and still admire their commitment to their principles.
One woman confronted a Jehovah’s Witness spokesman who was defending his refusal to bear arms. With passion she said, “My son was shot and killed defending your freedom.”
The spokesman said calmly, “I’m sorry about your son’s death. I can guarantee you, though, that it was not a Jehovah’s Witness who shot him.”
Again, we may disagree with this particular example, but the biblical principle is clear. If we should ever have to choose, the cross comes first if you live in Christ’s kingdom.
Where is your ultimate allegiance? What is it that is most important in your life? Some of us will say, “My family matters most to me.” And that is an admirable trait, but it will not get you into the kingdom. Members of the Mafia are said to put their families first. In fact, family is said to be everything to these mobsters. But they don’t know a thing about the Kingdom of Christ.
Where do you place your ultimate allegiance? Theologian Paul Tillich called it our “ultimate concern.” What is your ultimate concern? What is it in life that you value most that you would not only die for, but also live for? Be careful how you answer. It is a most difficult question. Some people will say, “Why, Jesus is what matters most in my life.” And yet, when the time of testing comes, we discover that it is not Jesus that matters most. It is the esteem with which our friends hold us that really matters most. We get along by going along with the attitudes of our friends.
Most of really don’t guide our lives by the principle, “What Would Jesus Do?” We guide our lives by, “what would my friends do?” or “what is acceptable among my peers?” To whom do you owe your ultimate allegiance?
Citizenship in Christ’s kingdom is ultimately determined by whom you worship. Who is it that you admire more than any other? Who is it you try to emulate in your daily life? Who is your ultimate role model?
We live in a celebrity-conscious world and it is amazing how much influence celebrities can wield in our culture. If a celebrity dresses a certain way, then her fans will soon follow suit. For a person with a weak sense of right and wrong, a celebrity can even be a role model for the cultivation of personal habits. Sometimes these role models are constructive; sometimes they are not.
A few years ago, before her tragic death, the biggest celebrity in the world was Princess Diana. She was a beautiful, fairy‑tale princess who captured the imagination and even adulation of people all over the world. Diana was a remarkable person, but her legacy is mixed.
On the one hand, she had a remarkable concern for the least and the lowest. An American physician accompanied her on hospital rounds. There were no cameras to play to. And yet, he said she did not hesitate to caress and linger beside patients with disfigurements and symptoms that were distressing even to medical personnel. That capacity, the doctor emphasized, cannot be faked.
A pastor, William Boyer, tells about a man from India who sat in his office on the day after Princess Diana died and said, almost reverently, “She touched the lepers.” It was, obviously, an important memory for him.
Evidently, on a trip to India, Diana had visited a leper colony and touched the patients, an apparently small thing. But it was as if, in her simple act of grace (for this man), the life of a beautiful young woman was summed up. You see, royals don’t have to touch lepers. They can avoid such contact in a hundred ways, and who would blame them? But Diana did. She touched the lepers, put herself on the same level with them, and did it of her own free will. (4)
In that sense Princess Diana was a worthy role model, but she was not perfect just as none of us are perfect. Every celebrity who has ever lived has fallen short in one area of their lives or another. Only one person has ever lived who merits our worship. And that is the man for others, the man who not only touched the lepers but gave his life for them as well as for us on the cross of Calvary.
Someone has described our Master like this:
- To the hungry he is the Bread of Life.
- To the sick he is the Great Physician
- To the lonely he is the one who comes and sits beside, often in silence.
- To the lost he is the Good Shepherd who goes out seeking his lost sheep.
- To the Prodigals he is the parent waiting at home, watching ready to throw a party in celebration of the return home.
- To the anxious he is peace.
- To the proud he is One who comes and makes us humble.
- To the happy he is the One who enjoys our celebrations and parties. (5)
Does that describe Christ in your life? Do you live in his kingdom? That kingdom is determined not by where you live, but by how you live. That kingdom is determined by where you place you ultimate allegiance. It is determined by your ultimate role model, by the One you worship. I love the way the late African-American preacher S. M. Lockridge once put it: “The Pharisees couldn’t stand Him. But they found out they couldn’t stop Him. Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him. Herod couldn’t kill Him. Death couldn’t handle Him, and the grave couldn’t hold Him. Yea! That’s my King.”
Is he your King? If not, will you make him your King today?
1. Uncle John’s Ultimate Bathroom Reader (The Bathroom Readers’ Institute, Bathroom Readers’ Press, Berkeley, California 1996.
2. Dave Faulkner, http://bigcircumstance.com/2006/09/16/sermon-discipleship-according-to-elvis-mark-827-38/.
3. http://www.crossroadspc.org/thebarrel/20031123.htm.
4. http://www.oakchapel.com/Sermon/04_05_98.html
5. From a sermon by Pastor Dennis Plourde,
http://firstbaptist-mtlkterr.org/Worship/2009sermons/Sermon090913.pdf.