About three months ago on August 16, 2002, the world celebrated a momentous event: the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. A person only needs to say "Elvis" or "the King" and everyone immediately understands whom you are talking about. Just go to an Internet search engine and type in "Elvis" and you will be amazed by how many thousands of sites come up. Many of those sites refer to Elvis in religious terms. Did you know that there is a Gospel of Elvis? How about the First Presbyterian Church of Elvis the Divine? You can experience this yourself if go to Memphis and you visit his home, Graceland. When you finish the tour, you arrive outside behind the house where Elvis and his family are buried. Elvis' grave is a shrine, stacked with fresh flowers as dozens of fans wait their turns to pay their respects.

There is one story that you can find circulating on the web about Elvis and his kingship that I want to share with you. At one of his concerts in Las Vegas in the 1970s, a fan approached the stage with a crown sitting atop a pillow. She presented it to Elvis and said, "It's for you. You're the King." And Elvis reportedly replied, "No, I'm not the King. Christ is the King. I'm just a singer."

I don't know whether this story is true or if it is one of the many Elvis myths that have developed over the years. But it does remind us that one of the ways we think about Christ is as the King. Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday. This is the last Sunday in the church calendar. We are completing a long period that began last spring on Pentecost Sunday known as Ordinary time or Kingdomtide. Now we celebrate the coming reign of Christ and the completion of creation.

But what kind of king is Christ? Oftentimes, he is depicted wearing purple robes and a gold crown, sitting on a throne in heaven, looking down upon his subjects on earth. This is the resurrected and glorified Christ, who has ascended into heaven to sit at the right hand of God the Father. It is the image of Christ victorious over the powers of evil as he comes to judge the world in its final days.

This morning, however, I want us to imagine Christ as a different kind of king. I want us to picture the human Jesus from the backwater town of Nazareth. This is the poor, itinerant Jesus that challenges the ruling authorities of the Roman Empire. We have to remember that in the time of Jesus, it was Herod the Great and his son, Herod Antipas, who ruled over Palestine with the blessing of the Roman emperor. A very small ruling class controlled everything: commerce, politics, institutional religion, art, architecture…everything. So imagine what the Herods must have thought when they received reports about this Jew named Jesus and his little group of followers proclaiming the arrival of the Kingdom of God, right here and right now? As John Dominic Crossan points out, Jesus' preaching about the Kingdom of God ultimately led to his confrontation with the ruling authorities and his crucifixion. "If you announce a Kingdom of God," he writes, "it could easily be taken as claiming that you yourself are its king..."(1) When Jesus appears before Pilate, the question that Pilate asks is: "Are you the King of the Jews?" (Matt. 27:11). The charge that is written above Jesus' head on the cross when he is crucified is: "This is Jesus, King of the Jews" (Matt 27:37).

Not only do we have a different kind of king in the person of Jesus, we also have a different kind of kingdom. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus preaches often about the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven (these phrases are used 36 times in this gospel alone). Remember, in the Beatitudes, Jesus makes some radical claims about who belongs in this kingdom. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:3). Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:10). Over and over again, Jesus teaches us that it is the people who show mercy and justice toward others that will inherit this new kingdom of God.

You heard, in our gospel reading for this morning in Matthew, the Great Judgment passage. This scripture marks the end of a series of passages about the coming of the kingdom of God in the end times. Remember the warnings that have been issued by Jesus in the past two weeks: the parable of the wise and foolish bridesmaids, the parable of the talents. More than one person has mentioned to me that each of these parables seemed rather harsh. That's because they are harsh! Matthew pulls no punches; this is about judgment based on our actions, not on what we simply say we believe.

Now, Matthew ends up today with a knockout punch. Christ is coming back in all his glory to judge all the nations. He separates the sheep from the goats. The sheep are those who fed the hungry, gave the thirsty something to drink, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, took care of the sick, visited those in prison. They inherit the kingdom of heaven. The goats are all those who did not respond to the needy and are sent away to eternal punishment. Christ's standard is clear and unambiguous: when you did these things to the least of these, you did them to me.

I don't know about you, but this passage haunts me. When I ignore the pleas of a homeless person on the street, I think about this scripture. When someone comes to the church office and I send them away empty-handed, I think about this scripture. I can rationally go through all the ways we help others through our support of non-profit agencies, but I still feel guilty in my heart. It reminds me just how hard it is to live up to the demands of Christ in our discipleship.

Serving the poor, the hungry, and the imprisoned is an important part of our Methodist heritage. The Methodist movement actually got its start in 1730 at Oxford University when John Wesley and his brother Charles organized "the Holy Club."(2) The Holy Club was a small group of college students who committed themselves to practicing certain spiritual disciplines. These disciplines included regular meetings for prayer, study of scripture, and singing of hymns. But soon, the Wesleys felt that these practices were not enough. So the Club began visiting the prisons in Oxford. They took books and food and clothing to the prisoners. They collected money for them so they could pay off their debts. They ensured that they had sound legal representation and accompanied them to trials. From this beginning, the first Methodists began a tradition of putting their faith in action through works of charity and outreach.

This tradition continues today in this congregation. We are one of the largest contributors of food and money for the Westside Food Bank. Our children are learning how to share their resources through their own giving to Heifer Project International. We support two United Methodist missionary couples, one in Ecuador and the other in Los Angeles. Your gifts provide much-needed funds for twelve different ministries in our Alternative Christmas program. This is only part of what we do locally and I haven't even touched on our denomination's mission work throughout the world.

I went shopping this week . . . for girl's clothing. A number of people from this congregation contribute $100 each year to the Salvation Army during the holidays. This money is used for poor children to buy clothing at Sears here in Santa Monica. One of our members who contributes each year usually asks one of the pastors to spend a morning with a child to purchase the clothing. This year I was asked to spend somebody else's money (which is a minister's dream come true).

I arrived at Sears at 7:45 in the morning and joined a long line of volunteers waiting for the children to arrive. We were paired up randomly; whoever was in line next was the person you took shopping. That is when I met Anna. She is 7 years old and a student at Grant Elementary School here in Santa Monica. She was very shy and quiet; I had to bend down on one knee to hear what she was saying. She had a list with all of her sizes for pants and blouses and sweaters and shoes. I am sure she was a little overwhelmed, but I was, too. You see, I have a four-year old son, so I know all about boys clothing. But I am totally lost in the little girls department and I desperately wished that my wife were with me on this little adventure. Thank God one of the female clerks saw the terror in my eyes as we tried to find the right blouse for a 7-year old, and helped me the rest of the morning.

We had a great time. You can make a $100 go a long way for a child. We bought a pair of dress shoes, a denim dress, a pair of jeans, a glittery blouse that said "Princess," a hooded sweatshirt, a sweater, underwear, and frilly socks. I was very proud of our shopping trip when we met Anna's mom as we exited the store. It was only $100, but it felt like $100,000 when it was all done. That is what giving does for us. Yes, it helps a person in need of the basics of life. But it also changes the giver. It forces us to move outside of our own concerns and worries and connects us to others that we would not meet otherwise. We are serving Christ when we serve the neediest of God's family. This act of giving transforms us.

That is why we come together today to consecrate our gifts and pledges. Following this sermon, we will come forward and place in this box our special gifts for 2002 and our pledges for 2003. You have heard and read about the financial needs of this church. We have made some strides in adequately funding our ministries, but we still have a distance to go. The budget, the deficit, the numbers are all important. But as you bring forward your pledge cards today, or if you are still considering what you will give to the church for next year, I hope that you will focus on how giving can change you. Reflect on the testimonies you have heard from your fellow members here on Sunday mornings. Remember the message that Jesus has preached to us in our gospel readings from Matthew. Know that what you place in this box today can change your life as a Christian.

So, I invite you now to turn to hymn #87, "What Gift Can We Bring." And as we sing this hymn, bring forward your pink special gift cards for balancing our 2002 budget and your green pledge cards for the 2003 budget. If you need a card, they are available in the Narthex…you have four verses to complete one! After we finish the hymn, we will pray together the prayer of consecration printed in your Order of Worship, as we dedicate our gifts to God. Let us come now and share the blessings that God has so richly bestowed upon us. Amen.

NOTES:

1. John Dominic Crossan and Jonathan L. Reed, Excavating Jesus: Beneath the Stones, Behind the Texts (SanFrancisco: HarperCollins, 2001), 218.
2. V.H.H. Green, John Wesley (Lanham, MD: University Press, 1964), 26-30.