Last year, I preached about the word “Christ.” An untranslated word in our English translation Bibles.

I wondered why this word “Christ” remained untranslated for centuries? I think I finally understand why.

Christ means “anointed one.” The “chosen one”. The question is, “What was Jesus anointed or chosen to do?” In the Old Testament, there were only two jobs that were anointed: Priest or King.

If you read your Gospel stories closely you will see clearly that Jesus was anointed to be our last and only King.

I now believe that word (Christ) remained untranslated because it was too threatening and controversial to call Jesus a king. Let alone, the King of kings and Lord of lords.

That translated title was too intimidating for insecure world leaders over the past 2000 years to suggest that Jesus is every Christian’s true leader and a king above any other head of state.

Also, it lets us off the hook. We can minimize and compartmentalize our faith in Jesus. We can relegate Christ to Sunday morning and matters of faith. If we don’t call Jesus our King, we can have other allegiances. However, I want to remind you of what our King said to us about this…

No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. Matthew 6:24

By leaving Christ untranslated, we hide the authority and sovereignty of Jesus our King. There is no challenge to earthly authority when Jesus remains an untranslated ancient title like Christ. It is safer to call Jesus the Christ rather than Jesus our King.

Only Jesus conquered death and forgave every sin for those who are repentant. Only Jesus rose from the dead. Only Jesus taught with authority (Matthew 7:29). All of those facts qualify Jesus to be our last and only King.

In our nation’s history, there have been 45 people who have held the title “President of the United States of America.” Not even one of them died for the sins of the world or rose from the dead. Not one of them will get you into heaven. No President of any party was (or is) the perfect Son of God. Even if you put all the presidents together, Jesus is still greater.

Don’t get me wrong, I love living in the United States. I love our constitution that guarantees us due process under the law and that there is a separation of church and state. I am happy to have the freedom of speech and the freedom to assemble. I applaud that one is innocent until proven guilty in our nation. I do not take those rights for granted. I am thankful for them.

There is a place for patriotism in our lives, but it is not equal to our faith in Christ. Those two things (faith in God and patriotism) should never be mixed.

Dangerous and evil things happen when faith is intertwined with patriotism. When a leader speaks for both God and the state, the justification for ungodly acts increases.

When we come to worship, we come with the constitutional freedom to worship. I am very thankful for that, but I will never worship that guaranteed right. In the same way, I would never worship the Bible. Doing either one of those things is idolatry.

If the tables were turned and I lived in a nation that forbade the practice of Christianity, I would still worship Jesus as my King, though I understand that it could be difficult or even deadly to do so openly. Yet, my nationality does not determine my faith or the practice of it.

Christianity existed for over 1700 years before the birth of our nation. Christianity is not an exclusively American expression of faith. Yet some mistakenly treat it that way. Christ belongs to all Christians of every nation.

When Jesus “cleansed” the Temple in Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus said this, “Is it not written: ‘My house will be called a house of prayer for all nations’. But you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’” Mark 11:17

Jesus clearly pointed out that even the Temple in Jerusalem was for all people and not just for some.

Every Christian house of worship today should be a house of prayer for all nations too. Our worship should always and only point to Jesus and not the things of this world. A Chinese, German or even a Peruvian Christian should feel as comfortable worshipping at our church as they do when they are at home. It would be weird and even heretical to include anything that doesn’t point to God in our worship, including pride in our own nation.

In worship, we focus on one thing: God. Jesus our King showed us through his teaching that we do not follow a tribal God or a God that favors one nation above any other.

Therefore, when we enter the sanctuary for the very act of worship, we acknowledge the God of all the nations and not just our own.

I am thankful this is the guiding principle that our entire worship team believes in and lives by in our planning. Our team keeps the #1 thing (Jesus) as the #1 thing and we exclude everything else from consideration.

Patriotism is a good thing but it does not belong in our worship of Jesus our King. 

There is a time and place for patriotism. For example, I look forward to the Spotlight Cabaret show in July which will exclusively focus on patriotic music. I also look forward to the next TAPPS concert this fall because they perform a needed service for veterans who pass.  We also remember and honor our service men and women on Memorial Day and Veterans Day at announcements.

However, in our worship at CLC we will keep our minds fixed on Jesus our King alone.

The Spiritual, Give Me Jesus expresses this perfectly:

And when I want to sing,
And when I want to sing,
And when I want to sing,
Give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus.
You may have all the rest,
Give me Jesus.

God bless you,
Pr. Ben