Kindom

Sermon by Pr. Sharai Jacob on the Third Sunday in Advent + Sunday, November 23, 2025

The words King and kingdom stand out in this gospel reading. Kings books and movies are often depicted as either just rulers, or evil tyrants. They rule unquestioned and without the need for their people’s approval. Whether they are just or unjust, they have full control over the lives of their people. When I think of “kings and kingdoms” I think of colonization. I think of wars and famine and an imbalance of power. The opulence of royalty and the devastation of poverty. 

I also think of the “No Kings” protests and the hundreds of thousands of people who gathered in Chicago’s streets. I think of today’s “Kings.” Who act as though they are all powerful, and ignore the calls of their people. Kings led by greed. Kings who control and suppress using fear and violence to hold power. 

If this is the definition of a “King,” then I would never call Jesus a King. Jesus doesn’t use power and authority to control and demean others. Jesus uses power and authority to empower the people around him.

Jesus is almost the opposite of a King. Born in a manger to a woman who was pregnant out of wedlock and a lowly carpenter. There is no opulence to him. And he doesn’t chase opulence either. Jesus’ goal is not wealth for some, but dignity for all - even the people actively crucifying him. Even at the cost of his own dignity. On the cross, facing death, Jesus continues to offer dignity in paradise to the person on the cross beside him. 

Jesus doesn’t maintain authority through fear and violence. Jesus builds caring relationships with his followers.  Jesus knows his people. He eats with us, dances with us, and journeys with us. Jesus is willing to suffer with and for us. Love and Grace are his only tools. The man on the cross beside him is offered Grace and Love. The people actively crucifying them are offered Grace and Love. Jesus hopes for them the same way he hopes for his own family to be safe, to be cared for, to find peace. 

So what does this “opposite King” mean for us today? How do we live as followers of a King who spends his reign serving, and caring for, and sharing his life with us? 

Offering grace to those who would crucify us is all well and good in theory. But our reality includes regular lynchings, families being torn apart, mass shootings, people being kidnapped and disappeared, ongoing genocides and colonization, access to food and healthcare being stripped away. Can we offer our assailants grace the same way Jesus did? Maybe the extent of the grace you can afford to give is to say, “I may hate you back, but God still loves you. Repent and return to God.” Or maybe you truly can pray for them like Jesus did. Thanks to the grace and guidance that Jesus offers us, we can say that we are willing to try and we can ask God to help us. 

Aside from the near impossible task of loving our enemies, there are other, more feasible, actions we can take! As members of this opposite-kingdom of God, we are made equal members of God’s family. It may be more fitting to call it God’s kindom, because Jesus makes us all kin. One of the most accessible ways to follow Jesus’ example is to grow and strengthen community. Our relationships in church, at work, at home, in our neighborhoods, and across borders, teach us how to have faith. How to find hope. And even how to love as Jesus does. 

As followers of Jesus and members of God’s kindom, we are set free from the hierarchies that pit us against each other. We are free to see all people as our equals. To see all people as equally deserving of food, shelter, healthcare, comfort, community. We are free to uplift the voices of the oppressed, to call out injustice where we see it, and to use the power we do have to protect the dignity of those around us.

While we participate in the ritual of waiting during this Advent season, let us remember that even while we wait Jesus is at work in, with, and through all of us together. The world may seem bleak while wealth disparities grow and hidden evils become more and more visible, but we are already living as part of God’s kindom. We are free to hope for a better world and free to act for justice. We are free to stand together as we await Jesus Christ our Lord, whose coming is certain and whose day draws near.

Amen.