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I once met a woman who said she is a Spanish duchess. Her father was descended from the old Spanish monarchy. He married her mother; she was a commoner. He was socially superior but had married someone socially inferior to him. When her mother wanted something from her daughter, whose station as the daughter of a Duke still held sway with certain people, her mother would address her own daughter as “Duchess”. “Duchess, if it pleases you, would you talk to them for me. They’ll listen to you.” “Duchess, if it pleases you, would you go with me to this social gathering.” “Duchess, if it pleases you, …” well you get the idea. Calling her daughter Duchess was her mother’s way of reminding her daughter how she could still serve those over which she might have ruled, if the monarchy still ruled in Spain. However, the corruption of our flesh being what it is, her daughter, the Duchess, had the feeling it was her mother’s way of feeling important.
But, in the United States of America, we don’t have Royal family members who are socially superior to the common people. In America, “all men are created equal” is the commonly assumed social status of all men; I suppose the idea may (I repeat, may) be loosely based on St. Paul’s words to the Galatian Christians about there no longer being Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28). But here, it’s important to remember that St. Paul is not referring to social status, nor to Godly vocations, which are the ways God has given us to love and serve our neighbors; St. Paul is simply referring to how we are all, everyone in the world, justified in God’s sight through faith in God’s Son, Jesus, the Christ. That’s the Gospel. That’s what God does for us sinners, despite our sin — more about this in moment.
To Americans, talking about some people being socially superior to others sounds like a bad thing. We are conditioned to think that men condescending to other men (coming down to their level) is insulting. We think we don’t want other men condescending to us. We consider it an insult if anyone considers himself superior to us. If we perceive someone is being condescending, we tend to get offended; but if she is a celebrity we want her to condescend to us, though we wouldn’t usually call it that. Here in America, popular celebrities are sort of treated like royalty; when a celebrity spends time recognizing her fans or sending them personalized gifts in the mail, the fan receives that attention with weeping and speechless tears of joy; it’s as if she’s been in the presence of God, or something. But normally, except for popular celebrities, we Americans don’t go for the idea that some men are superior to others; when it comes to popular celebrity worship, the most beloved celebrities are the ones who at least act like they’re not superior to their fans.
However, in countries that have a king and/or a queen, princes and princesses; lords and ladies; dukes and duchesses, Royalty is not considered equal, socially speaking. Members of the Royal family are naturally considered socially superior to commoners. They are not necessarily expected to condescend to their subjects. Until recently, Royals don’t usually marry commoners. But some of the most popular members of royal families have. Royalty is celebrated and beloved, especially good, benevolent royalty. Royalty is so highly respected that they are treated like gifts from God. In monarchies, one way to greet a man of higher rank or station is to address him as “Your Worship”: capital Y, capital W; for Christians, even American Christians, this isn’t too surprising (or at least it shouldn’t be) since we believe what Saint Paul says in Romans, chapter 13, about all earthly authorities being instituted by God. We also believe what Jesus told Pontius Pilate about Pilate not having any authority over Jesus unless it had been given to Pilate from Above (John 19:11). Authorities are a gift from God; these God-given authorities even include your parents and pastors and teachers; God gives them to us to reward the good, to punish the bad, and to limit the effect of evil. They maintain earthly peace in their respective realms and engage in just wars to limit the effects of evil on the innocent.
So, in countries with monarchs, some men and women love and serve their neighbors by serving in positions of God-given authority; that God-given authority, that responsibility, puts them in a social position that is superior to the common folk. They’re usually born into it; some have married into it. It’s helpful to notice that in those kingly lands, when a prince joins the army and goes to boot camp, he lowers himself to live and work among his own subjects. He literally condescends to be with and fight for and along side his people. For a little while, he gives up his social station and privilege as a prince and serves his people as a fellow soldier and warrior. He willingly puts himself in harm’s way. No doubt, there have been princes injured in battle; some have even been killed. The loving prince whose father orders others around chooses to condescend, he freely chooses to come down from his socially superior station, so he can follow orders from men who may, otherwise, be under him. It takes a special kind of love of those they serve, for a prince to humble himself and take orders from those who are under him socially; to condescend and lower himself to serve his inferiors reflects the kind of self-sacrificial love and humility that God has for you.
God Himself comes down from heaven; He literally condescends the way a prince condescends to serve his subjects as a soldier. The Son of God, Who is God Himself, condescended and literally put His Life on the line. He came down and took human flesh into Himself; He came down from heaven, descended into the Jordan, and by being Baptized by John took all our sin onto Himself, and thereby, made Himself subject to the painful and deadly consequence of sin. But Jesus, God in human flesh, isn’t just one prince among many; He’s actually The One True, the Only Sovereign King; He’s not just the King over Israel; He’s actually the King over all kings. And as King of kings, and Lord of lords, He comes down from His heavenly throne and has made Himself not just equal, but has put Himself under us; for a little while, He was made lower than the angels (Hebrews 2:7,9); He comes down from heaven not to be served but to serve (Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45); He comes down from heaven to show His Apostles how to make disciples and how to serve and feed them; Jesus comes down from heaven to baptize you and teach you, to wash you and keep you clean by forgiving your sins with His Word, and, just as importantly, Jesus comes down to serve and feed His disciples by feeding you His own Flesh and Blood; not only does Jesus lay down His life for His sheep, He lays down His life so that His sheep eat His Flesh and drink His Blood which gives life to the world. Jesus comes down to be the Bread from Heaven that feeds His hungry people so they will live forever (John 6:31-33, 41, 50-51, 58).
Our problem is that we are not born with the hunger for The Heavenly Bread that comes with the Word of God. We are born hungry, but we are not, by nature, hungry for the Holy Things of God. That holy hunger that makes us hungry for the Holy Things of God is something the Holy Spirit must awaken in us through the Word of God. Through the Word of God, the Holy Spirit works to make us hunger for more and more Bread from Heaven. If you notice you do not seem hungry for the Bread that comes down from heaven, then, what you need is more Bread from Heaven. You need to hear the Word of God and when He has made you ready, you need to take and eat His Flesh and Blood. His Flesh is the Bread from Heaven that never runs out. His Flesh is the Bread from Heaven that is never scarce. His Flesh is the Bread from Heaven that comes without price. You cannot work for it; you cannot earn it. It costs you nothing; it costs you nothing because the entire cost has already been paid… for you… by Jesus. His own precious blood has paid your entire tab so that His own Flesh, that Priceless Bread, is now given to you.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Please note: Permission has been granted by the author to share this sermon with the request that, if you use this sermon or any part of it, you not give credit to the author, either verbally or in your bulletins, although acknowledging that someone else wrote the sermon is nevertheless appropriate.