The Lutheran Hour

"An Unlikely King"

#93-12
Presented on The Lutheran Hour on November 23, 2025
Guest Speaker: Rev. Dr. Chad Lakies
Copyright 2025 Lutheran Hour Ministries

Text: Philippians 2:5-11

Philippians 2:5-11 – In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore, God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the Name that is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Somewhere in the middle of The Lord of the Rings films, Frodo is sitting with the Wizard Gandalf, lamenting his mission. He had been tasked with returning the Ring of Power to the Fires of Mordor so that it could be destroyed. It was claimed that whoever has the Ring had the power to rule over all of Middle Earth. Up to this point in the films, things were not nearly as bad as they would eventually be, and yet Frodo says, “I wish it need not have happened in my time.” And Gandalf, with his wisdom of years responds, “So do I, and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

The end of the story is that Frodo, a hobbit, is the most unlikely character to bring an end to what was the reign of terror brought about by the desire to dominate. The fight over the Ring of Power led to a clash of all the peoples in Middle Earth, fighting for the domination it promised or to prevent others from wielding it. Frodo’s unlikeliness brings about a hopeful ending to the story. He’s a Savior figure. It nearly cost him his life to save the world of Middle Earth.

Perhaps you know that the church has something of its own yearly calendar. It doesn’t perfectly align with our annual calendars in terms of beginnings or endings. The church year begins with a season called Advent, starting usually in late November just after Thanksgiving. It runs for a few weeks and then we have Christmas, one of the major holidays of the church, celebrating Jesus’ birth. Several months later, there is the season called Lent, ending with Easter, celebrating Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. There are various other specials days in the church’s calendar, but today, according to that calendar is the last Sunday of the church year, something like our New Year’s Eve. Whereas, on the real New Year’s Eve, we tend to think about new beginnings, this Sunday calls us to think about the end, with Jesus enthroned as King, ruling over all things.

What’s fascinating about this Sunday is just how Jesus Christ came to be called King. It came about in the most unlikely way. To get at that, let’s zoom out a bit and contemplate some of the unique things the Bible and Christians say about the kingdom Jesus rules.

If you’ve read much of the Bible or spent much time thinking about Christian teachings, one of the things that might stick out to you is that some things just seem difficult to believe. That is, they just don’t seem to make sense. I’m not thinking so much about the miraculous, though miracles are challenging in their own right. Rather, there seems to be something about the logic of what Christians teach— often seems, well, illogical. Several of the things that Christians teach or things that we read the Bible just don’t seem to line up with how we think about everything else.

Here are some examples. In one place, Jesus says, “Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for My sake will find it.” Wait a second. We have to lose our life to find it? In another place, we read, “The last shall be first and first shall be last.” What kind or ordering are we talking about? In another place, Jesus says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you.” Seriously, by suffering we’re to think of ourselves as blessed? Finally, in a society in which we often think of ourselves as fully in charge of our lives, the Bible says, “You are not your own. You were bought with a price.”

If you perceive these things to be strange and even difficult to believe, well, that’s because they are. The Kingdom over which Jesus Christ is King is a Kingdom that is not of this world. It just works differently, by what we perceive to be an illogical, upside-down, crooked sort of logic. The fact that the church celebrates this Sunday as the end of the church year also fits this same mold. It hits us as strange, foreign, non-sensical, and yes, even difficult to believe.

One of the other ways the logic of Christ’s kingdom is different is that, coming to believe as Christians do, in claiming in fact that Christ is the King, is not a conclusion we can draw on the basis of evidence, arguments, or persuasion. Rather, as one great Christian put it, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” In other words, God has created in believers belief itself, what Christians call faith. Contrary even to how it might feel, no person makes a choice to believe. Instead, the very ability to believe is itself a gift from God.

It may sound like a conundrum, but think of it this way. We often speak about having a cold or a headache. But this kind of talk is somewhat inaccurate. Rather, a better way to describe the situation or experience is to say that we are had by the cold or headache, that we are in their grip, at least until they relent. Belief tends to work more like this. Rather than having beliefs, as if they are our own possession, arrived at by our own decision or deliberation, beliefs have us. Christian belief is possible by the work of God in us, when we come into His saving grip. Christian faith is a gift given by the very One we confess to believe in.

Now, why say any of this? Certainly not to cause a headache!

Instead, the purpose is to invite you to further consider some of the illogical, upside-down, crooked, logic of the Kingdom over which Christ is King. For He became King in the most unlikely way.

From our reading, Paul’s words tell us that Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, gave up the privileges of His Godhood to take on human flesh. In doing so, He became vulnerable to suffering, pain, evil, temptation, and every other kind of human experience we can think of. Even more, in saying that Jesus is God, we should also recognize several other upside-down truths: the Eternal entered into history; the All-Powerful embraced limitation. But there’s more. This same Jesus endured the greatest of human vulnerabilities. He was killed by being hung on a cross.

Imagine you had never heard this story before. That the Son of God would be killed is perhaps the most unlikely ending we could have imagined. But the story doesn’t end there. There’s yet more unlikeliness. If we had never heard this story before, the ending can be quite the surprise. For Jesus didn’t remain dead. He rose from the dead and walked out of the tomb.

In one of the earliest recorded Christian sermons, one of Jesus’s followers named Peter spoke to a large group several weeks after Jesus had been killed and then rose from the dead. He told them, “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” What Peter meant is that Jesus was enthroned as Christ the King, the very One whom all the biblical prophecies and the hopes of God’s people were waiting for— very Savior of the world who would redeem humanity from the consequences of sin by defeating our greatest enemy, by putting death to death. In fulfilling that mission, God the Father exalted Him to the highest place, putting everything under His feet.

What a way to become a king! This is not how any of us would have imagined it. It doesn’t make sense. It even seems difficult to believe. That Christ became King through such humility, indeed, by means of humiliation, that the Son of God had to be killed— this runs contrary to how we’d guess any story like this might go. But that’s the illogical, upside-down, crooked logic of the kingdom. In Christ’s kingdom, things just don’t happen like we’d expect.

But the story doesn’t stop there. As Christ reigns, He chooses to push the unique logic of His kingdom just a little bit further. He invites people like you and me, frail, feeble, fickle, weak and sinful, to join Him in the greatest work we could ever possibly do. He makes us part of bringing the Good News of His redemption to the entire world. This is perhaps the most unexpected and unlikely part of the whole story.

Why would God do such a thing? What good can we do, we might think? But that’s just the point. In just the same way that we cannot come to believe in or trust our Lord on our own, we receive not just the gift of faith but also the gift of empowerment. In our weakness, God’s power shows through. In the foolishness of choosing us, God’s wisdom shines bright for the world to see.

The late pastor and theologian Timothy Keller tells a story that offers a great example of what’s possible for followers of Jesus who might be the most unlikely choices to be called upon to share the Good News of His kingdom. Keller writes, in October of 2006 a gunman took hostages in a one-room Amish schoolhouse at Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. He shot ten children, ages seven to thirteen, five of whom died, and then he committed suicide. Within hours, members of the Amish community visited both the killer’s immediate family and his parents, each time expressing sympathy for their loss. The Amish uniformly expressed forgiveness of the murderer and his family. The forgiveness and love shown toward the shooter and his family amazed many. Numerous voices called Americans to emulate the Amish and become more forgiving.

You might wonder, how is such a response even possible? Only with the help of God. Only as receivers of the very gift of forgiveness they have already experienced as followers of Jesus. Only then is anyone empowered to forgive others in a way that seems so extravagant, even reckless.

What’s more, this kind of living that mimics the ways of our King is exactly how God has chosen for the world to meet Jesus in us. It’s through the ways of love, kindness, patience, gentleness, compassion, and mercy. For these are the ways that Christ became King. That might seem unlikely to our limited imaginations, for we might think of kings being made through battles won and establishing peace through force.

But God knew this was not the way to undo the problems of sin and death. So He gave His Son, and His Son suffered willingly for us, becoming King over a Kingdom that works through foolishness and powerlessness. Christ the King now reaches down through us, empowering us by the Holy Spirit, to be His witnesses, telling the world about our most unlikely King. He reaches out through us, His most unlikely servants, to offer His love in word and deed to even more unlikely recipients. As Gandalf wisely counseled Frodo, the unlikely savior of Middle Earth, we are to be concerned with “the time that is given us.” God has chosen us in this time to introduce the world to Jesus. Pray and ask the Lord to help you share the Good News of Christ the King with someone who needs to hear it this week.

God grant this to all of us because of Jesus. Amen.

Reflections for November 23, 2025
Title: What is Ministry Engagement?

Mark Eischer: You’re listening to The Lutheran Hour. For FREE online resources, archived audio, our mobile app, and more, go to lutheranhour.org. Once again, here’s Lutheran Hour Speaker, Dr. Michael Zeigler.

Mike Zeigler: Thanks, Mark. Today I get to visit with our guest preacher for the day, Rev. Dr. Chad Lakies. Chad, thanks for sticking around to visit with us.

Chad Lakies: Glad to be a part of this, Mike.

Mike Zeigler: So Chad, your job title for Lutheran Hour Ministries is Vice President of Ministry Engagement. How do you describe what you do to people who aren’t in the know?

Chad Lakies: I try to talk to them about the fact that my team is essentially in charge of all of our in-person engagement, and so that includes really two different groups. We’ve got hundreds, literally over 600 volunteers serving as Ambassadors out in congregations. So we’re interfacing with and encouraging them on a regular basis. They are our hands and feet in congregations to get resources out there and encourage further engagement with LHM in those places. And then we’ve got all of the various Lutheran Laymen’s League districts that exist out there and those are made up of boards and then several other groups of volunteers. And they do all kinds of things, from state fairs to their own conventions, often ways of using our resources with the general public to get them more engaged. And then we are also present at all kinds of different speaking engagements. For example, when you’re out at congregations, my team is supporting you. When I’m out doing workshops or working with congregations or speaking at pastors’ conferences or when we collectively are exhibiting at really large gatherings like the LCMS Youth Gathering or coming up next year, we’re thinking about the LCMS convention, those sorts of gatherings, LWML and everything in between. My team is in charge of how we are present there and what we bring to amplify what LHM is doing or support speakers who might be doing plenaries or breakouts or anything like that.

Mike Zeigler: So you mentioned getting resources into the hands of congregations or individuals. One of the resources we have, in addition to things like our Daily Devotions or The Lutheran Hour, we have these booklets that are called Project Connect. How do you describe these Project Connect booklets?

Chad Lakies: I would say it is a ministry that LHM has been doing for more years than I am aware of. It is perhaps one of the most successful and enduring ministries that we have had beyond, for example, The Lutheran Hour. The content is really meant to deal with everyday issues. They’re the sort of thing that is really a silent ministry. People can encounter Jesus and biblical teachings by picking up something like The Journey Through Depression or The Journey Through Anxiety, a variety of things. There are over 30 booklets currently in publication, with more on the way.

I think sometimes the questions that we handle there are not always the questions that people want to bring directly to their pastor, perhaps still because there’s a stigma about these sorts of things. Or they know somebody who’s wrestling with one of these issues who might not have a connection to the church. And so it can be a resource that they can give away, someone can read in private, encounter Jesus in biblical teachings and the hope that’s there, and potentially connect back with the church, connect back with the community of Christians, connect with the pastor for further engagement on any of the things that we might address there.

Mike Zeigler: So these aren’t Gospel tracts, per se. They are about Jesus ultimately, but they start in the everyday matters of like you mentioned, depression, addiction. I know there’s cancer or grieving, someone who’s committed suicide. Many of these issues that people wrestle with. So they’re not Gospel tracts, but they meet people where they’re at with the Gospel.

Chad Lakies: That’s absolutely right. I do think a couple of them are bent a little more toward helping people understand the Gospel as clearly as possible or equip them to share it. So we’ve got some on Why Did Jesus Have to Die?, What Is Faith in Jesus? We’ve also got one called How to Talk about Your Faith. Really basic sorts of things that give really good ideas to help people in that regard. But yeah, they’re not Gospel tracts in the traditional sense. They might look like it in size, but they aren’t that sort of thing; they function totally differently.

Mike Zeigler: So let’s talk about the title, Project Connect. Why is that title important? What are we trying to connect here? What are we assuming is disconnected?

Chad Lakies: I think in every way we use that phrase here at Lutheran Hour, we’re trying to help figure out how people better connect with Jesus. And so, these documents are just one of our mass media ways of doing that. We’ve been in this business now for over a hundred years using pretty much any kind of media that you can think about. Print media is not going away. We’ve got it in an actual material form that you can hold in your hand. We’ve got it in digital form that you can use on our “Connected by LHM” app or on our website. You can read it as a PDF there. You can also listen to it as if it were an audiobook. The whole idea is to connect people with Jesus and the good news of the Gospel.

Mike Zeigler: And you’re also an author of one of these Project Connect booklets, on <>i>How to Forgive As We’ve Been Forgiven, and this is clearly a Christian foundation teaching, and yet when I read your booklet, you come at it in a way that might perk the interest of a secular person who doesn’t have a religious conviction.

Chad Lakies: Yeah, I think in general there is a shared sentiment amongst many people in our culture that something is really broken, that we’re disconnected, fragmented, splintered as people. Maybe they have the intuition behind that sensibility that there is a lack of willingness to forgive. People are regularly called out for their mistakes. Probably everybody who might read the book has heard about so-called “cancel culture.” Wherever it came from, I think we all have experienced this knee-jerk reaction to disassociate from someone that we disagree with for whatever reason, just on behalf of the disagreement or fear of hanging out with them for so long that I might become “infected” with whatever view that they have that I disagree with. So, I started out that way to really try to pique the interest and engagement of pretty much any kind of reader, Christians, non-Christians alike.

Mike Zeigler: The title of the book is How to Forgive as We’ve Been Forgiven. So this is an allusion to the Lord’s Prayer. And if you’d like to read that, you can find it at lhm.org or on the “Connected by LHM” app. Speaking of the Lord’s Prayer, Chad, would you lead us and close our program out with the Lord’s Prayer?

Chad Lakies: Yes. Let’s pray. Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen

Mike Zeigler: And receive the blessing of the Lord: the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you with His favor and give you peace. Amen.

Music Selections for this program:

“A Mighty Fortress” arr. Peter Prochnow. Used by permission.
“Crucifer” by Sydney H. Nicholson, arr. Peter Prochnow. Used by permission.
“Come, Thou Almighty King” public domain, arr. Peter Prochnow. Music courtesy of The Hymnal Project of the Michigan District, LCMS
“I Love Your Kingdom, Lord” arr. Henry Gerike. Used by permission.
“Lord, Enthroned in Heavenly Splendor” From The Concordia Organist (© 2009 Concordia Publishing House) Used by permission.