"The Kingdom of Truth"
John 18:33-38
In 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted a new
liturgical observance: the Feast of
Christ the King. The Pope felt that the followers of Christ were being lured
away by the increasing secularism of the world. They were choosing to live in
the “kingdoms” of the world, rather than in the reign of God.
This last Sunday of the church year
is Christ the King Sunday. We prepare to
begin a new church year next week. On the First Sunday of Advent, the coming of
Jesus, not only in Bethlehem, but the second
coming as well, we pause and reflect upon who Jesus the Christ is in our lives.
Truth be told, the language of “king” and “kingdom” troubles a lot of people these days. As Jill Duffield
points out, “it creates a stumbling block to seeing God. Male. Dominating. Subjugating.
Hierarchical….” Those of us who live in
the United States of America remember that back in 1775 we declared our independence from
a king and fought a war of independence.
So…what do we do with Christ the King Sunday?
These days, we also call it “Reign of Christ” Sunday. We talk about “the
kin-dom of God. “But how do we talk
about Christ as King of our lives?
The scripture texts appointed for this week give good
clues for where to start. The Revelation
gives a beautiful glimpse into the glorious, majestic, all-encompassing power
of the Risen Christ. John the Evangelist
proclaims that the One we worship, the Lord of all, poured himself out to the
point of death on a cross.
Today’s gospel lesson is set
in Pontius Pilate’s dusty headquarters in Jerusalem. Pilate, an officer of the Roman Empire, looks
over the ragged street preacher. The
Jewish religious authorities have turned Jesus over to be tried by the Roman
authorities. It is Pilate’s job to
decide whether or not Jesus is a threat to the Empire.
“Are you
the king of the Jews?” Pilate asks.
Jesus
answers, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?”
Pilate
replies, “I am not a Jew-- am I? Your
own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?”
Jesus
answers, “My kingdom is not from this world.
If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to
keep me from being handed over to the Jews.
But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
Pilate
asks, “So you are a king?”
Jesus
answers, “You say that I am. But ‘king’
is your word. My task is to bear witness
to the truth. Everyone who belongs to
the truth listens to my voice.”
Pilate then answers, “What
is truth?” Of course, “What is truth?” has everything to do with Jesus as king, for Jesus is the truth.
Dr. Emilie Townes makes a helpful distinction between the more intellectual understanding of truth (which Pilate represents in this passage) and truth as revelation, which we find in Jesus Christ.[1]
Dr. Townes writes, “We must seek to know God and live as active witnesses on this journey into God. Jesus’ life and mission is a model of this for us. In Jesus, we learn that truth is a stimulant for faithful living and witness, rather than only a matter for contemplation. It is something we do.”
What Pilate misses-- what most of the world misses-- is that Jesus’ Kingdom was never a place, but a perspective…never an established rule, but a stated reality of how to live life. It was never about hierarchy or domination, but a way of interpreting the world and embodying Jesus’ gospel truth in everything we do.
This is a counter-cultural way to live. We’re socialized to trust in the kinds of kingdoms that aren’t interested in the Truth at all, but who tell half-truths, false truths, fake truths that tap into our insecurities and our fears. It might be easier to live under authority, rather than turning away from that and living into the way of truth and justice for all.
The gospels tell us what happens when oppressive, unjust kingdoms are confronted for their wrongs and defied for their abuses-- you can end up like Jesus. Or Dietrich Bonhoeffer… or Dr Martin Luther King…or Archbishop Romero. We know when we stand up to privilege, those with power and privilege will want to shut us up.
When you stand up to the workings of the world’s kingdoms that rely on sexism, racism, homophobia, xenophobia, classism, or able-ism to survive, expect to be silenced. When you stand up to the injustices of the kingdoms at hand that survive because of thrive on fear, expect to be discredited and disregarded.[2]
The kingdoms of this world use power and privilege to keep people in their place. But Jesus’ Kingdom tells the truth about the Truth-- that God so loves the world.
Jesus Christ, our Savior, the one who was betrayed, arrested, beaten, mocked, and taken before Pilate, tells the ruler with the power to kill him, “My kingdom is not of this world.” When he could have spared himself, Jesus chose truth over safety, saying, “I came to testify to the truth. Whoever belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
In a time when there are so many lies, those of us who worship Christ the King are called to testify to the truth.
As
followers of Jesus, we are called to listen to his voice and to live in
his way of truth and love. We are called to love God and our neighbors, to work
for peace and reconciliation and justice for all, to embody the love of Jesus
Christ in all our relationships. As we grow in faith toge
In our
Presbyterian and Reformed tradition, our understanding of baptism emphasizes
God’s initiative. God reaches out graciously to us, and offers us the gift of life in
the kingdom as a free gift. We respond
by dedicating our lives to Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior and committing
ourselves to follow
him. Baptism is the beginning of our life in the church…a first step in a
journey that takes a lifetime.
ther, we trust in the
Holy Spirit to guide us, to lead us further into the truth, and to empower us
to live into God’s Kingdom. Through the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, we teach and
encourage each other to live in the way of God’s love.
One of the great joys of the
Christian life is when parents present their children for baptism. This is their public declaration that they want their child to be a
part of the church and to have a ministry in it.
Baptism is central
to our identity as Christians.
As we live into our baptism, we learn who we are
and whose we
are. We
are nurtured to see ourselves as beloved children of God, and that can make all
the difference!
The baptismal
font stands at the front of sanctuary to remind us that we’ve been
initiated into this congregation, as well as into the universal church of Jesus
Christ.
When parents
and a congregation baptize children, we all promise to teach them who they are in
the light
of God’s truth. We promise to teach
them what makes them different as part of a holy people…a royal priesthood…consecrated
to God’s service.
When parents
present their child for baptism, they promise to live the Christian faith
themselves, and to teach that faith to their children, by word and example. To grow in the faith, we all need to worship
and learn together—in our families, and in the faith community which is the church.
Today, we’re
inviting Khalil to be part
of the great adventure we call church.
What God will
make of Khalil’s life, or where God will lead him, or what kind of ministry he will
have, we don’t know.
But what we do know…what
we can say with certainty, because we have God’s PROMISE—is that God is with us
every step of the way.
May God bless Khalil and his
family…and all
of us on our adventure, as we live into God’s Kingdom together!
Amen!
Rev. Fran Hayes,
Pastor
Littlefield
Presbyterian Church
Dearborn,
Michigan
November 25,
2018
[1] Emilie M. Townes, “Theological
Perspective,” in Feasting on the Word:
Year B, Volume 4: Season after Pentecost 2 (Propers 17) Reign of Christ
[2] I’m grateful to Caroline Lewis for her
insights in “The True Kingdom” at Working Preacher. http://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=5252
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