John 18:33-37
I wonder about Christ the King Sunday.
- I wonder about Christ the King Sunday because unlike Lent and holy week and Advent…
- Which have been celebrated for more than 1000 years.
- Christ the King has only been a part of the Liturgical calendar since the 1920s.
- And it was added for…I think…political reasons?
- In the fallout of World War One and amidst the Kaisers and Kings and Czars…
- It felt to the church that it was time to reassert that Czar Ferdinand or Kaiser Wilhelm is not king.
- It was time to assert that Christ is king.
- So…100 years ago…or so…Christ the King was added to the church year.
- So…I wonder about this day.
The Lord be with you
And I wonder about the reading from John’s Gospel because…to me…it is out of context.
- Every Sunday we speak of how on the night that Jesus was betrayed he gathered with his faltering friends for a meal that tasted of freedom.
- Well…on that same night…he then taught them and then prayed for them for a long time.
- And after the prayer he and his disciples went to a garden.
- And in the garden…knowing that Jesus would be there…
- Judas…with 30 pieces of silver rattling around in his pocket…
- Betrayed his friend and teacher and Lord.
- And brought with him a heavily armed detachment of soldiers and some police and religious authorities.
And Jesus asked who they were looking for.
- They answered “Jesus of Nazareth”
- And Jesus said: “I am he”.
- And they fell to the ground.
- Unarmed…with no money or status… Jesus said:
- I am he…and the police and soldiers fell to the ground.
But then Peter…the most vocally earnest follower of Jesus…
- Drew his sword and cut the ear off this man…by the name of Malchus…
- Who ended up being not even a police officer or soldier but the slave of the high priest.
- Then Jesus was arrested and subjected to brutal persecution and then brought to Pilate.
- And this is where our reading for this morning begins.
- Which is why the context matters.
So…Jesus…Pilate asks…are you a king or are you not a king?
- And Jesus says…my kingdom is not of this world.
- Well…no kidding.
- If we are going to celebrate a king today…
- At least it could be one who will wipe out all the racists and those who do violence to women…
- And those who hurt children…
- And everyone who is more interested in protecting the wealth of the rich than protecting the wellbeing of the poor.
I want Christ to be a king who can wipe out Isis and Al Qaeda and Hamas and Radicalized Zionists.
- And the people who messed with the Rays baseball team midseason…
- And those who cancelled Anne With An E after just three seasons.
- But considering the number of bombings and shootings and hate crimes that are daily events…
- Then…if Christ is my king…he is doing a lousy job of smiting my enemies.
But here’s the thing.
- The problem is that when that vengeance seeking…
- And violent part of me calls out to have a king who would destroy my enemies…
- I would be the one that same king would have to destroy.
- Since God is the God of all and I too am someone’s enemy.
- And where does that leave me?
That is…as much as I believe in non-violence…
- Does not mean that there is not also violence in myself.
- As much as I believe in non-violence it is simply unrealistic for me to believe that the only reason…
- I have not taken up arms is anything other than the fact that my privileged…
- Peaceful…educated…high standard of living is acquired by violence elsewhere…
- That is safely out of my sight.
- Since…let’s be honest…the life I lead of relative peace and prosperity is procured by child labor…sweat shops and military actions.
(Allow me to digress: I am thankful that I live in the USA and live a prosperous and peaceful life. I am a US patriot. I am thankful for those who serve my county and allow me to live in a legal system of laws and justice that is the envy of the world. I live in two kingdoms. One foot in the kingdom of the world and the other foot in the kingdom of God. Jesus…the Christ of God is the King of the Kingdom of God).
So…given the way my left foot benefits from violence.
- Given the fact that I too want my enemies to be destroyed…
- What this broken world needs is not a king with the greatest arsenal…
- Or a CEO who can protect our wealth.
- We need a Lord who saves us by refusing to play that game.
When Jesus says that his kingdom is not of this world…
- He is saying that His kingdom is not of this world because His power is not centered in our endless cycle of violence.
- Jesus is not a defender…a protector…a soldier…a police officer…a secretary of state.
- Jesus is a savior.
- A savior who knows that more violence will never save us from our addiction to violence.
Which brings me back to that garden that night.
- And that is…the only true hope…is not to be the betrayer.
- Or the one who draws the sword.
- The only true hope is to be one of those who falls to the ground…
- When the unarmed…and unimpressive Jesus of Nazareth says:
- I am he.
Because the violence in us that has been from the beginning…
- Since Cain killed Abel…
- That thing within the human heart that wishes to destroy the enemy…
- Is destroying us.
- So…we do not need any more kings of vengeance or of worldly power or kings closing the border.
- What we need is a King in a cradle.
- We do not need to throw up our fists.
- We need to fall on our knees.
For that is what we do before a king.
- Fall on our knees before a God whose love comes to us in delicate unprotected…unarmed…defenseless flesh.
- Fall on our knees before the one who loves without caution…
- Without measure…without concern for pre-existing conditions.
- Fall on our knees before the one who submitted to the very worst that humans are capable of.
- Who let the twisted thing in us…
- The betrayal and flogging…and violence and vengeance…to murder Him.
- And He did not say: “I am going to get you back.”
- But said: “you are forgiven.”
Fall on our knees.
- Because His kingdom is not of this world’s values.
- It is not a kingdom that guards its borders or arms its citizens or takes hostages or bombs theaters.
Christ is our king because the human violence competition…
- The need to be right and the need for everyone else to be wrong.
- And the belief that God favors us above all others…
- Is seen by Jesus for what it is: so…so small.
- This is why we need a savior who draws all people to himself…
- In the pure love of a crown of thorns and a throne of a cross.
- What can we do but spread our trophies at his pierced feet.
- And call him Lord of all.