November 24, 2024 – The Last Sunday After Pentecost
Kenny Faught
In the name of God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen. (Confession!)
Some context this morning: We have come to the end of the year — the church year, that is. Today we are beginning to turn out the lights and close the door on Ordinary Time. Next Sunday (if you can believe it) will be the First Sunday of Advent. Soon our thoughts will turn toward the coming of Christ, both in glory and in a manger.
Bit today, on this Christ the King Sunday, our Gospel text has us moving toward the crucifixion. It’s somewhat astonishing, but we find ourselves talking about a King who came into the world as a baby, became an itinerant preacher — and then was crucified between two criminals! It’s not at all what we would expect of royalty. Nor is it what we would want! And, my goodness, the things we want! Perhaps you have seen the words circulating on social media in recent months:
We want the war horse.
Jesus rides a donkey.
We want the eagle.
The Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus as a dove.
We want a militia.
Jesus calls disciples.
We want the gavel.
Jesus washed feet.
We want to take-up swords.
Jesus takes-up a cross.
We want the roaring lion.
Jesus comes as a Lamb.
We keep trying to arm God.
God keeps trying to disarm us!
Don’t feel too bad. These are the things the disciples wanted, too. In fact, it was what they expected from Jesus. And Jesus found it just as difficult trying to get through to them as He does trying to get through to us.
The conversation in our Gospel reading today is fascinating. There’s more there than meets the eye (or the ear)! Jesus is led from the High Priest, Caiaphas, to Pilate, the Governor of Judea. There the interrogation begins.
Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” That’s the buzz around town. Jesus is being hailed as a king, and that could lead to real trouble. (Remember that whole Palm Sunday thing a few days earlier? We call it a “triumphal entry” into Jerusalem?.) “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answers, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” (Here in East Tennessee we might say, “Did you figure this out all by yourself or did you have help?”) We might call this speaking truth to power. Jesus is neither impressed with nor intimidated by Pilate.
Pilate dismissively responds, “I am not a Jew . . . Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me.” What Pilate is actually saying is, “I’d really like to not get involved here.” And then he asks the question I love. “What have you done?” Jesus has an answer, and we will get to that.
Let’s think about how Jesus might have answered. What had He done? He had turned water into wine . . . healed the sick . . . fed the hungry . . . made the lame to walk . . . restored sight to the blind . . . caused the deaf to hear
. . . touched lepers . . . blessed children . . . spent time (lots of time) in prayer . . . calmed an angry sea . . . cast out demons . . . raised the dead
. . . preached love and forgiveness . . . . John will conclude his Gospel by saying there were so many other things Jesus said and did that if they were all written down the world itself could not contain the books (and 2000 years of Christian publishing have proved him right)! “What had Jesus done?” Indeed! Now for the answer Jesus gave.
Jesus clarifies for Pilate, “My kingdom is not of 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.” These words seem intended to calm and reassure Pilate. A spirit of reason is being invoked. (But notice — Jesus did say “my kingdom” three times, a point not lost on Pilate!)
Pilate follows-up, “So you are a king?” The underlying issue is this: Should Pilate feel threatened? Should Herod feel threatened? Should Caesar feel threatened? In fact, that question comes to us. If we insist on being in charge of our own lives, should we feel threatened by Jesus? Christ the King — sounds nice to us, but surely that doesn’t mean Christ should rule us! In heaven, maybe — but here? And now? In America? In Tennessee? In West Knoxville? Isn’t that a threat to our basic liberties, both civil and uncivil? Don’t we have an inalienable “right” to do whatever we want, whenever we want, wherever we want? Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian often in the news recently (and just as often being misrepresented), warned us about “cheap grace” — “Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves . . . cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ.” We might say today that “cheap grace” is a kingdom without a King. Or with the wrong king.
Jesus says to Pilate, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Truth! Wow! If Jesus had a bumper sticker or a hashtag! Truth! He had said earlier, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). The New Testament is unwavering here. He is the Way without whom there is no going — the Truth without whom there is no knowing — and the Life without whom there is no living. But wait —
Now Pilate speaks again: (We’re adding a verse to the assigned reading here.) As so often is the case, the wrong person seems to get the last word. “What is truth?” Those ancient words, ringing across the centuries, have the sound of modernity to them, don’t they? What is truth? If I don’t want to live right I can just pretend not to know right. Everything is relative. Perception is reality. Who’s to say what’s right and what’s wrong? Pilate will continue to struggle with that “truth” question as the text unfolds — but he has already become a jaded politician for whom “”truth” doesn’t really matter anymore.
When Jesus is crucified (soon after this conversation), there was a placard, a sign, made for Jesus. It was likely worn around his neck until He reached Golgotha, and then placed on the cross. It said, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.” (Pilate wrote that!) It was written (John 19:20) in Greek (the language of culture and learning), in Hebrew (the language of religion),
and Latin (the language of politics and power). Christ the King Sunday. Is this what we mean?
What had Jesus said about his kingdom? Far more things than we have time to consider today! He had talked about the kingdom, both publicly and privately, for almost three years. There are 89 chapters in the Four Gospels. According to one count, Jesus mentions some aspect of the kingdom 126 times. Many of the parables of Jesus are about the kingdom. He says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed . . . like a treasure hidden in a field . . . like a man scattering seed in the ground . . . like a woman putting leaven in flour” (Matthew 13:31, 33, 44; Mark 4:26-29).
And then Jesus said things like: “The kingdom is within you” (Luke 17:20-21). The kingdom is not up there or over there or out there; it’s in here! We say it and pray it every Sunday — “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done”. THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS THE RULE OF GOD IN THE HUMAN HEART. That being the case, the Kingdom of God is in you, and in me, and in the church. And every time we say “yes” to God we are affirming Christ the King! And every time we say “no” to God we are echoing Pilate and pretending not to know the truth.
Jesus also said, “Seek first the kingdom” (Matthew 6:33). What does seeking that kingdom look like? I’m glad you asked! It looks like “the fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5). It looks like “going the second mile” and “turning the other cheek” and “giving away your cloak” (Matthew 5). It looks like “forgiving 70 x 7” (Matthew 18). It looks like “going into the world to share good news” (Matthew 28).
To paraphrase Father Richard Rohr, “Week after week when we come to the Gospel reading we take the Book into the center aisle, hold it up high, and read words that are supposed to have authority in our lives.” It’s raised up high because it’s what we profess to believe, what we claim to follow, who we say we are as disciples of Jesus — as subjects of Christ the King.
Every kingdom needs a king. For us that would be Jesus! Every king needs a kingdom. For Jesus that would be us! Christ the King Sunday is a reminder that Jesus is Lord — and as one of my pastor’s once said, “Jesus doesn’t just want our admiration, He wants our devotion.”
In the words of Micah the Prophet, “What does the Lord [the King] require? DO justice, LOVE mercy, WALK humbly.” So then, as the Good Samaritans we are, with God’s kingdom at work in us, let’s just
Grow in Faith
Live in Hope
Share God’s Love
And one day we shall all sing together the words of John the Apostle to the music of George Frederick Handel — “And He shall reign forever and ever. Hallelujah!” Christ the King! Amen.