Christ the King

It is so good to be back in this community this morning. I want to thank Jim for inviting me to come back home for the day and allowing me to share with you this morning. I have been grateful to see the ways that this church has lived into its mission to show others the love of Christ throughout its life. I am always proud to tell people in Seminary or in the conference that I am “from” Grace. Even though I’ve only gotten the opportunity to worship with you here a few times, this is home for me and I am grateful to be in this beautiful place worshipping God with you today.

Last week, we celebrated confirmation Sunday for six of our youth at Watkinsville First UMC and I baptized three of them, which was the first time I had ever baptized someone. As I prepared that service and sermon and thought through our membership vows in the UMC, I looked back on my time as a part of this community and how formative it was for me. At Elberton First, I was baptized as a toddler with my sister Madeline in the old Fellowship Hall by Terry Phillips. I’m not sure how many other people can say they were baptized in the Fellowship Hall. I went through confirmation in 2013 with Pastor Wayne, and while I don't remember much about confirmation class, I remember memorizing the apostle's creed and taking seriously the vows that our group took to remain loyal and faithful to Christ through the ministry of the United Methodist Church. To resist evil, injustice, and oppression in whatever ways they present themselves and to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior and promise to serve Him with my life, I am grateful that I grew up around many of you and my family who showed me that this commitment was not something to be taken lightly, because it was a commitment to God and the church. It was this commitment, shown by the church that led me to begin to discover the call that God had placed on my life to serve in ministry. I am grateful for that.

Today has a special purpose for Christians and is a day that we call “Christ the King” or “Reign of Christ” Sunday. This day has not been recognized nearly as long as Christmas, Easter, Pentecost or other holidays, but I think is still important to recognize even in a week where all the buildup seems to be around Thanksgiving and Christmas.

99 years ago, Pope Pius XI instituted the feast day of the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe or “Christ the King Sunday.” This day has traditionally been observed on the last day of the Christian year because next Sunday is the start of Advent which is always the first week of the Christian year and a season where we focus on anticipating the arrival of Jesus. To understand why he did this and why we bother celebrating this, let’s look back on what was happening in 1925. The world was still navigating the end of World War I, and the church was trying to remind Christians that their first allegiance was not to a nation or political power, but to Christ who reigns over the whole world. Mussolini and Hitler would soon come into power, and their movements were beginning to spread. Pope Pius XI wanted to both protect the church from national influence and also frame it as being in contrast to the nations of this world. Following Christ as king is not the same thing as following a leader or king or being subject to rule in the world. This day is also a chance for us to look back at our lives and the life of our church to see the ways that we have let Christ be our Lord and our guide throughout this past year.

Terms like “Lord” and “King” can be confusing or problematic for us in the modern world because we don’t live in a monarchy or a place with one supreme ruler, these terms assume there’s some kind of power and hierarchy, and because we often hear these words associated with Jesus. But, Jesus doesn’t seem to associate with these terms in the way we would think. Jesus tells his followers to not desire to be rulers over others or on top of hierarchies, but that being truly great means being a servant for the sake of others. It means putting your interests to the side and thinking of ourselves less.

Our scripture today brings us to Good Friday when Jesus is handed over to Pilate to be sentenced to death. I will read from John 18: 33-37.

Scripture

33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” 34 Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” 35 Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” 36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom belonged to 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.” 37 Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “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.”

John 18: 33-37 NRSVUE

Here, Pilate is questioning Jesus and seems to be stuck in figuring out what to do with him. Jesus didn’t revolt against the local government, steal anything, commit treason, or kill anyone. But he is on trial for being accused of saying he is “King of the Jews.” Nowhere did Jesus even limit his kingdom to the Jewish people but did say his kingdom was not of this world. But in the Roman world, anyone claiming to be king or have power needed to be put in check. Ceasar was king, and anyone who tried to step in the place of Caesar was an insurrectionist who needed to be punished.

We see two very different examples of power in this passage. Pilate wants to be the one in power in this conversation. In the next chapter of John, Pilate brags about his power to Jesus, saying that Jesus’ fate is ultimately in his hands. But Pilate also knows that the real people who have power over him want Jesus crucified. So he’s stuck here, in trying to get Jesus to admit to what he’s accused of so he can have a reason to crucify him and appeal to those who hold him up. But Jesus’ power is submissive, calm, and trusting in God. I think we often associate and our drawn to power like what Pilate has on the outside. Power is synonymous with being domineering and controlling in today’s world, so we don’t often think of Jesus’ life as having power. When we think of the power of God, we often think of the resurrected Jesus and the Father in heaven who have some kind of power over the world. But in Jesus’ life, he shows us what we should do with our power- submit to God’s will and serve others.

After Pilate confronts him, Jesus doesn’t admit these claims, but doesn’t refute them either. Because they are not totally true or untrue. Jesus is claiming to be a king and is a king, but not in the way people would assume so. When Jesus was born and there was word of a messiah coming to save the Jewish people, people wanted and expected this messiah to be a warrior and a fighter who would conquer and lead the Jewish people to military victory. We know that’s not what Jesus did in his life, but that doesn’t make him any less of the messiah. In his triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus rode in on a lowly donkey instead of a horse. Jesus says that the last will be first and the first will be last. Why would any king who has power say that and willingly give themselves us? Jesus says in this passage that if his kingdom was of the world, his followers would be fighting to keep him from being handed over. They would be revolting against Jesus even being summoned by Pilate.

We say a lot of things when we describe Jesus: savior, king, Lord, messiah, son of God, lamb of God just to name a few. I once read someone say “It’s not enough for Jesus to just be your savior, but is Jesus your Lord too?” And I think that that quote speaks to what Christ the King Sunday means. Today is when we focus on the Lordship and the power of Jesus and see how this puts the power of the world upside down. We can’t follow the rulers and kingdoms and empires of this world and have Jesus as our Lord too because these things are opposites of one another. When Jesus is our Lord, there can be no other. We can say “Jesus is Lord” because Jesus’ lordship and kingship is not of this world. Jesus says in this passage that his kingdom is about truth. It’s about us belonging to the truth. Jesus’ kingdom doesn’t have any visible citizenship boundaries, but all who believe and follow the truth of Jesus will belong to this kingdom.

Today is about not only saying “Jesus is King” and “Jesus is Lord,” but about trying to understand what these phrases really mean. Jesus’ kingdom is not like the empires of the world during this passage in John and today, because in Jesus’ kingdom, power is revealed in sacrifice. Service is more important than domination. The meek and humble and broken are blessed, and the proud and selfish are cast away. To say “Jesus is Lord” is to recognize that God has the final say and that Jesus’ kingdom is never-ending. Caesar and Herod and Pilate and the empires of our world today are temporary because they are not and will never be Jesus’ kingdom. Truth is a major theme in John’s gospel and is the reason for Jesus’ life and ministry for John. Jesus came to show us God’s truth and allow us to live in it. Jesus’ kingdom calls us to abide and live in truth. Today, we are in a time when the truth is harder to find that its ever been before. Because lies work better than truth. Lies are louder, cause anger, and are definitely easier to tell. Living into the truth of Jesus’ kingdom is a calling and a challenge and a struggle that we constantly have to choose. I think it is quite impossible to get to a point in life where we can read Jesus’ teachings and see what Jesus did and think that we are anywhere close to living up to that standard. But the standard is set for us by Jesus, our king and our Lord. When we live our lives in surrender to Jesus’ kingship and Lordship, which is radically different than the lies and empires and powers of this world, we begin to live in truth. When we follow what God said he requires of us through the prophet Micah to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God, we abide in truth. When we follow Jesus’ example of washing our neighbors' feet in an act of love and surrender, we abide in truth.

We are celebrating with other Christians today that Christ is our king and that Jesus is our lord. We belong to this truth, and we listen to his voice, the voice of our king. We have received the kingdom of God into our lives through word and faith. And so, we have been freed from captivity to all other kingdoms and rulers; to all false gods. We know the truth – that Jesus came to free us from captivity to all these other kingdoms and rulers – and the truth has made us free.

Part of the reason why I’m so proud to tell people that I’m from Grace UMC is because of the way that you show that Jesus is Lord. This church exists because you trusted in Jesus and in the Kingdom of God, because you had faith that God would provide a way. And God has provided a way for you to be here, to show this community the way of Jesus that is faith and love and service and compassion. Part of being the church is about reminding ourselves that we are in a unique place to both exist in the world and in our communities but also to point ourselves upwards and remember why we do what we do. Today, I want us to remember that Jesus is Lord and Christ is King of the whole universe, and our responsibility is to show that with our lives. That we are fortunate to get to live in the kingdom is God today while we still wait for Jesus to come and for God’s kingdom to be revealed in all its glory. But we can help our world become more like heaven every day. So keep being the church and showing others the boundless love of Christ in all that you do. Jesus kingdom is not of this world, but it is for this world.

Pray with me.

Christ our loving king and lord, we are grateful that you are lord and king over the whole earth. Help us to live as examples to you in our lives and remember that we need you. Amen