Today is “Christ the King” Sunday. It’s the last Sunday of the church year. Next week is the first Sunday of Advent, which is the first Sunday of the new church year.
And the scripture for this “Christ the King” Sunday deals with an exchange between Jesus and Pilate, in which Pilate tries to figure out just what type of king Jesus is.
Pilate asked Jesus: “Are you the king of the Jews?” There is a little back and forth between Pilate and Jesus, in which Jesus utters the phrase “my kingdom” - three times Jesus says that - and then Pilate says: “So, you are a king?...”
Jesus had been arrested and brought to Pilate for questioning. Pilate had been told by Jesus’ accusers that Jesus was claiming to be a king. However, only the Roman Emperor had the power and authority to declare someone a king. If Jesus was claiming to be a king, this was clearly something Pilate needed to investigate.
Jesus didn’t give a straight answer. Jesus said, “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.”
What did Jesus mean by this? Pilate had to know. If Jesus claimed to have a kingdom, then was he also claiming to be a king? It sure sounded like it.
I’m guessing that Pilate didn’t understand what Jesus meant when he said, “My kingdom is not from this world.” Pilate didn’t really care exactly where Jesus’ kingdom was, or what type of kingdom it was. All Pilate needed to figure out is if this person, Jesus of Nazareth, was claiming to be a king while living within the borders of the Roman Empire.
“So, are you a king?”
To Pilate, Jesus sure didn’t look like a king. He had no palace. He had no crown upon his head. He had no real army - all he had was a group of backwoods followers, mostly unarmed, with no military training, who posed no threat at all to the Empire. How would they conquer their enemies in battle? By waving palm branches at them?
Jesus said that his kingdom was not from this world. If it were from this world, his followers would fight on his behalf.
But it’s not from this world. So his followers aren’t fighting. But what kind of a king has followers who won’t fight for him?
It didn’t make any sense.
“So, are you a king?”
It doesn’t always make much sense to us today. Jesus is a king? Well, kings are rather old fashioned these days. The idea of a king implies an out-of-date system of government, one that is patriarchal, one that is undemocratic.
Kingships and kingdoms have lost favor.
However, Christ the King Sunday occurs every year. Sometimes it gets lost in the celebration of Thanksgiving (at least here in the United States), and sometimes we just don’t want to take the time to figure out what it really means. So even though it happens every year, it can be easy to overlook.
I learned a little about the history of Christ the King Sunday from my friend Sandhya Jha, who directs the Oakland Peace Center. Apparently Christians have been celebrating Christ the King Sunday for almost one hundred years, starting in 1925. In the years after World War I, dictators were beginning to rise to power in many parts of the world. In Mexico, Catholics were being told they had to place all their authority in the state.
So the Pope created Christ the King Sunday, as a day to encourage the freedom of Catholics to practice their religion, and to encourage world leaders to understand that no allegiance is more important than our allegiance to Christ. And when allegiance to Christ and allegiance to one’s country come into conflict, followers of Jesus must always give priority to their allegiance to Christ.
Doing so has been, and is today, a radical commitment.
In today’s scripture, Jesus’ kingship is the point of discussion. But what does it mean to say that Jesus is King?
As Jesus seemed to imply in his response to Pilate, a lot depends on how one defines what it means to be a king, and what kind of a king Jesus is.
Is Jesus a king according to Pilate’s definition of a king? Is Jesus a king according to our definition of a king? Is Jesus a king according to the definition put forth by all the fairy tales and Disney movies we’ve seen and heard? Is Jesus a king according to the up-and-down history of Israelite kings in the Hebrew Bible?
Or is there some other definition of kingship?
You know, a lot of theologians and a lot of pastors have searched for other language. Words like “king” and “kingdom” are just too problematic, too confusing. So they have come up with alternative phrases…
Instead of “Christ the King,” they say, “Christ the Cosmic Ruler.”
Instead of the “Kingdom of God,” they say, “the reign of God,” or, “the Commonwealth of God.”
On page 632 of our Chalice Hymnal (you can open it if you want)... #632 in the Chalice Hymnal is a hymn that many of you are familiar with: “Lead On, O King Eternal.” It was written in 1887 by Ernest W. Shurtleff.
Lead on, O King Eternal, the day of march has come…
It presents a perfectly old-fashioned, militant, patriarchal image of a king that so many people today find problematic.
However, on the very next page - #633 - there is another hymn. This one was written in 1974 by Ruth Duck, but it uses the same tune. And instead of “Lead on, O King Eternal,” this song is titled, “Lead On, O Cloud of Presence.” All problematic kingly language has been taken out and replaced.
Or consider one of the songs we sang this morning: “Be Thou My Vision.” It is an Irish song that dates back to the 8th century. This hymn is based on an ancient story of St. Patrick refusing to follow the High King Logaire, and choosing instead the "High King of Heaven."
However, many modern hymnals (including ours) have taken out the phrase “high king of heaven,” because of it being so archaic and masculine; and they replaced it with the phrase,“great God of heaven.”
I give all these folks all an “A” for effort, because the words we use are important. But I’m not convinced that any of these modern phrases are any more helpful. I don’t know about you, but I’m not sure that “the commonwealth of God” (for example) is any easier to understand than “the kingdom of God.”
And I’m not sure that “Christ the Cosmic Ruler” means quite the same thing as “Christ the King.” “Christ the Cosmic Ruler” makes me think of the “Cosmic Muffin Report” that was heard on KLOS when I was a teenager, and what a load of hooey that was…
So I prefer to stick with “kingdom” language…
In choosing to stick with “kingdom” language, I know that I have an important responsibility, which is to define what I mean when I talk about Christ the King, and what I mean when I talk about the Kingdom of God. These phrases don’t mean anything if we don’t know what they mean.
When I talk about Christ the King, I hope I do so in the same way that scripture talks about Christ the King. And in scripture, I see Jesus acting as a king not in same way that Herod or other Roman-appointed kings acted. I see Jesus acting in ways that provide a stark contrast to how all those kings acted.
A few weeks ago, we had the story of James and John, two of Jesus’ disciples who asked for places of honor. And Jesus basically said, “in this world, rulers lord their power over you, but in my kingdom, kings and rulers must act like servants and slaves. They must humble themselves, because in my kingdom, those who are first will be last, and those who are last will be first.”
That’s a very different model of kingship than what the world was used to.
Last week I mentioned briefly Jesus’ arrival into Jerusalem. We usually save that story for Palm Sunday, but it’s actually a great demonstration of just how different Christ’s kingdom is. While the emperor was entering Jerusalem riding a gilded chariot pulled by warhorses, with his soldiers and centurions lining the roads, holding their weapons high in salute, Jesus was entering Jerusalem from the other side, riding a humble donkey, while his ragtag band of followers held branches in salute.
That’s a very different model of kingship, an image that is set up as a direct contrast to the model put forth by the kings of Rome.
And Christ’s kingdom exists, as I said, without palaces, without thrones made of gold, without temples and rituals that exist primarily to reinforce the authority of the ruler, and the debt owed to the ruler by society.
Yes, Herod built temples and roads, and in return, expected a debt of gratitude to be paid to him by the people. A huge debt. Mostly in the form of burdensome, heavy taxes, but also in the form of obedience, and a relinquishing of freedom.
But scripture tells us that in Christ’s kingdom, we owe no debt except the debt to love. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, it says we are to owe no one anything, except love. If you show love, you have fulfilled the law. All the commandments can be summed up in the command to love your neighbor as yourself.
There are a lot more commands than that in the Roman Empire. There are a lot more commands than that in Herod’s kingdom.
But in Christ’s kingdom, every law and command can be summed up by love.
So every sermon I preach, every lesson any of us can give, can be summed up in love. Christ rules in love, and Christ’s kingdom is a kingdom governed by love.
And when we love our neighbor as ourselves, that means we will welcome them in just as we ourselves would desire to be welcomed.
And when we love our neighbor as ourselves, we will notice when our neighbor is suffering. We will reach out to them in compassion. We will search for the causes of their suffering, and work to end them.
If our neighbor is being mistreated, we will stand with our neighbor. We will say to those who are doing the mistreating, “If you mistreat this neighbor, then you mistreat me as well. If you oppress this neighbor whom I am called to love, then you oppress me as well. If you take away the rights of this neighbor whom I love, then you take away my rights as well.
I will stand by my neighbor, I will stand with my neighbor, because I am called to love. My allegiance is to Christ, and Christ’s kingdom is based on love. Christ’s kingdom is based on solidarity. Christ’s kingdom is based on compassion. Christ’s kingdom is based on justice. Christ’s kingdom is based on understanding. Christ’s kingdom is based on unity.
I will do nothing that harms my neighbor, because I am called to love my neighbor.
I will stand in the way of the forces that seek to harm my neighbor, because I am called to love my neighbor.
It doesn’t matter what country my neighbor was born in.
It doesn’t matter what color their skin is.
It doesn’t matter if they are gay or straight or transgender or cisgender…
It doesn’t matter if they are Christian or Jewish or Muslim or Sikh or Buddhist…
It doesn’t matter if they are rich or poor, old or young…
They are my neighbor, and I am called to love them.
Because my allegiance is to Christ my King.
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