Feast of Christ the King, 2015

JOHN 18:33-37

IT'S INTERESTING TO COMPARE THE THREE READINGS TODAY, ON THIS FEAST OF CHRIST THE KING. THE FIRST READING IS A PROPHECY OF THE COMING OF THE SON OF MAN TO HAVE DOMINION OVER EVERYTHING – TRULY A KING. THE SECOND READING IS LIKEWISE A VISION OF THE END OF TIME; JESUS IS THE RULER OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH, THE ALPHA AND THE OMEGA. BUT THE GOSPEL READING IS DIFFERENT. JESUS IS AN ABJECT PRISONER. WE CAN IMAGINE HIM, HANDS TIED, BEATEN, CLOTHING TORN, STANDING ALL ALONE BEFORE PILATE WHO OBSERVES, CORRECTLY, THAT “YOUR OWN NATION AND CHIEF PRIESTS HAVE HANDED YOU OVER TO ME.” THE THIRD READING SEEMS TO BE IN DIRECT CONTRAST WITH THE OTHER TWO. WE GO FROM COSMIC VISIONS TO THE REALITY OF A CONDEMNED CRIMINAL BEING JUDGED BY A CAREER CIVIL SERVANT WHO RULES OVER A BACKWATER COUNTRY IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE.

AND ONE OF THE INTERESTING THINGS THAT JESUS SAYS WHEN PILATE ASKS HIM IF HE IS A KING, IS “MY KINGDOM DOES NOT BELONG TO THIS WORLD.” DID YOU HEAR THAT ANOTHER WAY? DID YOU EVER HEAR THAT QUOTE AS “MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD?” IF YOU DID, THAT'S BECAUSE THAT'S THE WAY IT WAS TRANSLATED IN THE KING JAMES BIBLE AND ECHOED IN THE DOUEY RHEIMS BIBLE, THE CATHOLIC TRANSLATION THAT CAME OUT ABOUT THE SAME TIME. THE TRANSLATION WE JUST HEARD IS MUCH MORE ACCURATE. AND THERE IS A BIG DIFFERENCE. MANY PEOPLE HAVE USED “MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD” TO JUSTIFY WITHDRAWING FROM THE WORLD INTO A KIND OF GHETTO. IF WE WANT TO BE PART OF THE KINGDOM, WE GO WHERE IT IS, AND IT IS NOT OF THIS WORLD. AND IF WE LOOK AT THE WORLD AND SEE A LOT OF THINGS THAT NEED TO BE FIXED, WELL, HIS KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD, SO LET'S NOT WASTE A LOT OF TIME ON THIS WORLD. OR WE FIND OURSELVES OR OUR LOVED ONES SUFFERING, AND WE PROMISE THAT THERE WILL BE A BETTER PLACE – AFTER ALL, HIS KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD.

BUT TO SAY HIS KINGDOM DOES NOT BELONG TO THIS WORLD IS ENTIRELY DIFFERENT. WHAT CHARACTERIZES KINGDOMS THAT DO BELONG TO THIS WORLD? ULTIMATELY THEY BEGIN WHEN ONE GROUP VIOLENTLY OVERTHROWS ANOTHER GROUP. WE CAN LOOK BACK ON OUR OWN HISTORY; WE CONQUERED THE BRITISH; WE TURNED AROUND AND CONQUERED NATIVE AMERICANS AS WE EXPANDED OUR TERRITORY. WE CONQUERED MEXICO TO TAKE MUCH OF THE SOUTHWEST. WE CONQUERED THE HAWAIIAN KINGDOM TO ANNEX HAWAII. OUR COUNTRY, LIKE EVERY COUNTRY, ARISES OUT OF VIOLENCE.

FOR A KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD TO CONTINUE TO EXIST REQUIRES VIOLENCE AS WELL. WE NEED ARMIES TO HOLD BACK INVADERS. BUT EVEN WITHIN THE COUNTRY THERE HAS TO BE SOME SORT OF VIOLENCE. EVEN ELECTIONS ARE VIOLENT; ONE GROUP OF PEOPLE IMPOSES THEIR WILL ON ANOTHER GROUP, AND THAT IS A VIOLENT ACT, ALTHOUGH NOT IN THE SAME CATEGORY AS A CIVIL WAR.

IN KINGDOMS WHICH BELONG TO THIS WORLD, THERE ARE ALWAYS THE HAVES AND THE HAVE NOTS, THE RICH AND THE POOR, THE SOLID CITIZENS AND THE PEOPLE AT THE MARGINS. THERE WILL BE THOSE WHOSE LIVES ARE RICH AND FULL, AND OTHERS WHOSE LIVES ARE MEANINGLESS. AND THERE WILL BE THOSE WHO ARE SICK AND THOSE WHO ARE WELL.

JESUS' KINGDOM DOES NOT BELONG TO THIS WORLD, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT IS OFF IN OUTER SPACE OR IN ANOTHER DIMENSION, OR CAN ONLY BE ACCESSED WHEN WE DIE. IT CERTAINLY DOESN'T MEAN HEAVEN. JESUS SHOWED BY HIS LIFE AND HIS PREACHING WHAT HE WANTED TO ACCOMPLISH IN THIS WORLD; HE WANTED TO SUBSTITUTE LOVE FOR VIOLENCE, SO THAT LOVE OF GOD AND LOVE OF NEIGHBOR WOULD BE THE MOTIVATING FORCES IN HIS KINGDOM. HE WANTED A WORLD WHERE EVERY PERSON WAS TREATED WITH DIGNITY, WHERE THERE WAS NO HUNGER OR SICKNESS OR POOR OR PEOPLE LIVING AT THE MARGINS. AND IN HIS KINGDOM THERE WOULD BE NO THROW-AWAY PEOPLE, NO PEOPLE WHOSE LIVES WERE EMPTY AND MEANINGLESS.

WHEN WE THINK ABOUT JESUS' KINGDOM, IT SEEMS LIKE AN IMPOSSIBLE TASK. HOW CAN WE REMAKE THE WORLD SO THAT HE IS THE KING OF THE PROPHECIES, THE KING OF KINGS AND THE LORD OF LORDS? EVEN HERE JESUS WOULD NOT HAVE SAID “IT CAN'T BE DONE” OR “IT'S GOING TO BE REALLY HARD.” HE TOLD HIS FOLLOWERS AND THAT INCLUDES YOU AND I, THAT HIS KINGDOM IS WITHIN US. AND I THINK IF YOU'VE LIVED ON THIS EARTH FOR A WHILE, YOU KNOW THAT THIS IS TRUE. WE KNOW THAT OUR FINEST MOMENTS ARE WHEN WE HAVE FORGOTTEN OURSELVES AND ARE SERVING OTHER PEOPLE, WHEN LOVE IS MOTIVATING OUR ACTIONS, RATHER THAN SELFISHNESS. WE KNOW THAT WE CAN CHOOSE TO LIVE MEANINGLESS LIVES, OR WE CAN FIND MEANING AND PURPOSE IN OUR LIFE, EVEN IF OUR LIFE IS SEVERELY RESTRICTED BY PAIN OR DISABILITY, AND WHEN WE LIVE A LIFE OF MEANING, WE HAVE JOY. AND WE KNOW, FROM THE EXAMPLE OF THE MARTYRS, THAT WE CAN EVEN BE JOYFUL, WE CAN EVEN BE IN THE KINGDOM OF JESUS, IF WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH.

LIVING IN THE KINGDOM OF JESUS, THE KINGDOM WHICH DOES NOT BELONG TO THIS WORLD, IS POSSIBLE FOR YOU AND I RIGHT NOW. WE SEE PEOPLE LIVING IN THAT KINGDOM; POPE FRANCIS IS A GOOD EXAMPLE, AND I'M SURE THAT YOU CAN THINK OF OTHERS. JESUS DID NOT MAKE IT HARD; HE TOLD US THAT HIS YOKE IS SWEET AND HIS BURDEN LIGHT. AND HE PROMISES TO BE WITH US; THAT HE AND THE FATHER WILL LIVE IN US IF WE INVITE HIM INTO OUR LIVES.

SOMETIMES PEOPLE IMAGINE THAT BEING A CHRISTIAN IS A STRUGGLE, THAT IT IS A BURDEN, THAT IT IS MUCH EASIER TO BE A PAGAN. BUT THINK ABOUT THIS; IF GOD WANTS YOU AND I TO BE HAPPY AND TO BE FULL OF JOY, HE WANTS THIS FOR US RIGHT NOW, NOT AS THE REWARD FOR PASSING SOME KIND OF TEST. AND HE'S GIVEN US THE MEANS, AND THE SPIRITUAL HELP WE NEED, TO BECOME CITIZENS OF THE KINGDOM WHICH DOES NOT BELONG TO THIS WORLD.