Lord God almighty, you have anointed Jesus as the Christ not to rule a kingdom won by violence but to bear witness to the truth, not to reign in arrogance but to serve in humility and love, not to mirror this world's powers but to inherit a dominion that will not pass away. Freed from our sins by the blood of this faithful witness, shape our service of others after the pattern of Christ' self-sacrificing love. We ask this through Christ, with whom you have raised us up in baptism, the Lord who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.From Prayers for Sunday and Seasons, Year B, Peter J. Scagnelli, LTP, 1992.
Some Thoughts on John 18:33-37
"In the end, Pilate attempts to crucify the Truth. He places a placard nearby mockingly announcing Jesus as The King of the Jews. The irony is thick, of course, because Pilate has unwittingly announced the truth."
Commentary, John 18:33-37, Jaime Clark-Soles, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
"Jesus spoke unashamedly of the impending reign of God and embodied its reality in his ministry through his behaviour. Visionaries, particularly those who let their visions be the agenda for their lives here and now, inevitably confront the forces which want to control the present and mostly resist change."
"First Thoughts on Year B Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Christ the King, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
Oremus Online NRSV Text
"In the end, Pilate attempts to crucify the Truth. He places a placard nearby mockingly announcing Jesus as The King of the Jews. The irony is thick, of course, because Pilate has unwittingly announced the truth."
Commentary, John 18:33-37, Jaime Clark-Soles, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
"Jesus spoke unashamedly of the impending reign of God and embodied its reality in his ministry through his behaviour. Visionaries, particularly those who let their visions be the agenda for their lives here and now, inevitably confront the forces which want to control the present and mostly resist change."
"First Thoughts on Year B Gospel Passages in the Lectionary," Christ the King, William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
Oremus Online NRSV Text
As we come to the last Sunday of year B's cycle of preaching we arrive with Jesus before Pilate. On this Christ the King Sunday we are given an opportunity to proclaim faithfully what we believe and to be challenged by what we say. We hover on the edge of a season of expectation. Who is it we await and prepare for? This is the purpose of this Sunday's lessons.
Jesus arrives at the praetorium and is immediately confronted with the question regarding his reign. This title is at once connected in context with a liberator; someone who has arrived to set the Jews free from Roman rule. Jesus responds by asking where do these questions come from, and Pilate tells him from the people and religious leaders of the day. Jesus then answers the first question by saying that the kingdom he has been preaching about, teaching about, and leading people into is not of this world. We are reminded immediately of last week's prophecy that the kingdoms of this world are passing away as the kingdom and dominion of God take root.
In the end, Pilate will call him king and Jesus will say, "You have said so" or "You say that I am" depending upon your translation. The reality we face in John's Gospel is one where we see Jesus, again and again, testifying to the truth. In these final words and throughout this brief conversation, regardless of translation, we see that what is taking place is the revelation of Jesus as Christ the King. It is a prophetic and revelationary moment brought by the Pilate (a ruler of this world). Even the kingdoms of the world will end up confessing the faith of God in Christ Jesus.
In John's Gospel, we remember that the trial itself is a statement that brings forth the truth of John's theology. At the beginning of this conversation, Jesus differentiates between worldly kingdoms and the religious implications of the kingdom of God. Then we discover what is the kingdom like. Jesus' kingdom, according to John's Gospel, is a kingdom that affects the world. The kingdoms of the world will fall away as those who follow Jesus transform the world through their faith and proclamation of the truth. (Raymond E. Brown, The Gospel According to John, vol 2, 869) This kingdom of God will not be of this world but will be from above. It is a kingdom of the spirit rather than one of the body. It shall be a kingdom ruled by love and truth.
Pilate misses the point.
But the point is not missed on those who sit in our pews this Sunday nor by those who will dare and proclaim this fact. We are Christians and we proclaim a unique Jesus and a unique kingdom. This is our work this Sunday: to clearly state the faith of the church in a God who is God of all, his son, and the Holy Spirit.
We are called to preach the gospel of good news of salvation: that the kingdom of this world is passing away and that a kingdom of God based upon love and truth with one another and God is taking root. We do this in all places and at all times. Sometimes our church has done it well, sometimes we have not. We are to positively engage and dialogue beyond the tolerance of others. We offer a view of the social and human condition that locates all humanity in the embrace of a loving and caring God. A God who is revealed corporeally in the person of Jesus; and so internationally in ourselves and neighbors.
We are to, on Christ the King Sunday especially (and all the rest of the time as a matter of fact) to offer a vision of a new familial order which is rooted in our faith in a Trinitarian God, the outward sign of baptism, and discipleship based upon what we believe - our catechism. We are Christian and unabashedly Episcopalian on this matter.
Does this mean we do not have questions? Of course not. Who has not found themselves in Pilate's seat trying to understand? No, we are to engage in a society of friendship and build a community of relationships whereby the wealth of our common searching AND our common faith helps us to understand the singularity of the message: God loves the world, so much so that it is not judged, but embraced and drawn closer into God's bosom by the ministry of Jesus and his followers.
This is a great Sunday to proclaim the Good News of God in Christ Jesus, particularly through the reality of this new dominion not of this world, but of heaven and the holy spirit, which is even now taking root. This is a most important Sunday in which the preachers of faith may stand up and proclaim boldly the reign of Christ and at the same time show that this truth engages with the world and all its Pilate-like questions. This is the community of faith that is uniquely Anglican and Episcopalian. This is a dominion where all questions are welcome and the truth is proclaimed.
Some Thoughts On Revelation 1:4-8
"These are living words of great theological depth too often neglected by some Christians or poorly interpreted by others."
Commentary, Revelation 1:4b-8, Eric Barreto, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2013.
"Charis recalls the patronage system of the early Roman world, in which a patron displayed generosity to his clients, and expected loyalty in return. Eirene reminds one of the Hebrew shalom, the notion of wholeness and peace that is often associated with a deep and meaningful relationship to God."
Commentary, Revelation 1:4b-8, Valerie Nicolet-Anderson, Preaching This Week,WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
"The elaborate imagery about Jesus comes from the world of courts and kings, and the rituals which accompanied them. It was a way of saying: God has underlined that this Jesus really was the valid exponent of what God's being and doing, his going and his coming, is about."
"First Thoughts on Year B Epistle Passages in the Lectionary," William Loader, Murdoch University, Uniting Church in Australia.
Oremus Online NRSV Text
Oremus Online NRSV Text
Here is what is about to happen: we are about to have a series of lessons from the Book of revelation. This is it; there is nothing this long or this sequential at any other time in our preaching cycle. I am not yet sure I am brave enough to make it the topic of my preaching for the next couple of weeks but I am beginning to think it is worth it.
The background is the tradition that this is written by John on Patmos and it is addressed to the "7 churches". Of course, this means that it is written to all churches (as he is at the time writing to all the churches). A number of good commentaries will make this and other observations about the context.
In the introductory verses, we have words quoted from Isaiah 44.6, "who is and who was and who is to come." This God is the Alpha and the Omega. The seven spirits are from Isaiah 11.2ff. The author bears witness to the fact that Jesus is the firstborn from the dead and ruler over all the earth.
Then there is the witness that Jesus loves us, that he frees us from sin, that we are made into a new community, and that we are (like priests) to serve him. We are being, even now, drawn into a worshiping community that eventually will move from the world of time to everlasting glory forever and ever.
These are the very themes of the whole text. They make the mission of Jesus upon his return the event which will bring all of this to pass. Upon his return, all shall be transformed. "Amen. Amen." This is the way it is going to be folks. It reminds me of that Duck Dynasty picture I saw last week.
God is God and he has come, he is coming back, and he intends to bring about the recreation of the world.
Walter Taylor, of Lutheran Seminary, writes:
"The Revelation lesson gives us an opening to talk about Christology in ways we may not have had on Easter. All or any one of the many titles of verse 5 could be explored. Taken together they outline a full Christology that includes life, death, resurrection, and present lordship. The Christological emphasis continues with the love of Christ and his freeing action by means of his death (verses 5b-6), and in verse 7 we look forward to the coming of Jesus as the final judge."
This is a great opportunity to think about with the congregation who this Christ is that we worship and what does he have to do with our living of lives in this particular world.
Some Thoughts On 2 Samuel 23:1-7
"As the church year comes to its climax in Christ the King Sunday, we remind ourselves of the goal toward which Christ is headed."
Commentary, 2 Samuel 23:1-7, Ralph W. Klein, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2012.
"It can be tempting for preachers to cast ourselves as prophets who call up all those old, bold claims and turn them into demands for righteousness. That work is necessary, and preachers must take it up. But we should also remember ourselves as people like David."
Commentary, 2 Samuel 23:1-7, Ted A. Smith, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
Commentary, 2 Samuel 23:1-7, Ted A. Smith, Preaching This Week, WorkingPreacher.org, 2009.
The passage offers the "last words of David". It is a proclamation of God's sovereignty. The words are supposedly a final addition to the narrative that comes before and part of section 21-24 added much later. The words of David stand as an oracle:
The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land. Is not my house like this with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. Will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire? But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away; for they cannot be picked up with the hand; 7to touch them one uses an iron bar or the shaft of a spear. And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.
It is a proclamation of David about his how to reign and about the people's relationship with God. It is about the hope for faithfulness. It is aspirational in nature as much as it is reflective.
We have here, despite Samuel's prophetic witness to the contrary, a high royal theology suggests Walter Brueggeman - Old Testament scholar. (See article: Walter Brueggemann, "2 Samuel 21-24: An Appendix of Deconstruction?" The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 50, no. 3 (1988): 383-97. http://www.jstor.org/stable/43717700.) This selection of the overall arc of the literature hides Israel's discomfort with what Brueggemann calls the "Jerusalem enterprise."
If we read the whole text within its context it is not so enamored with the royal theology. Instead, taken together as a whole (chapters 21-24) what we see is actually suspicion about David and any worldly promise of a God-sanctioned monarchy. God is god the redactors of these kingly chronicles suggest. Much more in line with Samuel's prophetic concern about centralization and the centralization of power in a king, these words sit within a wider framework that actually echoes Samuel's warnings.
No, to have a king, to centralize faith, theology, and a monarchy will bring only imperial wars, bureaucratic power, and it will all...in the end...lead to death. Here is the moniker of our faith's judgment on politics and the state.
Instead, if we read the whole text, what we discover is not a royal theology of blessing by God on the state, but instead a cautionary oracle. One that seeks to reorient the kingly redaction, and invite God's people who engage in an enlivened faith, wars of defense only, and localized religion (this itself is a reorientation to the tribal shrines...but that is for another time.)
Here Brueggemann draws our attention backward. Now, if you have been following the Old Testament tact I have been taking you will see clarity and purpose here. Ruth reminds us of the importance of hospitality and intermarriage in our community. Hannah is our prophet of the Highest God who delivers the poor and oppressed. Brueggemann reminds us we CANNOT read this passage without using Hannah's song as the hermeneutical lens. Hannah (as incarnated by Samuel as well) is the "counterpoint" to this royal theology. And, it hearkens to David's early days not the pinnacle of power - nor the power of the later Davidic dynasties hoping to sway your thinking in favor of Jerusalem and kingly power. No, David is made king because he is a shepherd and empty-handed. Hannah is a prophet with the same empty hand. The two remind us of God's desire to the filler of such humility and emptiness. In this David becomes "a man after God's own heart." Brueggemann is quick to remind us that it is for the weak, the poor, the oppressed, and imprisoned that God delivers. God is suspicious of the might and their throws.
One final word on this particular "kingly" Sunday
Let us begin by recognizing that this is no ancient feast day of the church!
The feast was inaugurated in 1925 by Pope Pius XI. Because we share a common lectionary with our Roman brothers and sisters it has naturally migrated into our Anglican/Episcopal calendar.
Most people will celebrate the day by proclaiming the Lordship of Christ in their lives. The feast will turn inwards to reaffirm the continuing growing secularism. We twist this to be a private feast day of the church with no worldly application. It is often turned into a private spiritual pronouncement. Private faith is itself an outgrowth of secularism - the idea that religion and faith have nothing to say outside of churches and synagogues about the world we live in, politics, or governing good societies.
What is amazing is that Secularism has won! That is right, the purpose of celebrating Christ the King was neither to emphasize who rules the church (though that is always good). It was also not to remind people who is the Lord of their private life. No, the feast day was created because of secularism and meant to be a commentary on the world and our world's governments.
The encyclical letter Quas Primas of 1925 suggests that nations would see that the church is the first fruit of God's reign and that despite oppression (and its own brokenness) has a right to freedom in the world. (Find the encyclical here, see page 32 for this reference) He hoped that the leaders and nations would see that Christ himself judges them, their actions, and the world. If we are indeed God-fearers we should be mindful of God's watchful eye as creator, redeemer, and ruler of all things. (31) He also wanted the day to remind the faithful of their work of justice by having Christ become the ruler of their hearts. (33) This is all in the face of powers, principalities. Pius wrote in the face of the rise of dictatorial Europe. He feared the worst for the church and the people. He sought to remind all that Christ is the one through whom all come to be and it is Christ who judges well the world.
Pius XI writes:
17. It would be a grave error, on the other hand, to say that Christ has no authority whatever in civil affairs, since, by virtue of the absolute empire over all creatures committed to him by the Father, all things are in his power. Nevertheless, during his life on earth he refrained from the exercise of such authority, and although he himself disdained to possess or to care for earthly goods, he did not, nor does he today, interfere with those who possess them. Non eripit mortalia qui regna dat caelestia.[Hymn for the Epiphany.]
He warns:
18. Thus the empire of our Redeemer embraces all men. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: "His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ."[Enc. Annum Sacrum, May 25, 1899.] Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. "Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved."[Acts iv, 12.] He is the author of happiness and true prosperity for every man and for every nation. "For a nation is happy when its citizens are happy. What else is a nation but a number of men living in concord?"[S. Aug. Ep. ad Macedonium, c. iii.] If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ. What We said at the beginning of Our Pontificate concerning the decline of public authority, and the lack of respect for the same, is equally true at the present day. "With God and Jesus Christ," we said, "excluded from political life, with authority derived not from God but from man, the very basis of that authority has been taken away, because the chief reason of the distinction between ruler and subject has been eliminated. The result is that human society is tottering to its fall, because it has no longer a secure and solid foundation."[Ubi Arcano.]
Why is this all-important? I think it is important because of the incorrect assumptions about the church and state that secular society has achieved in making in our country. Christianity is not private and it does in fact have a lot to say about how we make and govern our societies. I encourage you to teach both about the nature of Christ the King Sunday and the nature of God's narrative that has always held governing powers and principalities of this world in question.
Dec 11, 2018
Trinity, Houston
November 25, 2018
"The War Was Not Won Then: Nationalism Will Always Put Christianity On Trial"
Nov 25, 2015 Sermon preached at Christ The King, Alief and St. Stephen's, Houston
Nov 25, 2015 Sermon preached at Christ The King, Alief and St. Stephen's, Houston
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