Do We See the Kingdom Around Us

Do we see the Kingdom around us? by Rev Allister Lane

25th November 2012

John 18:33-37 Revelation 1:4b-8

“Joy is to be so sure that the facts of a situation don’t fit the reality that you can’t help sniggering.” –Milton Jones

This Sunday is known as ‘Christ the King Sunday’ (I hope you have picked up on this already!)

And so this morning I want to think about, if Christ is King, what sort of King is Christ? What is the nature of his reign/his Kingdom?

In this mornings’ reading from John’s Gospel, Pilate is interrogating Jesus about the exact nature of his identity. Pilate has heard people call Jesus ‘The King of the Jews’ and wants to know more.

The sense we get in this conversation is two very divergent understandings of power and authority. This conversation is a classic case of “same planet, different worlds.” The quizzing of a spiritual leader by a political leader is bound to end in frustration.

And so while, understandably, Pilate’s focus is on the management of human power and control, Jesus’ response is about the ways of God. For Pilate, Jesus’ response is incomprehensible. They may be using similar terminology, but the basic assumptions about what is power and kingship contrast enormously.

Jesus’ kingship was to be symbolised by a crown of thorns. His reign inaugurated not from a golden throne but a wooden cross. His royal purple robes were borrowed and forced upon Him. His anointing was not with oil but with blood and sweat and tears. Yet for all that, His kingship was the highest form of kingship the world has ever seen.

As we sang earlier... “This is our God: the Servant King.”

Jesus shows the world that God’s Kingdom is very different to what humanity is used to; God’s power is very different to what humanity is used to. God’s truth is very different to what humanity is used to.

And it is this truth that Jesus identifies as being at the heart of what he is doing: “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.” (v37)

In this statement we hear Jesus placing himself at the centre of God’s Kingdom. Later in the discussion Pilate wants to know ‘What is truth?” (v38) Rather than ‘what’, Pilate needs to take hold of ‘who’ is the truth.

Therefore, the nature of God’s kingdom is very specifically about the identity of Jesus. As I said in the sermon last week, Christianity didn’t begin as ‘a set of new ideas’, it began as a new loyalty – loyalty to God and God’s vision for humanity, as articulated in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And this kind of ‘functional’ understanding of Christ as King is emphasised in the second reading from Revelation: Jesus Christ is “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” He is the one “who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.”

Yet, despite this rather ‘functional’ emphasis, the author of John moves into doxology – in talking about Christ the King, he can’t help but be moved to worship. (“to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” v6)

And this is important to recognise: Christ is the King of eternity; his reign is transcendent and infinite. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’

But what does this reign of Christ mean when we observe so much chaos and confusion all around us? Isn’t there a gap between the understanding of the reign of Christ the King and the reality we see in the world?

This week the world has been despairing about the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Last Sunday Paul Ramsay led our Prayer for Others, “that both sides would show restraint”.

And whilst we hold our breath that the new ceasefire will hold, such is the volatility of our world and dynamics of politics and foreign policy, that we anticipate other similar conflicts can be expected as our human propensity to dominate and control manifests in such ways that seem to contradict the reign of Christ.

In the words and actions of Jesus I think we find we are redirected to a new reality; to the priorities in the Kingdom of God and the world we live in.

Jesus says to Pilate “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over” (v36)

Jesus is saying in his Kingdom power is understood in a radically different way to what humanity is used to. Rather than domination and control, Jesus submits to the institutional violence and brutality represented by Pilate and the religious authorities.

The one who has been raised to reign over all eternity is the one who was first beaten and killed.

In the words and actions of Jesus we are shown truth; truth emerging in the midst of despair and death.

What this suggests is that what is important in understanding the Kingdom of God, is not so much what is going on around us, but what response is made. How do we express hope in the ways of God? What do we do to affirm the priorities of the Kingdom of God?

Is the truth of God being told?

Jesus is described in Revelation as “THE Faithful witness” (v5) We are called to follow his example and join in his witness. “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.” (v37) and we are called by him to join him as ‘truth tellers’.

Last week I shared the sad news that young Louis had died in France after a long battle with cancer. Does his death cause us to despair and give up hope? I urged us all to take heart, for we have not failed – far from it. We have done what we have been called to do: pray. Asking God to bring healing and wholeness is truth-telling, this is our witness to the hope we have in the sovereignty of God.

Of course we ask ourselves why did God not heal Louis and prevent him dying. But even while we ask these questions our experience should not prevent us from asking God to heal others – for that is what marks our faith: our hope that God cares and has the final word.

We tell the truth when we declare that even death is under the reign of Christ. We bear witness to Christ the King when we place our hope in the goodness of God; when we place our loyalty in God and God’s vision for humanity.

We pray for the Kingdom to come, that God’s will be done, because of what we observe is going on in the world around us. And because we stubbornly insist in trusting Jesus who (just hours before being executed) declared: “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.”

I want to show you now a DVD clip produced for the Presbyterian Church by the ‘Press Go’ initiative.

It profiles the people of Knox Presbyterian Church in Waitara, and specifically their building project. But I want you to hear (amidst the talk of the financing of the building project) the ways Knox Presbyterian Church are living the reality of Jesus’ kingdom in Waitara. Despite what is going on around them they are choosing to live the reality of the Kingdom.

Watch the Press Go Video 2012

Waitara is a community that has experienced significant losses of industry, income, and population. The people of Knox however, are truth-tellers, bearing witness to Christ the King placing their hope in the goodness of God; placing their loyalty in God and God’s vision for humanity.

May the reality of Christ’s Kingdom be something we not only trust in but also live for everyday.

May we bear witness to the truth that the Kingdom is emerging, and we are part of its growth, as we place our hope that one day God will bring it all to completion.

As truth-tellers we can be part of its comprehension (of what the Kingdom is) and its comprehensiveness (where the Kingdom is found).

May we not be overwhelmed by what is going on around us but focus on our response as followers of Christ.

Let’s pray... Loving and living God,

Lead us by your Spirit to make our response as Christ did.

Just as Christ suffered and died to raise us all to life with him, so may we contradict the despair and death of our world.

Make us truth-tellers as we see sin as an opportunity for forgiveness, suffering as a cradle for hope, war and conflict as a context to discover ways of peace, and darkness as an expectation and anticipation of light.

And now “to him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever.