Sermon 11/22/2015: Christ the King

This sermon was offered at St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Lake City, Minnesota.  The Gospel text is John 18:33-37.

What does a king look like?  We don’t have too many kings anymore.  Royal families seem to me to be figureheads and celebrities rather than leaders who wrestle with the policies and politics of government.  Their faces may appear on currency and royal weddings and babies take up a lot of media space, but I don’t know how much power a king really has.

There is a lot of fascination with royalty.  Just the other day there was an advertisement that challenged me to look up my surname to see if I have royal blood running through my veins.  I didn’t bite.  It would only be a fun story to tell, but wouldn’t mean all that much in the long run.  Besides, I don’t know that I would want to be associated with some of the kings of the past.  So many of them abused their power and took advantage of people. I don’t want people to think I could be like that.

There’s a radio announcer in the Cities who will say, “When I’m king I’m going to …” and he talks about changing the world in some small or large way, trying to better society or change a silly law or make a friend.  It’s a goofy bit, but I wonder how many of us wish we had more influence, more power, or to be elevated to such a position?  Would it be about ego or would it be to make a difference in the world?

Perhaps it would sound a little like these words from a song I suspect you have all heard before:

If I Were King of the Forest
If I were King of the Forest, Not queen, not duke, not prince.
My regal robes of the forest, would be satin, not cotton, not chintz.
I'd command each thing, be it fish or fowl.
With a woof and a woof and a royal growl - woof.

As I'd click my heel, all the trees would kneel.
And the mountains bow and the bulls kowtow.
And the sparrow would take wing - If I - If I - were King!

Each rabbit would show respect to me. 
The chipmunks genuflect to me.
Though my tail would lash, I would show compash
For every underling!
If I - If I - were King!
Just King![1]

http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/17600000/Lion-cowardly-lion-of-oz-17649417-640-427.jpg
 
          The Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz wants to overcome his fear of fear.  He wants to live into the role people expect him to have.  So he paints a pretty good picture of the ego needed for a person in a public leadership role, doesn’t he?  I don’t think a leader should expect people to worship them or their leadership, as the Cowardly Lion implies when he says members of the forest should genuflect, kneel and kowtow.  When a leader expects this kind of behavior they are expressing more about their own ego than about being a responsible leader.  That behavior changes the focus from “we” to “me.”
 
          I’d much rather see the leader the Cowardly Lion describes at the end of the song:  “Though my tail would lash, I would show compash for every underling.”  He reveals the paradox of leadership. 
          
http://cdn6.tillhecomes.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/aslan-300x225.jpg

         Consider also this description of another lion, in this case, Aslan from The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis’ mighty metaphor of Jesus.  Aslan has been described like this:
      
“The Lion’s regal majesty is evident in his persona.  All beings innately offer deference to him.  The faithful, but bowing to his lordship.  The evil, but cowering in his presence.  Aslan is powerful and large, the size we are told, of a small elephant.  Yet his dimensions are relative, and on occasion in the stories he physically grows in their presence.  His being radiates light as well as authority.  Aslan’s velvet paws can be comforting in their compassion, or terrible in their clawed wrath.   Aslan is the benevolent Protector of all that is good and the final and fair Judge of those who deny his grace.”[2]

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/ab/d9/3b/abd93b060ebe4249ecd5ded72398820c.jpg
         
It sure seems to me that both of these lions know that to be a king they have to find balance between puffing themselves up to look big and scary…to express their power by appropriately “lashing their tails”…        and in, not shrinking, exactly, but being less intimidating and more open to both listening [ear] and hearing [heart] so as to express compassion and concern, and protection as necessary.  Certainly they would not manipulate others through force, but would use force to protect, and to find justice and equity.  In the end, a king would be both a servant and a leader, both humble and confident, to be an example of what is right and good, not only for their own constituency, but for all of creation.

          This is why I pray for the leaders in this world: political, religious, and business leaders.  I pray that they will lead with compassion and that they will always keep the greater community and the world in mind as they are challenged by moral and ethical dilemmas.  And they need our prayers now, especially in the wake of brutal acts of terrorism in Kenya, Paris, Beirut and Iraq, terroristic threats in Brussels, accusations of police misconduct, refugees fleeing the war in Syria and looking for refuge around the world, mass shootings, business corruption and daily acts of aggression. 

As a human, I have my own lens that drives my opinions.  As a Jesus follower I have the words and examples of Christ to help me determine what I feel is both moral and ethical.  As a studier of scripture I have an understanding how the stories in the Bible most often teach me how to “be” in the world, trusting in God.  As an Episcopalian, I have the responsibility to use reason and tradition and scripture to define my faith and to guide the way I live out my faith.

          Ultimately, I know that Jesus is the great example of how I should live in this world. 
         
Jesus is King.  But He is not King of this world.

          That’s what Jesus tells Pilate in this recollection of the last hours before Jesus hangs on the cross.

          Many scholars believe this exchange between Pilate and Jesus was filled with sarcasm, which according to Merriam Webster is defined as “the use of words that mean the opposite of what you really want to say especially in order to insult someone, to show irritation or to be funny.”[3]

        I wonder if Pilate was trying to insult Jesus, or if he was irritated with the Jews who expected Pilate to do what they were afraid to do or if Pilate was trying to be funny.  I suspect he was irritated.

          In the passage just before the one we read today, the Jews brought Jesus to Pilate but would not enter his headquarters because Pilate was a Gentile and if they had gone in, they would have been ceremonially unclean and unable to participate in the Passover celebration.  Pilate told them to judge Jesus according to their laws, but they responded saying they could not put Jesus to death.  The Jews were more worried about themselves, their ego, their power.  They were passing the buck, not wanting to get their own hands dirty or ruin their reputation as spiritual leaders.

          So Pilate goes to Jesus, probably trying to find a way to pass him back to the Jews and sarcastically asks, “Are you King of the Jews?” Jesus does not confirm or deny this.  Instead he says what is true:  His kingdom is not from this world. 

I wonder if Jesus was offended, frustrated or angry because, yet again, he was trying to explain his divinity to someone who could not comprehend the truth.

I wonder if Jesus was fed up with being surrounded by people who saw power as a way to stroke their ego instead of using their influence to care for those who were marginalized by the systems in place.
 
          The Kingdom of Jesus, remember, is not of this world.  Being perfect here is not what is expected.  Jesus came to remind humans how to live in relationship with God, to remind us how to listen to God’s truth, how to create God’s kingdom on earth.  


          Today is Christ the King Sunday.  We end the liturgical year celebrating the royalty of Jesus.  Why? 

          Back in 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted the last Sunday of the liturgical year The Feast of Christ the King as, “a celebration of the all-embracing authority of Christ which shall lead mankind to seek the ‘peace of Christ’ in the ‘Kingdom of Christ.’”[4] 

           Hmmm.  How about this?

          “Its purpose is to celebrate the coming reign of Christ as King of the Earth and his completion of the renewed creation that marks the fullness of the Kingdom of God[; t]hat hope is born from the entire life of Christ and his teachings[; and] that have been celebrated in the seasons of the Church Year during the past twelve months. In celebrating the Reign of Christ the King, this Sunday also provides an appropriate bridge to the new Church Year that begins [next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent], with an emphasis on hope and expectation, the longing for the coming of the Kingdom of God amid the darkness of a sinful world.”[5]

          I know that in the next month I will be immersed in preparation for the birth of Jesus.  I know many of you will be too.  During this time I will see Jesus as a baby, full of possibility, yet vulnerable, revered and honored, yet innocent.  I will see artist renditions of Jesus with a halo, not a crown…a sign of his divinity, not his royalty.  It won’t be until he is about to be placed on a cross that his royalty will be mocked with a purple cloak and a crown.  Not a crown of gold and jewels, but a crown of thorns.  A crown that identifies who he was:  a true king to those who listen to his voice; a true king who leads by example; a true king who came into the world, knowing the world intimately but came nonetheless to help those who follow him live with hope.  A true king who loves us.

Let us pray.

Dear King of Kings, Lord Jesus, we pray to you with longing and hope that you will bring a renewed creation to our hearts.  Accepting your all-embracing, compassionate and fair authority we ask that as we begin a new year we will enter it in peace.  Guide us in this time of expectation and prepare our hearts for the coming celebration of your holy birth.
Amen.

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