What is a King? If this were the children’s story I’d ask all of you to come up with ideas. Don’t worry. I’m not putting you on the hot seat this morning. But see if your ideas match mine. A king is powerful. I’m sure you have read of powerful monarchs in history like Richard the Lionheart or Henry VIII who got rid of wives that didn’t quite suit him. A king is wealthy. Sometimes his wealth gathered at the expense of others. Remember King Midas and how everything he touched turned to gold. Kings live in the lap of luxury and pretty well want for nothing. I remember back in the Fifties a television program called Queen for A Day. The winner was able to have their one moment of glory and recognition in front of a cheering audience.
Are any of your ideas similar to mine? I’m sure these concepts would have been close to what Pilate had of kingship when he summoned Jesus to see him. Pilate asks “Are you the King of the Jews?” I wonder what Pilate was thinking when he looked Jesus up and down. Certainly this man couldn’t have looked like any other king he had seen. Jesus wore no crown or regal robes. He was a carpenter by trade. In his sermon on this, Pastor James Erlandson expostulates that Jesus came to the interview dirty sweaty and puffed up with the bruises he had incurred at the hands of King Herod’s soldiers and temple guards. Pilate would have surveyed the scene. No doubt he had probably dealt with other upstart kings who had defied Roman rule. But this king had no soldiers ready to right for his release. No slaves were present to attend to his every whim. At first I’m sure Pilate underestimated Jesus as an unworthy opponent.
“Are you the king of the Jews?” Pilate asked. He learned quickly something we Christians have always admired Jesus for. Christ did not flinch but answered the question with a question. “Do you ask this on your own or did others tell you about me?” Things are now turned around and Jesus has the upper hand in this interview. He knows full well he has called before Pilate because of the complaints against him from the chief priests. They want him crucified because he has claimed to be the Messiah, the true king of the Jews. He is the one Daniel prophesized would come from the clouds as a human being to judge us. The Chief Priests would soon turn more Jews against him.
I like how Andrew Lloyd Weber handles this in the musical Jesus Christ Superstar. The Jews chant louder and louder “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!’ until Pilate shrugs his shoulders and relents washing his hands of the matter. I’m sure some of these Jews haven’t really given much thought to whether Christ really deserved the punishment that was being meted out. They were just going with the flow. That is something we Christians never do right?
Christ the King Sunday is the last Sunday in the Church year. Next week is the beginning of Advent as we begin a new Church year. Of all the Christian feasts, Christ the King Sunday is probably the newest. Pope Pious Xl instituted this feast in 1925. The ugly head of Fascism was rearing itself in Italy and Germany. People were looking up to Hitler and Mussolini as if they were kings. Pius wanted to remind all Christians about who their true king was and how his vision of a King was very different that anything that a Fascist leader could offer.
When Jesus told Pilate that his kingdom was not from here, we Christians know what he meant. But of course like so many in Jesus’s time, Pilate didn’t understand. Perhaps Pilate hoped Jesus’ Kingdom was somewhere west of Britannia – someplace where Roman influence didn’t exist. He probably thought “if this pesky fellow would go away back to that Kingdom I’d be free from him. I could go back to a peaceful government without all these Jews annoying me all the time.”
We of course know this wasn’t going to happen. Pilate would turn Jesus over to be crucified. Pilate was probably pleased to be rid of this pest who always put him on the defensive. Again if you recall the end of the interview from our gospel lesson Jesus has still given Pilate no quarter. When asked again if he is a king, Jesus answers “ You say I am a king.” If you look at what Jesus is doing here, he is modelling passive resistance. He is not being meek and mild by rolling over playing dead. Instead he shows us that Christians can make a stand in a peaceful nonviolent way. Isn’t it a pity that we can’t practice this more often?
When I first read the gospel for this Sunday, it felt a bit out of place. Here is a passage that we read towards the end of Lent. But perhaps it is not. Lent is a time when we pause and meditate on what it means to be a Christian. We are just a week away from Advent and the start of the Christmas season. Perhaps before we get lost in the business of the season it does us well to pause and reflect. To think not of kings and crowns and all the glories we might associate with those things. But on what Christ means when he talks about being a King and what indeed is expected of those of us who want to belong to the Kingdom of God. Jesus refers to this as the truth. He probably couldn’t explain it to Pilate. How could Pilate understand what most of Jesus’ own disciples did not?
For the kingship that Christ speaks of is almost the exact opposite of what most views of kingship are. Christ the king came to serve others – put their needs always ahead of His own. Does that sound much like a king who barks commands while others jump to do his will?
On Christ the King Sunday we are to pledge allegiance to our Lord and to the love for which he died. As important as it might be to honour our flag and our nation this should be our even higher calling. Nor does it mean that we just pay lip service to Christ and then go about our daily business as if nothing has happened. It reminds us that we need to serve others. Remember how in John 13 Jesus washed his disciples’ feet. There is nothing too menial that we can do to show our Christian love.
We need to reflect on what Jesus has sacrificed for us and the little he expects in return. This week is a good time to do that before we get into the rush of getting ready for Christmas. Too much emphasis is placed today on the commercial value of Christmas. The focus seems to be on what I want for Christmas and the media loves it. Kristina alluded to that last week when she asked the kids if Christmas would still be Christmas if there were no presents. Advertising allures us with glitzy and glamorous gifts with not a little hint that perhaps we could tell a loved one to buy this for us. Before long the Reminder will be publishing letters to Santa when kids focus on all the material gifts they want. This past Friday in the US is known as Black Friday. This is the day that all retailers in the States go into the black. It seems that the whole American economy depends on Americans opening their wallet to spend spend spend even if that means no money down no payments until June 2014.
Before the Christmas rush let us be mindful that this is not what Jesus taught us. We need to focus on what we can do to help others. Christmas is not always a happy time especially for families in want or children in need. Our focus should be on doing things for others, perhaps visiting or taking Christmas baking to the elderly or shut in – donating to the Salvation Army hampers or donating toys to the Friendship Centre for needy children. Every year Plan Canada put out their Gifts of Hope Catalogue. The gifts they have for needy families underdeveloped countries are wells, clean drinking water, school supplies or a child or a vegetable garden for a family to name a few. These are things most of us in Canada take for granted and are only a fraction of the cost of some of the expensive toys like boats quads and skidoos we frequently pamper ourselves with.
No one said the Christian walk was an easy one. But I think we all find a deeper satisfaction in giving to others than anything money can buy.
So as we approach the Christmas season we need to take time to reflect and think about the love Christ has shown us and what we can do to repay that great sacrifice he made for us all. Serving others instead of ourselves is what Christ would have us to do to be members of the Kingdom of which we heard Him speak in our gospel message this morning.
