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Christ the King Sunday , 11/25/2018
Sermon on John 18:33-37, by Brad Everett
We have a king and his name is Jesus.
We have a king. Not in some sort of metaphorical or imaginary way, but One who rules over everything seen and unseen—who created it and sustains it with His gracious love.
We have a king, who being God exercises the office of monarchy more fully, completely and perfectly that we could imagine possible. This is no constitutional monarchy, where the king rules at the pleasure of His subjects, His authority limited by the whims of the subjects. No, this is an absolute monarchy—He alone defines the terms of His rule, what it means for Him to be king and we to be His people.
We have a king, so powerful that he can come to us as the most weak and vulnerable, an infant, born in humble circumstances and can die as the lowest of society, hung on the tree of the cross—yet in neither of these is his glory, majesty and authority compromised or even threatened.
We have a king, who came not to serve Himself and His own self-centred desires, but to serve us, through His life, death and resurrection, demonstrating clearly for all who would see that by His own death He has conquered death, and in His grace has won for all who would believe and receive the promise of eternal life.
We have a king who is coming again, coming a second time, but this time in the fullness of his glory and might, to bring the fullness of his peace to all he has created.
We have a king. A king who in His great love for us has promised us His grace in the sacraments of baptism and holy communion. Who offers us freedom from sin, death and oppression that we might know new life in him. A king who alone can make such profound promises because He alone can fulfill them unconditionally.
We have a king and his name is Jesus.
Given this reality we look to our King’s example in today’s gospel to understand how to live in His rule.
Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, thus it doesn’t operate bound by this world’s standards and understandings. Standing in front of Pilate, Jesus’ concern isn’t for His safety nor does He bother to try and justify Himself to Pilate—trying to make Himself somehow acceptable to the Roman governor. Jesus’ concern is to do the Father’s will. To carry out the plan for the salvation of the world, and in doing so bear witness to the truth with His words and His life.
We find ourselves in much the same position, by virtue of our baptism, belonging to the kingdom not of this world. And like our king we can find ourselves under scrutiny. Sometimes it comes from those around us; family, friends or even total strangers who don’t understand what it means to be a subject of Christ. Sometimes the questioning comes from within ourselves, when the gospel of Christ seems so out of sync with what’s going on around us, we feel very much like strangers in a strange land and don’t quite like it.
At such times we must remember Christ’s example and endeavor to follow it in the power of the Spirit. The kingdom we belong to isn’t of this world, so why are we surprised when others fail to grasp the faith we have been gifted? Further, we are still fallen, sinful creatures who don’t yet enjoy the perfection of life in the kingdom, and thus are subject to temptation, sin and strife, so we shouldn’t be discouraged when we struggle to hold fast to Christ in the face of the easier way of accommodation.
Like Jesus, our concern is to do the Father’s will, to bear witness to the Truth of God with our words and our life. At this point it’s easy to become side-tracked into a debate (internal or external) on what exactly is “the will of the Father”, which usually serves less to enlighten our confusion than it does to paralyze us in speculation.
What is the will of the Father? “ love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself.”
We have a king who came to do the will of the Father, who asks nothing more or less of us than just this, that we would do the same.
We have a king who at every moment is willing to guide and direct us to live in the Father’s will, to do or say what demonstrates love of God and love of our neighbor in our words or deeds.
We have a king who by his life, death and resurrection, through His word, sacraments and abiding presence provides us with all we need to live the faithful lives to which he called us.
We have a king and his name is Jesus.