Sunday Homily - November 25, 2018 - The Servant King of Israel

Christ the King Icon

I.

What do you think it means for someone to be King?

We hear the word "King" thrown around a lot in our popular culture, right?
   Elvis, The King of Rock n' Roll?
     NBA star Lebron James, often times referred to as "King James"?
       Aragorn, son of Arathorn, High King of Gondor?
       [that, friends, is a Lord of the Rings reference]

And, like that Lord of the Rings reference,
   often the only exposure to Kings or Queens is in high fantasy fiction
      or in the movies depicting some sort of romanticized or legendary figure.

Just last year, there was ANOTHER King Arthur movie produced:
  you know, King Arthur, of the Knights of the Round Table?
    Or if you prefer some dark and gritty portrayal of Kings and Queens,
       pick up some Game of Thrones: it will make your taste for monarchy
          go sour real quick.

Our romanticizing of Kings and Queens is also very interesting
   given that most of us here in the U.S.
      have never really lived in the classical idea of a monarchy.

But it does not stop us from imagining, portraying, or even pining
   for a King or Queen that will live up to the romanticized or idealized perfection
      that characterizes our longing for a good King or Queen.

In the changes and chances of our modern world,
   where international conflicts blazing in the Middle East,
      even in the Holy Land of Jerusalem and Palestine,
        places where Jesus Himself walked in his earthly ministry,
           we may find ourselves praying, pleading, calling out
              for a Great Monarch to set things right.

II.

"Are you the King of the Jews?"

   That is Pilate's question

     his interrogation,

       his attempt at finding our the Truth.

"Are you the King of the Jews?"
   That is just about as direct a political challenge as we have in the Bible.
      Pilate, who in his own mind, is looking at an itinerant rabbi
        a popular Jewish preacher in the region.
          Pilate is being asked by those who arrested Jesus
            to basically be the judge, jury, and executioner,
              as John's Gospel tells us that the rulers within Judaism
                did not have the jurisdictional power to execute someone at that time.
                [John 18:31]

But what is probably more important in this account
   is the manner of Jesus's response.
      Jesus is not going to get caught up in worldly kingship language:
        instead, Jesus speaks of a kingdom "not of this world."
           As evidenced, if Jesus's kingdom was not of this world,
             wouldn't Jesus's disciples be fighting to keep Jesus alive?
                But Christ is the King of a different kind of kingdom,
                  ruled in an entirely different manner than the worldly analogues
                    that existed in Jesus's own day.

Pilate desperately wants Jesus to claim that he is a king.
   Anyone claiming to rise up as a king would be subject to the fury of the Roman Emperor,
      and as we talked about how the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed
         by the legions of Rome because of a Jewish uprising in A.D. 70,
            we also should be paying attention to how Pilate is attempting
              to snooker Jesus into this trap.

But Jesus sorta turns the tables on Pilate.
   As Pilate goes on coaxing Jesus into saying that He is a king,
      Jesus speaks back to Pilate and says,
        "You are the one calling me a king. Rather, I was born to testify
            to the Truth, and those who belong to the Truth hear listens to me."
               "My kingdom is not from this world."

And in the infinite wisdom of the Revised Common Lectionary,
   they left out the best part of this conversation!
      Because immediately after Jesus says this to Pilate this morning,
        Pilate retorts with one of the best lines in all the Gospels:
          "What is Truth?!"

After Jesus talks about testifying to the Truth,
   testifying about how He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life,
      Pilate, exasperated with Jesus's mystical language,
        says, "What is Truth?!"

What is this Truth that you seem to speak of, Jesus, King of the Jews?
   Do you not know the power that the Empire has over you?
     The power that your own people have over you?
        The utter frailty of your position, High Monarch?
        [John 19:10]

Almost immediately after this interchange,
   Jesus is flogged and beaten.
      His body bruised and bleeding, he is then given a purple robe
        and a crown of thorns pressed on his head.
        [John 19:1-7]
          Christ the King, crowned in glory,
             with his cruciform shaped throne awaiting
               on the execution hill of Golgotha.

III.

But, as we all know, Jesus's life was given up as a sacrifice for all of us,
   even the ones who crucified Jesus being pardoned and forgiven
      and raised up in the resurrection on the Last Day.
      [Luke 23:34; Rev. 1:4b-8]

The imagery that is described of Jesus Christ, reigning in the heavenly realm,
   is of a high monarch who has been tempted in every way as we are,
      yet without sin.
      [Hebrews 4:15]

It is of the Eternal Word of God in human flesh,
  Emmanuel, "God with us,"
    of the God of heaven and earth forsaking the richness of glory and honor
       to take human form and dwell with us as the great Servant.
          and it is BECAUSE of this humility that Jesus Christ was exalted,
            raised from the dead,
              and reigns from on high as the conqueror of death itself
                by the power of God who is life and the act of being itself.
                [John 1:1-18; Philippians 2; Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica]

The challenge for us today, brothers and sisters,
   is that we have to understand Christ's ultimate reign over all reality
      as a reign that is defined by the power brought by Jesus's humility
         Jesus's sacrifice of himself for all of our sakes,
           and that reign ultimately is upside-down.

Christ is King exactly because God ultimately brings justice in the end,
   but that justice comes from the bottom up.
     "The first will be last, and the last shall be first." [Mark 10:31; Matt. 20:16]
     "Those who lose their life for my sake and the sake of the Gospel will be raised up
      on the last day." [John 6:39; Luke 9:24]

IV.

What does it mean for someone to be King?

For us as Christians, Jesus Christ as the Great Monarch
   means that we live a life of God's reign upside-down.

It means that we live life as servants of all,
   for the good of all,
      for the sanctification of all,
         for the salvation of all.

Even those people our culture deems as untouchable,
   unlovable,
      un-redeemable,
         un-savable.

Because Christ's Kingdom is come,
   and is still yet to come.
      It is a spiritual kingdom that broke into reality
         when the Eternal Creating Word became human for our sake.
            And it is a kingdom that will once and for all come when Christ returns
               to judge the living and the dead.

Live, friends, for the kingdom that no earthly ruler can destroy,
   no nuclear warhead incinerate,
     no bullet can puncture,
       no religious leader can distort,
         and no amount of human sinfulness can poison.

Live, friends, for the kingdom already come into reality, in loving our enemies
   in praying for those who curse us and wish us harm,
      in washing the feet of our rivals,
        and walking in the way of Christ the Servant.

Live for that reality, the true reality, the only reality that will save our souls.
   And long live Christ, the Servant King of Israel.

In the name of the + Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.