WHO’S MY KING?

November 21, 2021
Christ the King Sunday
John 18:33-37
Rev. Denise Clark-Jones

This past week I visited family in Asheville, North Carolina where the last two of my mother’s siblings, her sister, and younger brother, live there. My mother’s brother and his wife have recently been joined in Asheville by my daughter and youngest grandchild, the infant child of two theater professionals who alternate between two residences, one in Asheville and one in New York. Unfortunately, my daughter changed plans and extended her recent stay in New York for work, so I was unable to see her and my 8-month-old granddaughter. My 82-year-old aunt and my mother were as close as any two sisters could be. As my mother died over 30 years ago and my aunt was childless, we are surrogate mother and daughter for one another. Sadly, my aunt is suffering from dementia. Being with her was a blessed time, albeit a difficult one. Due to her dementia, as well as early-onset Parkinson’s disease, she has had significant behavioral changes, which were difficult to experience. But it was a good visit with all and, though peak leaf season was past, Asheville and its surrounding mountains were beautiful to behold. My uncle once told me he looks upon the mountains as God’s mothering arms, which are protectively surrounding us. For me, this image of God is a sign of the all-powerful and steadfastly loving nature of God. My visit was an experiential mix of my family’s past, present, and future.

Our Christian liturgical calendar leads us in worship through this same past, present, future experience with its journey through the earthly life of Jesus and God’s relationship with humanity, as revealed in the whole of the bible. For us, Christ the King is the celebration that draws the church year to a close and invites us to a renewal of our worship of God and study of the bible. Today we celebrate Christ’s kingship over all creation and are reminded that as Christians, our loyalty must lie with the kingship of Christ before all worldly powers.

The bible is a saga of humanity’s struggle with submitting to God’s authority over human authority. This conflict is depicted as the dynamic struggle between God’s good and humanity’s propensity toward evil; God’s justice versus human injustice; God’s mercy over humanity’s thirst for domination and vengeance. Today, while our society focuses on a trial that has taken place in Kenosha, Wisconsin for the past two weeks, our gospel reading tells of a trial of much greater significance – one that changed human history. In the trial that took place over two thousand years ago in Jerusalem, a Jewish city in the Roman Empire, Jesus stood as the accused before the governor, Pontius Pilate. Pilate asked: “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, ‘My kingdom is not from this world.”’

In other words, Jesus told Pilate: ‘You have no idea what you are asking.’ Even Jesus’ own disciples had yet to fully understand who Jesus was, in life, and what he would become after death. The trial and conviction were merely necessary details leading to a much larger event. We know well the injustices of human laws, trials, and punishments. We know there are judges, lawmakers, and law enforcers that make a mockery of justice. We acknowledge our human limitations and corrupt behavior in the wording of jurors’ instructions. Defendants are not found “innocent,” they are found “not guilty.” An acquittal in a trial is not a moral judgment. The judge and jury assess whether or not the prosecution met “the burden of proof,” based on laws created by elected officials. When a jury decides the government, as represented by the prosecuting attorney, fails to meet that burden of proof, it is a judgment on the government as much as it is a judgment on the accused. With the discretionary power of judges, a judge can dismiss charges regardless of the physical proof, as seen in the actions of the judge in the Rittenhouse trial when he dismissed the charges of illegal possession of a gun by a minor and crossing state lines with an illegal gun. On the videotape, we saw the 17-year-old brandishing his AR-15 assault rifle in a state in which he was not a resident. Yet, the judge had the power to disregard the evidence and dismiss the charges. Why do our courtroom judgments differ so drastically for people of color than for whites? It is because human judgment is influenced by the sins of the world — pride, envy, bigotry, lust for power, and vengeance. Worldly justice is not the justice of our God, who demands we protect and care for the most vulnerable to worldly injustice.

Just as Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, neither is God’s judgment of this world. While it is easy to judge Pilate or the Jewish religious leaders for the Crucifixion, the real culprits are humanity. The answer to the question posed by the Good Friday hymn’s words: “Were you there when they crucified my Lord?” is “Yes, we were there, and we took part in the injustice with both our shouts of derision and our silence. We continue to be there when we blame victims and remain silent when confronted by injustice experienced by our neighbors.

In Matthew 25, Jesus spoke these words to his disciples during his final week:

³¹“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. ³²All the nations will be gathered before him… the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; ³⁵for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, ³⁶I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ ³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it… ⁴⁰And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’ Yes, we are still there with the crowd at the Crucifixion.

Jesus taught his disciples what he had learned from Moses’ final sermon to the people of Israel before they entered the Promised Land: “For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees, and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you. in the land, you are entering to possess. (Deut. 30:16) Jesus summed up the guiding principle of all of God’s commands, decreed, and laws: You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and mind” and “to love your neighbor as yourself.”

Today we celebrate Christ as our King over all worldly kings with the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. We suspend our judgment of one another to recognize the truth that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ and that in God’s Kingdom, Christ is our final judge. The gift of that Last Supper with his disciples demonstrated that our judge loves all, forgives all, and invites all. Christ is the suffering, servant king, Isaiah envisioned. In this sanctuary today, we can declare Christ is our King above all worldly authorities. When we leave this sanctuary, we can live under the rule of Christ the King. May no one wonder who our king is because we dispel any doubt that it is Christ.

Amen. May it be so!

© Rev. Denise Clark-Jones, 2021, All Rights Reserved
Westminster Presbyterian Church | 1420 W. Moss Ave. | Peoria, Illinois 61606
WestminsterPeoria.org  | 309.673.8501

“What goes through your mind as you sit in the sanctuary and look around?

As I sit in my pew and look up at the cross with the wonderful light illuminating it, I am reminded of why I am at Westminster on this particular day. The cross reminds me that Christ died for me and, in a sense, I am to do the same in my daily life. The brightness of the cross illustrates for me the brightness of living my life in the way of Christ.”