“God’s Kingdom of Love”

November 21, 2021      Christ the King         

First Lesson: Revelation 1:4b-8

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

⁷ Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him;
and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.

So it is to be. Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Second Lesson: John 18:33-37

³³ Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?” ³⁴ Jesus answered, “Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?” ³⁵ Pilate replied, “I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?” ³⁶ Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.” ³⁷ Pilate asked him, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

George III of England, America’s enemy in the Revolutionary War, felt terrible about the loss of the colonies. It was said, in fact, that for the rest of his life, he could not say the word “independence” without tripping over it. He was an odd duck in many ways, but he had good insights. When the fighting in America stopped, King George and all his royal cronies in Europe were sure that George Washington would have himself crowned “Emperor of the New World.” That’s what they would have done. When he was told, on the contrary, that Washington planned to surrender his military commission and return to farming at Mt. Vernon, George III said, “Well, if he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world.” There is power in giving up power, in emptying oneself. Jesus knew it, Pilate didn’t. (William R. Boyer, A Confusion of the Heart  Sermons.com)  Pilate, like most kings, only worried about other kings, only concerned himself with those who could threaten his power.

That helps to explain why he asks Jesus if he is “the King of the Jews” when the chief priests had only called him a criminal (v. 30).  Pilate was hesitant to get involved with this matter.  It was early in the morning and a mob had brought Jesus to Pilate’s headquarters. Pilate wanted the Jewish leaders to handle this matter internally, but their law did not allow them to put anyone to death.  They had an agenda.

Jesus wondered if Pilate had an agenda when he asked his first question. Jesus is speaking truth to power, and we quickly learn that the powerful do not like it when they do not control the discourse.  That is still true today.  People with power define the world to their liking and leave the rest of us on the outside looking in.

We see this in the exchange.  Pilate asks the question, “Are you the king of the Jews?”  Jesus answers describing his kingdom.  Pilate refines his question, “Are you a king?” checking to see if he is a threat to Pilate’s kingdom and power.  But Jesus answers with his purpose which is about bringing the truth. Pilate is about power and kings, Jesus is about kingdoms and truth.

Yet ironically, Pilate is the one who declares Jesus’ kingship in a profound way. Pilate unknowingly speaks the truth. He declares to the Jews, “Here is your king” (John 19:14). And over the cross Pilate places the announcement for all to see, “Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews” (John 19:19) (Working Preacher, Lucy Lind Hogan). In this way, Jesus’ kingship becomes most visible in his crucifixion. It is as if his crucifixion is his enthronement as king, the moment at which the declaration of his kingship is made public. (Working Preacher Susan Hylen)

On this Christ the King Sunday it is good to pause and consider how we think about Jesus as the king of our lives?  Are we willing followers of Jesus, members of his kingdom?  Jesus declares “My kingdom is not of this world,” which begs the question is his kingdom more about relationship than location?  Did God create a kingdom not made of hands that includes you and me as participants?  Undeniably yes.

Revelation reminds us that Jesus loves us and freed us from sin and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving God.  We gratefully know Jesus loves us and takes away our sins, but we don’t often connect that to participating in God’s kingdom.  But here the connection is made.  Drawing from Exodus and Isaiah with a “kingdom of priests” (Ex. 19;6, Is. 61:6), Jesus the king, the ruler of the kings of the earth, declares us priests within God’s kingdom.  The reformer, Martin Luther drew his doctrine of the priesthood of all believers from this passage and others (1Peter 2:5, 2:9).  So even as we speak about kings and rulers, Jesus is baptizing us into the fellowship of the faith, anointing us into the priesthood of all believers.

One commentator writes, “While God’s kingdom will come regardless because it’s God’s after all, Revelation reminds us that Jesus “made us to be kings.” And since we have been made to be kings (and queens) of God’s kingdom, it is our calling to work for that kingdom and not for those kingdoms of this world. It is our calling to strive for different. It is our calling to bring about “thy kingdom come” even with the promise of God’s kingdom coming” (Working Preacher, Karoline Lewis).

God’s kingdom is a kingdom of love.  It is not up in heaven; it is not in the future.  God’s kingdom is now!  And you and I are members of that kingdom and part of the priesthood of all believers.  You see it is God’s kingdom.  A kingdom of peace from the one who is and who was and who is to come.  Our job as Christians is to work to bring about God’s kingdom through love.

As I talked with Cooper about this sermon, he shared with me a quote from musician Jimi Hendrix,

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.”

I would add, that is when Christ’s kingdom will be here.  In the meantime, we get to be disciples of his love and ambassadors of his truth.  But we do not have to do it on our own. God will be working through us, as both individuals and in our community.
A six-year-old boy was assisting his mother with some spring gardening. The mother was absorbed in her work while the little boy explored the miracle of growing things exploding everywhere. All at once the boy picked up a daffodil bud, and sat down on the ground, and studied it. Then with his two little hands, he tried to force it open into a full blossom. The result, of course, was disappointment and a mess: limp petals and a dead flower.

Frustrated, he cried out, “Mommy, why is it that when I try to open the bud, it just falls to pieces and dies. How does God open it into a beautiful flower?”

Even before his mother could answer, a broad smile broke across the child’s face, and he exclaimed, “Oh! I know! God always works from the inside.”  That is a parable of the Kingdom. God’s works from the inside. His kingdom is alive and it is growing, in our love for one another. (Sermons.com King Duncam).

How do you choose to show that love?  How are you a king or queen within God’s kingdom of love?  How will you show that when the power of love overcomes the love of power, there will be Gods’ peace?

It is by living in the truth of God’s love for us in his Son Jesus Christ.

It is showing others what that truth means in their lives.

I heard this saying that gets to how well we live the truth of God’s love and power.  “I don’t tell my God how big my problem is.  I tell my problem how big my God is.” How big is your God?  How mighty is your king?   How are you living in God’s kingdom?

Karoline Lewis writes, “The concept of kingdom is radically recalculated in the Gospel of John, from kingdoms that strain and sever relationships to a kingdom that puts relationship at its core. That’s a whole different perspective on kingdom. When kingdom is construed from the truth of relationship and not rule, from the truth of incarnation and not location, from the truth of love and not law, then Jesus as truth will ring true.”    (Working Preacher).

George Washington was not the greatest man of the world.  Jesus was and is and always will be the one who created the kingdom of love, the one who loves us and forgives our sins, the one who calls us to be members of his kingdom to bring about peace on earth.  Amen.