St. Mary's Episcopal Church

Christ the King Sunday (John 18. 33-37)
New Years Eve/Good Friday

On this last Sunday of the Church's liturgical year, sometimes called Christ the King Sunday, our gospel is always one of the accounts of Jesus' passion.

On this spiritual New Year's Eve, this Sunday when we celebrate the King of kings and Lord of Lords, we focus on the Cross. This year's Gospel is from the one we hear read each Good Friday, the account from John.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke's gospel also record the encounter between Jesus and Pilate, but in their versions Jesus' response to Pilate's questions is silence.

Only John gives Jesus' replies to Pilate's queries.

A word about Pilate
A word about Pilate.
Pilate was procurator or governor general of Palestine or Idumea, the area from Caesarea in the east to Samaria in the west and on south of Jerusalem.
As procurator, he was near the top of the Roman civil service, and would have been considered quite a successful man for his time. He was responsible for all military and judicial matters.
He was required to visit all areas under his jurisdiction once each year, and heard legal cases and complaints.
He was responsible for the ingathering of taxes, but did not have authority to increase taxes.
Pilate was paid from the treasury, and was not allowed to take gifts of money or bribes.
If he did not comply, the people had the right to report him to the Emperor.
Pilate had an army of about 3000 men.
Although he was based in Caesarea, Pilate would have brought an army of a few hundred soldiers with him to Jerusalem to help maintain order during the Passover.
A small enough force that if Jesus had wanted to resist, he could have easily gathered enough men to do battle with the Roman soldiers.

Two different languages
When Pilate and Jesus spoke, it was as if they were communicating in two different language constructs.
Pilate spoke and listened with the words of political power and military might.
Jesus spoke and listened with words of the power of love.
Pilate understood kingdoms to be ruled the by armies and money.
For Pilate, the truth was on the side of whomever had the most money and the biggest army.
For Pilate, there would be times that to have power one could not tell the truth.
Jesus said that his kingdom was one that always witnessed the Truth.

Jesus' truth=the words from the cross
What was the truth that made up Jesus' kingdom?
In a few short hours, Jesus' words from the cross would define the Truth of his kingdom.
To those who had betrayed and persecuted him:
"Father, forgive them, for they don't know what they're doing."
The Truth was forgiving and forgiveness.
To the thief being crucified beside him, words of love and hope:
"Today you will be with me in paradise."
Truth is eternal love, even after death.
When Jesus cried out the first line of the Psalm, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus knew the truth of the rest of the Psalm, and that it concluded with words of hope and trust in God.
Truth is being able to trust in God with us even in the very, very worst of times.
Jesus says that early morning before his death that in his Kingdom, the Truth is always spoken and lived.

A world full of Truth
Wouldn't we love to live in a world where we could trust that we heard the truth?
Commercials, politicians, sales persons, even those we love with our little white lies of kindness-we can never be completely sure if the truth is being spoken.
If truth be told, all of us tell lies, even little lies.
The only One ever who never lied, who always told the truth is Jesus.
Jesus says that in his Kingdom, his Kingdom with power that does not come from this world, but which has the absolute possibility to be lived in this world, the Truth is always lived and told.
When people want to make an appointment with me to talk about a problem or a concern, it is almost always based on some lie.
Messages they've received: You're not good enough. You're useless.
You'll never amount to anything.
Or some family secret. Too terrible to tell.
My ministry, on behalf of Jesus' kingdom, is to tell the Truth.
I tell people when what they have heard is a lie and to give them God's Truth.
This is the ministry of all God's people.
9/11 Lie
After the terrible tragedies in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001, our country had an outpouring of sympathy and support from countries all over the world.
I cannot remember a time in my lifetime when we Americans were more favorably viewed in the world's eyes.
We had experienced the effect of the most evil of lies.
We responded as one of the kingdoms of the world and relied on our financial might and our military power and our justifiable right of revenge.
Did we have another choice?
What if we had operated as citizens of Jesus' kingdom and acted like Jesus did-with forgiveness and love?
What if we had?
What if we had decided to attack the root of terrorism, and spend billions of dollars providing education for boys and girls in impoverished areas of the world?
What if we had spent billions of dollars on the means and resources for people to provide and grow their own food?
To provide an honorable livelihood?
What if we had spent billions of dollars providing a reliable source of clean water for those who have none?
What if?
We will never know, of course, what would have happened had we looked at options that would have been more consistent with how we saw Jesus deal with evil and terror in his time.
I see the alternative as the way of the Gospel.
It is the way of the Kingdom where Jesus is King.
Armies and governments will always eventually fall.
The Roman Empire that crucified Jesus did.
Those who witness to God's truth will always, always prevail.
Yes, they may die, but the Truth will always prevail.

The choice of Truth
We know that we can do absolutely nothing about what is past.
The good news is that we absolutely have a choice about what happens next.
We who say we follow Jesus have the opportunity, the power to get up every morning and choose whom we will serve:
The power of worry? Fear? Stuff we have to do? Stuff we have to have?
Or will the kingdom of Jesus which lives in our hearts rule our day?
That kingdom of Jesus which is in each of our hearts, not for what we can get, but for what we can give.
The kingdom of Jesus in our hearts not for how powerful we can be but how we can empower others, especially those who have so very little.

It's what we pray for every time we pray the prayer that Jesus taught us to pray:
Our Father.
Who is in heaven.
Holy be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done.
On earth.
As it is already being done in heaven.
Give us today, just what we need for today, our daily bread.
Forgive us.
As we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation.
Deliver us from evil.
For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.
Forever and ever.
AMEN