Reign of Christ Sunday is a marker for the end of the liturgical year. It is a way of saying we wrap up a year’s worth of worship by claiming again whose we are. This is the last Sunday of the Christian Calendar year and the most important.
On this Sunday we reiterate our mission – to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The emphasis this week is in the middle – “of Jesus Christ.” This Sunday we announce with Jesus that Jesus is King or all Kings.
That is the kind of Disciple that we are. We aren’t disciples of our own wisdom; we aren’t disciples following the winds of this world. We are disciples of Jesus Christ. King of all King. King of the Kingdom of God.
What the John text tells us is that Jesus is a leader like no other. The rules by which other kings and leaders lead don’t apply to Jesus. To follow Jesus is to learn to be like him. To follow Jesus, we learn to walk with him. To Follow Jesus is to learn to listen to Him.
John’s trial narrative raises these issues in compelling ways. Although Pilate and the Jewish leaders may appear to be powerful, John presents Jesus as the one who exercises true authority and power.
We see in this text a surprisingly profound conversation between a prisoner in chains and his jailer holding all the keys, and yet you can’t help but wonder where the power resides. That just says even in bondage and suffering we can be more like the King then the bondsman.
Perhaps the view that Jesus is King of Kings and has all power is a view that emanates from this worldly kingdom in which we live, a society in which success is associated with “winning” at all costs. A capitalist greedy kingdom where having the most money or the biggest army is what matters.
But as a side not even when considering “military might,” we can see that despite all the military power held by the U.S., this country has not been able to secure most of its political objectives, as has been demonstrated in the recent example of the withdrawal of armed forces from Afghanistan.
Jesus posed the questions: Are you asking me about my kingship sincerely or are you prejudiced because of what people have told you?
I understand this because when I was going through that stage a lot of Black youth go through when dealing with racism and white supremacy i too asked why do they hate me!
You see sometimes folks are really afraid of us not because they have seen us but because they have herd how powerful we are. They have only herd stories of what Black men and Powerful Black sisters are like, what a black messiah would do and yet they fear the unknown power.
Jesus ask? Did you make up your own mind? Or is this what fox news told you?
Pilate’s question is one that he was asking for others—a question that was full of biases.
A modern-day example would be one where police officers ask a group of young black and brown men on a street corner, “What are you doing?” That question is neither neutral nor innocent. The racist ideas about black and brown people come into play.
When Jesus questions Pilate’s motive for asking him if he was king, Pilate said, “I am not a Jew, am I?” This is akin to the police who question young men of color and then defend their questions, saying, “I am not a racist!”
Pilate wants to act as though he is innocent of his prejudiced notions about Jesus, while playing along with the lies and corruption of his constituents.
Like many in politics these past few weeks they want to act like they support fixing falling bridges, fixing poison water, giving folks a living wage and still vote the hate party agenda.
Jesus does not fall for that; he instead unmasks the demonic forces of his society that engage in such egregious abuse of power.
Jesus tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world!” Many have interpreted this to mean that Jesus’ kingdom is somewhere in heaven and not relevant to this world.
To me, Jesus is saying that the values of his kingdom are different from those of the current system.
Jesus tells him: “If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”
The values of Jesus’ kingdom are so immensely different from those of this world that often we Christians fail to apprehend them.
The church, which purports to—and should—represent Jesus’ kingdom, is here to serve in humility rather than to seek earthly power.
Jesus is the king, yet he does not arrive in a chariot, but on a donkey!
Jesus is a king who is killed by those with societal power, not a king who is victorious over his enemies by defeating them in war.
However, in allowing himself to be killed and physically defeated for the sake of truth, he engages in the ultimate demonstration of the power of love.
This gospel lesson that leads us toward the cross should remind us that, as James Cone said the Cross and the lynching tree are one in the same.
Let us take this opportunity to remind ourselves that we serve a king like no other—a king who is not seeking power and glory, but humble service to others.
Consequently, we who identify as the Church should seek to engage in humble service to others. To Walk with others. Can I make it real Wesley we need heat and air not for us but for the community, for the public, we need our sanctuary renewed not for us but to be a place where men and women who are lost and hurting can come. When need top notice sound and video in this Family life center so that when children need multi-media presentations they can come and worship here and have he Wifi and the technology that says we at Wesley and walking with you in this digital age.
Let personalize it more !
Few years ago, we got a glimpse of the battel of Kanye West’s psychosis as he put forth the notion that Jesus Walks with us all. Kanye identifies himself as Roman Catholic, occasionally referring to the fact that he has a concept of an all-embracing God.
In Jesus Walks one of his post trump songs Kanye make the point that, “We at war with terrorism, racism, and most of all we at war with ourselves.” As the song unfolds, it would appear that the war we’re at “with ourselves” is a struggle with the sins, the lifestyles, the decisions we make that we realize are wrong. The introduction in he song concludes with a refrain that he repeats throughout the song: “God show me the way because the devil’s trying to break me down.”
And in the second verse we see most clearly what Kanye believes about God and how we relate to him when he says,
To the hustlers, killers, murderers, drug dealers even the strippers (Jesus walks with them)
In a sense Kanye mean that Jesus walks with hustlers, killers, et. al.? We need to keep it real even though we might not like it Jesus does walk with the sinner. Oh oh Jesus is the King of the Sinners. Oh Jesus is the King with the Sinners.
Christians often describe their Christian experience as their “spiritual walk.”
Enoch (Genesis 5:22, 24) and Noah (Genesis 6:9) were said to have “walked with God.”
In both of these cases, walking with God means they were in close fellowship with and were obedient to their Lord.
I don’t think that can be said of those whose lives are characterized by murdering, drug dealing, or stripping. But I do believe that is for JESUS to decide.
Everyone is welcome to the Kingdom. Everyone belongs to the kingdom. Everyone interested in seeking the truth will embrace the values of this Jesus kingdom, which contrasts sharply with a society that attempts to win at all costs.
Those who seek power and prestige at the expense of others will reject the true kingdom represented by Jesus. But those to seek Jesus as a walk of faith will see the Real King.
Christ the King Sunday offers an opportunity for the church to assess its values and evaluate how it operates in our society. This can lead to a clarification of mission and point us in the direction
Jesus intercedes for us, Jesus Walks with Us, so that everyone can come into the kingdom and truly be the real church that our world so desperately needs.
