Almighty and ever-living God, you anointed your beloved Son to be priest and sovereign forever. Grant that all the people of the earth, now divided by the power of sin, may be united by the glorious and gentle rule of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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Gospel
John 18:33-37
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33Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" 34Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" 35Pilate 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?" 36Jesus 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." 37Pilate 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."
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REFLECTION
"We made it! We made it through another year as the church, another year serving our neighbor, caring for one another and proclaiming Jesus as our God and king!"
Each year as Christ the King Sunday arrives these are often the thoughts that run through my head. However, this week's texts challenge those thoughts. They challenge the idea that survival (we made it!) is what our goal should be. Instead, they provoke us to really reflect on how well we've done, as individuals and as congregations, in living our call to serve our neighbor and each other, and living our lives in a way that truly reflects that Jesus is our God and King.
Pilate asks Jesus, "are you the king of the Jews?" The opening verses of Revelation speak about the one who is seated on the throne and Jesus being the ruler of the kings of the earth. This Sunday is all about Jesus being a King. Yet, this is in sharp contrast to Jesus' emphasis on being a servant and a life of servanthood, just a few chapters before his encounter with Pilate he knelt at the feet of the disciples and washed their feet! Perhaps even more surprising than this focus on kingship is that Jesus is called the faithful witness in Revelation and tells Pilate that he came into the world to testify. Aren't we the ones who are called to be faithful witnesses to Jesus? Certainly John thought that he was to be a testifier to the light who is Jesus.
What is this faithful witness that Revelation and Jesus speak of? Living the way of God's kingdom in words and actions; living life among and for others. Revelation declares that Jesus made us to be a kingdom, not individual lords and serfs, but that together we are a kingdom of witnesses. The author of Revelation reminds us that we do not operate as individuals alone, the Church is fundamentally communal in nature: we need each other for encouragement as we face the challenges to faithfulness that life throws at us. While we may resist equating the church with a kingdom, particularly in light of the ways the church has abused its power in the past, and instead speak of a community called to proclaim and live out the values of God's reign in the world. Either way, this is who Jesus has made us to be.
So, how are we doing? How are we as the Church living as though God has made us a kingdom? Are we a kingdom of radical welcome? Are we working for God's justice and the flourishing of life for all creation? As we mourn with France and struggle with the Syrian refugee crisis, are we calling on leaders to work for peace and open borders? Are we engaged with that work ourselves?
By his own admission in the Gospel of John, Jesus came into the world to testify to the truth. To quote Paul, Jesus "did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:6-7). The God who was, and is and is to come, is a God who comes to us to engage with us and relate to us with a love that liberates. This is what Jesus testified to and it is knowing this, seeing and hearing Jesus' witness to this in his life, death, resurrection and ascension that can give us the courage to be a part of God's work and God's kingdom.
As we mark the end of the church year, how have you been aware of God throughout the year? How have you testified and been a faithful witness to God? How might you be called to change that witness in the year to come?
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