Christ the King + 11.21.21

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M. Campbell-Langdell

All Saints, Oxnard

(2 Samuel 23:1–7; Ps. 132:1–13, (14–19); Revelation 1:4b–8; St John 18:33–37)

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.” 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.”

Anyone remember what Pilate says next? (PAUSE) He says “What is truth?” Because that is the crux of the matter, isn’t it?

All throughout the gospels, Jesus uses the language of the people he is with in order to connect with them. With fishermen, he uses the imagery of fishing. With farmers we hear about sowing seeds and yielding a harvest. Jesus uses the language of the world each person inhabits in order to widen their understanding of the world to incorporate a better sense of God’s Kingdom.

And it is no different with Pilate. What do we know about Pilate? He was a warrior, a man that knew about control, and representing Caesar and he lived by the cruel reign of the Roman Empire and furthered its power. So, Jesus speaks of kingdoms and power. Initially, Pilate’s question is about whether Jesus is a king because that will make him a threat to Caesar. But Jesus uses that to reframe the question. You can imagine a subtext underneath this conversation- yes you may have heard about King David the Anointed one whom we saw referred to in our earlier scriptures today, and you may know that in the Jewish tradition the Messiah will be welcomed as a King-like figure in the line of David. But, Jesus says, that is not the kind of kingdom I am about. Using more language Pilate would relate to, Jesus goes on to say that if his kingdom were of this world, his followers would be fighting to keep him from being handed over to the Jewish authorities. But his kingdom is not about bloodshed and having power over others. It is about truth. Because the truth is that the expansive quality of God’s entire creation is simply too big to be fathomed, even to Caesar, the most powerful ruler in the Western world at the moment. The truth is bigger than them. The truth is bigger than us.

Because to see the truth means we look out and around our own frames and we can take new actions in our lives, actions that are not entirely directed by the roles we have learned to play in society.

I have been reading a book about this very topic called Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson. Wilkerson posits that our country’s racial relations can be best understood by comparing the to the caste system of India. By understanding that our society has placed Black or African-American people in the lowest caste, comparable to the Dalits or untouchables of India, and white or European-American people in the highest caste, comparable to Brahmins or other high caste Indians, and everyone else somewhere in between, we can better understand the subtle ways our society reinforces caste roles. By seeing these structures in society, we can begin to understand ways that we, consciously or unconsciously, perpetuate these structures. This has been a hard book for me to read so far. Because like many educated White or European-Americans, I like to think that at my best, and most self-aware, I am an anti-racist. I like to think that my way of life is designed not to reinforce my white privilege and that I make substantive efforts to make our society more just by my presence. But reading Wilkerson’s book, I have been struck again and again by the fact that so many of these structures are almost automatic and it is really only by understanding the grim truth of our social structures that we can begin to dismantle the false notions of caste superiority. Wilkerson points out that caste hurts us all because there are natural leaders and followers in each ethnic and racial group and society will be more enriched if members are able to act within their strengths.[1] Understanding the truth of a situation can set you free to make a different choice. Unfortunately, in the outcome of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial this week what we saw was a reinforcement of a different set of rules for white persons and people of color in the US, one that I suspect does not actually make anyone feel safer in the long run. So, Wilkerson encourages us to look at our culture and how we can make different choices. And seen from a Christian lens I I think that is how we work toward building the Kingdom of God- a better earth for humans and all of creation, leading into a better heaven and earth to come. In our All Saints context, I think we have been striving for a good balance of leadership on the vestry for many years, and in that we are generally ahead of the game. But we can keep striving to encourage leadership from all parts of our congregation to better mirror the beloved community here at church.

Maybe Pilate saw some of that in this conversation with Jesus we overhear in the Gospel of John today. Perhaps he was able to see his situation in a new light, and who Jesus was in order to think outside of it a bit. Because, as I heard this week, “every saint has a past and every sinner has a story”. And Pilate did indeed have a past. In 36 CE he was called back to Rome to be put on trial for charges of cruelty. But before he could get there, his accuser had died. But the Coptic tradition, one of the oldest Christian traditions, says that Pilate and his wife are saints. By their tradition, Pilate and his wife were so taken with Jesus and news of his resurrection that when they retired to their villa, they became Jesus followers and started a church![2] The truth will set you free.

What is truth? Perhaps for each of us it is a bit different, because it is the lens that allows us to see our world and understand it afresh. To see ourselves not just locked into the roles and expectations of our daily lives, but as able to live in the space and warmth, love and justice and sometimes the awe and fear of God’s much bigger Kingdom. To live outside the rules set for us, and to follow a leader who is not of this world. That is the Kingdom we elevate today. May we, by living into it, help welcome it even as next week we welcome Advent and the ultimate coming of God’s Kingdom!

Amen.


[1] Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (NY: Random House, 2020) (I listened to the Audible version.)

[2] With thanks to the “Dwelling on the Word” group of 11/16/21, sponsored by Faith and Lead of Luther Seminary.

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