"Circle of Hope"
Revelation 1: 4b-8; John 18:33-37
November 26, 2006 "Christ The King Sunday"
What we have here is a failure to communicate! Jesus and Pilate are talking on two different planes and never the two shall meet…almost like they are talking about two different things….they are! Pilate is talking about power. Jesus is talking about truth.
Not the kind of truth revealed by brilliant minds, or scientists, or even kings or heads of state. But the kind of truth revealed in the sanctity of the human heart…a truth that can empower all of life to be different. Jesus says it’s the kind of truth that sets you free! Even when professing it, may kill you (as it did him)…as you face your real life or your real death…both literally and metaphorically! Free.
You recognize this kind of freeing truth as soon as you encounter it…not because someone important names it for you, but because it comes from within…often in the form of a still small voice…truth breathes its way into your very being. And rules in your heart. A King!?!
But really now! A King! We postmodern people, we don’t want a king! We know better than to want the kind of king Pilate speaks of….just look at the kings and queens of our times…if having power was the key to life, they should be living happy lives and everyone in their nations as well. (Buzzer!) Isn’t happening!
No, we don’t want a king!
Or, do we? Hhmn. Gee, aren’t we constantly seeking that king who will rule over us and solve our problems? You know…king for a day…that newest diet, the latest trend in management, yet another book or manual, a better leader, a different schedule. If only something or someone would come in and rule us and tell us what to do to get it right for ourselves! Surely we’d do it!
Someone will. But not through power over or thinking for you or getting you out of this mess you created.
Someone is. God is. God rules. But it’s not the usual rule of life. Jesus’ life and ways reveal to us the new rule is not the rule of power over or law or quick fixes. They don’t last anyways! Jesus says the new rule is the rule of truth.
What is truth?
I think in our deepest, purest self each of us knows the truth. It’s just so hard to face and even harder to do anything about. But….it will set you free. God so longs for you to be free!
Jesus lives what is true. And, unlike the line in the popular movie…."you can’t handle the truth!"….Jesus knows you can!
Forget the movies. God says, "Yes you can handle the truth!" You begin to handle it as you begin to let, in even the smallest of ways, the ways of Jesus, the love of God, the strength of the spirit rule in your life.
You see we may be so sophisticated we think we don’t want a king….but we need one! Wow! Do we ever need one! A real king…or queen as it may be! We need a powerful new truth to rule our lives.
Jesus’ power is in you. And your power is in the truth revealed in you about you. God trusts you to rule your own life with dignity and grace in the light of truth….which brings freedom. Jesus only rules through you!
And the good news is….God never gives up on any of us, any situation…in our family, in our church, in our world…until the truth is known and freedom is released. God outlasts what is wrong. God is the Alpha and the Omega, who is and was and will be.
True power and authority belong to Christ through you. Christ’s power is known to us in love and freedom. Christ’s love is now. It is immediate. The crises and the problems that beset us do not define us. The truth empowers us. This is our hope made really, real….for those who believe.
God encircles us in hope before and beyond all the times of our lives.
Isn’t it ironic! Jesus is put to death because they were afraid he was a king. Jesus is born into the world’s hope that he would be that king. Reminds me of the old adage…beware what you pray for, you just might get it!
Do you get it?
No?
Fear not….Advent is coming again. Another time around the stories and wisdom of our faith to find insight into our own lives, the freedom of truth, the courage to be resurrected, the chance to integrate the new you into the ordinary times of your life.
What is it in you that longs to be reigned by Christ…the king of truth, the prince of peace, the almighty counselor, God with us?
Christ is about to be born again….in you….in ways you never could have conceived of on your own….to rule in you.
We have come full circle…a circle of hope.
There is something bigger and more powerful than you…bigger and more powerful than the limitations of this life you struggle with. There is a real God waiting to be discovered and rule with you! It is time to "Open to the Mystery of Advent!"
Why….just listen to this snippet of conversation between a modern day interviewer and one really old guy who finally came to the realization that God is bigger and more powerful than life……
Skit for November 26, 2006
Christ the King Sunday
2020 year old man and an interviewer…quite a ways into an interview:
Interviewer: "Did you always believe in the Lord?"
Old Man: "No. We had a guy in our town named Phil, and for a time we worshipped him."
Interviewer: You worshipped a guy named Phil? Why?
Old Man: Because he was big, and mean, and he could break you in two with his bare hands.
Interviewer: Did you have prayers?
Old Man: Yes, would you like to hear one? O Phil, please don’t be mean and hurt us, or break us in two with your bare hands.
Interviewer: So when did you start worshiping the Lord?
Old Man: Well, one day a big thunderstorm came up and a lightening bolt hit Phil. We gathered around and saw that he was dead. Then we said to one another, ‘There’s somethin’ bigger than Phil!’
Moral:
There is something bigger than Phil.
There is something bigger than me.
There is something bigger than you.
There is something bigger than all of us put together.
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