{"id":308,"date":"2012-11-25T12:44:44","date_gmt":"2012-11-25T12:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/?p=308"},"modified":"2020-12-02T03:59:44","modified_gmt":"2020-12-02T03:59:44","slug":"christ-is-king","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/christ-is-king\/","title":{"rendered":"Christ is King"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

John 18:33-37<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

November 25, 2012<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember the times you went to play at your friend\u2019s house and when you came home, you said to your parents, \u201cI want that toy my friend has!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1 Samuel 8<\/a>, the people of Israel pestered Samuel to anoint a king. The people said, \u201cWe want a king to rule over us like other nations have.\u201d They were determined to have a king who may govern them and go out before them and fight their battles. The king they wanted was one with military power and domination over others creating fear in their neighbors so that they will be respected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our recent national elections, didn\u2019t we go into the voting booth with similar thoughts that we wanted a president who would keep us safe and our country strong in the eyes of other nations? Isn\u2019t the escalating violence in the Middle East between Israel and Gaza an attempt to have a stronger upper hand over our enemies and wanting the other to respect us?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuel gives in to the people\u2019s wishes and the people got Saul, and then David, and then Solomon, and so on, and on. And as far as we can see, the temple was built but from last Sunday\u2019s sermon, it was also toppled, the kingdom was reunited\u2014if only for a time. But they also got foreign gods, corruption and murder. In the end, having a king was more like a mixed bag.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus and Pilate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the lesson that we read from John\u2019s Gospel, we have the drama of Pontius Pilate before Jesus. Reading this section carefully, you will discover that there are actually 7 scenes of which today\u2019s lesson is scene 2. The scenes are marked by Pilate moving back and forth between outside his headquarters, where Jesus\u2019 opponents are and inside, where Jesus is. This back and forth pattern signifies Pilate\u2019s vacillation. Pilate was just confused on what to do with Jesus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our scene today, Pilate asks Jesus, \u201cAre you the king of the Jews?\u201d The word, \u201cking\u201d is used nine times in this trial. Pilate\u2019s question is political: if Jesus presents himself to the people as messiah-king, he is a seditionist and should be dealt with accordingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus responds by asking Pilate a question, \u201cDo you ask this of your own, or did others tell you about me?\u201d Jesus\u2019 question goes to the core of Pilate\u2019s situation. What matters is not what others tell Pilate, but what he himself thinks and does. Jesus\u2019 questioning of him is not what a prisoner would speak to a judge. Here we see that Pilate is the one on trial. Jesus is interrogating him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilate\u2019s answer sounds derisive of the people he governs: \u201cI am not a Jew, am I? It\u2019s your people who have handed you over to me.\u201d Pilate was saying that the opinions about Jesus are matters that he would neither know nor care about. Resuming the role of the interrogator, Pilate asks, \u201cWhat have you done?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know that Jesus was not arrested for what he has done but who Jesus is. Jesus doesn\u2019t answer Pilate\u2019s question but returns to the issue of kingship, \u201cMy kingdom is not from this world.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In some of our Bible translations, Jesus is quoted as \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world\u201d which is misinterpretation. Jesus is not saying that his kingdom is otherworldly or internal, or that it does not impinge upon the material world of human systems and institutions. He is not reassuring Pilate that his kingship poses no threat to Pilate\u2019s empire, for indeed it does. Jesus is speaking that his kingdom\u2019s origin is from above and how God\u2019s kingdom operates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, if Jesus\u2019 kingdom were of this world, his followers would fight his enemies. The kingdoms of this world operate by violence and force, but the Reign of God, made visible in human flesh, works differently. Jesus told Peter to put down his sword (18:11). He told his followers to bear witness to the truth and to lay down their lives for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilate, ignoring what Jesus said, reaches for a simpler admission he had been looking for: \u201cSo you are king?\u201d Jesus\u2019 reply, \u201cYou say that I am king?\u201d implies that Pilate has inadvertently spoken the truth when he didn\u2019t mean it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus states that he was born \u201cto testify to the truth,\u201d without explaining what he means by the truth. Today we know that the truth in Jesus Christ is that he is full of grace and truth. The truth to which he testifies is nothing less than God\u2019s reality, embodied in himself. Those who belongs to the truth listens to Jesus\u2019 voice like the Good Shepherd and the sheep that listens to his voice. People who listen to Jesus know the truth and unfortunately, Pilate is not among those who listen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilate asked Jesus, \u201cWhat is truth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is Truth?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pilate\u2019s question, \u201cWhat is the truth?\u201d hangs in the air, seemingly unanswered. How would you answer this question? Jesus asked Pilate, \u201cDo you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?\u201d Jesus is saying to Pilate, it doesn\u2019t matter what others are saying about me, what matters is what do you think who I am? Just as Pilate ends up be interrogated, we are being interrogated too. Who do you think Jesus is? What is the truth of Jesus?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only answer that Pilate gets is Jesus himself\u2014the truth is Jesus. Jesus offers himself as a mirror for others to see the truth and to see themselves in that truth. But the religious leaders and Pilate are so appalled by what they see that they destroyed the mirror. They execute Jesus because they don\u2019t want to see the way they are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we were to look at Jesus in the mirror, what would you see? To look closely at Jesus is to see ourselves in Pontius Pilate trying to wash his hands of any responsibility, or in Simon Peter hiding outside Pilate\u2019s office waiting to hear the cock crow, or in Jesus\u2019 mother, Mary, crying with a heartache she doesn\u2019t completely understand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus is a mirror that helps us see who we are, to see ourselves in God\u2019s light. It\u2019s hard to look at Jesus, because Jesus makes it clear that most of what we strive for is dust, everything will in time crumble and break, and most of what we should treasure, we ignore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we look at Jesus and see his integrity, our pretense is obvious. When we look at his courage, our cowardice is embarrassing. When we look at his love for God and for us, our apathy is shameful. We shrink from looking too closely at Jesus, because we might see that we\u2019re supposed to love our enemies, share what we have with the poor, and give up our worldly understanding of the good life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my own life, I confess that I don\u2019t look at Jesus too closely. When I look closely at Jesus I come face to face with realities I prefer to ignore: most of what I do is self-serving; my heart doesn\u2019t break nearly often enough for the hurting; my conscience is not keeping me awake at night when there\u2019s war in the world; I worry far too much about what people think of me; I am much more likely to be kind with someone who is kind to me; I tend to define morality as whatever I approve; I find it easier to talk about prayer than to pray. Jesus lives in a kingdom different from the one in which I live.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I were to ask you to think of someone who represents Christ in your life, who would that person be? It would be someone who told you the truth about you so clearly that you would want to kill him or her for it. It\u2019s easier not to look at Jesus, because when we don\u2019t look at Jesus, we feel okay about who we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we come to church and compare ourselves to each other, we\u2019re not so bad. I\u2019m not that much worse than you are, and you\u2019re not much worse than I am, but when we start looking at Jesus, then we\u2019re both in trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s so hard to look truthfully at Jesus that no one would ever be so brave, except for this. It\u2019s truth that makes us free. Jesus points to the truth that\u2019s buried deep in our sometimes broken stories, to the glorious reality beyond what we usually see. When we give ourselves to Jesus\u2019 truth, we learn to love life in all its pain and joy. When Jesus\u2019 story becomes our story, we live with deeper truth and more freedom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus, more than any person in history, has pulled on hearts and souls, calling us to abundant life. We have no choice but to always follow Jesus or run with Jesus to the end of our days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are all Pilate in our asking what truth is and like Pilate, we end up looking at Jesus. We open our hearts to Jesus in order to see what\u2019s in our hearts. We think about Jesus, who he is, and who he reveals us to be in order to be drawn into the profound truths about ourselves and our world. We ask who Jesus is only to discover who we are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chess Game<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I can\u2019t imagine today when I child comes home from playing at a friend\u2019s home and saying to his parents, \u201cI want a chess set for Christmas!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Pilate\u2019s world, the people only had one understanding of a king and kingdom. A king had power. The people wanted a king who would come from God to throw out the Romans and to give them a chance to reset the pieces and continue to playing the game of life by the rules they knew so well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pawns are there to be sacrificed. The bishop moves diagonally. The knight leaps forward two and over one. The queen can move in any direction\u2014but not like the knight. The rook can only go up and down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The king is dignified. He can move only one space at a time. All other pieces protect him, because when he is gone, the game is over. Checkmate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ came as a different kind of King, a monarch who changed all the definitions. Jesus said, \u201cMy kingdom is not from this world.\u201d My power does not look like the world\u2019s power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews.\u201d If my power looked like the world\u2019s power, I would let my pawns die to keep me safe from the religious authorities and the earthly power structures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Jesus said, \u201cBut as it is, my Kingdom is not from here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus Christ the King did not sacrifice the pawns to save himself. This King gave his life to save the pawns, the lowly, the earthly kingdom\u2019s people. He gave his life for us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What If<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you suppose it was like for Pilate, years later, when he was living in exile as a failed government administrator? What was it like on quiet nights when he walked under the stars with just memories of the captive people he ruled? He could rationalize that he\u2019d done about as well as he could. If he executed some innocent people, that was his job. Pilate walks along the path in his garden and thinks: \u201cEven that Galilean who talked about the truth and made such a stir. You have to keep order.\u201d But then Pilate wonders, \u201cWhat if I\u2019d decided not to be done with it as quickly as possible? What if I had followed the deepest desire of my heart and said, \u201cJesus, have a seat. Would you like a cup of coffee? Tell me more about your kingdom.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We try to put Jesus out of our minds, but there\u2019s a courtroom in our hearts\u2019 silence where Jesus regularly returns. It\u2019s always you and me who are on trial. He asks us, \u201cWhat is truth?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us pray.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

O God, you give us minds eager to know, to learn, and to pursue the answers to life\u2019s great questions. Yet you keep some things hidden from us. Increase our desire for your Word and our trust in it as the source of truth. And give us faith so that as we await the return of Christ we live lives that honor him and exhibit to the world who we believe him to be: Christ, the King. Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

John 18:33-37 November 25, 2012 Sermon preached by Rev. Donald Ng at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco. Remember the times you went to play at your friend\u2019sContinue readingChrist is King<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[11,13],"class_list":["post-308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-donald-ng-sermons","tag-fcbc","tag-john"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2206,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308\/revisions\/2206"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.followgreg.com\/revdonaldng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}