What Sort Of King?
Sermon
It seems to be true throughout life that those who are different are difficult to understand, and therefore rather scary. This has often been the basis of national phobias and hatred, such as anti-Semitism and racism.
It's difficult enough when one person stands out from the crowd, but in that case there are often (although not always) sufficient "normal" people around to enable the different one to be tolerated. But when there's a whole crowd or a whole nation of different people, they are often perceived as a threat and treated accordingly. And as time goes on, prejudices deepen until people are hated for no apparent reason.
At present, I'm reading an excellent (and very long!) novel by Edward Rutherford, called "London". It details the history of London from its very earliest beginnings as a tiny hamlet on the banks of the Thames, and it does so by following two or three families through the ages. Jealousies and difficulties and eventually hatreds grow up between some of these families. These negative feelings begin with a tiny incident where one member of a family is slighted by a member of another family, but they continue across the generations growing more and more entrenched until there's a huge rift between many people.
People who are different are often regarded with suspicion and fear and sometimes jealousy.
Jesus was a king who was different from the moment he was born. He wasn't born in a royal palace, or even into a Royal Family, but was born in a barn to parents who were virtually peasants. But he didn't even fit in with his family, for he did things which even they found difficult or embarrassing. At the age of twelve he remained behind in the temple in Jerusalem chatting to the rabbis, while his parents set off on the long journey home, assuming he was with them. And at one point in his ministry his family were so concerned about him that they besieged the house where he was staying in order to bring him home (Matthew12:46-50).
He was regarded as dangerously odd by the religious authorities. Jewish law had always taken into account the needs of the poor, and paid particular attention to widows and orphans. But Jesus took that much further than it had ever been taken before, and actually preached to poor people that the kingdom of God was for them, rather than for the rich.
This was not a kingdom that anybody recognised. Human beings recognise pomp and ceremony and wealth, with all the trappings that wealth can bring. Although we may grumble about the cost of the civil list, we still like to see our royals sumptuously dressed and sparkling with jewels. On the whole, we enjoy royal occasions with all the pageantry they offer. Even today, a royal kingdom which contains only the poor doesn't sound like a particularly attractive place. It certainly wouldn't appeal to the tourist industry.
And of course, the sort of preaching that constantly affirmed poor people and outcasts was likely to inflame the passions of the ordinary people, with the danger that they might rise up and attempt to bring in "their" kingdom by force. Hence the arrest of Jesus, the leader.
The powers that be, both Jews and Romans, were utterly confused. They had heard Jesus referred to as a king, and they were anxious that he himself might attempt to usurp their own authority, just as all those years ago at the first Christmas, Herod had been terrified that a baby prince had been born who might threaten his own position and that of his family.
And so at Jesus' trial, Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" By his reply, in which he talked about his kingdom, Jesus implicitly acknowledged that he was indeed a king, although he didn't use those actual words. Only kings have kingdoms. At any event, Pilate was sufficiently convinced to allow the title, "King of the Jews" to be nailed at the head of the cross, even if it was intended to be ironic.
What are we to make of this strange kingdom where wealth in human terms is unknown and the king is a servant of all? It sounds very much like a contradiction in terms. "King" is opposite to "servant", as many people who have tried to play both the leader role and the servant role at the same time, have found to their cost.
The Church constantly struggles between those two extremes. In the Middle Ages, when the Roman Catholic Church in England acquired all its wealth, it was seen very much in the leadership role. There was very little about it which could be classed as "servant", and certainly not as servant of the poorest. The Reformation in the 16th century was a protest against all that, and all signs of wealth were stripped from Church buildings, and a new, Protestant spirituality took hold.
Today, the Church of England, although it has considerable assets, is actually quite poor, struggling to pay its way. It's also less dogmatic and more gentle in its approach than once it was, so it could perhaps be classed as a servant of the people. But along with its poverty and its servant-hood, it's lost almost all respect from those in positions of authority and from the media and from many of the people. Because even after 2000 years of Christianity, it's still kings and leaders who are respected, not servants.
How is possible to have a king who washes feet and who cares nothing for earthly power? And how is it possible to follow him?
Perhaps the secret lies in the crucifixion. For Jesus, only one thing mattered - to remain in the most intimate and perfect relationship with God. Against that, nothing else was important. He was prepared to give up his life, to die, rather than move apart from God. But it was through that death that Jesus really came into his own. He discovered a new and different and glorious life, a kingdom life.
And that's what he promised again and again for us, his followers. "Don't worry about earthly power or wealth or anything else," he urged. "Do as I have done. Be prepared to die, to let your safe and comfortable and secure life go, in order to stay close to me. Take up your cross and follow me, for those who lose their life will find it, while those who try to cling onto wealth and power and comfort and security and all those other very human things, will lose the only thing that matters - the kingdom."
Today we celebrate the feast day of Christ the King. But during our celebrations, let's not forget what sort of a king we're celebrating.
It's difficult enough when one person stands out from the crowd, but in that case there are often (although not always) sufficient "normal" people around to enable the different one to be tolerated. But when there's a whole crowd or a whole nation of different people, they are often perceived as a threat and treated accordingly. And as time goes on, prejudices deepen until people are hated for no apparent reason.
At present, I'm reading an excellent (and very long!) novel by Edward Rutherford, called "London". It details the history of London from its very earliest beginnings as a tiny hamlet on the banks of the Thames, and it does so by following two or three families through the ages. Jealousies and difficulties and eventually hatreds grow up between some of these families. These negative feelings begin with a tiny incident where one member of a family is slighted by a member of another family, but they continue across the generations growing more and more entrenched until there's a huge rift between many people.
People who are different are often regarded with suspicion and fear and sometimes jealousy.
Jesus was a king who was different from the moment he was born. He wasn't born in a royal palace, or even into a Royal Family, but was born in a barn to parents who were virtually peasants. But he didn't even fit in with his family, for he did things which even they found difficult or embarrassing. At the age of twelve he remained behind in the temple in Jerusalem chatting to the rabbis, while his parents set off on the long journey home, assuming he was with them. And at one point in his ministry his family were so concerned about him that they besieged the house where he was staying in order to bring him home (Matthew12:46-50).
He was regarded as dangerously odd by the religious authorities. Jewish law had always taken into account the needs of the poor, and paid particular attention to widows and orphans. But Jesus took that much further than it had ever been taken before, and actually preached to poor people that the kingdom of God was for them, rather than for the rich.
This was not a kingdom that anybody recognised. Human beings recognise pomp and ceremony and wealth, with all the trappings that wealth can bring. Although we may grumble about the cost of the civil list, we still like to see our royals sumptuously dressed and sparkling with jewels. On the whole, we enjoy royal occasions with all the pageantry they offer. Even today, a royal kingdom which contains only the poor doesn't sound like a particularly attractive place. It certainly wouldn't appeal to the tourist industry.
And of course, the sort of preaching that constantly affirmed poor people and outcasts was likely to inflame the passions of the ordinary people, with the danger that they might rise up and attempt to bring in "their" kingdom by force. Hence the arrest of Jesus, the leader.
The powers that be, both Jews and Romans, were utterly confused. They had heard Jesus referred to as a king, and they were anxious that he himself might attempt to usurp their own authority, just as all those years ago at the first Christmas, Herod had been terrified that a baby prince had been born who might threaten his own position and that of his family.
And so at Jesus' trial, Pilate asked Jesus, "Are you the king of the Jews?" By his reply, in which he talked about his kingdom, Jesus implicitly acknowledged that he was indeed a king, although he didn't use those actual words. Only kings have kingdoms. At any event, Pilate was sufficiently convinced to allow the title, "King of the Jews" to be nailed at the head of the cross, even if it was intended to be ironic.
What are we to make of this strange kingdom where wealth in human terms is unknown and the king is a servant of all? It sounds very much like a contradiction in terms. "King" is opposite to "servant", as many people who have tried to play both the leader role and the servant role at the same time, have found to their cost.
The Church constantly struggles between those two extremes. In the Middle Ages, when the Roman Catholic Church in England acquired all its wealth, it was seen very much in the leadership role. There was very little about it which could be classed as "servant", and certainly not as servant of the poorest. The Reformation in the 16th century was a protest against all that, and all signs of wealth were stripped from Church buildings, and a new, Protestant spirituality took hold.
Today, the Church of England, although it has considerable assets, is actually quite poor, struggling to pay its way. It's also less dogmatic and more gentle in its approach than once it was, so it could perhaps be classed as a servant of the people. But along with its poverty and its servant-hood, it's lost almost all respect from those in positions of authority and from the media and from many of the people. Because even after 2000 years of Christianity, it's still kings and leaders who are respected, not servants.
How is possible to have a king who washes feet and who cares nothing for earthly power? And how is it possible to follow him?
Perhaps the secret lies in the crucifixion. For Jesus, only one thing mattered - to remain in the most intimate and perfect relationship with God. Against that, nothing else was important. He was prepared to give up his life, to die, rather than move apart from God. But it was through that death that Jesus really came into his own. He discovered a new and different and glorious life, a kingdom life.
And that's what he promised again and again for us, his followers. "Don't worry about earthly power or wealth or anything else," he urged. "Do as I have done. Be prepared to die, to let your safe and comfortable and secure life go, in order to stay close to me. Take up your cross and follow me, for those who lose their life will find it, while those who try to cling onto wealth and power and comfort and security and all those other very human things, will lose the only thing that matters - the kingdom."
Today we celebrate the feast day of Christ the King. But during our celebrations, let's not forget what sort of a king we're celebrating.
