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A Kingdom not of this World
Rev. Mark Schaefer
Kay Spiritual Life Center
November 26, 2006--Christ the King Sunday
2 Samuel 23:1-7; Revelation 1:4b-8; John 18:33-37

2 Samuel 23:1-7 . Now these are the last words of David: The oracle of David, son of Jesse, the oracle of the man whom God exalted, the anointed of the God of Jacob, the favorite of the Strong One of Israel: The spirit of the Lord speaks through me, his word is upon my tongue. The God of Israel has spoken, the Rock of Israel has said to me: One who rules over people justly, ruling in the fear of God, is like the light of morning, like the sun rising on a cloudless morning, gleaming from the rain on the grassy land. Is not my house like this with God? For he has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and secure. Will he not cause to prosper all my help and my desire? But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away; for they cannot be picked up with the hand; to touch them one uses an iron bar or the shaft of a spear. And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot.

Revelation 1:4b-8.   John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Look! He is coming with the clouds; every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. So it is to be. Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

John 18:33-37.   Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate 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?" 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."

I. BEGINNING

I don't like monarchies.

I am a republican, in that I like republics.   And a democrat, in that I prefer those republics to be democracies.   As sympathetic as I was to the heroes in The Lord of the Rings , who would eventually see their friend Aragorn restore the Kingdom of Gondor, I was more sympathetic to the Rebel Alliance in Star Wars who were fighting to restore the Republic.

I have an ancestor, Roger Sherman, who was a Founding Father, who wrote the Connecticut Compromise and signed the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights.   In my family, we're all very proud of our forefather who helped to found the American republic, a republic born in rebellion against a monarch.

I don't like the arbitrariness of monarchies.   The idea that someone gets to be king just because his father was king.   That doesn't seem fair.   You don't get to be president just because your father was president, well... okay, you might get a head start, but they still have to vote for you.  

It makes me uncomfortable with some of the "allies" we have around the world, particularly in the Middle East, where some of our 'best friends' are despotic monarchies who distrust their people.  

Today is "Christ the King Sunday"--and there's something about that that makes me uncomfortable.   All this "Kingdom of God" stuff.   Wouldn't it be better if we called it the "Dominion of God" or the "Realm of God" or even the "Republic of God"?   Wouldn't that be a more enlightened position to take?

II. THE PROPHETIC WARNING

A. Samuel

It seems I am not alone in my distrust of monarchies.   The bulk of the prophetic tradition of Israel is suspicious of monarchies.   In the four centuries following the Exodus, Israel was governed by charismatic leaders who were raised up in times of crisis: Samson--a man who whose Nazirite vows were the source of his strength and leadership.   Deborah--a woman whose masterful leadership helped to defeat powerful enemies.   Gideon, a leader who wanted a smaller army than that which was available to him, an army of the most faithful men, who defeated Israel's enemies handily.   Israelite society was relatively level, egalitarian.   But then the people desired a monarchy, in order to fight the Philistines and to be more like the nations that surrounded them.   Samuel, who was chief prophet in Israel eventually conceded to the demands of the elders to appoint a king for Israel, but not before he delivered a stern warning at God's insistence:

9 Now then, listen to their voice; only--you shall solemnly warn them, and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them." 10 So Samuel reported all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, "These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers. 15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers. 16 He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work. 17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. 18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day." 19 But the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel; they said, "No! but we are determined to have a king over us, 20 so that we also may be like other nations, and that our king may govern us and go out before us and fight our battles."

B. The Ways of the King

"These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you:

he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen, and to run before his chariots; 12 and he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties.
The king will create a military, not of volunteers, but of conscripts--he will "take" them.  

and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
Others will be conscripted to work the king's land for the king's harvest.   Others will be conscripted to produce the materiel needed for the king's militarism.

13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
Women, too, will be conscripted to serve the king.

14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his courtiers.
Aristocracy will flourish and the needs of the aristocracy will take precedence over the needs of the people.   The best crops will be taken away from those who harvest and given to those who have the favor of the king.

15 He will take one-tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and his courtiers.
16 He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your cattle and donkeys, and put them to his work.
17 He will take one-tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
One tenth will be taken from your fields and flocks--a tithe, not to God, but to the king, to be distributed among those in power.   This will result in economic subjugation and the enslavement of the population.

This is not a rosy picture.   It is a foreboding picture. And with rare exception, the Kings of Israel and Judah proved the prophet right.   Most of the kings of Israel and Judah fell prey to idolatry, to violence, rampant economic and social injustice, and broke faithfulness with the covenant with God, ultimately leading the country to ruin.

III. CHRISTIAN DISCOMFORT WITH KING-DOM

And so it is no wonder that many modern Christians, perhaps a little less enamored of monarchy than our predecessors, balk at using this kind of language.   For in addition to all the concerns that Samuel shares with the elders of Israel, we add our own litany of concerns.   For, monarchy brings with it hierarchy, patriarchy and sexism, politics of power, economics of privilege, state-controlled religions, landed aristocracy, abuses of power, and the list continues...

Secondly, beyond those for whom the language of monarchy is distasteful, there are those for whom the language of monarchy is irrelevant.   There are very few kings or queens who wield any real power any more.   There are the Saudis, of course, but for some reason there aren't really a lot of Christians in Saudi Arabia.

And so we come to this Sunday--the final Sunday of the Christian year--Christ the King Sunday, where we immerse ourselves in royal language and imagery, which either makes us uncomfortable or seems to us irrelevant.

Because for one reason or the other, calling Christ the King seems at odds with our cultural values or experience.   In fact much of the language that we use seems that way.   We talk of kings and lords--and yet while some of us here may have lived under a king or a queen at some point in their lives, it is not at all likely that anyone here has lived under a lord.   Even the very word Christ seems at odds with our experience.   Christ is just the Greek translation of Mashiach/Messiah which means 'anointed one.'   That itself is a royal image, since the kings of ancient Israel and Judah were anointed, not crowned.  

It seems that all this language and the tradition of referring to Christ as King does not fit in with our 21 st Century values and experience.

IV. THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

To be fair, it didn't fit in with 1st Century values and experience either.   Nowhere is that clearer than in John's gospel.

A. John's Gospel

In John's telling of the passion we encounter that enigmatic dialogue between Jesus and the Roman procurator, Pontius Pilate.

Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?" Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?" Pilate 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?" 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."

Jesus says, "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."

John's gospel is the gospel that draws the biggest distinction between the kingdom and the world.   Jesus' words reinforce that very distinction.   If Jesus' kingdom were of this world, his followers would respond in violence to protect their king, as would any king's army.   If his kingdom were of this world, it would have been about power, seizing Jerusalem and the Throne of David.   It would have been about eviction of the Romans, setting up the 12 Disciples as the heads of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.   It would have been about destroying the Temple priesthood, those quislings who were sympathetic to Roman rule.   It would have installed Jesus as a temporal ruler who would have not only evicted the Romans but conquered some of the surrounding regions as well.   This is a kingdom of this world.   This is a kingdom we recognize.

B. Jesus' Kingdom

But Jesus' kingdom is not from here.   It is a kingdom not of this world.

It is a kingdom not defined by strength and force but by compassion.   It is a kingdom enriched not by greed and accumulation of wealth and material goods, but enriched by self-sacrifice and meeting the needs of those who have the least.   It is a kingdom not born of arrogance and lordship but of humility and self-sacrifice.

It is not a kingdom that reinforces aristocracies and other inherited structures of wealth and privilege, but a kingdom that seeks to treat all with equity and justice, that lifts up the bowed down and the oppressed, that gives a voice to the voiceless and justice to those who are denied it.  

It is not a kingdom that reinforces the bigotries of race, nationality, ethnicity, sex, class, orientation, or any of the countless ways we subdivide ourselves in order to elevate some above others.   It is a kingdom that sees us all alike as Children of God.  

It is not a kingdom that centers on the king, but on God.   For unlike human kingdoms where the human ruler rules on behalf of God and amasses great wealth on God's behalf, Christ's kingdom stays focused on God--the true king.   The very point that is made in 1 Samuel when Samuel comes to God complaining about the people's desire to have a king:

"Listen to the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 Just as they have done to me, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so also they are doing to you.

Allegiance not only to this kingdom, but also to this understanding of Kingdom, is the responsibility of the Christian.   And this is not a responsibility without consequence.

As it is, the claim that "Christ is King" is seditious.   It was seditious in the 1st Century, because Caesar was Lord and King.   To proclaim anyone else as Lord and King was sedition and treason.   The fact that Jesus is crucified with a sign over the cross that says "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews" suggests that the Romans interpreted his claims to kingship in precisely this way.  

Today, the claim that Christ is King is a statement that nothing has our allegiance over Christ.   Loyalty to Christ is our first and foremost allegiance that comes before everything else.   It is a radical claim that challenges existing structures and authorities, because it means the Christian may operate within those structures, but they have no control over the Christian.  

For when we profess that Christ is King, we profess loyalty not only to the King, but to the Kingdom: a kingdom that turns the world upside down.  

When we proclaim Christ as King, we proclaim a kingdom of justice and equity.   When we proclaim Christ as King, we proclaim a kingdom of equality before God.   When we proclaim Christ as King, we proclaim a kingdom of compassion and mercy.   We proclaim a kingdom of human dignity.   A kingdom of self-sacrifice for one another.   A kingdom of love.   A kingdom of God.

V. END

Around this time last year, a lot of fuss was made about how various retailers were greeting patrons at their stores.   Some were upset that they were being greeted with "Happy Holidays" rather than "Merry Christmas".   Leaving aside all the questions about the propriety of wishing someone a "Merry Christmas" before the 25 th of December, one question looms: where does it say that retailers get to define our Christmas?   What does it matter what a retailer says to us?   They cannot define for us what the holiday is.   Wal-Mart cannot define what Christmas means.   Nor can the world define what a Kingdom is.

Our proclamation of Christ as King is not dependent on the world's definition of kings, monarchies, kingdoms, or anything of the kind.  We need not be embarrassed by the usage of the word "Kingdom." For it does not mean what the world thinks it does. Nor does the world have the right to define what kingdom and king-ship mean for us. The meaning of those words is dependent solely on our understanding of the Gospel--a gospel of peace and love and forgiveness--a Gospel Jesus proclaims to us, the good news of salvation that is available to everyone.   The good news that God has invited us--each of us--into relationship.   That we are forgiven all the brokenness that keeps us from God and keeps us from living into the reality of the Kingdom of God.

I still don't like monarchies.   I am still a republican.   But I am also a Christian, baptized by water and spirit, pardoned of sins, empowered by the spirit to live out a life of piety and mercy, to call out for justice for the oppressed, for comfort for the afflicted, to preach good news to all. And it is in light of that good news that I can without reservation or irony proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and King, and can pray the ancient prayer: "..thy kingdom come...."

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Copyright © 2006. Mark A. Schaefer.

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