Scripture Intro - John
18:33-38a
Our gospel reading for Christ the King Sunday is one that
we’re accustomed to hearing during Holy Week rather than the week before Advent
begins.
This text from the gospel of John recounts the conversation that
Pontius Pilate had with Jesus just after Jesus was arrested and brought before
Pilate to receive sentencing for his alleged crimes.
If this were an episode of Law and Order we might picture Jesus
standing in a court room with the judge standing over him asking him how he
pleads – guilty or not guilty.
One caveat we need to mention whenever we read from John’s
gospel, is that we should hear this gospel in its context.
John was writing in the late 1st century some 70 to
80 years after Jesus died.
This is a time when the Christian community was experiencing
infighting between those who wished to stay connected to the faith’s Jewish roots
and those who wished to distance themselves from the synagogue and create a
distinct Christian identity.
The community also contained a mix of Gentile and Jewish
Christians who for various reasons wanted to distance themselves from the
religious leaders who played a part in the death of Jesus.
In John’s gospel, which was written for those who wanted to
break away from the synagogue, we find the entire Jewish tradition lumped into
one monolithic group and labeled as “the Jews” –
We’re told the disciples hid out of fear of “the Jews”, and it
was “the Jews” who called for Jesus’ execution.
Taken out of context, these texts have fueled anti-Semitic
beliefs and acts of discrimination and violence for thousands of years.
Even if we don’t hold such beliefs ourselves, whenever these
texts are read aloud in our worship spaces we should acknowledge how they have
been heard and how they are still heard – both by those sitting in our pews,
and by our Jewish brothers and sisters.
Context matters. As always.
Liturgically, we hear this text today because as we come to the
end of our Christian calendar year, before beginning anew with Advent, we reach
the culmination of Jesus’ ministry. That pivotal point where we, like Pilate,
contemplate whether this man who stands before us is truly the revolutionary
leader the world has been waiting for.
And ultimately, we consider, in what way do we allow Christ to
rule in our lives?
Beyond asking ourselves on occasion – What Would Jesus Do? – how
do the words and actions of Jesus influence our own words and actions – in a
real and life changing way?
To whom do we belong? And whose truth do we own?
The Rev. Maureen R. Frescott
Congregational Church of
Amherst, UCC
November 25, 2018 – Christ
the King Sunday
John 18:33-38a
“Belonging to
Truth”
What
does it mean to belong?
What
does it mean to belong to Christ?
What
does it mean to belong to a Community of Christ, like this one?
As
some of you may know, our congregation is participating in a series of
workshops called “Creating and Leading the 21st Century Church”
offered by the NH Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Every
other month, myself, Kate, and members of our church council, gather with the
pastors and lay leaders of 9 other churches in NH and MA to talk about what it
means to be church in this ever-changing world.
We
share our success stories, explore our common challenges and struggles, and
learn about the underlying historical, relational, and cultural forces that
shape each of our congregations, as well as our individual understandings of
what it means to belong to a community of Christ.
The
workshop we attended this month focused on the way we approach and implement
change in our congregations.
Specifically,
we talked about the differences between technical change and adaptive change.
As
the world changes around us, we often talk about how we as a church must change
- to meet and serve people where
they are in today’s world,
to come
up with new ways to show others that being a part of a faith community adds
value, meaning, and purpose to one’s life,
and
more practically, to ensure that our congregation continues to be a presence in
this community for many years to come.
But
while we may recognize the need to enact change in our congregations, and show
a willingness to adopt change, too often the change we apply involves a
technical fix, when what is needed is an adaptive shift.
For
example, how would you respond if someone came up to you after worship and said,
“I don’t
know why I keep coming to church, I can’t hear what’s being said during the
service, most of the time I have no idea what’s going on.”
A
technical approach would be to assess the problem –
perhaps
the person has a hearing impairment, or the people speaking are not projecting
as they should, or there’s an issue with the acoustics in the sanctuary or the
sound system – or all of the above.
The
next step would be to explore possible solutions with someone with expertise in
this area – in this case, we’d bring in our resident and gifted sound
technician, Herb Archer.
The
last step would be to make the necessary changes to address the problem – have
the participants speak louder and clearer, adjust the levels of the microphones
or speakers, provide personal amplification devices for those with hearing
impairments, or if needed, install a whole new sound system.
A
technical approach typically has an identifiable problem and solution,
and
often one person, or a small group of people, can enact the change with clear
results.
An
adaptive approach is much more complicated.
What
if we make the needed technical changes and the person who shared the initial
feedback about not knowing what’s going on in worship continues to feel like
they’re missing information or being left out of the loop with what’s happening
in the congregation?
Perhaps
their concern goes deeper than hearing what is being said in worship?
Perhaps
what they’re expressing is a wider sense of not feeling connected – not feeling
included – not feeling as if they belong?
In
this case, it may be tempting to identify a technical problem that can be
solved with a technical change, when the real issue may require an adaptive
change – a change that is not as easy to identify,
a
change that may involve multiple issues and solutions - none of which is guaranteed to provide a
lasting fix.
And
most importantly, an adaptive change involves not just one person or a small
group enacting the change, it involves the congregation as a whole.
It
involves changing expectations, changing attitudes, changing behaviors, and in
this case, changing the congregational culture to one where every effort is
made to include, involve, and
communicate – so all members of the community experience a sense of belonging.
But
as we know, feeling like we’re connected and included is only one side of
belonging to a community of Christ.
The
other side of belonging involves the commitment and covenant we make to be an
active follower of Jesus, within this community and in the wider world.
It’s
the commitment we make to serve others,
to
grow in our relationship with God,
and
to grow in our relationship with others –
which
is the part of the commitment to Christ that we often struggle with the most.
Jesus
acknowledged this struggle in his conversation with Pontius Pilate on the night
he was arrested.
He
said, “My Kingdom is not of this world…and my followers know this.”
As followers
of Christ we stand hesitantly in two very different worlds.
One
world where we’re told to love our neighbor, forgive our enemy, and care for
the least among us.
And
one world where we’re told to mistrust our neighbor, fear our enemy, and to
care for only for our country, our family, our own people, and leave everyone else to fend for themselves.
In
one world we’re encouraged to live as a communal body, to reach consensus, and
to ensure every voice is heard and every need is met.
And
in the other world we’re encouraged to live as individuals, to seek out what is
best for us, and to reprimand or silence those who point out inequalities in
privilege, power, and partisanship.
In
one world we’re told the last will be first, the meek will celebrated, and those
who turn the other cheek will prevail.
And
in the other world we’re told the last will lose out, the meek will be
trampled, and those with the biggest weapons and the mightiest fists will
prevail.
It’s
no wonder why many of us stagger in here on Sunday mornings, seeking respite
and peace.
We
have these conflicting messages playing in our heads all week long and we come
here hoping to make some sense of it all.
Yet
here again we encounter Jesus talking about this utopian world –
this
Kingdom of God that he talks about more than anything else and expects us to
help usher in –
while
at the same time we have no choice but to live and function in this less than
utopian world - the one that consistently contradicts the teachings of the One
whom we’ve committed ourselves to follow.
To
say that we belong to Jesus and that his teachings rule our lives is to invite
constant conflict as we navigate in this world….
because
almost every word and action of consequence presents us with a point of
decision, and conflicting choices.
Do
we store up treasures on earth, by putting away money for retirement, or do we
store up treasures in heaven by giving all that we have to the poor?
Do
we welcome the stranger and the refugee, opening our homes and our hearts to those
seeking sanctuary, or do we honor our laws and our borders and insist that it’s
only fair that all follow the same rules and process?
Do
we punish those who do wrong and seek retribution, or do we leave the judging
to God and offer forgiveness to those who trespass against us?
These
are not easy choices to make, and as members of the community of Christ, we
don’t all agree on which are the correct choices.
Some
would say that neither is correct – and that what God requires of us while
we’re still in this complex and broken world is a nuanced response that lies
somewhere in between.
But
we can’t deny that the constant wrestling that takes place within us when we’re
confronted with these choices can be downright tiring.
In
our gospel reading, we can almost hear the weariness in Pilate’s voice as he
struggles to keep a foothold in two different worlds.
Pilate
served and derived his power from the world of the Roman Empire, but as a ruler
in the Roman province of Judea he also inhabited the world of the descendants
of Abraham, who prayed to a God Pilot didn’t recognize and followed a law that
he couldn’t comprehend.
The
province of Judea sat at the edge of the Roman Empire, where uprisings could
quickly gain momentum and spiral out of control, and Pilate had orders to keep
the peace at all costs.
Which
he did. Pilate had the blood of many on his hands,
but
he also understood that playing the part of politician in two worlds sometimes
required him to bend to the will of others.
Thus,
with one foot in each world, it worked in Pilate’s favor to appease the Jewish
leaders and keep uprisings from
occurring.
So
we can imagine what Pilate must have felt when he encountered Jesus, who was
dragged before him in the middle of the night and threatened to upset the
balancing act that Pilate had taken such great care to achieve.
Jesus
told Pilate, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Not
to the voice of powerful.
Not
to the voice of politicians and kings and the ones who hold the purse strings.
But
to the one who speaks for the marginalized, the meek, the ones who feel like
they don’t belong.
There’s
an invitation here.
An
invitation to step from one world into another.
To
stop trying to balance between the two and make a true attempt to shift our
perspective, our allegiance, from the truth of this world, to the truth of
God’s world.
Of
course, Pilate responded to Jesus’ invitation with the same question many of us
ask ourselves, especially in today’s world: “What is truth?”
Thankfully,
God sent us Jesus to answer that question.
And
we find the answer…
In
the gospel, in the beatitudes, in Jesus’ teachings and parables,
in
his life itself.
Which
is why we seek to belong to a community of Christ,
So
we can learn and practice that truth, together…and adopt it as our own.
If
you’ve been in worship the last few weeks you know we’ve enacted a change here
in the sanctuary – we’ve installed a new sound system.
The
change was partly brought on by a technical issue.
The
wireless frequency we use to operate our sound system has been reallocated by
the FCC for use by broadband internet and cell services.
Which
means if we didn’t make the change we’d soon be hearing cell phone
conversations in the middle of worship.
Of
course some may find those more interesting to listen to than the sermon.
But
the change in our sound system was also part of our longer-term plan to adapt
to our changing world and meet people where they are.
With
the new system, we’ll now have the ability to digitally record the service and
make it available on our website as a podcast,
so
those who are unable to be here on Sunday morning can still hear the music and
the message and the announcements, and feel connected to this community even
when they can’t be with us physically –
because
they’re working, or traveling, or have family obligations, or are homebound by
illness, age, or other mobility challenges.
Making
a change in our sound system is just one way we honor our mission to be
welcoming to all.
To
help those who wish to be a part of this community to feel like they’re
included – like they belong.
Belonging
to Christ is a daily challenge – as we seek to distinguish between the truth of
this world and the Truth that Jesus offers us in God’s world.
But
I for one feel hope and joy and excitement – as we seek to find this truth and
live it out, together, as this community of Christ.
Thanks be to God, and Amen.
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