Christ the King in our Covid World
The Sermon
1. Introduction
Here is a fun fact. This Feast only dates from the 1925 when Pope Pius XI created it in an encyclical letter written in response to growing nationalism and secularism across Europe and the world in the aftermath of WWI. It fitted with his Papal motto "The Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ."
The world was increasingly fractured by national borders and interests and people first loyalty was seen to be to the nation state, and being Christian was seen in that light. And to be honest not a lot has changed around the world. He wanted to remind Catholics that their first loyalty is to Christ (through the church) and not Caesar.
As an aside Pius XI was the first pope to recognise democracy as a legitimate form of government in his encyclical in 1933, written in response to the new and very anti-Catholic Spanish constitution. Pius XI’s predecessors had been pro-monarchy and anti-democracy, encouraging Catholics to not vote in elections. I wonder if that does anything to how we see this Sunday?
2. The Kingdom and John
To help us explore what the Christ the King might be about we have this really interesting reading from John’s gospel. John’s Jesus wasn’t big on kingdom language. It gets used with Nicodemus. Some people try to make him a king and he leaves. And now. So even choosing John’s gospel is an interesting choice. It is not language that fits easily with John’s depiction of Jesus.
Today’s little snippet comes from the middle part of Jesus’ trial and the attempted interrogation by Pilate. The purpose of this exchange from Pilate’s point of view was not to ascertain guilt, guilt is assumed. Pilate simply needs to know the crime for which Jesus will be put to death. And Pilate’s use of this language is deeply sarcastic. He is ridiculing Jesus and what Jesus was on about. He, Pilate, represented Caesar, the true prince of peace and son of god, emperor of Rome. Jesus was a hill billy. But he was also ridiculing the Jewish leadership. At Passover, the feast that remembers God’s rule over all creation and celebrates their liberation from slavery by God, they acclaim that they have “no king but Caesar.” And then he mockingly nails a sign above the crucified Jesus, “King of the Jews” for all who go past to see, at Passover.
For Pilate, the true king in this story is Caesar, who imposes his will with military might, suffocating taxation, brutally punishing all who stand in his way. This kingship was built on the assumption that all things Roman; society, culture, values, and religion, were vastly superior to all.
And none of this applies to Jesus at all.
So we are offered two contrasting visions of what kingship is about, Caesar and Jesus.
In this exchange Jesus does not let Pilate control it. He responds to Pilate’s question with his own question – something he had done many times before. From that point on Jesus controls the exchange – not something Pilate would have been used to.
And then he sort of responds to Pilate’s first question
“My kingdom doesn’t originate from this world. If it did, my guards would fight so that I wouldn’t have been arrested by the Jewish leaders. My kingdom isn’t from here.”
More commonly translated in NRSV as “My kingdom is not from this world”.
This has led many to believe that the reign Christ has nothing to do with this world. It is in heaven, not in this place or time. And so, we as followers of Christ the King need not care about what is happening in this world. Issues like hunger, poverty, war, injustice, homelessness, climate change, biodiversity loss etc… are not our concern. I have been told in other places by faithful followers of Christ that our role is simply to get ready for life after death, in heaven, where Christ reigns.
I have some problems with that.
And this year we have seen a number of so-called Christians claiming Christ as their true king and so they oppose vaccines, vaccine mandates, masking, social distancing etc…
I have been emailed asking “Whom does the church idolize? God or Government?” and to be told that the author is “extremely disappointed churches would get involved with political agendas and that it seems the church has made a choice to follow the rules of tyranny and strayed from biblical truth and Gods (sic) voice.”
The idea of Christ the King is not as straight forward as some think. This kingship stuff is pretty tricky. If Christ is king, what does the kingdom of Christ look like?
3. Not like other kings
So what kind of king is Jesus?
I like how The Message paraphrases this, "My kingdom," said Jesus, "doesn't consist of what you see around you. If it did, my followers would fight so that I wouldn't be handed over to the Jews. But I'm not that kind of king, not the world's kind of king."
So what kind of king is Jesus?
Jesus’ kingship is found in what we might see around Jesus. Namely in the way he lived and treated people. Like in his washing the disciples feet. Or when he honoured and blessed the sinner, tax collectors, and all those he was not supposed to honour and bless. Or when he cared for the outcast and the vulnerable.
The reign of Christ is when that is being lived out in the here and now
I wonder who Christ the King is for us in our current covid shaped world?
4. Liz Fitzmaurice
A friend of ours this week wrote a post on Facebook that got picked up by Stuff. She has been a GP for over 30 years and has taught in medical schools preparing the next generation of GP’s. This week she finished because she has cancer and is immune-compromised. As I read this, I honestly felt like I was seeing the reign of Christ at work.
She writes,
“I love that I live in a country that has public health policies which resonate with my own Christian values of love for neighbours, and kindness to others, especially those who have no voice to self-advocate.
I love that I live in a country that is mandating so that, in the midst of a worldwide pandemic, vulnerable people in our community have the same freedom to go out to public gatherings or events as privileged people with strong immunity.
By mandating we use the best prevention presently available, vaccination. We are more likely to pick up Covid from an unvaccinated person.
In my immune-compromised state, I don’t feel safe sitting next to them once Covid is endemic. It seems some people want me to stay home, so they, the privileged healthy, can attend those events on their terms.
I love that our children and grandchildren will be as safe as possible when they are in the care of others at school. It seems the unvaccinated teachers, who have chosen to walk away, do not share this priority.
I am also grateful that when I am in hospital as a patient. I will be cared for by a vaccinated health care team, in order to keep me as safe as possible.
We can’t wish Covid away. It is here and is removing some choices for most of us.
It is unravelling our false sense of control of our circumstances. Many in our community now are sensing the fear that can accompany that new loss of control.
I love that I can share the unshakeable hope I have in these uncertain times, and gift that hope to others. My own cancer journey invited me to face the uncertainty of the future, long before Covid came along. For me, Covid may well cut short my career, but it cannot rob me of my sense of purpose which gets me out of bed each morning.….
Perhaps it is time to ponder that Covid affords us new opportunities to love our neighbours, or shows up our need for our neighbours' love. If we get this right, Aotearoa can be a more cohesive community at the end of this pandemic than now. If we miss this opportunity, then Covid wins. We become a transparently divided community of privileged versus vulnerable, and vaccinated versus unvaccinated.
I’m all for milking this season for all its worth, and acknowledging the loss of choices Covid brings in its wake. But let's maximise the new set of choices and opportunities Covid offers.[1]
5. I wonder
- What does the reign of Christ look like in a Covid world?
- What future do we imagine in Christ?
- What values shape that future?
[1] https://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff-nation/127029038/covid19-fears-cut-cancer-patients-30-year-gp-career-short?cid=app-android&fbclid=IwAR15-Vf-Mf2ylzZ4tR-DK7DnMXDZT7R1cSzJnPBalYoP3Ga7j432eghtDPM
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