John 18:33-38 (NRSV)

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." Pilate asked him, “What is truth?”

As far as Christian festivals are concerned, Christ the King Sunday is clearly one of the lesser-renowned and lesser-appreciated festivals. This could be attributed to the fact that it has been observed for less than 100 years, as contrasted to the festivals of Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost that stretch nearly 2,000 years into history. The Feast of Christ the King wasn’t instituted by Pope Pius XI until 1925.

This festival was instituted following World War I. In the midst of the tentative peace from the end of the war, a vile nationalism and fascism was spreading like a virus through Europe. “The Pope felt that the followers of Christ were being lured away by the increasing secularism of the world. They were choosing to live in the “kingdom” of the world rather than in the reign of God.” **

Ironically, the gospel texts selected to accompany the Feast of Christ the King are various scenes from the final trial of Jesus – the trial that resulted in Christ the King being crucified as a criminal. The gospel from today comes from John, where Pontius Pilate asks Jesus, “Are you the King of the Jews?” or, in other words, “Are you Christ the King?”

This is not a religious question on Pilate’s part. He doesn’t care one bit about the latest gossip from the temple. He’s not interested in having a theological debate over a glass of wine with a rabbi. Pilate is a politician. His primary concern is himself alone. And his success was dependent on whether people were paying their taxes and whether the peace was being maintained (peace at the end of a sword, as need be).

“Are you Christ the King?”

Translation: Are you a threat to the status quo? Will you lead a rebellion against Rome? Are you the one people will follow instead of me? Should I be scared of you?

Jesus responds with a phrase that would have reassured the anxious politician, saying, "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.”

Translation: Dude, look around. I’m all alone and powerless. I have no army, no weapons; I have no friends, no donors, no endorsements. I don’t have the votes and I don’t want your job. I’m no political rival to you.

Pilate is feeling very confident now. He realizes this man is no threat to him, to Rome, to the status quo. Jesus then interjects with one last disclaimer, “I am here for one reason only – to testify to the truth.”

Pilate responds, “Truth? What is truth?”

Translation: I’m a political puppet of Rome, I can’t think of anything as useless as truth.

Pilate fails to see that Jesus is, in fact, dangerous to the existing power and principalities and attempts to release him. Nevertheless, the religious leaders demand Jesus’ death. After having Jesus beaten as a punishment, Pilate turns to the religious leaders one more time to see if they changed their minds.

In John chapter 19 we read, “[Pilate] said to them, “Here is your King!” They cried out, “Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!” Pilate asked them, “Shall I crucify your King?” The chief priests answered, “We have no king but the emperor.” Then he handed him over to them to be crucified.”

“We have no king but the emperor.” That sentence puts a smile on Pilate’s face, but it sends shivers down my spine.

Here is a rabbi who healed the sick, restored sight to the blind, loved and lifted up the outcasts of society. Here is a rabbi who preached and lived a message of truth, peace, love, and forgiveness.

Every breath he took, every word he spoke was full of beauty and truth.

Every breath he took, every word he spoke stood in direct contrast to the worldly kingdoms of Rome and the temple society.

Every breath he took, every word he spoke had the power to bring transformative healing to the world.

This is the true King – the one to whom every knee should bow. But the chief priests respond, “We have no king but the emperor.”

Translation: We are afraid to die at your hands and we choose you over the truth. We will continue to bend the knee to Rome and let injustice run rampant in our communities and watch our people get slaughtered as long as you let us keep our positions of privilege and power.

The obvious question today’s worship raises is, “Who is your king?” Who or what determines the course of your life?

Is your king your inner demons? Those voices telling you that you are unlovable and not good enough? Does the voice of the evil one who says you’re unworthy keep you from claiming your citizenship in God’s kingdom?

Is your king a grudge you hold over someone else– an ill-advised attempt to hold power of someone at the expense of living in the midst of forgiveness and peace?

Is your king the family down the street who has the bigger home, the nicer cars, the more successful kids, the seemingly-happier marriage?

Is your king your career or accomplishments? Have you earned every gift in your life through sheer hard work and fortitude? Are you able to see gifts of unmerited grace in your life? Would you be willing to give up the good and easy life you’ve earned for yourself if it meant standing up for truth?

Is your king your political party? If it comes to it, would you pledge allegiance to your political party even if it meant disregarding your beliefs and convictions about who and what God is? Or is it your party that dictates what you believe about God in the first place?

Or is your king the Christ? Do you pledge allegiance to the one who reached out to the least and the lost regardless of their race, nationality, or culture? Do you pledge allegiance to the one who testified to the truth of God even though it meant giving up his life? It is the truth that Jesus came to the world to bring love and forgiveness. Are you citizens of that kingdom?

We have been created to belong to God, and we will not find peace, hope, joy, love, or truth until we rest in that knowledge and that citizenship.

Our citizenship is not dictated by a mark on a map; rather, our citizenship is in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is present and available now and forever through Jesus Christ.

So, my friends, be bold in the knowledge that Christ is King. Take delight in the truth that Christ’s kingdom is characterized by righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

May you and all people come to know the abundant life secure in the reign of God. Amen.

** Lucy Lind Hogan. “Commentary on John 18:33-37.” Working Preacher.

Mark 1:21-28

[Jesus and his disciples] went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

You’re familiar with Aristotle, right? He was a philosopher – someone dedicate to thinking about and explaining life’s truths. He was brilliant and he studied all the -omy’s, -ophy’s, -aphy’s, and -ology’s (that is, anatomy, astronomy, geography, geology, meterology, zoology, philosophy, and so on).

He was so smart that people claimed Aristotle had learned everything there was to be known.

Aristotle made many claims about physics (i.e., the laws of nature). One of the things Aristotle taught was this principle: the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth (meaning, an item twice as heavy as another item would fall twice as fast). For centuries people were confident he was right. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he would not be wrong. After all, this truth is plainly evident.

For nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle's death, his theory went unchecked… until a scientist by the name of Galileo came on the scene and started thinking differently. He posited the theory of constant acceleration – that all objects dropped from the same height, regardless of their mass, accelerate towards earth at the same speed and will impact earth at the same time.

It was an audacious claim. Everyone knows if you drop a brick and a feather at the same time from the same distance, the brick will hit first. Who was Galileo, this ivory tower elite, to challenge a widely-held truth about the nature of the universe?

Legend has it that in 1589 Galileo summoned professors from the University of Pisa to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Then he went to the top and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same time. The professors' power of belief was so strong, however, that many professors denied what they had just witnessed. They continued to say Aristotle was right.

I believe that this illustrates one of the truths of humanity - that our assumptions, preconceived notions, and established routines influence our behavior more so than demonstrable facts.

Galileo’s insights into physics were eventually embraced. Here’s one unique experiment that proves the principle. It’s a clip from the 1971 Apollo 15 space mission:

Just before the clip I said “Galileo’s insights into physics were eventually embraced;” however, if you need more evidence that people have a hard time allowing facts to influence their assumptions, preconceived notions, and established routines, just check out the comments on its YouTube page. It’s full of flat-earthers, fake moon landing conspiracists, and people who continue to say Aristotle is obviously right and Galileo is obviously wrong.

I doubt anyone here thinks that all the wisdom and truth of our universe has been already discovered or revealed. We all have much still to learn.

But when new truths arise they often fly in the face of convention. Each one of us does or believes something that we know is wrong, but our pattern of behavior is difficult to overcome. No new information about diet or exercise can convince most of us to get rid of all that processed junk food in our shopping carts and pantries nor convince us to hit the recommended minutes of exercise each day. Just knowing that things are true or important doesn't usually translate into new actions.

And because we're all like this, it means each one of us regularly comes up against people who refuse to allow new truths to change their behaviors and attitudes. Like Galileo, we can employ science and mathematics to prove things are true. But, as Galileo discovered, even with the authority of obvious visible proof, most people are going to believe what they have always believed, regardless of the facts.

From numerous Gospel texts, particularly today’s, we see that this mentality drove Jesus crazy. Today’s lesson from Mark illustrates how sometimes tradition needs to take a backseat to new relationships, new ideas, and unexpected sources of power.

In today’s passage, Jesus is teaching in the synagogue. Synagogues were places where scribes would instruct the Jewish people in the laws and traditions of the faith. When Jesus began to teach there, the people in the synagogue expected a traditional message; they wanted to have their beliefs reinforced so that they could leave feeling good. Or, if something new and interesting would be taught, it had to fit nicely into their current worldview.

But on this day, when Jesus starts to talk, the scribes are “astounded.” The dictionary definition is “filled with bewilderment.” They were hearing something that defied their expectations and assumptions; it was a complete break with the tradition.

While Jesus is teaching, a scribe with an unclean spirit comes forward and hisses, “Have you come here to destroy us?” Now, there is debate about whether this unclean spirit is an actual demonic being, or a man suffering from a mental disorder. But there is a compelling case to be made that this scribe with an unclean spirit is a representation of the unclean spirit of all temple scribes in that time – people whose identity is so closely tied to the traditions of the church, that they sees any deviation from the norm as a threat to their safety, security, influence, and well-being.

After all, traditions are established as a way to preserve our power. Surely we can look at our own culture and recognize how we react out of fear towards anything that appears to threaten our traditions or preconceived understandings.

We confront with anger that which we do not know. We get defensive when our traditions are threatened. Our challenge is to not be complacent or satisfied with our traditions.

To these fears, Jesus says: “Unclean spirit, get out! Get over yourself. Things have changed. Your tradition isn’t going to cut it any longer.” Jesus insists he has not come to destroy us, but rather to lead us to something greater than ourselves – something greater beyond the walls within which we’ve isolated ourselves.

People who claim to be followers of Jesus must let His word act with force in our lives.

Jesus calls us to give up what makes us comfortable. Jesus calls us to confront the lies we tell ourselves because we fear the truth will make us change. Jesus calls us to open our eyes to the suffering of our neighbors. And Jesus calls us to let Him guide our actions and institutions, strategic plans and mission statements.

A church that professes to follow Jesus should always be evaluating, adjusting, challenging, and pushing up against our assumptions that are generally more informed by culture than our faith in a God of infinite grace, abundance, and love. The church walls should never serve to keep people out and preserve existing power structures.

Christ’s global church exists in order to proclaim the word of grace that God is here, right now, within your neighbor and within you; showing you the way to something greater – God’s kingdom. This word of grace has power. It has the power to work miracles. And it has the power to cast out unclean spirits in your life. This word will guide you to help others and it will put you on the front lines of the battle between good and evil; justice and inequality.

May you be influenced more by facts than safe traditions unchecked by truths both ancient and emerging. May you greet challenges to your assumptions as opportunities for growth and wonderment. May you be someone who is filled with awe when you hear Jesus’ words. May you live as someone who understands that God’s authority may demand that walls of tradition come tumbling down when God chooses to act and do a new thing.

It can be a frightening prospect to give up the comfortable, but it is the only way to fully open ourselves up to the new and wonderful thing God is doing in our midst.

Amen