John 18:33-37
Today is the Sunday called Christ the King. The scriptures reflect this kingship, they also tell us what this is not. Pilate questions Jesus before he is crucified, in John this is a series of answers and more questions. There is one we should ask ourselves today also. Who has been our king this past year? Its good to think on this. Have we made something else our king rather than Jesus.
It is all a little hard, we have never had a king and so kingship doesn't mean the same to us as it does to say England. Think of it this way though, have we allowed something else to possess our thoughts, our lives more than Jesus? Have we allowed money to rule our lives, giving in to the next best thing? Have we allowed politics to rule our minds and forgotten what it is to love our neighbor or even our enemy? Have we allowed the internet to captivate us and we live for the next game of candy crush?
Has Jesus been our king and have we lived as if he is? So here is the next question we should wrestle with today. Jesus tells Pilate his kingdom is not of this world, it's moveable, it lives in us. Do we live as if we belong to Christ kingdom? Do we visit the sick, pray for those in need, seek our those who are on the margins in our society, or do we leave it for someone else, maybe even for God to tackle?
I think it's important for us to understand what we celebrate today. If this is important this Christ the king what does it mean. It should mean we take up these questions. It should mean we look deeper into what the kingdom of God is to look like. Jesus gives this to us in parables, in the way he lived his life, in the way he instructed his disciples.
Do we look for ways to be reconcile with one another or do we tear each other down? Do we realize when we do this we are actually tearing apart God's kingdom? See this kingdom doesn't exist just in here, it goes our the door and down the street with us. It goes into the highways and byways with us. It follows us in our waking and in our rest. This kingdom is all around us. It hinges on the way of servanthood, on being the last instead of the first, and on searching for the things which are eternal.
There is a song from the Taizè community which says Lthe kingdom of God is justice and peace, and joy, in the Holy Spirit. Come Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom." We can't just ask and expect it to happen, we must be doing this kingdom work. Yesterday we watched the film "The Crimes of Grindelwald" and in the movie everyone wants to kill the bad guys young man he wants to groom except for Newt Scamander. Dumbledore, the key wizard, says to him the reason he trusts him because he does what is right, not what everyone expects.
Everyone expects us to look to other things to be the center of our lives: money, politic, and screen time. It is different to say and live our focus as Christ. To forgive one another, to love one another, to take time and reflect on the questions asked today this is the way to start making Christ our center. We desire to live the kingdom all around us in everything we say and do. It is up to us to show this to the world. So we are different than the world around us. So we have thought and seen what is our center. To live the life Christ came and showed us, even to death, death on a cross.
Today is the Sunday called Christ the King. The scriptures reflect this kingship, they also tell us what this is not. Pilate questions Jesus before he is crucified, in John this is a series of answers and more questions. There is one we should ask ourselves today also. Who has been our king this past year? Its good to think on this. Have we made something else our king rather than Jesus.
It is all a little hard, we have never had a king and so kingship doesn't mean the same to us as it does to say England. Think of it this way though, have we allowed something else to possess our thoughts, our lives more than Jesus? Have we allowed money to rule our lives, giving in to the next best thing? Have we allowed politics to rule our minds and forgotten what it is to love our neighbor or even our enemy? Have we allowed the internet to captivate us and we live for the next game of candy crush?
Has Jesus been our king and have we lived as if he is? So here is the next question we should wrestle with today. Jesus tells Pilate his kingdom is not of this world, it's moveable, it lives in us. Do we live as if we belong to Christ kingdom? Do we visit the sick, pray for those in need, seek our those who are on the margins in our society, or do we leave it for someone else, maybe even for God to tackle?
I think it's important for us to understand what we celebrate today. If this is important this Christ the king what does it mean. It should mean we take up these questions. It should mean we look deeper into what the kingdom of God is to look like. Jesus gives this to us in parables, in the way he lived his life, in the way he instructed his disciples.
Do we look for ways to be reconcile with one another or do we tear each other down? Do we realize when we do this we are actually tearing apart God's kingdom? See this kingdom doesn't exist just in here, it goes our the door and down the street with us. It goes into the highways and byways with us. It follows us in our waking and in our rest. This kingdom is all around us. It hinges on the way of servanthood, on being the last instead of the first, and on searching for the things which are eternal.
There is a song from the Taizè community which says Lthe kingdom of God is justice and peace, and joy, in the Holy Spirit. Come Lord, and open in us the gates of your kingdom." We can't just ask and expect it to happen, we must be doing this kingdom work. Yesterday we watched the film "The Crimes of Grindelwald" and in the movie everyone wants to kill the bad guys young man he wants to groom except for Newt Scamander. Dumbledore, the key wizard, says to him the reason he trusts him because he does what is right, not what everyone expects.
Everyone expects us to look to other things to be the center of our lives: money, politic, and screen time. It is different to say and live our focus as Christ. To forgive one another, to love one another, to take time and reflect on the questions asked today this is the way to start making Christ our center. We desire to live the kingdom all around us in everything we say and do. It is up to us to show this to the world. So we are different than the world around us. So we have thought and seen what is our center. To live the life Christ came and showed us, even to death, death on a cross.
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