Who made You King of Anything?

 John 18:33-37

Christ the King Sunday. We make Christ King, but what is Christ King of. Here in this scripture he tells Pilate it's not a kingdom here. There are no boundaries, no country, no place to put it. This is what Jesus is King of nothing. Jesus as king is such a contradiction to this world and our picture of it I think we forget what Jesus tried to teach us about this.

First, it's not worth fighting for. If it was a kingdom of this world and we were making Jesus a real king there would be a fight and we like to fight nowadays. Just listen to the reports of school boards, town meetings, etc. all which there are such fights about people are hurting one another. This is not what Jesus is king for. This is the thing of faith, it is not worth fighting and hurting one another. This is why Jesus dies on the cross. Being right is worth dying for, not creating a revolution and fighting one another for. How do we live this one out? Pretty poorly right now. 

What if we stopped fighting about who Jesus is and what Jesus expects of us and instead we listened to another opinion? What if we could see Christ in this other person? How would this help shape our conversations? It seems like we need more training in this. See the thing about Jesus was that he talked to the sinners and the collaborators with the bad guys. Those employed by the Roman State and then he talked with the Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees'. Do you hear the word talk though. Jesus engaged them throughout his ministry so that they might hear better what God wants. In John we know Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimethea were two of the Council who voted to listen more to Jesus. Jesus engaged people on both sides always. He never stopped talking, never gave up on a side, never thought it was worth being so mad you walked away forever. This is the kingdom we are supposed to be making.

Next, it is not a place we can see, feel, touch, but it is a Spirit which touches us and our lives. At least it is supposed to. Following Jesus means we get down into the nitty gritty of what changes us. We become a servant, not the one being served. This is so different from the culture we are in. The best service we can get and if the place doesn't deliver we don't go back. This translate over to the church. Give us the message, the seat, the parking space, the best of what I want because this is how God works. I don't think so. As we look at Jesus we see he served others, even when it was uncomfortable for the rest of the group to accept. 

A woman breaks into a fancy dinner and anoints Jesus' feet, wiping them with her hair. She is not the right kind of woman and the host knows this. He suspects Jesus isn't who he says he is because he would know this isn't the right thing. Jesus tells a story of forgiveness and asks the host the question which means she is the most important person at that moment. Forgiving her everything, saying she will be remembered for this story. Jesus doesn't lift himself up or his knowledge, he lifts the woman up. This is the kingdom of Jesus. Not him being raised to prominence, but raising up others.

Lastly this kingdom is one of caring for one another. Jesus' command to the disciples is this: Love one another as I have loved you. There is no greater love. This is the kingdom of Jesus, love for one another. Love is the hardest lesson we learn about the kingdom. Because it asks us to sit and ask the question, what do you want us to become? Not tell Jesus who we are and what we are. It is a surrendering of our thoughts and goals sometimes, and it is always a surrendering. Time and again love conquers all our barriers, all our boundaries and asks us to do something we never expected. Because we are loved and we need to show this love to a world which needs to know Jesus' love. Try to love and see where it takes you.