The Un-king

 

John 18: 33-37
New Ark United Church of Christ, Newark, DE
November 24, 2024

Photo of a marble statue of an angel holding the Crown of Thorns from the Sant'Angelo Bridge in Rome, Italy, designed by Bernini

So, Pilate wants to know if Jesus is a king.


I think the first question we have to ask is, why does he think Jesus is a king.


“Because he hasn’t got excrement all over him.”


I mean, it’s not like Jesus went around proclaiming himself king. If he did that now, people would be all like, “Well, I didn’t vote for you.”


Right, because we don’t vote for kings.


“I mean, just because some watery tart threw a sword at you doesn’t mean you can wield supreme power. Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government. Supreme executive power derives from a mandate from the masses, not from some farcical aquatic ceremony.” (from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail)



Do we, human beings, humanity, really believe that it is God who makes kings, queens, sovereign heads of state? Handel’s coronation anthem “Zadok the Priest”, the anointing of head, heart, and hands—hidden from view—orb, scepter, and crown, symbols, mysticism, religion and state rule fused together, propping up one another. In the Netflix series “The Crown”, the Duke of Windsor, in response to someone calling the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, all this ceremony “crazy”, declares, “No, it’s perfectly sane. Who wants transparency when you can have magic? …Wrap her up like this...and hey, presto, what do you have? A goddess.” Or a god.



In 1 Samuel we read that God wanted to be king for God’s people, but the people refused, saying that they wanted to be like other nations with a king to lead them and go out before them and fight their battles. God says to Samuel that the people are not rejecting him as their prophet but rejecting God as their king. God then tells Samuel to warn the people what life will be like with a human king. The king will take their sons to work in his fields and run with his chariots and horses, use them to make weapons of war, and command and staff his armies. The king will take their daughters to be perfumers, cooks, and bakers, and not the only things he will take them for. The king will take the best of their fields and olive groves, a tenth of their grain and vintage and give them to his favorites, and the people themselves will become the king’s slaves, but they refuse to listen. And then one after another, each one of these kings deviated from the ways of the Lord and brought disaster with them. Almost as if human beings cannot be trusted with absolute power and authority.



On this land, the stolen land of the Indigenous people who first lived here, we fought a whole war about this. And yet almost 250 years later there are those who call themselves patriots who are ready to hand everything over to the most unqualified, criminally dangerous person who wants to behave like the worst king ever. All in the name of White supremacy and Christian nationalism, built on the lies and myths about the so-called Christian beginnings of this nation and the self-interest of White property owners. Some might even call the outcome of the recent election self-inflicted karma.



Those who told the Jesus story knew the history of God’s people and the stories of kings who felt threatened by even the chance of being overthrown. Herod had only to hear the possibility of the birth of a child who would challenge his throne for him to order the death of all male children under the age of two. Herod Antipas only had to be persuaded by his wife’s daughter to order the death of John the Baptist who preached against him. Now Pilate is aiming to hold onto order by trying to discern whether Jesus poses a threat to the Roman Empire as a focal point for an insurrection.



Let’s play a game, a scripture fill-in-the-blank. I’ll give you the beginning of a verse and you finish it. “Jesus, having been clothed with all power from on high, and knowing that he had come from God and was going to God,” Jesus did what?



No power moves, no great show of might or strength. “He got up from the table, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet…”. Earlier in John’s gospel, after feeding the multitude, there were some who wanted to make Jesus king, but he withdrew from the crowd. Jesus did not see himself as some fulfillment of prophecy or scripture but one who was servant of all.



The other night in downtown Newark I saw a pickup truck with the words “Jesus is Lord” in big bold letters across the rear window. You’ve probably also seen small bumper stickers that read “God” and the words “one nation” beneath it, as in “One nation under God”. These used to be revolutionary sayings, throwing us off our idolatry but now they have become idolatrous themselves.



Jesus was the un-King, the not-ever-King, a king not like what we find in the world we’ve made but one in the world God would make, God’s kin-dom. But there are those who call themselves Christians who are ready to wield the Christian faith as a weapon against any who would challenge their authority, like Caesar of old and Pilate, his enforcer. Apparently, to be evil all human beings need is permission but to be good, we need religion or a savior to die for us and transform us? What on earth are we waiting for?



Hierarchy in all its human constructs does nothing to promote abundant life for all, let alone love. We use love to mitigate the wounds we inflict on each other rather than heal those wounds and establish something new. In a hierarchy we must prove our worth in order to have access to the most fundamentals needs: food, housing, community, care. In the kin-dom that Jesus spoke of, we feed each other, house one another, care for one another, create community together. We tie a towel around our waist, kneel down, and start washing. One foot at a time.



Jesus came to testify to the truth. The truth that none of us does this alone. The truth that we are dependent on one another and the earth. The truth that there is no good reason to withhold food or shelter or healing or care from anyone. The truth that we can’t help but be changed by one another. The truth that what we value most is where our hearts, where our loyalty can be found. The truth that goodness is stronger than evil, truth is stronger than lies, light is stronger than darkness, and love is stronger than hate. Amen.

Benediction

The spiritual journey comes down to one thing:
To let go of everything we’re more loyal to than Love
And then to live that way
That all may have abundant life.
May it be so.
Amen.