Belonging to the Truth

2 Samuel 23: 1-7; John 18: 33-37 by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
November 22, 2015
Christ the King Sunday


Now these are the last words of David:
The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
the oracle of the man whom God exalted,
the anointed of the God of Jacob,
the favourite of the Strong One of Israel:

2 The spirit of the Lord speaks through me,
his word is upon my tongue.
3 The God of Israel has spoken,
the Rock of Israel has said to me:
One who rules over people justly,
ruling in the fear of God,
4 is like the light of morning,
like the sun rising on a cloudless morning,
gleaming from the rain on the grassy land.

5 Is not my house like this with God?
For he has made with me an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things and secure.
Will he not cause to prosper
all my help and my desire?
6 But the godless are all like thorns that are thrown away;
for they cannot be picked up with the hand;
7 to touch them one uses an iron bar
or the shaft of a spear.
And they are entirely consumed in fire on the spot. – 2 Samuel 23: 1-7

33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, ‘Are you the King of the Jews?’ 34Jesus answered, ‘Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?’ 35Pilate 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?’ 36Jesus 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.’ 37Pilate 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.’ – John 18: 33-37


It was a very tense exchange of words. Pilate questioned Jesus and tried to understand the accusations against this supposed king. Pilate was the governor of Rome and wanted to know if Jesus actually belonged to his political accusers before Jesus' sentencing. In Jesus’ day the idea of belonging to a kingdom was a powerful thing. Everyone had a specific place in the kingdom. Everyone was expected to pay proper allegiance to the kingdom. And it was considered a heresy to claim you were king of the kingdom.

The first century kingdom was modeled as a political household. The king or ruler was at the top of this hierarchy of power. The wealthy and prominent ones in the temple or Roman office were next, followed by the influential business heads. The poor and marginalized were at the very bottom. It was an honor-shame society where those in power would do anything to gain respect at the expense of another. Sometimes our modern culture sounds like this too.

But Jesus says he does not belong to this world. In fact Jesus was turning the worldly kingdom of the first century on its head. He says he was born to be a king that belongs to the truth. Jesus does not belong to a political kingdom. The Jews believed the Messiah would be a political figure who would restore their renown and put them back on the map. Rather Jesus ushers in a kingdom that redefines belonging through the power of God - not the power of any human or human institution. What a counter-cultural statement.

I like the way that Shirley Guthrie talks about Christ as King in his book Christian Doctrine; a book written to help church communities articulate our faith:

[When we say that God is in control we are also saying], the lordship of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with the will of the people. The risen Christ is not president, chairperson of the board, or elected representative to whom we give power and from whom we can take power away…the good news about the power of the risen Jesus is that, unlike all other unlimited power we know, his sovereign power is the power of self-giving love.

The kingdom of God was promised to come through King David in 2 Samuel. This lineage was passed down through David’s generations and it was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. We find our place in God’s kingdom through Christ’s sacrificial love because God’s Spirit fills our hearts on this side of the cross. We do not belong to the kingdom of this world or to ourselves. We are not defined by our individual work, political affiliations, or possessions. Instead the kingdom of God rewrites our identity as beloved children of God.

A commentary shared that our American culture has trouble “reading the Bible and understanding the difference between the U.S. emphasis on the individual and the Mediterranean emphasis on the community. In the world of the New Testament, a person did not think of himself or herself as an individual who acts alone, regardless of what others think and say (Remember the household image). Rather, the person is ever aware of the expectations of others, especially significant others, and strives to match those expectations” (Feasting on the Word).

This type of communal belonging is a part of who we are in the Reformed tradition. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church in the household of God. Christ calls the church into being. As the body of Christ we belong to the kingdom of God and our belonging holds spiritual expectations that we strive for together. Our Book of Order, the second part of our Presbyterian Constitution, describes our belonging beautifully:
.
We belong "to be a community of faith, entrusting [ourselves] to God alone, even at the
risk of the church losing its life."

We belong "to be a community of hope, rejoicing in the sure and certain knowledge that, in Christ, God is making a new creation. This new creation is a new beginning for human life and for all things."

We belong "to be a community of love, where sin is forgiven, reconciliation is accomplished, and the dividing walls of hostility are torn down."

We belong "to be a community of witness, pointing beyond [ourselves] through word and work to the good news of God’s transforming grace in Christ Jesus its Lord" (F-1.0301).

We respond to our identity as a community of faith, hope, love, and witness through the Sacraments of Baptism and Communion. And we are privileged to do that this morning. A little later in the service Genevieve Cook will be responding to the baptismal vows that her parents, David and Krista took when Genevieve was just a baby. This congregation also promised to raise this child of God in word and deed and in love and prayer until she could profess her faith. What a wonderful day to celebrate that Christ our King is the light and life of all people in the kingdom of God!

Afterwards we will be invited to gather in God’s hospitality around the Lord’s Table. We will be invited to receive a glimpse of kingdom living through the heart of God. The bread and the cup not only embrace us in God’s story of forgiveness and redemption through the cross and empty tomb. But these ordinary elements tell us God’s great story that we find our true humanity in Christ’s faithfulness. Our King is also a Teacher and Shepherd that shows us how to follow God’s ways into the ordinary spaces of life - at bonfires, around table fellowship, on the sports fields, at schools and our places of work. The bread and cup nourish our faith and strengthen us for the journey ahead to belong to the truth.

John’s Gospel tells us that the ultimate purpose of our belonging to the truth is this: "That we may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God" – the King of our lives – "and that through believing we may have life in his name" (John 20:31). We belong to the truth so that we have a life that is devoted to seek God’s kingdom in all things and to be strengthened by the faith, hope, love, and witness of community. We belong so that we might extend God’s love and belonging to others. We belong as the body of Christ to pour out God’s self-giving love.

May each of us discover a new-found strength knowing that we belong to the truth.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sources:

Shirley Guthrie, "Christian Doctrine" (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 1994), 276.
Feasting on the Word: Year B Volume 4 (Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009), 336.