Grateful Subjects

Robert E. Hall
Tarrytown United Methodist Church

November 22, 2009

Text: Second Samuel 23: 1-7 & John 18: 33-37a

"Whoever governs fairly and well,
who rules in the Fear-of-God,
Is like the light of morning at sunrise
without a cloud in the sky,
Like green grass carpeting earth,
glistening under fresh rain."

We have seen such sights as this, such beauty. Perhaps waking up after a night camping, looking out the tent flap, shivering from the cool morning air; the grass sparkling as the sun shines just above the trees at a slant--- on morning dew, if not from rain, or perhaps from frost--- the morning as quiet as a baby sleeping. A dog barks somewhere in the distance. Thanksgiving comes to our minds at such moments, not the idea of giving thanks, but the feeling of gratitude too holy for any words. We rub our eyes and we stand, doing nothing at all, taking it all in, breathing in and out our speechless prayer.

Such beauty prompts most readily our thanksgiving for the natural world, and the sheer goodness of being alive here and now.

But David, or someone writing for David, uses such this human experience to describe the beauty of a righteous king, one who rules “in the fear of God, fairly and well.” Such a one is a priceless gift, a welcome sight, bringing tears of joy to our eyes and peace to our hearts.

The Jewish people had not seen such beauty in a leader, one “strong, loving and wise,” (II Timothy 1:17) in the centuries before King David----or in the centuries after.

Starvation, invasion, rape and destruction of lives and homes; injustice meted out by corrupt officials under the authority of the ruler-----this was so often their lot in life. Though the rich and strong may have cut deals with their invaders, the ordinary subjects had no one who could be trusted to protect them, to advocate for their survival, their well-being. It was so for the people at the crossroads of the great powers of the Fertile Crescent, the people of ancient Israel.

It is so for so many of the people who live on this fragile global village even now. Though we in this country have far to go to realize the full promise of our ideals of freedom, dignity and justice, the wretched of the earth in many other nations still wait for some semblance of law impartially applied by rulers who truly care for their survival.

And they, and we, wait for leaders who rule in awe of God’s demands for shalom---- that untranslatable biblical word which incorporates human dignity, prosperity, freedom from violence and cruel treatment---and that for every human being, irregardless.

Rulers---whatever the form of government---who use power for the well-being of their people instead of for their own selfish interests or their own tribes.

And so in these last words of King David, he remembers God saying to him:

“He who rules people in justice, who rules in the fear of God, is like the light of morning at sunrise, a morning that is cloudless after rain, and makes the grass of the earth sparkle.” (REB translation)

King David was no angel: but he was the “apple of God’s eye” in just this sense: he ruled for the sake of the people, not simply for his own sake. Though he broke God’s laws as often as any person with great power, he also repented and sought to make amends. This ruler knew that he answered to a Higher Power, the “Rock of Israel,” the “I Am Who I Am,”  the One whose name was too holy to speak.  Israel remembered that David was true to this One.

From his time forward, David was the King by whom every other king was measured. How the people longed for another king like David!

It was this passionate hope which fueled the situation when Jesus entered Jerusalem and his followers shouted,

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel!

 “Hosanna,” meaning “O save us!” They welcomed Jesus as the anointed one, the king who would finally bring about the final age of shalom.  They saw him to be beautiful, as welcome as the sight of sun on wet grass in the dawning hours, as King David was.

King Jesus?  

What do you think? Is Jesus the king for which the world had been waiting and hoping?

The answer is far from clear at this point in the story, as poor old Pilate, the Roman governor found! The conversation is a cat and mouse game. But which one is the cat and which the mouse?!

Kings in ancient times? Their role was overtly powerful: military, judicial and political. They must protect, rescue, the fairly administer justice, direct foreign relations, develop trade, assess taxes,  engineer infrastructure, resolve disputes between parties, and set the standards of beauty---especially in architecture and construction.

Kings were responsible for the judicial, legislative and executive branches. Kings and queens were responsible for peace, prosperity, and (at their best) the well-being of the most vulnerable citizens: widows, orphans, aliens, the sick, the mentally ill and the handicapped.

They were rulers who could impose their will, for good or ill.

So when the existing ruler, Pontius Pilate, heard that the man Jesus had been welcomed as a king, he had to look into it. The last thing he needed was an uprising!

Jesus is arrested. There is a pre-trial hearing; then he is taken to the high priest for a religious trial; then to the Roman governor, Pilate.

“Are you king of the Jews?”
 “My kingship is not of this world….not from the world.”
 “So, you are a king?”

Jesus says, “You say I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I have come into the world. [“Are you listening, Pilate?”] I have come to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.”

“What is truth?” Pilate asks, or is he sarcastically calling attention to the ridiculousness of the situation?  Jesus is in the dock, helpless before the powers that be---- and Jesus speaks of truth?! Pilate believes, from where he sits, that truth has lost out a long time ago to political expediency. If Jesus is king, where are his subjects and where is his army? Is this man a king or a philosopher?

We know the rest of the story. We walk through the story every year during Holy Week.

Jesus rejects forceful power. He will take the road never yet traveled.  Jesus willingly accepted suffering and death for those he loved, to reveal the depths of God’s love and to expose evil for the lie that it is.

Yes, Jesus is captive. He will not escape. He is powerless in the eyes of the world. Even Peter has denied him now. He is utterly alone in his kingship. And yet…..such power. Pilate? It is Pilate who is tried here. Who is really powerful when all is said and done?

It is fair to say that Jesus takes on the role of king----and utterly transforms the role. Is he powerful? Not obviously so.

And yet.

In apparent defeat, Jesus is victoriously raised and is alive again. And the influence he had, he has now.  Evil has been and is shown for the dead end that it is; it is exposed as the trickster, the deceiver, the liar. And we human beings are rescued from our slavery to evil: we do not have to obey evil power anymore. Once for all time, God has done this for all. The evil powers have become subject to Christ’s lordship. We pray “Deliver us from evil” with confidence, even now.

Since that day in Jerusalem, a long line of witnesses have said and sung that the remembrance and the presence of Jesus

 “….is like the light of morning at sunrise
without a cloud in the sky,
Like green grass carpeting earth,
glistening under fresh rain." (The Message)

“God reigns for us rather than for himself.” (John Calvin)

The future? In God’s good time, the kingdom of God will be completed on earth as it is in heaven.

Walter Bruggemann, commenting on Isaiah 40, wrote: “God is resolved to do nothing less than transform all of creation, end the tired old curses of brier and thistles, remove the broken quality of life, heal the fractures, bridge the gulfs, and restore joy, peace, and well-being. God has intended peace….This is God’s intent for all the nations.” (Interpretation and Obedience, page 221)

Reinhold Niebuhr wrote in 1927:

“The experience of Jesus on the cross is not one of a dreamy pantheist who imagines God in easy and magical control of every process in the universe. It was the experience of a spiritual adventurer who saw life as a struggle between love and chaos, but who also discovered the love at the center of things, which guarantees the victory in every apparent defeat.” (Christian Century)

Jesus is, however, also present now. He is also  “the one who---- through the Spirit---- is replicated in the lives of believers---, in our  faithful obedience to God and loving service to others.” (Luke Timothy Johnson, The Real Jesus, 1997, page 166, quoted in Marva Dawn, Power, Weakness and the Tabernacling of God, 2001, page 58)

Are we up for this? We know our weaknesses, our sins, our prevarications. But, as one has written, “Our human weakness is no hindrance to God.[Commitment] means experiencing a power much greater than our own and surrendering to it.” (Johann Christoph Arnold, Seeking Peace, 1998; quoted in Dawn, as above, page 62) page 62)

Jesus knew a freedom from fear that was life-altering. In lesser degrees we can know this freedom, too.

“Christ in us, the hope of glory,” Paul says. Or as Elizabeth Kubler Ross wrote, “People are like stained glass windows; they sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a Light within.” (Source unknown)

In the Screwtape Letters, there is a portion of a letter sent from Screwtape, the senior devil, to his nephew a devil in training, Wormwood. They are out to derail people of faith at every point. And nothing scares them like tenacious, hopeful Christians. He writes:

 “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring---but still intending---to do [God’s] will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of [God] seems to have vanished and asks why he has been forsaken----and [yet] still obeys [God].” (Dawn, page 69)

“Able leaders are usually sharply awake and reasonably disturbed. They are not seekers after solace. They have their own inner serenity.” ( Robert Greenleaf, Servant Leader, page 28)

There is a crisis of leadership now, in almost every realm of life: coaches, financial executives, pastors, legislators, teachers, government, military, and heads of households! And we have substituted propaganda for truthfulness, image for substance.

But we, like Jesus, are not of this world; we are in but not from this world. We have been born “from above,” (the best reading of the preference from John 3). We have been baptized into a death like his and we have been raised to newness of life. We, in our hearts, have crowned Jesus king. We choose not to let the world “squeeze us into its own mold.” We follow Jesus.

What is the effect of Jesus’ kingship over us? What does replication look like?

We have no other earth to live on but this one, yet! In the messiness of our times, we do our best to lead as Jesus did. (Perhaps it is best if we aim for the examples of Peter and Paul, Salome and Mary of Magdala, Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, or even Zacchaeus, instead of Jesus!) Being subjects of King Jesus at least must involve these things:

We will courageously confront evil in all its forms.

We will not resort to evil methods to resist or defeat evil. (As Carlyle Marney once said, “If we hate evil without loving the good, all we become is really good haters!” Source unknown)

We will have hearts of flesh, feeling hearts, for the wretched of the earth, for their survival, for their freedom. Their well-being will be as important to us as our own. Gasp! There is a life-long agenda!

We will believe in the power of forgiveness, for ourselves and for those who wrong us.

We will courageously puncture inflated egos, ours and others. We will not take ourselves too seriously.

We will be spiritually-grounded enough not require every person’s approval.

We can’t be bought.

Even in the darkest times, we will remain hopeful for God to make the world right, and to receive into his arms those who now rest from their labors.

We will sort through what is presented as “priceless,” and choose the best: faith, hope and above all, agape love.

We will live our lives in awareness of the powerful and loving God who has higher standards of right and wrong than we do!

I ask myself at times, “Why did God choose to redeem the world this way? Jesus as king with worldly power could’ve fixed things back then and can repair things now! The Pilates of this world would have long ago been “toast!”

Words that some to mind for me in this regard are these:
Synergism.
Relationships.
Participation.

The world will be completed by God working through human decisions, actions, witnesses and commitments.

God chose the power of self-giving love, of cooperation, of ruling through persuasion, not coercion.

We are ---and I emphasize!--- junior partners in the reconciliation business that God has done and is doing through Jesus, who reigns as king, now and always.

Greenleaf wrote that “The secret of institution-building is to be able to weld a team of …. people by lifting them up to grow taller than they would otherwise be.” (Robert Greenleaf, Servant Leadership)

Maybe our role as church is to help God call up and equip leaders in every sphere of life, who, when they lead, people say something similar like this:

“Here is a woman who leads with humble awareness of the Most High God, the One incomparably more holy and loving and powerful and demanding than herself!

“She leads, not for herself, but for others, for the whole community! They make me feel hopeful and peaceful----like I feel on a quiet mornings when I look out at the sun reflecting off the rain-drenched grass on a cloudless morning!”