SCRIPTURE: John 18:33-37
TEXT: 37cFor 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. THEME: The reign of Christ is the reign of gratitude in our hearts. Let the feelings of gratitude well up inside of you and overflow with Thanksgiving. INTRODUCTION I am beginning a sermon series for Advent preparing us for the Reign of Christ at Christmas. One of the themes that will be carried through Advent will be that of Gratitude that turns to Thanksgiving. In wondering about the difference between Gratitude and Thanksgiving, I rediscover a podcast by Krista Tippett, on Tippet Being, where she interviewed Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk and teacher who authored a few books on the subject of gratitude. He says that gratitude is an experience, something we feel or sense in our hearts, as if being filling up with joy. We feel it but don’t have words to articulate it. It wells up in our hearts, quiet and still until it begins to overflow. Then as it pours over, it begins to make a little noise, as it sparkles and ripples down over the sides and joy come to itself. It comes to the point where the heart sing, thanking somebody, into what Steindl-Rast calls “Thanksgiving”. The Reign of Christ is like this, as we sense it, feel it in our hearts. It fills us up with joy but there are no words to express this until what is filling up inside of us, begins to over flow. Making a running noise, sparking in the sun and splashing into the reservoir below. SCRIPTURE Jesus’ ministry was like this, as he traveled along the Galilean countryside, healing, teaching, casting out demons and bringing about gratitude to God in the people he reached. As crowds followed him, joy begins to noisily overflowed the fountain, with souls shouting “Hosanna”, over turning the market place tables in the temple courts, and in arguments challenging the teaching of the Pharisees. The Roman Empire began to feel threatened. The Temple Religion felt that they were losing their grip on their followers and so they arrested Jesus, tried him of blasphemy, accused him as an enemy of Rome, and hand him over to Pilate to be executed. In this passage, we have the meeting of these super powers, the Rome Empire, in Pilate, face to face with the cosmic power of the God, the Creator of the Universe, in Jesus. Pilate thinks that he is in control, but by the way Jesus speaks, Pilate was never in that position. Pilate comes in and summons Jesus to be brought to him and asks, “Are you the King of the Jews?” Jesus was arrested by the Jews and brought before Pilate, with a claim of kingship. Jesus asks, “Is that something you wanted to know or is that something that was told to you?” How is Pilate to know? He is not a Jew, after all its Jesus’ own people and Chief Priest who handed him over to Pilate. So, Pilate asks, “What have you done?” This is where the reader of John’s Gospel can answer: changed water into wine, healed the sick, cast out demons, calmed the storm, offers living water, talked about God in ways that burns in the hearts of people, forgiven sin, disrupted the temple religion, offered a real relationship with God, accepted us for who we are and showed us how God so loves the world. If they were Jesus’ followers, they would not have allowed Jesus to be handed over. Jesus may not be the King of the Jews, but Jesus does Reigns over all. All Pilate heard was MY KINGDOM is not of this world, if MY KINGDOM were from this world my followers would not have handed me over, MY KINGDOM is not from here, so he concludes, “You are a King!” To which Jesus responds with what is true. In the usual “Johnnine” fashion they are speaking on two levels, one about raw political power and the other about the spiritual power that rules in heart of every person, across every boundary, not particular to any race, beyond any creed and certainly not silenced by any ruler. It is for this that Jesus was born. It is for this that Jesus has come into the world. Jesus testifies, reveals, teaches, lives, dies and is resurrected to the truth of God. APPLICATION The dynamics of this meeting, between Pilate and Jesus show the insignificance of even a super power like the Roman Empire, compared to the immense, calm, controlled power of God. The fountain is filling with impressions and feeling of Jesus. When our experiences of Jesus are filled to overflowing, what do we say, shout, sing and do as gratitude becomes expressions of thanksgiving? The Reign of Christ is like this, “There are many things and events, for which we cannot be grateful for, but in every moment, there are things that we can be grateful for.” Gratitude is about being present in the moment, and seeing the opportunity in the moment, beyond the current circumstance. Things do not need to be perfect for Christ to reign in our lives. But in every circumstance, Christ can occupy that situation and over flow in us to bring gratitude and thanksgiving. In our families, in our work place, in our relationships. In our health, in our scarcity, in our needs and wants. In the injustices we bear, in the inequity we endure, in the fears we carry. In our pain, in our loneness, in the persecution against us. In the divisiveness that separates, in the prejudice that promotes hate, in the violence that wounds souls as well as bodies. In the missing children, in the pandemic, in our climate. In the grief we hold in our hearts, in the weakness we feel, in the clarity that eludes us. With Christ Reigning in us we can learn to be grateful in every moment but not for everything that has happened. And as those feeling of Christ well up inside of us with Gratitude, they can pour over into articulations of Thanksgiving. CONCLUSION When Pilate asks Jesus, “What have you done?” There is also a litany of feelings that well up in us with each thing that Jesus has done: wholeness, acceptance, love, joy, peace, contentment, rest, ease, reconciliation, hope, forgiveness, belonging, beloved-ness, companionship, inspiration, engagement, insight, affirmation, sending, mission, called, worthy, grace, gifted, enough. We are enough. God sees us as good and that is Good enough. Good enough for God and that should be good enough for us. The reign of Christ is about feeling gratitude. Let the feeling of gratitude well up inside of you. No labels, no words, no concepts just feelings. Hold on to it, embrace it, feel it. And when it spills over the edges beyond what you can hold on to, shout, sing, rejoice, exult and love. Find the words, Let the words come out and let your actions be of thanksgiving to God and to others.
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