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Choosing
Your Kingdom
Fr.
George Smiga
November
26, 2006
John
18:33b – 37
So
Christ is our King. What does that mean? Jesus dramatically
states in today's Gospel that his kingdom does not belong
to this world. What he is trying to say? There are different
ways of understanding his words. One-way would be to assume
that Jesus is saying that his kingdom is an otherworldly kingdom,
that his kingdom is not concerned with the events that go
on here on earth but rather with the realities of heaven.
We could understand Jesus' words that way, but we would most
certainly be wrong. Because we know that the whole thrust
of Jesus' message was to proclaim the kingdom of God and that
kingdom was about establishing God's love and justice in this
world. As we are taught to pray in the Lord's Prayer “thy
kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is
in heaven”.
So
what does Jesus mean when he says my kingdom does not belong
to this world? He is not saying that his kingdom is to be
found in some other place but rather his kingdom which is
to be established in this world is based on structures and
values that are different then the structures and values which
hold dominion over the way we usually live. Jesus is setting
up in our midst a counter kingdom, another way of living,
a way of living based on different values, different truths.
So what is the difference between the kingdom of this world
and Christ's kingdom? It is not an easy question, because
there are many things shared in common between these two kingdoms.
Both would claim that their purpose is to bring happiness
to their members. Both would claim that their goal is to induce
the fullness and richness of life. But there is a disagreement
between the two kingdoms concerning how that happiness and
how that life is to be attained.
We
could see no better illustration of that difference than today's
gospel, because the evangelist John carefully points to the
divergence between the two kingdoms in the scene between Pilate
and Jesus. Each character represents a kingdom. Pilate stands
as the agent of the kingdom of this world and Jesus as the
agent of the kingdom of God . As we watch these two characters
interact, it becomes clear that, although they share some
things in common, each is operating out of a different perpsective.
Each has one overriding value, which determines everything
else. For Pilate it is the value of survival. For Jesus it
is the value of faithfulness.
Pontius
Pilate was not a bad man. He knew that his job was to deliver
justice to those who were accused. In John's gospel he recognizes
the goodness of Jesus and Jesus' innocence. He sincerely tries
to find a way to release Jesus. But he cannot find that way,
because his chief value was survival. Pilate had worked his
whole life climbing up the ranks of the Roman diplomatic corp.
He had attained an important position in Judea , providing
a level of personal prestige and a good lifestyle for his
wife and his children. He understood what the right thing
was to do in the case of Jesus, and he would have liked to
do it. But it was too risky. If he were to release Jesus,
Jesus and his followers could have tipped the delicate balance
in the peace that Rome had established in Jerusalem . If a
riot or public disturbance had resulted, the emperor would
have heard about it and Pilate would have been disgraced.
His career would be over. So although he would have wished
to release Jesus, it was too dangerous. When push came to
shove, Pilate valued his own survival over the life of Jesus
and he sent him to the cross.
Jesus
on his part would have wished to survive. He did not seek
crucifixion. He prayed in Gethsemane that the cup of his suffering
would be taken away from him. But Jesus' highest value was
not his own survival. It was faithfulness to the Father's
will. Jesus knew that he belonged to the kingdom of God ,
and in that kingdom God's will was supreme. Those who followed
God's will believed that they would attain happiness and life,
even if it involved suffering and death. So although Jesus
would have preferred to survive, his greatest value was to
do God's will. Acting out of that value, he took up the cross.
There
are two kingdoms operating in the world in which we live,
and we must decide between them. That decision will determine
everything, everything about our lives. It will determine
how we live personally and interpersonally, how we live spiritually
and politically, how we live emotionally and economically.
I wish I could stand here and give you some simple formula
by which you could determine whether you were living out of
the kingdom of God . But life is too complicated for that.
What I can tell you is that those who belong to the kingdom
of God do not have survival as their highest good. Therefore
their decisions are often different from those many others
make in our world. For those who belong to the kingdom of
God , decisions will not be determined by what everybody else
is doing or what the latest polls say. They will have a different
perspective on war, on poverty, on immigration, on healthcare.
They will have a different opinion on the value of life whether
that life is found in the womb, or on death row. They will
have a different approach on what is most important in raising
a family and how one should treat one's enemies.
There
are two kingdoms operating in the world in which we live and
their values are different. We must choose between them, and
the choice we make will influence everything. It will determine
whether our highest value is one of survival or one of faithfulness
to God's will. It will determine whether we stand with Pilate
or stand with Jesus.
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