St. Paul Lutheran Church, Minden, Nebraska
Sunday sermon – Final Sunday after Pentecost - Nov. 22, ’09
“A Sight To See! At the Trial; The Truth!”
Text: John 18:37,38
There’s a lot of talk, a lot of anxiety, a lot of uncertainty in the news these days about improving economic forecasts, better government controls & financial accountability, greater focus on people and not programs. Certainly we hope the signs of things improving are true, but is it a done deal? Whom can we trust? Who can say for sure, “this is most certainly true!”
On the other hand, what a welcome feeling it is when things are true that you know & you’re sure are most certainly true! For example it’s true, it’s always been true, a picture is worth a 1000 words.
If you don’t think so, most grandmothers rather than just talk about their grand-children most are usually prepared to show you pictures of their grandchildren. A picture is worth a thousand words.
It’s also true and it’s always been true that some pictures are beyond words. You can read what sports writers write about what it’s like to attend a Husker football game at Memorial Stadium in Lincoln but written words or even a panoramic picture in the paper or on TV is nothing like being there; nothing like having your eyes & ears wide open to the excitement, the energy, the power of an incredible “sea of red” urging their beloved Huskers on to victory.
A picture is worth a 1000 words, and some pictures; joyful moments, some moods, some uplifting experiences, are beyond words.
For us in the church, one such picture is the picture reported in the Gospel of John, chapter 18, which is the Gospel reading appointed for Christ the King Sunday, a reading of works that take us back to the trial of Jesus before Pontius Pilate !
When it comes to a beautiful, glorious, life-transforming picture beyond words, Christ the King Sunday gives it to us. Christ the King Sunday focuses our attention, our faith, our hopes, our fears on the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth:
that Jesus Christ, true God begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man born of the virgin Mary is my Lord, your Lord, who has redeemed us lost and condemned persons, purchased and won us from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that you and I may be His own and live under Him in His Kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting, righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.
What is Martin Luther’s last line, bottom line on all this? Most of you know it; can even say it with me, This is most certainly true.
Unlike what you hear in the news these days; unlike the latest pictures of grandchildren grandmas carry around in their purses, unlike the experience of joyful celebrations on a football field, what does it mean that Jesus IS the truth?
How powerful, how promising, how relevant to our daily lives is the truth beyond words that Jesus is THE TRUTH?
This is the whole point; this is the reason for John’s lengthy, detailed account of Jesus trial before Pontius Pilate. In the Gospel of John, the hour of Jesus’ greatest glory is His last hours before Pontius Pilate leading up to His cross. Jesus in all his weakness & humiliation; Jesus whom Pontius Pilate is about to condemn to death by crucifixion, Jesus standing meekly, quietly before Pontius Pilate is more powerful and more in control of what’s happening to Him, than a troubled Pilate who with all his power & authority doesn’t know what to do with Jesus. This is most certainly.
To Jesus first disciples & followers it looked for sure like Pontius Pilate was the one in charge of Jesus’ fate. It looked to all believers like Caesar in Rome was Lord of all; that the Roman Empire had ultimate power & authority in all things. But not so says the Gospel of John.
Even today, an unbelieving world still thinks Jesus was a victim of circumstances. An unbelieving world today thinks Jesus was a great teacher, a great human being, a great prophet who gave it his best shot but in the end He was just another great prophet. The world today may think that Jesus is no threat to worldly rulers or the world’s way of doing things. But not so says the Gospel of John.
The Gospel starts off chapter 1, verse 1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the Word became flesh, became the Incarnate Word of God, and we have seen his glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
In the text before us, at His trial, Jesus tells a troubled & disbelieving Pontius Pilate,
My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”
Pilate said to Jesus, So you are a king?”
Jesus answered, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world – to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”
And Pilate said to Jesus, “What is truth?”
That’s still the question the world asks. What is truth? Is there any absolute truth? Whom can we trust? Open your eyes, says the Gospel of John. Open your ears. Open your minds. Open your hearts.
In the Gospel of John a sure sign that Jesus is the sure & certain truth of God in the flesh is not that Jesus exercises power & dominion over people, but that Jesus who is totally in charge of His life & ministry, even His suffering & death, has time for people. His heart goes out to people.
In the Gospel of John, a wonderful, unexpected, unforgettable sign that Jesus is the Truth of God is not a sword or a crown, not an Oval Office or a throne, but it’s a towel and a cross.
For Jesus, the truth of the towel and the truth of the cross is that there is power in giving up power. There is power in emptying oneself. There is power in meekness & humility that is greater than the power of lording it over people, or controlling people.
Back in the 1770s when King George III was King of England during the time of the American Revolutionary War, King George III felt terrible about losing the 13 colonies. It was said, in fact, for the rest of his life, King George could not say the word “independence” without stuttering & stumbling over it.
King George was a bit odd, but he had good insight. When the fighting in America finally stopped, he and other kings & rulers in Europe were sure that George Washington would have himself crowned “Emperor of the New World.” That’s what they would have done.
When King George was told that Washington planned to surrender his military commission and return to farming at Mr. Vernon, he said, “Well, if he does that, he will be a great man in the world.”
There is power in giving up power, in emptying oneself. At Jesus trial, Jesus knew this to be true. Pilate didn’t.
Oh for us to see this sign & to be sure of it, experience it in our own daily lives; that Jesus is king; Jesus is Lord & Savior; that there is power in Jesus giving up power, there is power in Jesus emptying Himself for us & for our salvation that transforms us from being the self-minded sinners we are by nature into being servant-minded subjects, peasants, pilgrims, pastor, parents, grand-parents, parishioners who demonstrate the truth, the absolute truth God’s steadfast love and tender mercy in ways that follow Christ’s example
If a picture is worth a 1000 words, and it’s certainly true that some pictures are beyond words, let this picture of Jesus meekness & Jesus majesty at His trial as he stands humbly before Pontius Pilate be more than just a picture, but a way to live, a truth to experience
In the world you will have tribulation, says Jesus, you will have hard times, you will experiences losses, separations, times of trial & testing will come your way, but take heart I have overcome the world.
In the world you will have days when the news is unsettling, when the evening news is either overwhelming or overly uncertain, but take heart, although you are in the world - in me, with me, through me you are not of the world.
If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.
This is most certainly true! Dear Lord Jesus, King of kings & Lord of lords, let it be, let it be! Amen
