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Proper 29 B
Daniel 7:9-14
King of kings and Lord of lords Pilate entered the headquarters
again, summoned Jesus, Make no mistake about it. The answer to Pontius Pilate’s question is a resounding “Yes!” Jesus Christ is King of the Jews. Jesus Christ is additionally King of our entire Universe and of every Universe ever created or that ever will be created. He is Lord of all. I realize that in today’s globalized society we need to be careful not to wound those who hold to other beliefs. It is our duty as baptized Christians to respect the dignity of every human being, and that includes respecting their beliefs. At the same time, we need to be very clear about what we as Christians hold as the two-thousand-year-old Faith of the Church. We will proclaim that faith in the words of the Nicene Creed immediately following this sermon. Many of us are acquainted with persons of other religious backgrounds. I am not talking about differences between Christian denominations, such as Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians. I am talking about different religious traditions, commonly known as “Great World Religions.” Religion can be defined as an attempt to get reconnected to God. Other world religions are attempting to reach out and find God. On the other hand, the Christian faith holds that God is reaching out and finding us through the person of Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior. Jesus is the truest revelation of God. Jesus is the one “. . . who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father . . .” (Rev. 1:5b, 6). Christians frequently fall into traps in their attempted dialogue with persons of other religious traditions. One such trap is to focus on faith in some higher being as a common experience of all persons. Another trap is the “Cosmic Christ” whom they see as at least partially present in the kindness of some individuals of other religions. That would be a conversation starter, but these and other such approaches have a common fault – they downplay the unique birth, life, death, and resurrection of the historical Jesus as revealed in the Gospels. They keep in the background Jesus’ unique claim to divinity and humanity. They put all the world religions into a blender, hit the button, and drink the syncretistic results. They fail to portray Jesus Christ for who he really is – King of kings and Lord of lords. If we as Christians do not embrace the “scandal of particularity” that Christianity holds, we do grave injustice to our friends in other religious traditions. Harvey Cox, who taught theology at Harvard Divinity School, has a reputation as a “liberal theologian.” In his book Many Mansions, Cox talks about his encounter with persons of other religions. Here is where he departs from his liberal bent. He says that when he engages people of other religions in theological discussion, their number one hunger is to talk about Jesus. He says, “. . . any honest dialogue between Christians and others will sooner or later – and in my experience it is usually sooner – have to deal with the figure of Jesus.”[1] Since some other religions regard Jesus as a prophet, for years Mr. Cox tried to skirt the issue of Jesus until he could find some universal commonality with the people on the other side of the table. But to his surprise he found that the conversation never began to get off the ground until they got around to talking about Jesus. So, Mr. Cox strongly urges us as Christians to be able to articulate our faith in Jesus to persons of the world’s other religions. This also holds true in our relationships with persons who claim no religion at all. In May 1989 I was traveling with a group of American Christians on a three-week trip to mainland China. We were looking for towns and villages where Christian missionaries had once served. Everywhere we went, four Chinese men in dark sunglasses and western business suits followed us in a car. Wherever our group traveled on foot, these men, who never introduced themselves, were well within earshot. Our main guide and interpreter called himself Michael because he said we would never get his Chinese name right. Michael got on the bus the first morning and announced loudly that he was not a Christian. Instead, he said, he was an atheist and worked for the Chinese government. One day our bus was halted for an hour while protesters marched across the road in front of us on their way to Tiananmen Square. To fill in the lull in travel excitement, Michael wanted to sing “Jesus Loves Me” – one of the favorite songs of Chinese Christians. I wondered how he knew that song. None of us said a word, but gladly obliged him to the top of our American Christian lungs. One morning about a week into the trip, we all had our bags out early and were waiting in the hotel lobby for the bus to pull up outside. I was sitting in a seat by the window all by myself, just thinking. In a rare moment, the Chinese men in western business suits were nowhere in sight. Michael walked over and sat down beside me, saying nothing. After a few minutes of silence he blurted out in a quiet voice, “What do you believe about Jesus?” I quickly composed myself, knowing that time was short before those men showed up again. I recited to Michael some of my faith about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus on which I have based my own life these many years. When I thought no one was looking, I gave Michael a slim volume of the New Testament that had no markings on the outside. I said, “Here. Please keep this and read the stories of Jesus for yourself and decide who you think Jesus is.” Later, during the bus ride to the Great Wall, I saw Michael out of the corner of my eye, reading the New Testament I had given to him. I didn’t know exactly what Michael was looking for when he asked me about Jesus, but my prayer was that Michael would become a fully committed Christian, although I knew that would probably cost him his job and his apartment. I have prayed for Michael off and on through the years. I wonder what ever happened to him. Our task as Christians is difficult and at the same time profoundly simple – that is, we are to stake our lives on the claims of Jesus Christ who alone can reconnect all people to God. Let us pray: Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (The Book of Common Prayer, 236) [1] Harvey Cox, Many Mansions, A Christian’s Encounter With Other Faiths,With a new Introduction (Boston: Beacon Press, 2001) 7, 8
On the grounds of Honey Creek
The Rev. Linda McCloud, Pastor |
