NOTW
RCL Year B • Sermon • Submitted
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As a teenager our youth group received a package of Christian apparel and other assorted items that our youth director had ordered for us to sell as a fundraiser. It was at that point that I was introduced to the world of Christian clothing and accessories. I remember my mom buying a couple of things for me, and then when I asked for more she found a clothing shop that sold the NOTW or Not of this World clothing line.
So I had a few NOTW shirts and a belt buckle as well as a few other items and over the next year for my birthday and Christmas I got multiple pieces of clothing that were either Not of this World clothing or other Christian shirts and items. I remember I had a tan shirt that had some crosses on it with a flock of doves or some kind of silhouette of birds on it.
It was also in high school that I started to listen to music from Christian bands and I really enjoyed a local San Diego band called Dogwood. My older brother Chris and I even went to one of their concerts, which was atypical of me, and we had an absolute blast. I think it was a combination of the clothing, the music, and some popular theology of the day that I became aware of this movement in Christianity that felt that we were supposed to take the words of the clothing line which come from the Bible both seriously and literally. It’s a theology that I think Christians still believe in. They feel that they need to be in the world but not fully a part of the world. After all, if Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world then we should refrain from many parts of the world because we are just here temporarily.
The theology went on to say that if we’re not of this world then this is only our temporary home. Our real home is in heaven and we are just waiting for the day when we get back to the place we were meant to be. The problem is that it has been taken to the extreme and sometimes people let go of all notion to do something because this isn’t where God meant for us to be and we just need to stay faithful until we are taken to the real world and the real kingdom.
The other aspect of the problem of all of this is the way that we understand the passage it comes from which is in our reading today from John 18:36. To try to understand this a little better I decided to really dig into the word ‘from’ which in the Greek is the word ‘ek’. The word does mean ‘from’ or ‘of’ and even ‘out of’. However, if you keep digging you can find out that it can also mean ‘beyond’ and that depending on context it can be used to express distinction from.
So based on this added understanding of this simple word ‘from’ we come to understand that Jesus isn’t talking about the physical realm of heaven and the difference between this world and the next world, but that the kind of kingdom that Jesus is talking about is different or distinct from that kind of kingdom or empire that Pilate is a part of, the Roman empire. That gets supported when Jesus talks about not having followers or soldiers that would fight for him. He doesn’t have an army. He doesn’t have a throne that sits in a castle, he doesn’t have a boundary line that denotes his kingdom from Rome. He’s not trying to kick Pilate out and reclaim Judea for himself and the Jewish people. Jesus kingdom is not from this world.
So if his kingdom is not the physical realm of heaven and it’s not the physical realm of Judea or some other kingdom or territory, then what is it? It’s something that we talked about a few weeks ago, the kingdom that Jesus talks about is truth and the people of his kingdom is everyone who belongs to the truth and listens to his voice. The kingdom of heaven is quite simply those who follow the words of the truth. And to go back in John’s gospel we see in John 14:6 that he tells people that, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Following the truth involves faith in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. It involves understanding that Jesus’ kingdom does not have borders. It seems that truth is the kingdom of God. Every Sunday there are people who are listening to the truth across this whole world. We do not speak their language and we do not even know their names. We don’t share the same governments or the laws that we have to abide by. But we do all follow the truth. Our kingdom goes beyond and is distinct from the United States of America, England. Germany, Italy, Egypt, China, Japan, and all the countries between.
In fact, if we look at the end of the gospel of John we see the disciples having breakfast with Jesus and Jesus asks Peter if he loves Jesus. Then goes on to say that he is to feed and tend his lambs and sheep. Then he tells him to follow him. Essentially Jesus, the truth, is asking Peter to spread the words of his kingdom to all the people of the world and that it involves caring for them and continuing to follow him. That is what it means to live into (not in) God’s kingdom. To share the good news that Jesus Christ is the truth and the truth will set us free to live beyond borders, beyond kingdoms, beyond empire, beyond stereotypes or differences.
Jesus never calls himself king and is only ever mocked with the title, but if being a part of Christ’s kingdom means we are a connected to people of every time and place and that we are all equal and loved in God’s eyes, that is the one and only person I would be proud to call my king. A king who rules with true justice. A king who loves and cares for the whole world not just those within the boundaries of his kingdom. A king who offers forgiveness and grace no mater how many times we make mistakes and treat each other poorly. A king who looks truly beyond himself to the needs of everyone else. A king who is willing to lay down his life for the sake of the world, not for self preservation. That is the kingdom I want to be a part of and that is the king I want. If that’s the case then I gladly give him the title. Christ is king. Amen.