Today is Christ the King Sunday. For this Festival Sunday, the Minneapolis Area Synod provided an online worship service with a sermon from Archbishop Musa Filibus from the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria. I encourage you to watch that service – it is available on our website. However, they did not provide a copy of the sermon but I watched it and wanted to reflect and share with you some of the wisdom that the Archbishop shared and also to put it in the context of our life and the challenge that our Bishop Ann Svennungsen has given to us.
Archbishop Filibus began with the question that Pilate asks Jesus when Jesus told him that “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate asks: “What is truth?”
In Pilate’s day, they didn’t have Snopes.com or other fact checkers evaluating whether or not public figures were speaking the truth or how much truth was in their statements and how much of what they said was simply what they wanted to be true. So maybe Pilate asked the question sarcastically, based on his own experience in the political realm. Or, maybe he was a seeker. We don’t know. This is one of those times in which I wish we could hear the inflection in his voice. Instead… we can only judge Pilate’s words by his actions.
As it has often been said, actions speak louder than words.
Kings were pretty brutal in getting and holding power in those days. Herod had his own sons executed when they dared to try to usurp his power. And listening to the news today, we can easily see that political leaders can still be tyrants too – and the result is refugees fleeing from terror at home and often finding nowhere to go.
So, what does it mean to call Jesus a king? When we think of kings, we so often think of power and might. But Jesus makes clear that his kingdom is not like the kingdoms of this world – in his day or ours. By his actions, he shows that his kingdom is not one that revolves around power, might or violence. Instead, when people were hungry, he fed them. When he met a woman by a well – he offered her living water. He wept with Mary and Martha when they were grieving the death of their brother and he healed the sick and cured those who were hurting.
Jesus witnesses in his words and by his actions love, hospitality, and forgiveness for his enemies. Jesus, by his words and his actions, teaches us to love God and love the neighbor.
As Filibus says, “In a world where there are so many voices beckoning, those who listen to the words of Jesus are radically transformed in the way that they treat their neighbors.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is a great example of this. He urged Christians to put aside violence as a means to an end, saying, “Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
And this, Filibus says, is “the truth that Jesus call us to because it matters who we say that Jesus is and who he is in our lives.”
This is why, when the Minneapolis Area Synod’s international partner, the Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria asked for help raising the money to build a Lutheran University in Nigeria, Bishop Ann said, “Yes.” She saw the need – only 40% of the students who are eligible are able to attend a university. In part, this is because students are often given a university spot – not based on merit or ability. The Lutheran church in Nigeria already has a network of primary and secondary schools, but without a university in their region, their students are often passed over - even if they are well qualified.
The Lutheran Church of Christ in Nigeria has already obtained the land that is needed, they have raised the initial funds and have received the permit to begin from the government. However, the government insists that they have $500,000 in the bank before they can lay the first brick. The urgency of raising these funds now is that if and when the government changes – which happens often in Nigeria – the opportunity to build this school may vanish.
This is not the only need that we, as Christians will encounter. There are many needs – both inside our church, our community and around the world. What matters for us is how we show God’s love to our neighbor who is nearby, our neighbor across the street and our neighbor on the other side of the world. When we not only see Christ in our neighbor – regardless of where they live or what they look like – but also respond to our neighbor with words and actions of love and compassion, then we reflecting the love of God.
We proclaim Christ as King – not as other kings – but the King of love, the King of compassion and the King of our lives. Thanks be to God. Amen.