And
What Is Truth?
The
Reign of Christ
22
November 2015
Saint
Faith's Anglican Church
Vancouver
BC
Ninety
years ago Pope Pius XI looked out on the world from his sanctuary in the
Vatican and beheld the gathering clouds of international conflict. In Russia the civil was between the
Bolsheviks led by Lenin and the so-called 'White Russians' aided by the Western
powers had come to a bloody end. The
Bolsheviks actively were persecuting religious communities and clergy were
being arrested and, in some cases, summarily executed.
Six
years earlier the Treaty of Versailles had brought to end the First World War
and had precipitated the collapse of the Ottoman Empire that had extended from
the Balkans through Saudi Arabia and parts further east. A new secular state had taken hold in what is
now Turkey and the rest of the Middle East had been divided between the French
and the British. In Palestine, a British
protectorate, tensions were rising as a growing number of Jewish immigrants and
refugees began to arrive.
In
Germany a decorated but disgruntled Austrian war veteran by the name of Adolf
Hitler had taken over the leadership of a fringe political movement that had
attempted to overthrow the government of Bavaria. During his imprisonment Hitler wrote and
published Mein Kampf ('My
Struggle'), his manifesto which gained his movement more members and growing
influence.
The
Pope was facing his own challenges in Italy.
In 1922 the Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini, had taken power. Civil liberties were curtailed and the
political power of the Roman Catholic Church was under siege. Eventually Pius would be forced to sign a
treaty which would grant the independence of the Vatican, one-square mile in
the heart of Rome, at the cost of all papal claims to political power elsewhere
in Italy.
Pius
responded to this turmoil by declaring that the last Sunday in October of 1925
would be celebrated as the Feast of Christ the King. His motives were certainly mixed. On the one hand, Pius hoped that this new
feast would galvanize Roman Catholic opposition to the Fascist government. It did not.
On the other hand, the new feast did encourage Roman Catholic Christians
throughout the world to remember to whom their ultimate loyalty was owed.
In
the years following the Second World War, Pius' liturgical innovation captured
the theological imagination of other Christians. So here we are, ninety years after the first
celebration of this feast, joining with the overwhelming majority of Christians,
East and West, Roman Catholic and non-Roman Catholic, remembering to whom we
owe our primary allegiance and to what vision of the future we are committed to
work --- the Reign of Christ.
Some
people will think it naive to speak of the 'reign' of Christ in the aftermath
of the human disasters that have afflicted humanity over the past nine
decades. Even now, in the aftermath of
the senseless terrorist acts in Beirut, Nairobi, Baghdad, Paris, Nigeria and
Mali, I would not be surprised to have my non-Christian friends express some skepticism.
But
today's gospel reminds us that the reign of Christ differs from any other form
of sovereignty we know. Christ reigns in
the hearts of individuals who have been persuaded by
his teaching and example rather than coerced by threats and violence. All around us we see religious and secular
groups who rely upon force to compel others to conform to their ideology
or twisted counterfeit of religion. In
the face of these groups, Christians proclaim that God, through the words of the Scriptures, through
the witness of Christ's life and death, and, even more importantly, through the
witness of the Christian people, past, present and future, invites human
beings to share in God's work of re-creation, reconciliation and renewal.
This
is the truth that Christ speaks of when confronted by the imperial power of
Rome embodied in Pontius Pilate. And we,
who live in the here and now, are the ones whom Christ expects will answer
Pilate's weary and cynical question, 'And what is truth?'
Some
years ago, Alan Boesak, the South African theologian, spoke words which I wish
to share with you today. They express
more eloquently than mine the truth we have to share.
It is not true that
this world and its people are doomed to die and be lost. This is true: for God so loved the world that
God gave the only Son so that everyone who believes in him shall not die, but
have everlasting life.
It is not true that
we must accept inhumanity and discrimination, hunger and poverty, death and
destruction. This is true: I have come
that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
It is not true that
violence and hatred shall have the last word, and that war and destruction have
come to stay for ever. This is true: for
to us a child is born, to us a son is given, in whom authority will rest, and
whose name will be Prince of Peace.
It is not true that
we are simply victims of the powers of evil that seek to rule the world. This is true: to me is given authority in
heaven and on earth, and lo, I am with you always, to the end of the world.
It is not true that
we have to wait for those who are specially gifted, who are the prophets of the
church, before we can do anything. This
is true: I will pour out my spirit on all people, and your sons and daughters
shall prophesy, your young people shall see visions, and your old folk shall
dream dreams.
It is not true that
our dreams of liberation of humankind, our dreams of justice, of human dignity,
of peace, are not meant for this earth and its history. This is true: the hour comes, and it is now, that
true worshippers shall worship God in spirit and truth. [i]
So,
my friends, do not be discouraged and do not despair. These are, as Jesus says in last week's gospel,
the birth-pangs of God's coming reign of justice and peace. Painful --- yes. Incomprehensible --- often. Anger-provoking --- always. Fear-producing --- of course. But God's truth will triumph and that truth
shall set all God's children free.
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