​Father Chris – 34TH SUNDAY / CHRIST THE KING 2021 – Homily

“The True Kingdom Of God”

The teacher asks the Kindergarten 2 class, “So, …Who is Jesus?”
Amy says, “He is a very important man who lived awhile ago.”
John says, “He was a prophet and really smart.”
Mary says, “He looks after Heaven.”
“Yes,” the teacher says, “he is the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.
And where do you think Heaven is?”
John says, “Somewhere we can’t see it.”
Amy says, “It’s where everybody wants to go!”  
Mary says, “It’s above the clouds, so we can’t see it.”
 
But even actor, William Shatner, would tell us heaven isn’t there. He was far above the clouds in outer space and didn’t see the Kingdom of God there, although he did say the view was breathtaking, maybe something like heaven itself.
 
Pilot brings this subject up in today’s gospel in his discussion with Jesus himself.
In response to Pilot’s question, “Are you the King of Jews?” Jesus responds with “It is as you say,” in both Matthew and Luke, while in Mark he says, “You say I am a king,” but Jesus says nothing further in these accounts. It is rather like the other three gospels illustrate the trial of Jesus more from a distance as a crowd scene with the Jews and the Roman authorities pitted against each other, with only a brief closeup of Pilot asking Jesus if he is King of the Jews.
 
Only in John’s gospel do we experience an intimate, lengthy dialogue between Pilot and Jesus, a full scene played out just between them. It is indeed a very important scene because Jesus himself delivers to Pilot and to us an explanation of who he truly is; that he, Christ, is a King, but of a Kingdom not of this world. He explains he was born to dwell among us, to reveal and testify to the ‘truth’, and that whoever comes to know the truth from his lips, would come to know his kingdom.
 
The scene actually ends with a significant question posed by Pilot to Jesus, not in today’s reading: Pilot asks Jesus, “What is truth?” And the answer seems to be conveyed to Pilot by looking into the face of Jesus, from his own growing witness to this remarkable man in front of him, that “Jesus is the Truth, Jesus IS Truth!”
 
The acclaimed screenwriter, Rod Serling, wrote a highly praised episode for his series, The Twilight Zone, called, “The Obsolete Man”, studied by philosophers and theologians alike, as it is loosely based on today’s episode between Pilot and Jesus.
The theme is whether God exists or not, and an examination of Truth. Based on the destructive inhuman nature of totalitarianism, the main character, the Chancellor, says, the state has proven there is no God! Therefore, the preacher is of no worth. He is obsolete. Logic is an enemy of the people and ‘Truth’ is a menace to society. It is almost unfortunately a sad commentary on ‘too much’ of today’s politics.
 
But ‘Truth’, God – wins out, as the Chancellor, suddenly trapped in the execution cell of his prisoner cries out, “Please, in the Name of God, let me out of here!” There is a God after all, there is Truth written in the hearts and souls of humankind.
 
So, is the Kingdom of God somewhere above the clouds?
 
The Trappist monk, Fr Thomas Keating, famous for his teachings in contemplative prayer had a lively discussion with equally celebrated Franciscan author, Fr Richard Rohr. The main underlying question was: where is the Kingdom of God? They agreed God is not ‘outside’ of us, but ‘inside’. There is no distance between us.
 
Richard said, God is here. God loves us. Our journey is not an obstacle course to do the right things to win enough points to win his love. Christianity is not so much a moral matter, as it is a mystical one, more complex than just rules and regulations.
God does not love you because you are good. He loves you because God is good.
 
Thomas said, we want to realize God is with us, in us, indeed closest to us when we suffer. We should see God in a more transcendent way, remember he is all loving, all knowing, caring, present at all times, ‘one’ with our souls. We can hear and feel him if we make time to be alone with him in silence where true being, spirit dwells.   
 
Paul says, Jesus loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father. Jesus did not die on the cross to talk God into loving us; Jesus died to change ‘our’ minds to love God. Christ is in his Kingdom, living within us, and always patiently waiting for our knock on his door.   
 
– Rev Fr Chris Tracey, Saint Joseph Parish, Saugeen Shores, Ontario