Which Story Is True?
(a sermon for Christ The King Sunday)
I hope you all had a very pleasant Thanksgiving holiday. I know I did. In fact, I want to let you in on a
little secret, of all the “holidays’ that we have, Thanksgiving is my favorite. That’s because those other
holidays, Christmas and Easter, well they are pretty much work days for me. I don’t get a real chance to
relax during those holidays like I do at Thanksgiving. I don’t get quite so much time to spend with the
family and do those things that I like doing.
One of my favorite things to do when I have free time is go to the movies. I love being able to sit in a big
theatre, let the lights come down, and sit there in the dark, with just the screen and myself sitting there.
It kind of gives me a feeling of blocking out the world, the world that I spend most of my time in and
love, but every now and then want to escape and just go off by myself.
So this Thanksgiving weekend, having some time for myself, I went and saw a couple of movies that I’d
like to talk about for a bit, because I think both of them actually present aspects of a story that is quite
relevant to our gospel today.
The first movie I went to see was Lincoln. Now having been born and raised in the “Land of Lincoln”, I
have long been intrigued by our 16th President, so I can tell you that I thoroughly loved the movie. It is a
wonderful story about the passage of 13th Amendment abolishing slavery. There is this wonderful scene
in the movie where Thaddeus Stevens, an ardent Abolitionist (played wonderfully by Tommy Lee Jones),
is confronted with a motion in the House of Representatives that calls for him to compromise on the
issue of full racial equality in exchange for the passage of the amendment abolishing the institution of
slavery. Stevens, using some artful language skirts the issue in a way that allows passage of the
amendment. In a wonderful scene, Stevens, sitting on a bench outside the chamber, acknowledges that
the greater good of passing the amendment has trumped the issue of being “right” on the equality
issue. It is a moment when we are confronted with the idea that “truth” is something often hard to
grasp, but nonetheless we are called to act for the good of others often in ways that are hard for others
to see.
The second movie I saw was Life of Pi. This also was a thoroughly enjoyable movie about a young boy
from India who, in the course of his young life, becomes a Hindu, Christian and Muslim simultaneously.
Interesting, don’t you think?
Pi’s father is a zoo keeper who decides to move to Canada. His family and all the animals take passage
on a cargo ship, and in the middle of the Indian Ocean a storm comes up and the ship sinks. The only
survivors on a lifeboat are Pi, a zebra, a jackal, an orangutan and a tiger named Richard Parker.
In the course of the shipwreck the zebra has broken its leg, and as a result this sends the jackal into a
frenzy. He kills the zebra. This upsets the orangutan and the jackal kills the orangutan in the ensuing
fight. When the orangutan is killed, the tiger is now aroused and he kills the jackal. That leaves the tiger
and Pi, and they now begin a journey together across the Pacific toward Mexico. Eventually, after many
adventures they reach the coast, and Richard Parker leaves Pi on the beach and heads into the jungle
never to be seen again.
Pi is taken to a hospital where some insurance adjusters asking him to tell them what happened, and
when they hear the story, they are incredulous. “No one will ever believe such a story,” they tell Pi. So Pi
tells them the same story except the zebra is a fellow passenger, the jackal is the ship’s cook, the
orangutan is Pi’s mother, and Pi is Richard Parker, the tiger.
“It’s the same story,” the insurance adjusters respond. “Which one is the truth?” they ask.
“Whichever one you want,” replies Pi.
Watching that seen in the movie, I was reminded of today’s gospel. Here we are confronted with two
stories, two versions of the truth.
In one version, Pilate serves as the agent of the Emperor, trying to hold on to all his worldly power,
trying to maintain an empire based on fear, on greed, on the political power of the day.
In the other version, Jesus serves as the agent of God, proclaiming that the Kingdom of God is at hand,
proclaiming that God’s power is not worldly power, but, rather, it is a far different type of power, one
that can not necessarily be seen through the presence of weapons or armies, but rather is seen through
the power of selfless love.
We are faced with the same question: Which one is the truth?
Today we celebrate the feast of Christ the King. So many of our prayers today, our hymns we sing, they
all proclaim Christ as our Lord, Christ as our King. But here’s a question for all of to ponder. When we
proclaim Christ the King, when we proclaim this as a truth of our lives, do we really mean it?
How many of us, as we sit here today, really want to be subject to the rule of a king? Many of us have
difficulty accepting the results of our recent election, what makes us think that we would suddenly
accept the rule of a king?
I’m reminded of the struggle that Samuel had with God when God told Samuel to anoint a king for the
people. Samuel knew what was in store, and said “God, these people do not need a king.” But God said,
“They want a king, I’ll give them a king. Anoint who I will show you.” So Samuel anointed Saul king and
we all know how that turned out. Then we had David, Solomon, Ahab, and on and on and on.
No, I think many of us would struggle with the idea of Christ as our King.
Except for one basic fact.
Christ is a king like no other king, we have ever seen.
You see, Christ showed us what it means to be a true king. He did not come to us on a chariot, or sitting
on a throne of gold, showing us this amazing glorious power in the ways that other kings are able to
understand. No, Christ came to us, and allowed himself to be stripped, he allowed himself to be
scourged. He allowed himself to be given a crown, a crown of thorns jammed into his head, allowed
himself to be spat upon, and tortured, and then finally hung upon a cross and killed.
Christ showed us what it means to be a king.
He showed us how to love.
He showed us what it really means to be a king. He showed us that a true king is not someone who lords
power over another, but rather uses that power to serve others, serve them willingly, serve them no
matter what the cost.
That is the mark of a true king.
So that’s what we are faced with the Christ the King Sunday. Two versions of what it means to be a king.
One version attempts to protect the power it claims.
Another version gives it away.
Which one is the truth?
That’s for each one of us here to decide.
If we decide that Christ truly is our king in the way he has proclaimed himself to be, well then we will go
out those doors and join with him in giving that power away.
Have no fear, however, my brothers and sisters.
Christ, our King, will provide us whatever power and strength we need to accomplish this task. He will
provide us that strength right here at this table, as he provides to us His precious Body and His precious
Blood. Nourished by Him, we will have strength to go out and proclaim to the world that Christ truly is
our King.
Come to the table and see!