Wassup?
Christ the King Sunday, John 18:33-37 with Revelation 1:4b-8 in the b.g.
November 22, 2009
Whassup? Do you know what that means? Our children, now young adults, used that term for some time when they answered their cell phones. I think it meant, What's going on in your life, around you, amongst those you care about, or even in general?"
So I ask you, "Whassup?"
We may think that we know what's going on, what matters, in some way at the very least what our reality is, what's true in our own lives and in the lives of those we care most about. But do we?
The Christmas rush is on. There is a part of that which often makes me feel good. Perhaps it's because I am blessed to be the father of 3 daughters that I have actually learned at times to enjoy shopping. Each year at Christmas time I go out and attempt to select things that they will appreciate, that they may even need. At times it is a blessing to be able to give without wanting or even expecting anything in return.
But there are other times during this Christmas rush when I feel anything but good, when I am anything but happy, when I experience little or no peace, by any definition of that word. It is in these times that I briefly glimpse people who don't have enough to eat, who strive to survive in inadequate housing or no housing, whose dreams have nothing to do with something "under the tree". Instead these people dream of a kind word, a compassionate gesture, of one who even for a moment might acknowledge their existence and express some care for, some appreciation of them.
Sometimes in this rush I also see the extreme waste, the near obsession to check everyone off our list, so that when all is said and done we are somehow still in good "standing" with them.
What does all this cost? Not only in terms of dollars, but in terms of time, in terms of taxing this earth and her climate to produce all the "goods", to transport them from places far and near, so that we may purchase them? How does any of this help the rest of the people in this world, people to whom Christmas may not even be a word – but who simply hope somehow to defy seemingly insurmountable odds and survive? Yes, whassup? What's really happening? What's the truth?
I sometimes wonder about this "truth" when I meet people. It doesn't seem to matter what socio-economic class we are part of, truth telling is often difficult for us. Not that we necessarily purposely lie. But there is usually some pretense. We seem unable to become totally or even intentionally vulnerable to just anyone or even any-"ones". We have to protect ourselves! If we have learned anything in this world, we know that you can' t just trust anyone. So, whether it's the person asking me for grocery gift certificates, or a bus ticket to visit their dying mother in Montreal, or whether it's another father at the gym telling me about his son or daughter, or any of you speaking to me, there is always more to our reality than meets eye or ear at first. WE NEED TO KNOW THIS!
But there is a dilemma here. This dilemma is especially real for we people who like to think that we know something. This dilemma becomes more difficult for those of us who have a bent to somehow control or influence that which we know, those whom we love. If what we think we know is at most only a part of the truth – perhaps at times in direct opposition to a more fundamental reality or at worst only that which we are comfortable seeing – then, where is the truth, what is truth?
This is the very question that Pilate, the prefect of Galilee, the ruling authority in that little province asks Jesus as Jesus is brought to him on trumped up charges by the religious authorities. Pilate then asks Jesus, "What is truth?" In many ways this may not be surprising. Pilate knows about power. He had some of it himself. Pilate could decide if men or women came or went, were rewarded or punished. Pilate even had the authority to declare that some be executed. Pilate had clout. And yet, even though Pilate had so much of what this world sees as being desireable, tradition tells us that a few years after Jesus encountered Pilate, Pilate takes his own life. So, what is truth?
Don't we see that Pilate is standing right there in front of Jesus, perhaps even beside Jesus, the One John's Gospel refers to as the Word of God? But Pilate misses this truth. Pilate not only thinks but believes that the power of the system he wields is all there is. He refuses to see that beyond the element or reality of Rome's power, there is something more. Rome's power like all other earthly powers was also passing away. Regardless of how many people's lives it claimed, of how many aqueducts and super highways were built, of how many soldiers it sent out, of how much wealth it generated, Rome's power is not all there is! The Roman Empire had a beginning and an end. Nevertheless at the time that's all Pilate could grasp – was Rome.
I sometimes wonder if I if we are any different than Pilate? God knows, our temptations to want to have power are great. We want our kids, our grandkids, our family members to do well. And we model for them a work ethic that is often second to none. Some of that is good. But do we show them what and who truly matters? Is it the beautiful home, that special car, investments and possessions? Again, God knows, we spend so much of our time working for such things, even longing for them. But, is that what truly matters? Are consumption, materialism, some kind of material "security" what our lives are to be truly about, offered in service to? Think about this carefully. Come to an intentional conclusion.
During Jesus' so-called trial, just before Pilate asks of Jesus, "What is truth?", Pilate also asks Jesus if he is a king. Pilate's exact words are, "So you are a king?!" Depending on one's interpretation this may either be an affirmation or a question. In any case Jesus responds in John's Gospel in this way: "You say that I am king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth".
Do note: the word testify in Greek is martyria. From that word we derive the English word "martyr". Jesus comes to flesh out with his total being and point towards the truth. The writer of John's Gospel calls Jesus the WORD – that is the WORD of God to the world. And for John's Gospel this WORD is to show us that God loves the world – all people and all creation. God has a dream for this world – that it would live in harmony with God and then with each other: men, women and children, people and creatures, people and the earth. God so loves the world – so that there may be new life. That is God's hope, God's dream, the mission to which Jesus gives his life. In some ways Jesus stands before us today – in the words of Scripture, in the prayers, certainly in the Sacrament. He wills to confront us when we are comfortable – so that we may not depend as Pilate did in things that only seem to be god, that only seem to be permanent, that give a few great benefit, while imprisoning others to death and exclusion. Such powers suck the very life from us and this world. This same Jesus wills to comfort us when we are devastated and lead us through such suffering to new beginnings, beginnings we may never have imagined – beginnings that may not be easy – but which have as their end – their purpose, forgiveness and care, compassion and justice and mercy. Jesus gives His all so that the world might experience this very love of God.
What is truth? Ahhh, this is not merely a philosophical question. Not at all! But rather our "truth" is the reality to which we are giving or will give our lives too. What do you see, what do you believe, what do you treat as being true? Be very careful. For that becomes our god.
Please know that Jesus comes even now to bear witness to the truth. As He touches us we may be caught up by the very presence of God, in which everything and everyone is seen and experienced in a new light – in which what we thought we knew before, is now experienced with a humility and an openness to much more. Or, because we may think it easier to try to be in control, or because we are so sure that truth is what we can see, feel, taste, touch or somehow prove or control, we refuse to be open to this Jesus, to his unconditional love, to his questioning of so much of the way things are.