Reign of Christ: the Great Mosaic of Being

John 18: 33-38 

 We are not here to fit in, be well balanced, or provide exempla for others.  We are here to be eccentric, different, perhaps strange, perhaps merely to add our small piece, our little clunky, chunky selves, to the great mosaic of being. As the gods intended, we are here to become more and more ourselves.  

These words of Jungian analyst Jim Hollis are quoted in Brené Brown’s book, “Dare to Lead: Brave Work, Tough Conversations, Whole Hearts.”

 

I have spent a lot of my lifetime trying to fit in, to be well balanced, to be an example. I have played down or hidden eccentricities, difference, any part of me that could be judged as strange. I believed this was truth, so that I could protect myself from hurtful comments, have friends, be welcomed in social groups, be liked by colleagues, and be hired and kept in jobs.

This truth  - of sameness – status quo- although real lived experience, is it really truth?

 

Jesus’ final words to Pilate, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”

Then Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?”

 

World Vision recently held an event titled: ‘The Connected Generation: A Canadian Conversation,” which presented research by the Barnam group of a survey done with 18-35 years. The questions asked young adults about faith, spirituality, purpose, feelings and fears, issues affecting society and the world.

One item arising from the research was that young people are more interested in knowing that the church is good rather than true. 

 

Pilate asked, “What is truth?” What if Pilate had asked, “What is good?”

 

The research went on to discover that truth is not heard in statement of beliefs -so called truths, rather the connected generation experiences truth as performative, in actions – naming action as good.

When taking a walk-through Jesus’ life as described in the Gospels, have you noticed that Jesus didn’t teach a creed or a list of beliefs. Jesus didn’t offer a statement of faith or have the disciples swear to a set of doctrinal theses. Jesus went about living a life where truth was performative: Jesus prayed, studied scripture, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, confronted power, touched the unclean, welcomed the marginalized, taught by telling stories.

What is truth? … Whatever is good?

 

Jesus does not answer Pilate’s question, “What is truth?”

This week, a colleague, in conversation on this text, suggested that Jesus had no answer because Pilate asked the wrong question.  Pilate was thinking about truth as fact, belief, statement.

The question when looking at Jesus’ life – a life where truth was performative- was to ask, “Who is truth?”  That question changes the preceding dialogue between Jesus and Pilate that asks if Jesus is a king. “Who is truth?” is answered in the actions of Jesus’ life, and yes, a king but not a king as Pilate would have described a king.

 

Who is truth?

This week on the Lutheran calendar is a day to commemorate Jehu Jones.

Jehu Jones was a native of Charleston, South Carolina, and was ordain in 1832 by what was known at the time as the New York Ministerium.  Jones was the first African American Lutheran pastor.

Studying his life, one will note that he is not remembered for truth – as in his statement of faith, the saying of the creed, or holding to Lutheran Confessions, which he did as a Lutheran pastor. He is remembered for Truth lived.

After ordination Jehu went back to South Carolina, commissioned as a missionary to accompany a group of Charlestonians to Liberia. Instead, he was arrested –it was illegal for a free black to re-enter the state of South Carolina after having left. In the face of much difficulty, Jones served in Philadelphia for 20 years as a missionary pastor, forming the first African American Lutheran congregation, St. Paul’s, and constructing a church. He died in 1852, having lived Truth by tirelessly working to improve social welfare for the black community, actively participating in Pennsylvania politics, organizing blacks to sign civil rights petitions.

 

Jehu and Jehu’s life lived out a Lutheran understanding and experience:

God’s grace is abundant and is freely given. God loved the world so much that God dared to enter human life and die – out of love, for love. This unconditional love – that someone, that God- would freely give this gift is beyond comprehension and bigger than a statement of Truth. Once experiencing even a small portion of Truth in action we too are compelled to live Truth performatively too.

 

The church has wasted time describing or pontificating on ‘what’ is truth; making statements of what we believe, what one needs to believe, what God’s will is, what God causes to happen …

 What is truth?, at times rears its ugly head and becomes public outrage, like the pushback to  the truth statements made by the pastor in Amherst around COVID and God’s will …

 and younger Canadians look at the church finding it difficult to use the word ‘good.’

 

This is the Reign of Christ Sunday. It is a Sunday where the church explores the characteristics of Jesus as Christ, who because of love died - performative truth.  Reflecting on Jesus’ life, I could characterize it as a life of brave work, tough conversations, and whole heart (to use part of the title from Brené Brown’s book).

When I feel that something is good and picture what good looks like, when I picture the Reign of Christ, I experience good – Truth- in colour. I see a rainbow, like the double rainbow that stretched across HRM a week ago; bright, vibrant, energized, people excited about it, full of wonder and awe, a shared experience of beauty, gratefulness, connectedness… good. Truth.

Jesus -by his living performative Truth- encouraged the same of the disciples and those he touched- to live by adding their small piece to the great mosaic of being.

The Reign of Christ is a multi-coloured vibrant action-filled church with a purpose of good – not focusing on the “what” but, “who.”

 

Jesus did not answer Pilate’s question because Jesus’ life lived the answer, “who is truth?”

Jesus’ silence to Pilate, is a silence where we are challenged to change our relationship with Truth, where we redirect our living based on the reflection of Jesus’ life where life’s purpose was performative Truth.

Let us answer Jesus’ silence and challenge.

 

Be freed and empowered, to live the Reign of Christ… and remember…

We are not here to fit in, be well balanced, or provide exempla for others.  We are here to be eccentric, different, perhaps strange, perhaps merely to add our small piece, our little clunky, chunky selves, to the great mosaic of being.