Next Sunday is the first Sunday in the Christian season of Advent, the first Sunday on the Christian calendar and, incidentally, the first Sunday I preached from this pulpit as one of your pastors 11 years ago.  That makes today the last Sunday on the Christian Calendar and, as such, it has a special name of its own: Christ the King Sunday.  It was so designated by a pope in the late 1800’s when the world’s great empires were all at war with one another or about to go to war.

The pope at the time wrote a letter in which he dedicated the world to Christ the King, reminding the empires that God was present with the whole human race, even with those who did not know God in the same way as the Catholic Church. After WWI a subsequent pope designated the last Sunday in October as Christ the King Sunday.  The date was eventually moved to the last Sunday on the Christian calendar when Christians might reflect upon Christ’s return at the end of time to rule over creation—a theme that echoes throughout Revelation, the last book of the Bible.

So here we are on Christ the King Sunday, reflecting upon King Jesus and his kingdom and our role as his subjects.  We have a Christian flag in our sanctuary to represent our citizenship in Christ’s kingdom.  But we also have an American flag to represent our citizenship in America.  Is being an American synonymous with being a Christian?  How then would we regard Christians from other nations, and how would they regard us?

If not synonymous, would we have dual citizenship?  What if the two realms were at odds with one another?  Which one would take preference?  What if you had graduated from Steubenville and now lived in Aurora?  Which team would you have rooted for last night?  Of course you would have rooted for Aurora, that’s an easy question to answer.  But what if you were a Muslim living in America.  Which side would you pull for in what one author has labeled the "Clash of Civilizations" unfolding in our world today?

My father always used to introduce himself as Fred Snell, even though his last name was correctly pronounced Schnell, as in the common German expression, "mach schnell!"  As a WWII veteran, I always assumed he did not want anyone mistaking his loyalties.  By the way, he grew up in Berlin, Ohio, which is spelled exactly like Berlin, Germany.  Maybe after both WWI and WWII the citizens there did not want anyone mistaking their loyalties either.

When the chips are down, where are our ultimate loyalties?  Are they with a particular nation or a political party?  Does money or power sit on the throne at the center of our lives, or does something or someone else?  Mother Teresa once said: "By blood and origin, I am all Albanian.  My citizenship is Indian.  I am a Catholic nun.  As to my calling, I belong to the whole world.  As to my heart, I belong entirely to Jesus."  Christ the King was on the throne at the center of Mother Teresa’s life.

The title of our message for this morning is "Kingdoms in Conflict."  In our text Jesus distinguishes between the kingdoms of this world and his kingdom, which is not of this world.  Our text is from a larger discourse that comprises one of the world’s great trial scenes.  We were fascinated by the OJ trial.  We once watched Perry Mason on TV even as we now watch Law & Order.  Sometimes we let Judge Judy into our living rooms.  Let us see what unfolds in this trial scene as a fellow named Pilate examines Jesus.

Then the Jews led Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace of the Roman Governor (Verse 28).  The Jewish authorities have determined that Jesus should be put to death.  The only problem is that they do not have authority to put anyone to death.  The Jewish state at this time is under the domination of Rome, and only Rome can hand down a death sentence.  So with the blessing of Jewish high priests such as Annas and Caiaphas a bound Jesus is taken to the Roman governor of Palestine—Pontius Pilate.

The Apostles’ Creed says that Jesus "…suffered under Pontius Pilate."  The Nicene Creed says that Jesus was "…crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate."  Other than the Virgin Mary, Pontius Pilate is the only non-divine personage mentioned in these historic creeds.  Who was he?  He was Rome’s go-to guy in Palestine, which included Samaria, Judea and Old Idumea.  The Roman Emperor, Tiberius at the time, had governors in place to govern all the far-reaching provinces of the Roman Empire in his name.

While the Roman Governor was mainly concerned with tax and financial matters, he was also the supreme judicial authority charged with maintaining peace and order in the province to which he was assigned.  Palestine was a particularly difficult assignment because of the religiously fueled hatred of Roman domination and corresponding desire for liberation.  Anyone who could successfully manage Palestine would certainly be assured of a good future in the foreign service of Rome.

But from the beginning almost everything went wrong for Pilate.  He made one politically incorrect gaff after another.  First he ordered his soldiers to carry images of Caesar into the Temple, in direct violation of the 2^nd Commandment prohibiting graven images.  Caiaphas, the high priest, immediately retaliated by ordering 2000 praying Jews to surround Pilate’s palace for 6 days and nights.  Pilate threatened to behead them all.  In defiance these protestors called his bluff by kneeling before him, sticking their necks out and daring him to do it.  Totally humiliated he ordered the images in the Temple to be taken down.

Then Pilate sought to win the people’s favor by building an aqueduct that would supply much needed water.  The only problem is that he funded the project with money from the Temple treasury.  This also did not sit well with the people.  In the ensuing riot several lives were lost before order could be restored.  When this news reached Rome, Tiberius expressed grave displeasure.  After all, the Governor’s job was to keep peace and order.

Things had not gone very well for Pilate by the time Jesus was brought to him.  The former already had two strikes against him.  If there was a third strike he would be out of a career, and the Jewish authorities knew it and used it as leverage to get what they wanted.  They wanted Jesus dead and for that they needed Pilate.  An unwilling Pilate suggested a different legal remedy, "Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law."  "But we have no right to execute anyone," the Jews objected (Verse 31).

If Pilate had been completely devoid of ethics or morality he would have rendered a sentence for capital punishment right then and there.  But Pilate had a conscience and it was bothering him greatly.  Maybe questioning Jesus would provide a way out of his dilemma.  Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned Jesus and asked him, "Are you the king of the Jews?"  "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me?" (Verses 33-34).

Was Pilate really interested in Jesus—who and what he was?  He had heard the stories of Jesus’ wonderworking power and how he taught the people with authority.  He had seen that the corrupt religious leadership was clearly threatened by Jesus (and he probably hoped for someone like Jesus to undermine their overreaching authority).  Maybe he had even wondered if Jesus was the fulfillment of the messianic prophecies found in the Jew’s sacred scriptures.  Regardless, Pilate was not going to confide in Jesus and he certainly was not going to let Jesus question him.

"Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied.  "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me.  What is it you have done?" (Verse 35).  Pilate could not find anything Jesus had done deserving of death.  He had not killed or hurt or stolen—quite the contrary.  But Pilate had asked Jesus if he was the king of the Jews, and to this question Jesus gave his answer.  Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world.  If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews.  But now my kingdom is from another place (Verse 36).

In other words, Jesus is talking semantics here.  He is not a king as the world understands the term—a king that controls land, has an army to preserve and protect his holdings and so forth--but he is a king of a higher, heavenly order.  "You are a king, then!" said Pilate.  Jesus answered, "You are right in saying I am a king.  In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth.  Everyone on the side of truth listens to me."

"What is truth?" Pilate asked (Verses 37-38).  In Pilate’s world truth is whatever gets the most applause, and right now there are plenty of influential people who would applaud a sentence of death for Jesus.  Still, there is a side to Pilate that recognizes an undeniable truth—Jesus has done nothing deserving of death.  Will he bend to the pressure to violate his conscience and principles, or will he take a stand for the truth and suffer the consequences?

With this he went out again to the Jews and said, "I find no basis for a charge against him (Verse 38).  But just to give everyone a chance to save face, Pilate suggests plan B: an annual Jewish custom that provides for the release of one prisoner at that time of the year.  How about Jesus?  But no, the Jews choose for a prisoner named Barabbas to be released instead.  Pilate sinks to plan C.  He has Jesus flogged and then lets the soldiers beat him up and sink a crown of thorns into his head.  Maybe the pathetic picture of a beaten man will placate the mob.  Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews, "Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him" (19:4).

But the mob starts shouting, "Crucify! Crucify!"  But Pilate answered, "You take him and crucify him.  As for me, I find no basis for a charge against him" (19:6).  Over and over again Pilate refuses to charge Jesus with a capital offense.  Again and again he seeks a way out.  He tries to interview a beaten Jesus again, but Jesus will no longer answer him.  From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar.  Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar… "Shall I crucify your king?"  Pilate asked.  "We have no king but Caesar," the chief priests answered.  Finally Pilate handed him over to them to be crucified (19:12&15-16).

Pilate tries to salvage some of his dignity by washing his hands in a bowl as a symbolic gesture to show that Jesus’ blood is not on his hands.  He also enrages the chief priests by placing a sign on Jesus’ cross that reads in Greek, Hebrew and Latin: "The King of the Jews."  Finally, he releases Jesus’ dead body to Joseph of Arimathea so that he can be given a proper burial according to the customs of his people.  But in the end Pilate is a tragic figure who bows to pressure and betrays the truth.  Six years later he is relieved of duty for some misstep and recalled to Rome.  The historian Eusebius says that soon afterward, "wearied with misfortunes," he took his own life.

When I was in the Air Force my job was to interview Basic Trainees for high risk or sensitive jobs dealing with nuclear weapons, security clearances and so forth.  If a basic trainee had a guaranteed job as a part of his recruitment, and failed to pass our background investigation, he or she was to be given the option of a new, less sensitive assignment or an honorable discharge.  As it happened, too many were opting for an honorable discharge.  Since the Air Force was not meeting certain quotas in fields such as weapons mechanic and so forth, the order came down from above that we were to steer trainees denied their guaranteed slots into those jobs and not inform them of their right to an honorable discharge.

I refused to do this as a violation of conscience, was reassigned to a dead-end job, lost my own security clearance, was passed over for a routine promotion and had some scheduled vacation dates mysteriously canceled at the last moment.  However I gained an unexpected degree of respect from my peers and subordinates who, as it turns out, were also struggling with the same issue, and possibly from my superiors as well since my clearance and job were soon enough restored and the objectionable policy rescinded.  By the time I was honorably discharged from active duty to attend seminary, all was well with the world.

Do I hold any bitterness against the Untied States Air Force for that little sojourn in the wilderness?  Absolutely not.  Those kinds of pressures are not unique to the military any more than they are to the business world, the world of politics or the world of organized religion for that matter.  But Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world.  His kingdom always stands for the truth and the right the good and the noble.  For that reason, his kingdom and the kingdoms of this world will always be "Kingdoms in Conflict."

In closing I would like to offer the following poem composed by Andrew Daughters.

What kind of a Kingdom has Jesus?

No castle nor palace has he.

No congress nor parliament sitting,

deciding what laws there will be.

Perhaps he has need of but two laws:

Love God and your neighbor as well.

To obey them is all that is needed,

as all of the saintly can tell.

He has neither army nor navy,

no air force to guard the frontiers

to keep out the strangers unwanted

Immigration he seems to encourage,

of some quite disreputable,

like fishermen, publicans, sinners.

To such he is hospitable.

or taxes we must calculate.

He surely cannot run a kingdom

on what we put into the plate!

No 1040 form comes in April

to fill out before the fifteenth,

with penalties charged for nonpayment,

beginning upon the sixteenth.

no coinage engraved with his name.

And where are the posters and slogans

proclaiming his power and fame?

And I see no trappings of kingship,

no robes made of velvet and fur,

no crown made of gold set with diamonds,

to befit our supreme arbiter.

Jesus said that his kingdom was really

not what Pilate had thought it had been.

It was not of this world.  And its glory

was not of the kind to be seen.

For those of us here in his kingdom,

there is one other thing we have known:

of the kingdoms around in his lifetime,