Has it ever struck you how many sentences in the Bible begin with “I,” especially “I Am?” In the Old Testament, it is the Living God, the God of the Covenant, Yahweh Himself who speaks – “I Am.” In the New Testament, in the Gospels, it is the Lord Jesus Himself. He says in today’s reading – Yes, I am a King.”
That is the decisive issue is the New Testament: not the question of whether Jesus may legitimately make that claim, but whether we will recognize it. For long, biblical scholars have tried to evade the issue by pointing out that Jesus only speaks this way in the Gospel of John. Today, every expert in the area of New Testament knows that in the first Gospels, the synoptics, as well as the fourth, we hear the voice of Jesus uttering “I am” with absolute divine authority . . . though in the synoptics the note is more restrained and reserved. “Yes,” said Jesus, “I am a King.”
On the Sunday known as the Feast of Christ the King, what difference does this make to us? What difference does it make whether a prophet says: “this says the Lord, I am . . .” or whether Jesus, the God-Man says “I am a King?” Each Sunday we say “I Believe” in God as sovereign, in Jesus as savior and the Holy Spirit as inspiration, guide, and healer.
However, the mere fact that we acknowledge God to be our sovereign Lord, Jesus Christ to be our redeemer, and the Holy Spirit to be our inspiration, has not made the slightest difference in our preoccupation with ourselves, the ever-present “I.” That is the main point I want to make. If our self-centered personality is not revolutionized, then the whole structure of Christian orthodox thinking is useless.
To revolutionize the “I” does not mean we are to deny that we have feelings, thoughts, and concerns for ourselves. That would not be healthy! To be revolutionize the “I” means to put ourselves in perspective. Too often, as we walk through our lives, we neglect to do this. We get tangled up in pettiness or gossip which sets up a wall between persons. Focusing on “I” rather than being the vehicle by which we met and know one another can ruin a relationship. This happens all too often because our “I” is not seen in perspective and is allowed to get out of hand. Then the Creeds become words and we become less than what we say we are.
We all agree that the Summary of God’s Law is: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” But this is the first half of the Law, it tells us that the spiritual side of our religion is extremely important, but until we put it to work, we can never fulfill the second half of the Law: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” That reminds us how important “I” is, but also tells us that we are to take account of other people in equal proportion to our love for ourselves. This is what I mean by putting “I” in perspective. There are times that we must put our “I” behind the needs of others, and there are also times when our “I” must come to the fore.
Each of us is a human being who feels, acts, reacts, and sometimes makes mistakes. We find we can put the “I” of others ahead of ourselves. Each of us also have lived with pain or suffering that we have kept to ourselves. All of us have experienced a sudden change in circumstances that we could do nothing about – only live with it and move forward. It is at these times that it becomes clear that we need to allow other people to minister to us. When we minister to others or allow others to minister to our needs, we are given vision of God seen in the caring and concern around us.
In the end, it is the Love of God that allows us to put our “I” in perspective. Just as we want to get glimpses of God’s mind and share our dreams and desire and hours of darkness or joy through prayer, so we must do this with one another. The love of God and neighbor not only only go hand in hand, they are one and the same. They are a unity.
To take Jesus’ saying: “Yes, I am a King” to our hearts means realizing the sovereignty and authority that holds. If God is to reign in our lives as we look to the expectation of Advent and the coming of Christ at Christmas, we must first see that we have a right perspective on our own “I,” the “I” of others and the unity of God’s people.
Source: © The Rev. Peter Groschner, November 22, 2015. John 18:33-37. Reprinted with permission from the author.