Christ the King B 2024
21 Nov. John 18:33-37
Jack Hardaway
SHOWING UP
It turns out we were wrong.
In a big way.
To quote Gomer Pyle, “Surprise, surprise, surprise!”
We thought truth had something to do with saying things a certain way, using words to convey facts, the absence of deception.
Telling it like it is, speaking our mind, and all that.
Telling the truth, speaking truth, seeking truth isn’t what we thought. It isn’t abstract, or esoteric, or secretive, or elusive.
The truth?
The truth simply means showing up.
To be truthful, to be honest, is to show up.
Boy have we had it wrong all this time!
Showing up for each other, that is truth.
We thought it had something to do with logic, invisible things, ideas.
Turns out it is all about flesh and blood, body and bones, physical things, the material world, moving one body closer to another.
Showing up.
The Gospel according to John is that Jesus is God showing up, in the flesh, being there for us.
Jesus is the truth, and the truth is that God shows up.
The Truth is Love, the same thing.
We had love wrong too. We thought love was a feeling. Love is showing up.
Flesh and blood, body and bones, physical things, the material world, moving one body closer to another.
Showing up.
The Incarnate God.
Love and Truth in the flesh.
We end the year this week with Christ as King, with Jesus and Pilate haggling over truth, and Pilate missing the point, asking “what is truth” as truth was bound and whipped and bleeding on the road. Pilate ignores the body of evidence.
Those who show up, they belong to the truth, they listen to the voice.
The irony of John’s Gospel is that God shows up, but we don’t. It is a bitter grief that weeps from every page.
But when we show up for each other, the truth sets us free.
The showing up people in a no-show world.
That is who we are, who we are to be.
That innate intuitive need and urge to be there for each other is the truth working within us. Even when we don’t follow through, that truth is still there, moving us slowly toward each other.
I’m pretty sure that is where casseroles came from. Truth on the go with hot mitts. But that is a matter of speculation.
This week our nation shows up for each other and gives thanks.
The truth abounds.
May we all show up for each other.
Flesh and blood, body and bones, physical things, the material world, moving one body closer to another. That’s the Gospel truth.