John 18:33-37     NT p. 108 or 1329

33 Then Pilate entered the headquarters again, summoned Jesus, and asked him, "Are you the King of the Jews?"

34 Jesus answered, "Do you ask this on your own, or did others tell you about me?"

35 Pilate replied, "I am not a Jew, am I? Your own nation and the chief priests have handed you over to me. What have you done?"

36 Jesus answered, "My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here."

37 Pilate asked him, "So you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say that I am a king. 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."

INTRODUCTION:

Does anybody else remember the phrase "out of this world"? We used to use it to describe the indescribable. Whether it was a hot fudge sundae, a musical group or someone of the opposite sex that took our breathe away. They could be described as being "out of this world."

That's the way I would describe Mary's cooking. She makes the best dressing I've ever had. It's so good it will make your tongue slap your brains clear out of your head. It's "out of this world."

Someone once described Christianity and the Christian work that we do this way. "The pay may not be that much, but the retirement plan is out of this world."

And that's how Jesus described His Kingdom when questioned by Pilate. Well, actually Jesus said, "NOT of this world." But you get the idea. Jesus was making a distinction between His Kingdom, the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world.

I. HIS KINGDOM:

A. What kind of Kingdom is this that Jesus was talking about? No thrones, no trappings of royalty, no chamberlains and knights and court jesters. No lackeys and people vying for the King's favor. No royal intrigue. No hierarchy of positions. No armies to protect and overthrow by the sword. No oaths of fealty. No princes or princesses to fall in love with and emulate. No Diana or Fergie, no Charles. No carriages, crowns and royal balls.

Jesus' Kingdom is not like worldly kingdoms. But how are we supposed to understand a Kingdom not of this world? Half of us can't even understand the directions for our VCRs and Microwaves. How are we supposed to understand this.

Worldly kingdoms can crumble. In a worldly kingdom things can go wrong. A worldly king can lose control and lose sight of the purpose and goal of their reign. A worldly king can be overthrown.

But never Jesus. His Kingdom is not of this world. Oh, this world played a part in the establishment of His kingdom. He was crowned and enthroned by this world. Crowned with crown of thorns, in derision. And His throne was a cruel rough hewn cross.

They put Him in purple robes as befitted His office, only to mock Him. His inauguration was the whip and death on a cross for our sakes. This world made his seal the seal on the stone covering the door to the tomb. The seal of death. The one that sealed him in the tomb forever.

But Jesus was raised from the dead and that seal was broken, not so He could get out but so that we could look in and see that the tomb was empty. As Jesus was raised He ascended to the real throne, the throne of grace, the throne of God. The stone that sealed the tomb was cast aside. And the entrance to the tomb has become the entrance to the court of the king who offers forgiveness and life eternal to those who believe.

The Kingdom of Jesus, the Kingdom of God is eternal. It's not of this world. But it lives and manifests itself in us when we live out our faith in the world.

B. And that's what everybody wants to see. They want to know if our faith is real enough to change us and make us different than others. Alex Stevenson, in one of his sermons, shares a poem he received from a Gen-Xer hungry for God.

"Do you know, do you understand that you represent Jesus to me?

Do you know, do you understand that when you treat me with gentleness, it raises in my mind that maybe he is gentle, too? Maybe he isn't someone who laughs when I am hurt.

Do you know, do you understand that when you listen to my questions and you don't laugh, I think, "What if Jesus is interested in me, too?

Do you know, do you understand that when I hear you talk about arguments and conflict and scars from your past that I think, "Maybe I am just a regular person instead of a bad, no-good, little girl who deserves abuse?"

If you care, I think maybe he cares---- and then there's this flame of hope that burns inside of me, and for a while I am afraid to breathe because it might go out.

Do you know, do you understand that your words are his words? Your face, his face to someone like me?

Please be who you say you are, Please, God, don't let this be another trick. Please let this be real, Please Do you know, do you understand that you represent Jesus to me?

"Please be who you say you are. Amen" (JRS) (1)

That's a cry every Church and every Christian needs to hear and needs to heed. "Please be who you say you are." We have been claimed and washed cleaned from all of our sin by the Son of God. And we claim to be citizens of His Kingdom, a kingdom not of this world. A kingdom that lives differently.

Someone once said, "You are the only Bible some people may ever read." Then let them read the finest chapters and verses. Live as citizens of the Kingdom.

II. LIVING THE KINGDOM:

A. Now what does that mean? Well, it means that you and I are called to Live The Kingdom. And in Living The Kingdom, we're called to be "not of this world." Or as the Gen-Xer said, to "be who we say you are." How do we do that? Let me give you a couple of examples.

First: A few years ago, a couple in Tennessee had a frightening experience. Nathan and Louise Degrafinreid went to bed with the news report that five prisoners had escaped from a nearby jail. The next morning, when Nathan went out on the porch to get the paper, one of those escapees pointed a gun at him. He pushed Nathan into the living room where Louise saw the two of them.

A 73-year-old woman who is not easily intimidated, Louise told the escapee, "I am a Christian lady, I don't believe in violence. Put that gun down and sit down."

The convict relaxed his grip on the shotgun and said, "I'm hungry."

Louise said, "You wait right here while I go and fix breakfast."

She said to Nathan: "Go get this young man some dry socks."

Louise set the table with good dishes, placing a napkin by each plate. She fixed bacon and eggs. And before they ate, she prayed. She told the young man, "I love you and God loves you. Jesus died for you."

Before long, they heard sirens, and the police arrived with their guns. But there was no shooting. Louise told the police that she wanted no violence. As they put handcuffs on the prisoner, they looked at this couple and wondered how they had managed to avoid being killed. (2)

This couples' faith and the living out of that faith was "not of this world." They could have reacted like the majority of people with panic and fear. Instead, they reached out in love and gave a witness that was "out of this world." A witness worthy of our King.

B. Second: Two or three years ago schoolgirls from the Israeli village of Beit Shemesh were enjoying a long-anticipated springtime field trip to the (so-called) "Island of Peace" on the Jordan River border between Israel and Jordan. Suddenly, without warning, a Jordanian soldier went berserk and started spraying the young girls with automatic machine gun fire. He chased them down a hill, killing seven young girls and wounding as many others at point blank range.

CNN showed us quite clearly the grieving and mourning happening in that far-off village. CNN brought the images into our homes so that we, too, could hardly bear to watch the young girls being buried beneath the hard earth of their poor village south of Jerusalem. We, too, found ourselves caught up in a moment of inexpressible grief and anguish, with sighs too deep for words.

But then something quite unexpected happened. Something not of this world that caught everyone in the world, completely off guard.

In the midst of anguish and anger and alienation, without warning, the King, King Hussein, of Jordan, the country where this crazy gunman lived, left his throne, left his palace, left his very country, and entered the homes of the families of the slain girls. Do you remember that?

King Hussein, in all his majesty, entered each of the modest homes of these grieving families and he fell on his knees. The King bowed down before them. In each home he looked up into the eyes of the mother, the father, the sisters, the brothers, all people who were grieving the loss of each young girl and he said, "I beg you, forgive me, forgive me. Your daughter is like my daughter, your loss is my loss. May God help you to bear your pain."

And the king, humbled before them, bowed and walked out. Back to his palace, back to his country, back to his sovereignty. This king, this Muslim king, showed us how to live like Christ. (3)

Many times we think of using power as a way to get back at people, to hurt or destroy those people who are against us in some way. But here in today's Scripture, we're reminded that that's not what God's power is all about. God's power is the power to love, the power to forgive, even when that seems to be the most impossible thing to do. Because the power of Jesus is "not of this world."

CONCLUSION:

When we Live The Kingdom, then we can make a difference that others will see. When we Live The Kingdom we bring glory to God.

A number of years ago, I was standing in line at the grocery store. I had the honey-do list in one hand and the bread, milk, and other stuff in the basket. In front of me at the check out counter was a young man eight or nine years old.

He was looking over that display of candy bars that are always there to tempt everyone who's on a diet. I could tell this was an important and momentous decision. Choosing just the right candy bar is never easy.

I remember thinking, "Good choice" when he picked a big old Baby Ruth and laid it on the counter. The cashier rang it up and told how much it was. The boy reached into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of pennies, nickels and a single dime and plomped them on the counter. The cashier gave him one of those looks and started counting. Then he looked up and said, "You're 12 cents short. You need another 12 cents." The boy's shoulder's drooped, his face dropped and he went from grin to groan in less than a second.

Just as the cashier started to tell the boy to put the candy bar back, I reached in my pocket and put 12 cents on the counter. The boy's face lit up like Christmas. He said, "Thanks, mister." And he took off. But then he turned around and came back.

He held up the candy bar and asked, "Hey, mister, you wanna bite?" I said, "No thanks, you eat it." Then he looked at me real careful, like he was studying me and he asked. "How come? How come you did that?" But before I could answer, he got a look of recognition on his face. "Oh, I know you, your that preacher man. Jesus made you do it, didn't he?"

What could I say but "Yes, he did."

Then he said, "I sure like Jesus. And I am glad Jesus makes nice people like you. Bye." Then he was gone.

I don't know who touched who more. But I DO know that I've never gotten that much pleasure out 12 cents before. I really didn't do anything special. All I did was Live The Kingdom. I let the King "not of this world" help a young boy experience something "out of this world." I was able to touch a little boy's life and bring glory to God.

We can all Live The Kingdom and live "not of this world," so others can have an "out of this world" experience. Listen to His voice and Live The Kingdom.

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Bibliography

1. www.deaconsil.com

2. Ken Kettlewell, EMPHASIS March/April 2000, p. 4

3. Shelley Bryan Wee, www.SermonMall.com. Adapted.

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