Mass readings for the Solemnity of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe:
Daniel 7.13-14 Psalm 93.1-2, 5 Revelation 1.5-8 John 18.33b-37
“Speaking truth to power” is a phrase met with eye-rolling disdain more and more these days. Once the unofficial motto of any number of activists, it is employed by the wealthy and the privileged as much as the downtrodden and oppressed. For example, to hear broadcast journalists invoke this either directly or in more subtle terms as they sit in the studios of multi-billion-dollar media corporations is laughable – the interests of such mega-companies rarely lies in any true advocacy for the general public but in the protection of the status quo; and I don’t think state broadcasters have any ethical advantage – they serve other, and yet similar interests. To listen to the leaders of corrupt political parties, even those once seen as tribunes of the common people, is a very discouraging turn in the western world’s political discourse. And, of course, when claiming to the be the speaker of truth to power, one is making a distinct division that casts opponents as the party of deceit, in the service of the Prince of Lies. And as much as we might be tempted to believe this, as angry as we may be with “the other side” – rarely if ever is that the case. In my experience, most have the best of intentions. However, they can also have terrible ideas guiding them, awful policies they want to implement, and so, select and present information that supports these, while ignoring or discrediting anything that brings their proposals under criticism. I like to think that nonetheless, with common goals, we might be able to work together. However, if captured by an ideology, and without the humility of a true faith to ground them, people can rationalize the suffering they cause as being for the best… and usually, for the best “in the long run”. They forget what the economist John Maynard Keynes said, “in the long run, we’re all dead” and so, it’s a poor rationalization for causing others pain and distress.
Playing the victim is another thing we see; for there is a very real advantage in it today: one gains the moral high ground, and power over others. The key here is to make certain that no matter how complex a situation is, that it be presented to an uninformed public as nonetheless a black-and-white matter: the heroes and villains are plain to see. And too often, we have media and other opinion-leaders, insisting on such oversimplification. From the perspective of the news industry, something for which I trained and worked in for a while, this is very appealing because it makes for an easy story to tell, and it’s a story that a lot of people are too eager to believe.
Of course this is all a distortion, a degenerate perspective derived from Christian faith. Who is the incarnation of truth who, indeed, spoke defiantly to the powers of this world? Who do we look upon in his suffering and death, as the faultless victim who saves us?
Well, that’s Christ, Jesus Christ our King. When he speaks truth, this is not crafty political maneuvering to gain power. When he is taken by force, insulted, beaten, and tortured to death, he really is completely innocent.
And to presume to stand in his place, is a grave sin that we see so many indulge in, deluded into believing themselves to be the saviours of humanity to one degree or another. What pride! What hubris! And when there is anything but complete deference to them, those who voice any reservation or raise any questions are condemned in the most vicious terms. When we see this, we don’t see a concern for truth, but a grasping after power by those playing the part of truth-teller, of victim.
Jesus says in the gospel today, “Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”
Now, we who believe ourselves to be Christ’s disciples, need to be careful and self-critical in how we live out our belonging to the truth. It is frustrating to see people convinced that the plain facts of things aren’t what they are, who live in… well, we now refer to the world of confirmation-bias, of social media algorithms that re-enforce our perception of things, as “a bubble.” Penetrating or “popping” that bubble is quite difficult, and when it happens, it’s quite traumatic for those who have lost its psychological protection and emotional comfort. There is a disturbing propensity for people upset about whatever, everything from an election result they don’t like, to something as trivial as their favourite television show being cancelled, picking up their phones and recording to online social media a deranged, unhinged rant about the injustice of it all, and quite often including threats against those they believe responsible – and by that I mean they identify whole swaths of society, whole categories of people according to race or religion, or whatever, as being the malefactors with whom they have a score to settle.
We need to come back to Jesus, and see in him the example of a graciousness this world needs now. Here is the king whose throne is the cross, and who in his suffering dispensed, not vengeance, but mercy, asking that his tormenters be forgiven, “for they know not what they do.”
To truly come to the truth of things takes time, patience, discernment, humility. Our gospel passage today stops short of hearing Pontius Pilate’s response to our Lord describing his true disciples as belonging to the truth.
It’s a damning response, and one of the most profound in the gospels as a characterization of the world and the pursuit of power.
Pilate says, “What is truth?” and tellingly, does not stay to hear Jesus’ answer. The Roman procurator, as intrigued as he is by the man from Nazareth, asks him this most provocative and profound of questions, asks it of the perhaps the only person ever able to give the correct answer, but does so with no real desire to know it. He asks rhetorically, assuming the impossibility of an answer, to shut Jesus up; and then promptly leaves to address the crowd, to do his job as the representative of the empire, to do the politics of power, and to keep the masses under control.
As Christians we live out of a profound optimism, but not one rooted in humanity’s potential. Rather, it is a hope founded upon faith in God who saves, Christ who redeems, and Holy Spirit at work in the world remaking hearts and minds. It is slow work, turning hearts of stone to those of real feeling flesh, to heal wounded souls and restore flagging spirits. We serve God’s aims by sharing word and sacrament; restoring human beings to their right relationship to the God who is truth through the waters of baptism, and by sustaining them in Christ with his body and blood, repairing the injuries we do in reconciliation.
And as we are Christ’s body in the world, his hands and feet, so we need to continue, to keep this and other places of gathering for this work guided by truth, open and welcoming.
As I said last week, we are stewards of the truth, the truth known in Jesus Christ; truth that is not experienced as power over others, but as liberation from the powers of the world, of the latest empire. Stewards humbled by the privilege of this task and happy in our work.
Amen.