In the Church Calendar November is a celebration of the fulfillment of God’s will. It culminates in Christ the King Sunday. Sadly this celebration is overshadowed by our anticipation of Christmas, just weeks away by then. Doing God’s will is our reason for being the people of God. And as Christians, we believe God, through Jesus Christ, has revealed it to us. There is a specific way that God wishes us to live our lives. Finding this pathway can only be accomplished by knowing Jesus. This is not to say that God is not revealed through creation or other faiths. It is just saying that God has chosen to be fully revealed in Jesus.

This is the context for one of Jesus’ most controversial statements; he said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? (John 14:6-9)
The whole statement, taken in context shows that Jesus is the way to full knowledge of God the Father.

Many people truly feel that this statement is an exclusionary tactic Christians use to discredit the other great religions of the world. It is true that it has been used this way but is this God’s intent, or is God taking on human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ a costly personal sacrifice made by our God that we should not expect to be repeated just because it does not please us personally? What did it truly cost to bridge the gap between heaven and earth? Phillip, in the John 14 passage obviously wants more. He is not satisfied with the way God has provided and makes this clear to Jesus. Jesus answer is clear though; whoever has seen me has seen the Father.

I personally have difficulty with this as well. It hardly seems fair. My initial response as a young man was to take offense and reject Jesus revelation and Christianity as a whole because I did not like the way God has chosen to be revealed. It took a set of pretty shocking events to get me to reconsider. Even at that I bargained with God even as Phillip did. My demands were much the same as his. If you are the revelation of living God, if you are truly the way, with Philip I said show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.

This was the beginning of my struggle to know Jesus, and through faith in Jesus, trusting in him as the way, to know God. Decades have passed since I first put my feet upon that path and there have been many difficulties and many joys along the way. I still wonder why God chose this particular way to be revealed, but I know longer question the validity of the path itself. Early along, before the name Christian had been applied to us we called ourselves The People of the Way. This was because we truly found our way in Jesus. Christ truly was leading his people along the pathway toward maturity as a people of God, and with this maturity toward an intimate knowledge of God and God’s will.

This love, expressed by God in Jesus life death and resurrection is the center of our faith. Obedience to God’s will and the imitation of Christ is the active expression of our willingness to love God in return. It is in this sense that Christ is our King. He is the true servant leader who reveals the true nature of God not is words but in action. Following his path, becoming one of the people of the way must be active is the same way. This is the living legacy of Christ the King, Emmanuel, God with us.

The depth of emotion I now feel when I think of Jesus my king is probably best expressed by Saint Paul in his letter to the Philippians. Whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. (NRS Philippians 3:7-9)

We are all fellow travelers of this way. Following Christ the King. Let us celebrate this together on November 20th, Christ the King Sunday.

Pastor Jim Bliss
November 2005