Introduction

Friday was a special day for us as a church as and for one attender in particular - as we baptised Masoud, who has come to this country from Iran. It has been a joy to welcome him into our congregation and to share his journey of faith which has followed a very different path to most of ours.

I was struck by how much change had gone on in his country of Iran over his lifetime and the lifetime of his parents. When he was born, Iran was a monarchy ruled over by the Shah. The Shah was seen as being good for the middle classes but oppressed dissidents and fundamentalists. In 1979 there was a revolution in Iran led by the Ayatollah Khomeini and radical Muslim clergy. Whilst Iran is nowled by secular politicians, the real power lies with the Imams who form a Council of Guardianship. The last president was a liberal but was opposed by the Imams who made sure that the current president was elected; he is a fanatic. Elections happen but there is no real choice.

Now all this is strange to those of us who live in the UK. We can all name various government leaders - I have lived through the premierships of Harold Wilson, Ted Heath, Jim Callaghan, Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Tony Blair - I imagine some of you have lived through a few more. But the changes in our governments have been peaceful and orderly compared to the dramatic regime change that Masoud and his family have lived through. We bring about change through elections, not revolution.

Then again, our political system must seem strange to people - like Dwayne Morgan the Pastor of our Bournemouth church whom many of you will remember from our Pride service this year - who come here from other countries. We live in a Kingdom ruled over by a Queen. Our laws are decided on, at least in part, by 90 unelected people who get to do this because they were born into a peerage and by a few hundred others who were appointed not elected. Public office holders take an Oath of Allegiance to the Queen - Andy had to when he became a magistrate - yet the Queen has no power. She has lots of influence but no real power. What power the Crown has is exercised on her behalf by the Prime Minister.

It's difficult to understand what we mean when we say that Jesus is King - for today is the festival of Christ the King - when we look at the kingdoms, realms and republics of this world.

The Kingdoms of the World

Pilate was puzzled by the claim that Jesus was a King. He understood the political leadership represented by Kingship in a particular way. In the Roman world there was one real power - the Emperor. The Romans let local rulers continue in office so long as they paid tribute to Rome. Locals were better at dealing with their own problems. Pilate was only Governor of Judea as the local rulers were dreadful! Pilate would have understood of our political processes today - compromise, following not leading, deals done behind the scenes, principles sacrificed to what is possible, betrayal and scandal. All these are hallmarks of the principalities and powers of our world; not the only ones, but they are there.

If you have followed the mid term elections in the United States you will have been struck by how little policy was talked about - apart from differing views on the war in Iraq. Instead the debate seemed to be about morality, scandal, and venom. And before we get superior about American politics I don't think our next general election will be all that different!

The way we do political power in the world makes it difficult to think of Jesus as King. In 1925 the Church created this festival for the last Sunday before Advent. It is designed to compare and contrast the fading passing realms, rulers and regimes of our world with the eternal rule of Jesus.

Jesus is King

Pilate doesn't understand Jesus' kingship. "I am a king but not of this world". Well, he may have asked, what use is there in being a king but not being a king here! What's the point of the title without the power? Yet Jesus' kingdom is radically different from the realm we live in.

In the realm of God everything is turned upside down.

The first are last.
People are valued for who they are not what they look like or what they earn.
Love is the ultimate value - not money or power.
The weak are strong and the poor are rich.

It is the opposite of what our world thinks about power and politics.

Jesus rule is eternal, the realms and rulers of our world are always partial. The realm of Jesus is always based on love, justice and God's sovereignty; the realms of our world are based on rather more basic things like political expediency.

Dual Nationality

Next year Dwayne Morgan is able to apply for British Citizenship. He will be able to take the oath of allegiance to Her Majesty the Queen and get a UK passport. First he will have to take a "life in the UK test" to make sure he understand all our little ways. So he has another year to learn about such things as Bonfire Night ,afternoon tea, never, ever, complaining in a shop or restaurant and how to queue. When he has mastered all these things he will be allowed to have dual nationality - being a citizen of both the UK and the US and will be between two worlds.

We by virtue of our faith in Jesus Christ and our baptism have already got dual nationality. We are already citizens of the Realm of God as well as of the various human nations we give allegiance too; this means we are all between two worlds too.

Being between two worlds can be difficult. We can forget how to behave in each world. What might be appropriate behaviour in a gay bar may not be appropriate behaviour in the workplace or in church

So we know what it is to be British - or at least we think we do. What does it mean, in our context, to claim to be of dual nationality and to be citizens of the Realm of God, followers of Jesus the King?

The Responsibilities of Citizenship

First, we have to think of the last judgement story Jesus told in St Matthew's gospel where he divides the people of the world up between the sheep and the goats. He does not judge people on how well they sing, or how well they know their Scriptures. In the story of the last judgement that Jesus tells he says he will be judged on how we treat others. Did we feed the hungry, clothe the naked and visit those in prison? How we treat others is key to our citizenship of heaven as it gives away how we treat Jesus.

Second, we need to think about how we treat each other in our families, friendships and church. One observer of the early Church wrote "see these Christians, how they love each other". Would they write that about the Church now? "See these Christians, my how they loathe each other". It can take a long time to see that we can disagree without hating each other! Being a citizen of Heaven means we learn to deal with each other with love, and directly.

Third, we need to think about how we keep in contact with Jesus our king. Many of us are raised to see Sunday worship as the most important worship experience for the Christian. I don't disagree, but worshipping once a week is not enough. If the only time we talk to God and, more importantly listen to God, is on Sunday then we will not do well in our Christian lives. We will start to feel that "we are not being fed" in worship - a friend of mine always tells people who say that in her church to "pick up the fork" or we will start to think that "I don't get anything out of worship" - as if worship is for our benefit not God's.

Citizens of heaven know that God's name is always to be praised - in good times and in bad; the Jewish people prayed and praised God even in Auschwitz. Citizens of heaven know that we need to talk to God on a daily basis, corporate worship once a week is good and vital but not enough. We learn to grow in our maturity if we pray and read the Scriptures for ourselves.

And finally, citizens of heaven know that they are part of the solution not the problem. One of the things that I love about this church is that we are solution focused. So if we have a problem instead of having a pity party and telling everyone about the problem we will start to work on what the solution might be. Of course part of the solution to problems might mean changing some of our own habits - a sign of our maturity is that we are prepared to reflect on this and are prepared to get involved.

" Instead of commenting on how small the choir is on some weeks - people take the plunge and join in.
" Instead of noticing there aren't any posters up in Canal Street for church -people volunteer to put them up
" Instead of worrying about the church not being able to afford things - people here really do think about their income and their giving

Conclusion

We are called to a dual nationality. We of course have all the responsibilities of being good citizens here on earth, but we are also reminded, today on this festival of Christ the King, to be good Citizens of Heaven. That means, daily, being disciplined enough to leave our selves behind, take up our crosses and follow Jesus, our King.

(Rev Andy Braunston)

This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church of Manchester. Click here for further information.