Messages, Meditations, and Musings on the Life of Faith by Rev. Dr. Scott E. Olson, Interim Pastor, Christ Lutheran Church, Preston, MN

Sunday, March 30, 2014

"What Rules?" - Sermon for the Fourth Sunday in Lent

What Rules?
Lent 4 – Narrative Lectionary 4
March 30, 2014
Grace, Mankato, MN
John 18.28-40

I’m going to assume that all of you know something about the 1960s show Star Trek and its Capt. Kirk. In the films after the show, there are references to a legendary academy test, called the “Kobyashi Maru.” The test was a no-win test, designed to assess the command-track cadets’ response to a situation that was hopeless. The computer simulation gives the commander of a starship the choice of attempting to rescue a ship in distress, called the Kobyashi Maru, but having to enter a dangerous region occupied by enemy forces in order to do so. Rescuing the ship will result in certain destruction by hostile forces; however, not doing so dooms the ship to destruction and loss of lives.

At the academy then-cadet Kirk fails the test twice but, before taking it a third time, reprograms the computer to give him a fighting chance to rescue the other ship and beat the test. He does this because, he says, “I don’t believe in the no-win scenario.” Despite having cheated by changing the rules, Kirk is given a commendation for “original thinking.”

Jesus finds himself in a “no-win” situation as he is brought to Pilate for questioning and trial. Clearly the Jewish religious authorities are bent on seeing him put to death. Interestingly, Pilate also finds himself in similar “no-win” situation with the same religious leaders. He dares not let Jesus go for fear of angering the Jews and thus risking a full-scale riot by the crowds. Furthermore, the charge of Jesus causing insurrection is one he can’t ignore, even though it means putting an innocent man to death. Pilate faces his own “Kobyahsi Maru” and it’s not pretty.

However, like Captain Kirk, Jesus doesn’t believe in no-win scenarios. Although he doesn’t have a computer to reprogram, Jesus does changes the rules of the game with Pilate and the Jewish leaders. First of all, although he appears to let the events take their course, Jesus is very much in charge of the situation. He steadfastly refuses to let Pilate, the religious leaders, or anyone else define him or force him into their existing categories of how the world operates. Second, Jesus is a king, but he redefines what it means to be a king and what his kingdom means. Jesus’ kingdom is not one of violence or coercion, but one of self-sacrificial love.

Mr. Spock, Kirk’s first officer on the starship Enterprise, did not take the Kobyashi Maru test at the academy. But near the end of the second Star Trek movie, The Wrath of Khan, he enters the engine room to restore the warp drive to ship to save the crew. However, this results in a fatal exposure to radiation, but does save the ship and crew. As he dies, Spock refers to his sacrificial action as his solution to the no-win scenario, his own Kobyashi Maru.

When Jesus changes the rules and redefines what it means to be a king, he does so through the lens of sacrificial love. He shows that God is present in the world in a way that runs contrary to human desires for power and control. This is the truth that Pilate can’t understand. This is the truth that Jesus came to not only show but embody: giving oneself away in love. Truth is not a proposition; truth is a person, God’s love shown in Jesus Christ. Truth is found in religion, teachings, beliefs and the Bible, but these things aren’t truth. It is only Jesus who is truth.

Jesus doesn’t get a commendation for original thinking; in fact, he gets crucifixion. In the end, we know that this isn’t the conclusion of the story, that there is far more to come. In fact, as Jesus seems to lose, we are the real winners. Often our lives look similarly, as no-win, but Jesus points us to a different, truthful way, the way of love. Amen.

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