The Reign of Love John 18:33-37 When Jesus was brought to Pilate to be questioned, convicted and put to death, I'm sure the political leaders of the days saw Jesus as would be king, a new ruler and a threat to their power and control over the people. But Jesus makes it clear to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world.  His life was spent in teaching about the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. He made it clear throughout his ministry that the kingdom was at hand, the kingdom was now and the kingdom was within us. He was talking about the kingdom of love and if he was truly a king, he was the king of love I am reminded of that well known hymn based on the 23rd psalm: The King of Love my shepherd is Whose goodness faileth never; I nothing lack if I am his And he is mine forever * Jesus did not seek political power, the kind of power that the leaders of his day held, but the power that he had was that of love and love was and is even today the most powerful force in the world. I have always been impressed with the words of Paul Tillich on the power of love in a sermon entitled Love is Stronger than Death.  He talked about how death had become powerful in our time especially when we face the atrocities of war.  He preached this sermon in the aftermath of the second world war when the picture of death had appeared, unveiled , in a thousand forms.  He goes on to say: But who can bear to look at this picture? Only he who can look at another picture behind and beyond it - the picture of Love.  For love is stronger that death.... ....It is love, human and devine, which overcomes death in nations and generations and in all the horrors of our time.  Death is given power over everything finite, especially in our period of history.  But death is given no power over love.  Love is stronger.  It creates something our of the destruction caused by death.  It bears everything and overcomes everything.  It is at work where the power of death is strongest, in war and persecution and homelessness and hunger and physical death itself.  It is omnipresent and here and there, in the smallest and most hidden ways in the greatest and most visible ones, it rescues life from death.  It rescues each of us, for love is stronger than death. (Paul Tillich The New Being , Scribner, N.Y. 1955 p 170-174) * His kingdom, this kingdom of love is not of the world but is definitely in the world.  In the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas, part of the last century discovery of ancient texts , Jesus says that people ask "when will the kingdom come".  Jesus' answer is, "The Kingdom of the Father is spread upon the world, and men do not see it."  When we begin to see it, the world as we know it has ended. We have a new awareness of life Sometimes we see the kingdom of love in unexpected ways,  even in the midst of terrible circumstances.  It is in ways the people act in faith.  In Mitch Albom's book Have a Little Faith, he recounts one of his encounters with his wise old rabbi, affectionately known as the Reb, as they talk about war: A newspaper was open on his desk. The Reb kept up with the news, as much as he could. When I asked how long he thought the Iraq war would last, he shrugged. You've lived through a lot of wars, I said. "Yes." Do they ever make more sense? "No." This one, we agreed, was particularly troubling. Suicide bombings. Hidden explosives. It's not like the old wars, I said, with tanks coming one way, tanks coming the other. "But, Mitch, even in this new age of horror," the Reb noted, "you can find small acts of human kindness. Something I saw a few years ago, on a trip to Israel to visit my daughter, stays with me to this day. "I was sitting on a balcony. I heard a blast. I turned around and saw smoke coming from a shopping area. It was one of these terrible ... uh ... whachacalls Bombs. Car bombs.  "That's it," he said. I went from the apartment, as fast as I could, and as I arrived, a car pulled up in front of me. And a young fellow jumps out. He is wearing a yellow vest, so I follow him. "When I get to the scene, I see the car that has been blown up. A woman was apparently doing laundry; she was one of the people killed. "And there, in the street. . ." He swallowed. "There ... in the street ... were people picking up her body pieces. Carefully. Collecting anything. A hand. A finger." He looked down. "They were wearing gloves, and moving very deliberately, a piece of a leg here, skin there, even the blood. You know why? They were following religious law, which says all pieces of the body must be buried together. They were putting life over death, even in the face of this ... atrocity .... because life is what God gives us, and how can you just let a piece of God's gift lie there in the street?" I had heard of this group, called ZAKA-yellow-vested volunteers who want to ensure that the deceased are treated with dignity. They arrive at these scenes sometimes faster than the paramedics. I cried when I saw that," the Reb said. "I just cried. The kindness that takes. The belief. Picking up pieces of your dead. This is who we are. This beautiful faith." We sat quietly for a minute. * I'm sure that we could recount many times that we have seen act of love and kindness that bring tears to our eyes.  I remember one parish that I was in a number of years ago.  It was a parish that seems to be split into two camps. They were always fighting with one another, not physical fighting but always at one another in anger and always in a flap for some reason or another.  You could hardly get any thing done in the parish because of this continual in-fighting. One day, one of the members suffered a terrible car accident.  He ended up a  paraplegic and was in the hospital for weeks.  When he came home, he opened the door and found all sorts of people and no matter what camp they might have been in their disputes of the past, they had all come together to help him adjust to his new situation.  They built an elevator in his two-story house so he could move from one floor to another.  He worked with electronics and so they re-arranged his work place where he could reach everything in the shop from his wheelchair.  It was a moving experience to see these people come together like that in an act of love even though it was a tragedy that brought them together.  And though the effects of the accident would be felt all the remaining days of this man's life, at that moment, the love that was at work in the people was stronger that the misfortune. * As we celebrate the Last Sunday of Pentecost, known as the Reign of Christ, let us catch the vision that the Kingdom of the Father is spread upon the earth if we only had the eyes and the faith to see it.  To celebrate the Reign of Christ or what we might call the "Reign of Love" is to realize that no matter what the outward circumstances of lives might be, love creates something new even among the most adverse conditions. Love bears everything and overcomes everything. Love is at work at all times. Love is omnipresent and here and there, in the smallest and most hidden ways as in the greatest and most visible ones. Love rescues life from death. Love rescues each of us. Love is stronger than anything that we might face. That is what is meant by "The Reign of Love". You are visitor number UK Online Casinos This free counter  is supplied by Visible Counter Connect with Deacon Sils Homelical resource Also for more sermon and lectionary resources connect to SERMON AND SERMON LECTIONARY RESOURCES   Check Out my daughter's web site CARLY'S STRENGTH THE GODDESS WITHIN MUSIC PROJECT Each year, thousands of women and children become homeless as a result of domestic violence.  "The Goddess Within" music project is designed to empower those whose lives have been affected by domestic abuse and to raise awareness of this issue. "The Goddess Within" compilation album will showcase artists and their songs, written for or relating to those escaping the cycle of violence.  The C.D. will be distributed throughout North America and proceeds from the sale of the C.D. will be donated to women's shelters. More information on the CD is available at ARTISTS FOR CHANGE My daughter Carly is featured on the album with her song The Mask.  The art for cover for the CD album is the creation of another daughter, Mary Anne Molcan. Another site to access is Ending Domestic Abuse * Mary Anne is a very talented artist.  She has a new web site called Faerie Artist where she displays her Art.   You can access her site at: Faerie Artist