A reflection on the Lectionary Readings for Christ the King Sunday.
In the church calendar, today is known as Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year and the Sunday before we enter the season of Advent.
It feels so uncomfortable to talk about kings right now. This title has become yet another divisive word in our national landscape. In ChurchLand, this year marks 100 years that Christ the King Sunday has been a part of the Liturgical Calendar. In 1925 Pope Pius XI established the day to address the rise in secularism and fascism in post world War I Europe. Pope Pius wanted to remind folks that Christ is the ultimate ruler and to direct attention to the way Christ rules in juxtaposition with the kings of this earth who seek to hold power over others by dominating and oppressing those in their rule.
The Old Testament reading assigned to today is the prophet Jeremiah’s proclamation of the coming Messiah. And we’ll get to it in a bit but the story of Israel’s first king is helpful in understanding how the talk of kings became part of our story as God’s people. The tribal elders went to the prophet Samuel saying they wanted to be like the nations around them. They wanted a king. God warned them that an earthly king would be oppressive and abuse the power but they continued to ask for one and so God let them have their way. God said this was their rejection of God who had been their ruler since the days of Abraham. The people of God wanted to be more like the kingdoms of this world than like God. They chose their own kingdom over God’s Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven.
Throughout the Old Testament stories, we see how these kings struggled with power, how they abused and oppressed their people because having power over others meant more than the people themselves. Times haven’t changed much. Whether we call our rulers kings or presidents or governors or CEOs or managers or priests or bishops, power is a risky business.
This Sunday, Christ the King Sunday, is the last Sunday before we enter the Season of Advent as we anticipate the coming of God as the infant Jesus, the Messiah proclaimed by Jeremiah. The God of Love chose to come as one of us, to remind us in flesh and blood what it is to be God’s people. We live under the rule and authority of earthly rulers, some who rule well and some who rule dangerously. And always we are to hold up Jesus as the model of power and God as our authority.
Jesus was not a king who took to a throne but The King who knelt at his friends feet and washed them, who fed the hungry, who healed the sick, who restored those on the margins to the wholeness of being in community. Jesus lifted up those whom society and the rulers at best ignored and at worst oppressed.
Jesus led by love and compassion, not fear. Jesus fed the hungry without asking them to justify themselves. He broke the cultural norms that created hierarchy and competition. Jesus taught that it’s not the poor who are the problem in society but the greedy who take from others for their own gain. When he was tempted to take power on his own terms, he refused.
Jesus spoke out against the harm done by those in leadership positions, in the government and in the temples and synagogues. And these leaders murdered him for it. To be clear, it was the Roman Empire who murdered him. The religious leaders didn’t have the authority to do so; their complicity lies in promoting it and letting it happen because they thought it would benefit them and enable them to maintain their power.
Things haven’t changed much in 2000+ years. Those who are currently in governmental power have slaughtered the teachings of Jesus and many in church authority have helped them do it. Power has become the most important thing to those who hold the highest offices in the US. The actual people they are to be leading mean very little to them.
When God gave in to the Israelites demand for a king, God didn’t say ‘ok, worship me and do as you like under the authority of your king’. God warned them that the king they chose would shape their lives for bad or for good. God warned them that to give a person power over others is a risky business. God warned them that power over others corrupts the heart of those who wield it.
Our lesson on this Christ the King Sunday is to know that those we choose to lead our country shape our lives. Our faith in God, our belief in Jesus, must shape who we choose. If we vote for those who lead by fear and intimidation, we are not holding Jesus up as a leadership model. If we are willing to make excuses for or ignore the intentional harm caused by our governmental leaders, we become complicit in that harm.
So although it may be uncomfortable to talk about kings, it is fitting that Christ the King Sunday is the end of the church year. All this talk of kings should cause us all to take notice of who we hold up as our model leader. Who is it we follow? Whose Kingdom are we participating in? Whose Kingdom are we most loyal to? The season of Advent is also the time of intentional anticipation of the coming of Jesus every day as we live in our daily routines.
These are not easy questions. These are important questions that open us up to the guidance and formation of the Holy Spirit so that we can grow to be more like The One we follow. In the Gospel reading for today, a jump forward in the readings to Jesus’ brutal murder, the man dying next to him asked to be remembered by Jesus. And Jesus responds in the same manner as when the disciples asked Jesus to send the people away so they could find something to eat. Jesus told the disciples “you give them something to eat” and Jesus told this man “you will be with me”. Jesus would do more than remember him, Jesus would walk with him.
Our faith in God and belief in Jesus aren’t passive. Jesus invites us all to follow him so that every aspect of our life is shaped by our faith and belief. With all that we are and all that we do, the purpose for which God created us is to reveal the image of God within us so that those who are hurting in this broken world know God’s Love in and through us. This is what it is to live in the Kingdom-on-earth-as-in-heaven.
The season of Advent is also the time we anticipate the coming again of the Messiah when God brings about the New Heaven and New Earth restoring all of creation to the original intent. To follow Jesus is to live as if this has already come to be. In God’s Kingdom, no one is hungry or alone. We all participate with God to alleviate suffering. We want for our neighbors what we want for ourselves. God is our authority. Jesus is King. Amen.
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