A Reflection on Christ the King
When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice
THE IMPEACHMENT HEARINGS ARE ON!
for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God’, and since then has been
SONDLAND SAID THERE WAS A QUID PRO QUO!
waiting ‘until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.’
CAN YOU BELIEVE WHAT SHE SAID!
For by a single offering he has perfected
HEALTHY HOLLY!
for all time those who are sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
CHIK-FIL-A!
‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
BLACK FRIDAY!
after those days, says the Lord:
BURISMA! UKRAINE!
I will put my laws in their hearts,
CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS ALREADY!
and I will write them on their minds’
Hebrews 10:12-16 (Interrupted)
The Feast of Christ the King is celebrated the last Sunday of the Church Year. It is the last Sunday of the season of Pentecost, right before Advent 1 and the turning over of the Church Calendar back to the beginning. In the Western (Protestant and Catholic Churches) the celebration of ‘Christ the King’ is a recent innovation, put forward by Pope Pius XI in 1925. This was done for two reasons, 1) to strengthen the faith of Catholics in a time of rising anti-Catholic sentiment around the world, and 2) to combat rising nationalism around the world, to remind us that for Christians we have no King but Jesus, and the only nation we belong to is the Kingdom of God. It makes the celebration of Christ the King this week particularly poignant because we again are experiencing a rising tide of nationalism around the world, and also because many of us are so distracted by the impeachment proceedings, among many other things, that we scarcely have time for anything else, including even our prayers. Which words have come out of your mouth more this week? Jesus, God, Faith, the Church? Or Burisma, Ukraine, Sondland and Trump?
The challenge of the Christian faith, and our particular Episcopal/Anglican branch of it, is to keep a feet in both worlds. We are not Anabaptists, content to disconnect entirely from the human world around us; and yet we are also not secular do-gooders, with no connection to the divine. We are Children of God, citizens of God’s Kingdom who also have been given stewardship over life here on earth. But it is hard to maintain that balance when life in one world is exciting and life in the other may seem... dull by comparison. Our call is to stay engaged with those issues that matter most in this world, including yes of course impeachment proceedings and criminal investigations into city leadership, but to keep enough distance to remember that our loyalty is to God in heaven an not to any political leadership here. So let us celebrate Christ the King fully this week!
As our national political sphere continues to meltdown, we should celebrate that we have a King who will not fail us, a Lord who do not disappoint and a savior whose love does not depend on what you say at the press conference. We should celebrate a 2000 year tradition of speaking truth to power, and of creating communities that defy the cultural norms and expectations around us. And above all we should celebrate a risen savior who remembers us, forgives us, and restores us - in this life and in the life to come. No matter how many quid pro quos we’ve done.