Christ the King

11-25-18 (Proper 29/Ordinary 34 B Semi-Continuous)
Revelation 1:4-8; John 18:33-37

Christ the King

The year is 1925.  The “War to End All Wars” has been over for seven years, but the world is far from feeling truly peaceful.  Strong dictatorships were beginning to rise in Europe: Mussolini was establishing a police state in Italy and Hitler was gaining popularity after his release from prison in Germany.  Nationalist ideas were taking root and finding expression around the world - both Woodrow Wilson and Warren G. Harding espoused an “America First” policy that promoted a form of neutrality, both during and after World War I, and the Nazi Party continues to gain momentum in Germany with its disdain for leftist German politics, Jews, and a strongly developing white-supremacist rhetoric made even more prominent by the publication of Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”

At the same time, the ideas of secularism continue to grow - with rapidly advancing developments in philosophy and the sciences, more traditional ideas are being challenged and questioned.  Many begin to cast doubts on such things as Christ’s existence and authority.  Meanwhile, bastions of Christian thought and theology continue to strive to hold on to those morals and to assert their own authority, leading us to famous events like the Scopes Monkey trial, in which John Scopes was charged and found guilty for teaching the theory of evolution in Tennessee.

It’s into this environment that Pope Pius XI introduces the celebration of “the Feast of Christ the King.”  In his encyclical, Quas Primas, Pius argues that the chief cause of the difficulties that humanity faced at that time were due to the fact that he believed the majority of people had ceased to put Christ first in their lives.  Pointing out a number of significant events that were happening within the church at the same time, the Pope declared the insertion of this new feast day into the liturgical calendar with the purpose of being a reminder to all people that Christ is truly the King of all things, and that our allegiance should always be first and foremost to that King of Kings.  Pius stated that “once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.”

Today, as we gather together in worship to observe this same day in our own liturgical calendar, it’s hard not to think about that adage that “the more things change, the more they stay the same.”  The nationalistic ideology of “America First” is popping up in our political rhetoric once more as we continue to deal with issues of white supremacy and antisemitism.  With the growing violence that we see across our globe, we recognize the pressing need for us to continue to stand against extremism and hatred, but we still find answers elusive when it comes to how we should go about doing that.  As many begin to take up patriotic imagery and attitudes that strangely echo the messages, posters, and responses we saw at the beginnings of the Second World War, it’s hard not to ask ourselves whether we stand at the precipice of yet another global conflict in which countries will yet again be forced to take sides.  Meanwhile, as we continue to recycle the leftovers of our Thanksgiving meal for sandwiches and more, perhaps we already find ourselves preparing and gritting our teeth and digging our trenches in preparation for resuming the struggle in the annual “War on Christmas.”  Many family members found themselves unable to even celebrate Thanksgiving together due to ever more demanding retail work schedules, or cutting celebrations short in order to pack into their vehicles and take advantage of early Black Friday deals.  I learned this year that Thanksgiving is now also being called “Gray Thursday” thanks to these sales creeping even earlier and earlier into the week.  Secularism and consumerism continue to compete for our attention and allegiance, and it’s easy to find ourselves caught in the middle of all of this mess.

It’s for all of these reasons, though, that I find Christ the King Sunday to be such an important and refreshing day for our church.  This Sunday marks the end of a liturgical year.  We’re moving into a new season, a season of expectation - and as we’ll hear emphasized so strongly over the next four weeks leading to Christmas, Advent is more than just waiting to celebrate Jesus’ birth at Christmas.  Today reminds us of what we’re looking forward to now - the reign of Christ as King.  Our scripture passages today should give us hope.

The reading from Revelation reminds us first and foremost who Christ is for each of us - the Alpha and the Omega, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth who fashioned us, not just into a kingdom, but into a kingdom of people bound together by the one who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood.  We see that same King demonstrate the greater power of his kingdom as he is brought before Pilate - this man who will ultimately be executed for treason, for saying that there is a Lord who is greater than Caesar, declares his purpose on this earth to testify to the truth.  Jesus responds to Pilate’s line of questioning by saying that his kingdom is “not from this world.”  He does nothing to confirm or deny Pilate’s questioning as to whether he should even be called a king.  And yet in Jesus’ statements, we have our first centering reminder of what our confession of Christ is all about:  when we call Christ our lord, our king, we do so as a proclamation that Christ is bigger than any political system, movement, crisis, or conflict that we may face.  We call Christ our King because he is bigger than any rhetoric, bigger than any “isms” we can develop for ourselves, bigger than any piece of commercial kitsch.  And nothing this world does can ever really take Christ out of Christmas.


Jesus came to show us a kingdom that is not of this world.  A kingdom that is yet to come, true - that’s why Christ the King Sunday brings us into Advent - but a kingdom that is our true kingdom, ruled by our true king.  A kingdom whose king uses his power and authority, not for his own selfish amusement, not for his own betterment or for the betterment of his cronies, but to empower others.  Whose king brings peace in the midst of terror; who brings justice in the midst of chaos, liberation and freedom to serve others amidst our own personal enslavement.  We worship a King who calls us to gather together, not to fight one another over great deals and material goods, but to share with one another in everlasting life and happiness.  We gather to celebrate Christ the King Sunday so that we can re-center ourselves in that Lordship of Christ, so that we can be reminded that our Lord is the Lord above all others, and that our ultimate allegiance must always be to Christ first, for it is only in that Kingdom of Christ that we will be able to find “the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.”  To God be the Glory. Amen.

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