LAST SUNDAY OF THE KINGDOM: CHRIST THE KING
24 November 2013
Readings:
Key Verses:
2 Pet. 3:13: “According to [the Lord’s] promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”
Matt. 25:35-36: “I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.”
Reflection
Today, many churches worldwide celebrate the Feast of Christ the King. Originally a Catholic feast, it was instituted by Pope Pius XI in 1925 “in response to growing nationalism and secularism”, as the Wikipedia article puts it. It was to be observed on the Sunday before All Saints’, but was later moved in 1969 to the last Sunday of the church year, and renamed: “the Feast of our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe”. From then on, Protestant churches, seeking to enrich their liturgy, began to adopt the feast day, so that now it’s observed by millions of Anglicans, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists, even by Russian Orthodox outside of Russia.
Who would’ve thought a century ago that Protestant churches would embrace a new Catholic feast day? But the reasons behind its institution reach far beyond the boundaries of confession and denomination, and little has changed since 1925. When I think of this time period, I think of the 1997 film Titanic, where Cal, upon seeing the famous passenger liner, says: “God himself could not sink this ship!” This kind of secular pride is still very much with us today, as is a similar type of national pride, where nations and cultures see themselves as superior to others. And as we get closer to the holiday season, we might add consumerism and materialism to the list. A season that once emphasized family, community, and a divine mystery now is a time for shopping and sales, where people trample over their neighbors just to get the best deals.
I’m not arguing that we should go around doubting ourselves, our capabilities and achievements; nor am I against holiday gift-giving because, when done from the heart, this can be a source of great joy and community. But I am arguing for a kind of humility that appears to be absent in the modern world, the type of humility that accepts our limits, that there are certain boundaries we must not cross, and acknowledges a force at work greater than we are—whatever we may choose to call it, be it God, nature, spirit, qi, etc. In Christianity, we call that force “God”, and the manifestation of God’s power, we call “God’s Kingdom”, of whom Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is the universal King.
Now isn’t this just another way of saying my religion is superior to yours? I can’t answer that question for you, but I can tell you what it means to me. To me, if Jesus Christ is King of the universe, then all of us together have one Father, one common origin, regardless of race, gender, national origin, sexual orientation—and yes—religion. This places me, not above, but alongside my neighbor, whoever s/he is, because we’re equals in our common mission to bring about God’s Kingdom on earth, on whatever path God has called us to do this.
And what is God’s Kingdom? Well, according to Jesus in today’s reading, God’s Kingdom is not a creed but an action, or rather a series of actions: feeding the hungry, giving to drink to the thirsty, sheltering the foreigner or homeless, clothing the naked, visiting the sick or the incarcerated. Scripture in other places adds providing for the widow and the orphan. None of these requires adherence to a particular faith or philosophy; they only require a heart, and the fruits of this giving are far better than anything you can find under a Christmas tree (or Hanukkah bush). They also require the vision and the hope that, through communal effort and with God’s help, we really can have that new earth where righteousness—doing what’s right, what’s just—dwells, which all human beings universally can enjoy.
Prayer of the Day
Almighty and everlasting God,
it is your will to restore all things
in your well-beloved Son,
the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth,
divided and enslaved by sin,
may be freed and brought together
under his most gracious and gentle rule
of him who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and forever.
Amen.
—Collect for Proper 29 in The Book of Common Prayer, p. 236, adapted
Hymn: “Crown him with many crowns”
(Words: Matthew Bridges, 1800-1894; adapted by Joseph A. Soltero, 2013
Tune: ‘Diademata’, by George Job Harvey, 1816-1893, descant by Richard Proulx, b. 1937)
Crown him with many crowns,
The Lamb upon his throne.
Hark! how the heavenly anthem drowns
All music but its own.
Awake, my soul, and sing
Of him who died for you
And hail him as your matchless King
Who gave you life anew.
Crown him the Son of God
Before the worlds began,
And you who tread where he has trod,
Crown him the Son of Man,
Who every grief has known,
That wrings the human breast,
And takes and bears them for his own,
That all in him may rest.
Crown him the Lord of life,
Who triumphed o’er the grave,
And rose victorious in the strife
For those he came to save.
His glories now we sing,
Who died and rose on high,
Who died, eternal life to bring,
And lives that death may die.
Crown him of lords the Lord,
Who over all does reign,
Who dwelt on earth as God the Word
For ransomed sinners slain,
Now lives in realms of light,
Where saints with angels sing
Their songs before him day and night,
Their God, Redeemer, King.
Crown him the Lord of heav’n,
Enthroned in worlds above.
Crown him the King to whom is giv’n
The wondrous name of love.
Crown him with many crowns,
As thrones before him fall.
Crown him, you kings, with many crowns,
For he is King of all.
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