Christ the King (Year B) – Sunday 24th November 2024 – St Anne’s, Wrenthorpe
On this last Sunday of the Church’s year we celebrate the Feast of Christ the King.
We know what comes next – Advent, Christmas, Epiphany and, if we receive God’s blessing, another year.
In some ways, to me, celebrating Christ the King would seem more in-keeping with the start of the year, the beginning of something… a proclamation… showing the way …. do you know what I mean?
We speak of Christ as King over time and eternity, our sovereign Lord… and yet we might be hard pressed to describe to our friends and neighbours – or even ourselves – what it means for Christ to be King….. or why we celebrate it today.
So… let’s explore some of this, just for a few minutes…!
If encourage you to read the passage from Daniel, for today. For now however, I will summarise…
Daniel troubled with visions, saw things he struggled to interpret.
An Ancient One seated on the throne of heaven with multitudes in attendance.
He sees ‘one like a Son of Man’ coming in the clouds of heaven, to whom is given glory and eternal kingship. Such visions for Daniel, at that time – several hundred years before Jesus, might refer to the coming Messiah, or could be a hopeful symbol for the nation of Israel.
Fast forward several hundred years and we have another apocalyptic vision: this time it is John the Divine and the revealing of God’s judgement and encouragement to the early Christian churches, in modern day Turkey, who were being persecuted for their beliefs.
He sees the Risen Christ, coming on the clouds, for all to see…. the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth. The one who is and who was and who is to come.
Wow! Awesome stuff!
These descriptions of a “king” are unlike those we find in our earthly history books – with their ancestry and ambitions, castles and wars; whose kingdoms have mostly been bloody and where life as a citizen is transactional!
Royalty has always been either a birthright or to be taken by force.
Even now, in our apparently ‘modern age’, we still have quite a few monarchies – for good or ill – where power is mainly wielded by a political layer of governance; and we are still caught-up in the idea that a Royal family will serve us without bankrupting us!
Is that the King we need?
Is that the kind of governance we want…?
Scripture gives us a transcendent, mysterious King – wreathed in heavenly clouds…. Not one to be placed on an earthly throne, with military and economic might… but one that represents the Kingdom of God, whatever that might mean!
And then, in the Gospel, Jesus before Pilate…
Pilate serves Caesar – the all-powerful human deity – who demands complete obedience – by might of numbers and by the sword. Pilate understands power and he knows what supreme power looks like.
Herod the Great had been ‘allowed’ to become “King of the Jews” for assisting the Roman Empire in defeating their enemies. Herod had no other qualification and yet all who were part of Jewish governance acknowledged him as such.
And here is Jesus – not looking particularly regal in the eyes of Pilate… surely, just another troublemaker! He also knows the ways of those Chief Priests and scribes, who have made accusations at this man who – they say – claims to be a king!
And what happens…?
Pilate isn’t familiar with being answered by questions! He was never going to be ready for Jesus!
If I might paraphrase Jesus, for a moment…
You call me a king, well… my kingdom, for which I was born, is not FROM this world…. It is the kingdom of truth, which those who know me, will also be known and find their home too. And this truth of which I speak is not your Truth, or Ceasar’s or Caiaphas or Herod… it is a truth that the Cross will reveal… in time… it is a truth about God’s love for the world.
As we approach the time when the Nativity story is heard in many ways, we are reminded of a land besieged by oppressors, into which the Son of God is born – the Light of the World becomes a refugee… The Word is made flesh amongst the warmth of animals….
Hmm….
I recently read an article by Kairos Palestine, a movement rooted in Christian theology and supported by Christian leaders, activists and academics, around the world. They speak from a place of suffering, disaster, yet also a hopefulness for peace, for all the peoples of what we call The Holy Land.
They ask that the Christian church though-out the world might speak up – truth to power – with whatever authority they might have in their own nations…. to encourage governments to challenge their oppressor.
However the current situation in the Middle East came to be, it must be acknowledged that it has gone on too long, with very little mention of real, lasting peace that we might hear of.
And whatever your own thoughts on Israel and Gaza, surely the loss of life is an abomination to God.
When a people – who live in constant fear, under unbelievable stress, with so much loss – when they can still speak of hope, through resilience, belief and solidarity, then it compels me to ask: Why? How?
For such was the situation of those early Christian communities – oppressed and persecuted – who needed some encouragement, guidance, even admonishment to stay the course and trust in God – to know that The Son of Man walks with them; to be reminded to trust in the King of creation that rules so very differently…
And like any oppressed peoples, across all human history, they probably wanted a leader that understood them, acknowledged their place in the world, would encourage their faith and belief in something greater than the leader themselves!
Whether we face an existential crisis on a daily basis, or even the everyday challenges of life – Have faith! Trust in God… A King will come….
We have invested so much hope, faith, life in human leaders and their systems of governance, since forever. We will continue to do so because I’m not sure we not what else to do.
These might not even be questions that make sense to us, here and now.
Instead, we might return to asking why Christ the King comes at the end of the Church year.
Well…
The Feast of Christ the King symbolises the completeness of Christ’s sovereignty over all creation.
It underlines His reign as the ultimate fulfillment of God’s plan for everything.
It is therefore most fitting to place it as the “crown” of our church calendar.
Ok, so there we could leave it….
And yet, we still need to know what is required of citizens of such a kingdom…
Where do we belong in this?
Regardless of what we do or don’t do – speak or be silent, laugh or cry, come to church, or not – whatever we beleive or take as truth from scripture or worldly leaders… Christ remains King – until the end of things.
His Kingdom and the ‘truth’ … Well, these were seen in what Jesus did and spoke of, they ways He challenged and encouraged….
If we say we are Christian’s, Disciples of this Jesus, then how do we live as citizens of the Kingdom? Well, it is there for us…. For all people…
We will always be called to love…
In all the ways before us – helping the stranger to feel less so… taking part in difficult conversations about injustice and helping others to have a voice; ensuring our house of worship remains open to everyone and describing a God of love by who we are… and praying – for prayer transforms us, and we can transform the world.
Christ is my King. Christ is our King. His kingdom come… here and now, and for all time. Nothing on this earth can ever be greater than this hope.
“So it is to be. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
My sisters and brothers, take courage from these words.
Pass on and share this hope to all whom you meet…. In word and prayer… in how you live your lives and reveal to Christ the love and faith you have for Him… in the love you show to others. Every day.
For Christ the King is eternal.
God be praised!
Amen.
Kairos Palestine – “A Moment of Truth’ here and on Amnesty magazine
Image: ‘King of Kings’ – Daniel Gutko on Unsplash
Title: Inspired by song of the same name by Wishbone Ash on their 1972 album ‘Argus’. Totally unrelated and probably nothing to do with Christology!