Christ the King Sunday
Text: Luke 23:33-43 and Colossians 1:11-20
Pastor Jean M. Hansen
What does it mean that Christ is King? I’ve raised that question more than a few times during the past nearly 40 years of preaching. Since it is once again Christ the King Sunday, I’ll ask it again. What does it mean that Christ is King?
Before we investigate the response to that question, though, it might be useful to recall why Christ the King Sunday came into being. It is not a festival of great antiquity, nor was it originally a celebration at the end of the church year. In 1925, Pope Pius XI became concerned about the rising secularism in the west, nationalism/fascism in Germany and Italy, and communism in Russia. So, he created a feast to remind people that heir ultimate allegiance should be to Christ rather than earthly governments and ideologies.
Initially, Christ the King Sunday was observed on the last Sunday of October, Reformation Sunday for Lutherans and other Protestants. But the feast was moved in 1970 as an ecumenical gesture and to reinforce its original meaning – that the allegiance of all Christians is to Jesus Christ, above all else. That’s when Lutherans added it to their liturgical calendar. So it is that 100 years after its conception we still need to be reminder that there is no king but Jesus.
But what does it mean that Christ is King? The Gospel lesson presents us with a suffering, sacrificial king. The second lesson paints another picture. Let’s begin there.
In his letter to the Colossians, the Apostle Paul describes Jesus as the image of the invisible God. He is the firstborn of all creation; all things were created through him and for him, and in him all things hold together.
Consider this … everything we see in the universe, and that which we cannot see – think of those black holes in the solar system - has been created by Jesus. He even created those who claim earthly authority (thrones, dominion, rulers, powers). Without Jesus, everything would fall apart, or to put it another way, he is the reason the world has not fallen apart.
Most significantly, Christ is King because in him the fullness of God was pleased (glad) to dwell. Through Jesus, God was pleased (delighted) to be reconciled with all things – including us – by making peace through the cross. The need for peace/reconciliation implies separation or turmoil that needs resolving; that’s what Jesus accomplished in his crucifixion and resurrection. God was reconciled with all things, Paul writes, whether on earth or in heaven.
But there is much more to who Jesus is as King. Our Gospel describes a man who was being wrongfully put to death. He was scoffed at and demeaned in the midst of intense suffering. And yet, he offered forgiveness, not retaliation, to his enemies, and merciful hope to the only one who treated him as King. That was the criminal being crucified with him who acknowledged his own sinfulness and the unfairness of Jesus’ suffering, to whom Jesus promised a place in paradise.
What kind of king embraces suffering and chooses to reign from the cross? As Pastor James Laurence noted, “If we want to know what it means that Jesus is our King, or what kind of king we have in Jesus, there is no more important place to look than the cross. On the cross, and in Jesus’ suffering and death, we discover a king who allows himself to be humiliated, mocked, and refuses to save himself, because his is overflowing with love for us, and because he is literally dying to save us. (1)
Jesus is a King who loves sacrificially. His rule is based on compassion and justice, not the quest for power and control of would-be kings of our age. Jesus’ reign is a mission of peace, forgiveness, unconditional love and acceptance.
He identifies with the hungry and thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned, and says we serve him by serving them, as we are reminded in another text for Christ the King Sunday.
In addition to all this, Jesus is the first born of the dead, the first to rise to immortality, so that he has first place in everything. That’s what it means that Christ is King.
It seems to me that our response to this description of who Jesus is as King will depend on what we want our king to be. As Pastor JoAnn Taylor asks in her sermon on this topic, “Do we want a king who dictates every aspect of our lives, so we don’t have to think for ourselves? Do we want a king who swoops in and wipes out our opponents with amazing power, so we don’t have to fight our own battles or, even harder, be reconciled to our enemies? Do we want the kind of king who puts on a great show of majesty and pomp, so we can admire from afar and not get too close?” We’ve seen that that’s not who Jesus is as King. So perhaps the question really is, “Are we ready to make Jesus our King?” (2)
Back in 1925, when Christ the King Sunday was established, people were living in post-war upheaval, financial instability and desperately looking for answers. Powerful people were grasping for more power, and the head of the Roman Catholic Church felt it was time to remind Christians worldwide that Jesus is King. But the question really was, would he - the one who loves sacrificially and whose rule is based on compassion and justice, be their king? As the decades unfolded, and the suffering initiated by Adolf Hitler and Jospeh Stalin ensued, it seemed that was not the always the case. One hundred years after Christ the King Sunday was established, the world continues to struggle, but the reality that Jesus is King has remained unaltered, as is the question, “Will he be our choice?” Only his reign in our lives, above all other rulers, has the power to transform. AMEN
(1) “King of Kings” by James Laurence, Colossians 1:11-20 and Luke 23:33-43, www.mypastoralponderings.com
(2) “What King od King Do You Want?” by Jo Anne Taylor, Luke 23:33-43, 2016, www.apastorsings.com