Christ the King

[cappie]

https://gregrowles.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/solemnity-of-our-lord-jesus-christ-the-king/
 

This Sunday, the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, is the last Sunday of the liturgical year of 2015

 Jesus comes to bear witness to the truth in this last Gospel of the Church’s year.  “I came into the world for this: to bear witness to the truth; and all who are on the side of truth listen to my voice.’ The truth that in Jesus, God keeps the promise He made to David - of an everlasting kingdom, of an heir who would be His Son, “the first born, highest of the kings of the earth” 

 Today’s lesson from Revelation points to two things. The first is that the baptized are incorporated into a “royal priesthood”. This means that, in Jesus, we have become those who stand as a body or company. We are given the task of mediating between God and humanity and creation. We are God’s agents of reconciliation. At home, work, school, play, in social interactions – even on Facebook – we echo God’s plea, “Come to me all you who work and are burdened and I will give you rest.” We speak and act not merely as a priesthood, but as a priesthood invested with royal authority, a royal status epitomized in servanthood.

In the same passage from Revelation we read:

“It is he who is coming on the clouds; everyone will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the races of the earth will mourn over him. This is the truth. Amen. ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’ says the Lord God, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Every Sunday when we proclaim the faith of the Church when we say together in the Nicene Creed, “He will come again in Glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end.” For just as now, the royal priesthood works for justice and mercy, tells of God’s forgiveness and unfathomable love, and lifts up the Cross as the sign and symbol of Christ’s redeeming work. We look forward in hope to the end times. 

The Gospel reading (John 18:33-37) makes a good ending to this cycle of 52 Sunday readings.

 In this Gospel Jesus stands accused before Pontius Pilate, the representative of worldly and material power. Jesus boldly declares that he is no earthly king. The kingdom he rules does not belong to this world. The truth he preaches does not depend upon human wisdom.
 
We have heard similar messages proclaimed in the Sunday Gospels throughout this liturgical year.
 
In those Gospel readings, Jesus was portrayed not as a ruler who sought power, who imposed his will on others, and used coercion and intimidation to gain followers. Rather he was the humble servant, the compassionate and merciful teacher.
 
Jesus was not depicted as a ruler eager to conquer lands, to gain wealth, and to raise armies to protect his kingdom, but as a ruler hungry to have a place in the hearts of those who heard his words, especially the poor, the rejected, and the defenceless. He was seen as opposing all those who sought kingdoms founded on power, celebrity, and material wealth. "My kingdom does not belong to this world."
 
Jesus was not pictured as preaching a message that received approving nods from the powerful and well-connected, but one that left them feeling uncomfortable and angry. He spoke words of truth that revealed the meaning and purpose of life and the values and priorities that God sets for his people.
 
As this liturgical year comes to an end, the Church in her wisdom has chosen a Gospel that brings together all that we have heard these past 12 months.
 
Sunday's Gospel makes a good ending to a powerful set of messages!

On this Christ the King Sunday we commit ourselves to Jesus, “the way, the truth and the life”, the king who is a servant. Who comes, teaches, heals, reconciles, dies and rises again, who lives through us and who will return. Nowhere is this more evident as in Eucharist when we bring the world to God through Jesus and offer “ourselves, our souls and bodies” as we “dwell in him and he in us”. So the royal priesthood is nourished and strengthened to be Christ in the street and supermarket, Christ beyond the door of our parish church to be announced and heralded from the rooftops. Today, as we process forward to the sanctuary and bow in reverence to the King’s presence in a tiny wafer, spend a few minutes, “examining our manner of living and our attitudes toward others.” And if there is a gap between what we profess and the reality we live, then it’s a perfect time to recommit our lives to Christ, the King of the Universe.