Readings
Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24
Psalm 95:1-7a
Ephesians 1:15-23
Matthew 25:31-46
Today is the last Sunday of the church year and is traditionally called “Christ the King Sunday.” It is a day when we remember Christ as the one who rules over all creation. And, it happens to also be our patronal feast day when we honor and celebrate the one after whom our parish is named.
I’ve talked about this in the past, but I believe it bears repeating. You know, I’ve always had difficulty with the idea of Christ as “king.” Whether it is the image of him found in the Christus Rex where he is dressed as a priest and wearing a crown. Or the more pointed image of Christus Pantokrator, where we see Jesus enthroned like a Roman emperor holding a scepter and orb. The idea of Jesus as King has always been difficult for me.
Now why is that? Well, it’s because of the reality of kings we’ve had throughout history, and that includes the kings we find in the Old Testament. Kings throughout most of the human story, even the ones who are more positively remembered, have been autocratic rulers who are more concerned with their own well-being than that of their subjects. They are persons of obscene levels of wealth and power. And, even when their power is limited they usually find themselves serving the interests of the wealthy and elite and not the average citizen.
History is replete with monarchs who were capricious and/or selfish. Some were filled with unbridled aggression and made war after war regardless of the impact on those they were charged to care for. Their societies were domination systems that created a caste of privileged people and a caste of subjugation where those within it had no hope of anything other than a nasty, brutish, and short life.
No, despite our romantic images, kings and kingship actively participated in and created domination systems that did more harm than good to their fellow human beings.
Jesus himself, in his own earthly lifetime, challenged such systems. While being in some ways subtle and sophisticated so as not to antagonize too early the powers of his generation, he openly challenged any system that sustained itself on the backs of others. His greatest concern was for those on the lowest rungs of society (the poor, the outcast, and the untouchables). But he also cared about anyone who was marginalized or oppressed by the imperial system of Rome, the monarchy of Galilee, or the temple authorities. It is in response to this painful truth that Jesus proclaimed what he called the “Kingdom of God.”
This idea of the Kingdom of God stood in stark contrast to the models of kingship which existed in his own day. And it stands in stark contrast to the systems of domination which existed in the Middle Ages and even into the modern era.
For Jesus, the Kingdom of God was not a metaphor for Heaven. We have interpreted it that way for centuries so as not to upset the apple cart of our comfortable, or not so comfortable, status quo. No, for Jesus the Kingdom of God was what the world looks like when we live as if God is actually in charge.
Today’s Gospel story about the separating of the nations into groups like sheep and goats is nothing less than a metaphor for how the Kingdom of God works. Rather than being focused on cozying up to those in power the image of serving Christ comes through serving the needs of the least among us. It is a system where power is used for the sake of compassion. It is a society based on our common humanity and the sacred nature of human being. It is a world where we encounter the living God in the face of those in need, even when we believe that they may well be undeserving of that compassion.
But lest we think that this is just about us being do gooders and finding our salvation through our works of kindness, we would do well to remember that all that we have and our own successes are built upon a network of other’s support for us. We truly are not the source of our own salvation, but are dependent upon the grace of God at work in the human family.
No, in Jesus’ vision, the Kingdom of God is a commonwealth of peace and justice where the needs of all are met by all. It is the human family living out the steadfast love and faithfulness of God with one another and towards God. It is the full embodiment of the summary of the law. Namely to love God with all our heart, soul, strength, and mind; and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
But let us not forget the goats in the story today. They do not simply represent selfish or self-centered people. They genuinely ask the Son of Man when it was that they did not meet him with compassion and care. But they are those who choose to function within the established system; a system that rewards wealth and power. Seeing the Son of Man as king, they project onto him their own understanding; they claim to follow him while embracing a system that places value on those of merit and chooses, at best, to respond to those in need based on systems of charity that do not transform the lives of those in need but only put a “Band-Aid” on it.
Now let me be clear. As I articulate Jesus’ vision, I am not advocating any particular contemporary political solution. No, I am calling us to recognize Christ’s vision of the world when we live as if God is in charge. Not us, not the wealthy, not the elite, not the powerful, but God. We are being given a definition of righteousness (being in right relationship to God) that has social implications for us even today.
How we implement those implications is open to discussion and debate, but we do not have the luxury to simply ignore the call. We do not have the freedom to simply continue to prop up the broken systems which we have been, to one degree or another, supporting for millennia. No, friends, it is our task to tear down systems of injustice and domination and replace them with the love and compassion of God at work through us.
We are being called to nothing less than recognizing ourselves in the least among us. We are being called to seek and serve Christ in all persons. We are being called to love our neighbor as ourselves. We are being called to work for justice and peace and to respect the dignity of every human being.
This is the kingdom which Jesus proclaims, and it is the kingdom over which he rules. This is the mandate of our monarch and we, as his subjects, are called to be partners with him in ushering in this kingdom.
But be prepared, there will be those in this world who will be threatened and upset by us choosing the Kingdom of God over the systems of our world. They will not understand us and they will be concerned that we will cause them to lose what little they have. They may successfully stymy or stifle us. They may even threaten us with harm.
But do be afraid. Jesus faced torture and death and even then his message and his life could not be ended. The same is true for us. Regardless of the obstacles we may face, the Kingdom of God cannot be stopped. The Kingship of Christ cannot be superseded. And our lives will not end but be transformed.
We are being offered an opportunity to live a different way and to find the blessing of God in the midst of it. The only question left for us is “will we claim it?” Will we do more than celebrate a romantic image of Christ as King, or will we embrace the kingdom he proclaims?
Imagine the world if we did. Imagine the relationships we would have. Imagine the peace, the abundance and the joy that would be in our midst. Imagine the love. Imagine how it might transform our city, our neighborhoods, and our families.
This is the promise of Christ’s kingdom. Let us bow down and usher in his reign.