King of Kings: A Sermon for Christ the King Sunday (Proper 29)

Doesn’t it go without saying, at least within the context of Christianity, that Christ is King… all the time? If so, then why does the Church feel compelled to set aside one particular Sunday every year to remind us of the very foundation of our faith: our belief that Jesus Christ is the King of kings and Lord of lords?

Or, if we do need the reminder, then why is this Feast Day so underwhelming compared to, say, Easter, Pentecost, Christmas, or the days when we bless animals and backpacks?

Well, there are likely a number of reasons why Christ the King Sunday flies under most people’s radar, but let me first share with you the origins of this Feast Day, and perhaps that will help us understand why I think it is still relevant for us today.

Within the overall context of Christianity, Christ the King is a relatively new Feast Day… it is less than 100 years old. The first one was in 1925, as a result of a papal encyclical by Pope Pius XI. Like many things in the Church, this decision had as much to do with politics as it did theology. 

In the 1920’s, Italy was in political turmoil with the rise of Mussolini’s fascist regime. At the heart of fascism was secularism – the belief that all wisdom, power, and authority come from the State, not the Church or anywhere else.  Secularism was on the rise all over Europe, and the potential for irrelevance was beginning to loom large over the Roman Catholic Church. For Pope Pius XI, the most tangible threat came when the fascist regime threatened to take away land and property from the Vatican. Vatican City was under siege. Jesus Christ was under siege.

So, Pius XI issued a Papal Encyclical to address the threat of increasing secularism brought on by fascist regimes. The encyclical mandated that the Church would institute the “Feast of our Lord, Jesus Christ, King of the Universe.” Not much beating around the bush with that name! The purpose of the feast was to ensure:

            1. That nations would see that the Church has the right to freedom, and immunity from the state.
            2. That leaders and nations would see that they are bound to give respect to Christ.
            3. That the faithful would gain strength and courage from the celebration of the feast, as we are reminded that Christ must reign    in our hearts, minds, wills, and bodies.

Did it work? Well, I’d say yes and no. Did the Vatican keep their land and property? Yes. Does Christ truly reign in all of the hearts, wills, minds, and bodies of all people in all nations? Not yet; and perhaps, not even close if we’re truly honest with ourselves.

So, while Christianity is perhaps no longer under attack from totalitarian regimes in Europe like it was in the 1920s, I do feel like it is under attack…and it has been for a while. As we get closer to Christmas, no doubt will we begin hear the media pundits lament over how Christ has been taken out of Christmas. Secularism, pluralism, liberalism, and political correctness will be the Grinches that are stealing the baby Jesus out of Christmas. Heck, if you gave them the chance, they’d try to steal the whole tableau!

But I will go out on a limb and say that I don’t think these forces are causing a threat to the Kingship of Christ. Whether you agree with them or not, these forces are simply seeking to redistribute power. And those who have the power usually don’t like giving it up. And for most of our nation’s relatively short life, we Christians have been the ones in power. So, when the demographics change and we have to begin considering the fact that Christianity cannot be assumed to be the norm for all people, it can be difficult for us.

But I think that it is much more difficult for us than it is for Christ. My guess is that terms like “Winter Vacation” and “Happy Holidays” bother us much more than it bothers him. He grew up in a world where his people – the Jews – had no power in the political sphere. He lived his entire life on the margins of both the political and religious powers-that-be. He spent his entire public ministry challenging the power systems that were in place – oftentimes turning them on the heads, proclaiming that the last will be first and the first will be last.

But his goal wasn’t to topple the powers of this world so that he and his followers could hop in place and begin to act just like the regime they overthrew. If that were the goal, there would have been no triumphal entry followed by death on the cross. There would have been triumphal entry followed by a military coup.

So as unappealing as many of us might find the forces of secularism, pluralism, liberalism, and political correctness to be, I don’t think that they are a threat to the Kingship of Christ. They may be a threat to Constantinian Christianity in the spirit of Constantine, but not in the spirit of Jesus Christ. I believe this because I don’t think Christ’s understanding of power is the same as ours. While we in this country find ourselves either grabbing for or trying to hold on to power, Christ wanted to redefine it. This self-emptying way of being the King of kings and Lord of lords was scandalous not just to his followers but to his opponents as well. Peter, Judas Iscariot, and Pontius Pilate were all perplexed and scandalized by Jesus’ understanding of kingship and power. And if we are honest with ourselves, so are we.

With the Papal Encyclical of 1925, I think that Pius XI was fighting fire with fire so to speak. If the fascists were going to try to take over Europe, they were going to have a fight on their hands from the Church. And while I agree whole heartedly with the three principles of the encyclical, once the fascists and communists were finally defeated in Europe, can we say that Christ truly began to reign in the hearts, minds, wills, and bodies of all Europeans? Or does the struggle for power and kingship continue? I think the power struggles will always continue – in Europe and all over the world – as long as we continue to grasp for or try to hold on to the power and kingship of this world. The stakeholders may change, but when the rules stay the same, there is no opportunity for the seismic shift of Christ’s kingship to take hold in our hearts. That is why Jesus scolded Peter for cutting the ear off of the soldier who arrested him. And that is why, when Pilate asked Jesus if he was king of the Jews, he replied, “My kingdom does not belong to this world. If my kingdom did belong to this world, my attendants would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not here." So, Pilate said to him, "Then you are a king?" Jesus answered, "You say I am a king. For this I was born and for this I came into the world - to testify to the truth.”

So, what sort of King is Christ? If not Constantine, or Mussolini, or FDR, or Churchill, or even Pope Pius XI, then who? Our gospel lesson for today gives us a glimpse of what Christ the King looks like, and what his kingdom looks like. A King who demands that we care for the hungry, thirsty, naked, and sick; and that we care for the stranger and the prisoner is the sort of ruler Christ is. Quite frankly, if I’m truly honest with myself, in the short term I’m much better off with whoever we put in the Oval Office, regardless of their political party. Because no matter who it is, he or she will demand a lot less of me and my fellow Americans than Christ does. If we take our calling as Christians seriously, and if we take the Bible seriously, being a disciple of Jesus Christ is the most insanely difficult thing we could ever be called to do. And don’t let Moral Therapeutic Deism movement try to convince you otherwise. But as our gospel text reminds us, the reward is great for those who are up for the challenge.

Five days after Christians all over the United States proclaim Christ as their King, and two days before the First Sunday of Advent, the season when we are called to prepare ourselves the way of the Lord, millions of Christians will be lined up at Wal-Mart, Target, Outlet Malls, Shopping Centers, or online, paying tribute to their king. Fights will break out, quality time with the family will be sacrificed, and crippling consumer debt will be taken on, all in the name of shopping for Christmas. Meanwhile, televisions will broadcast laments from Christian talk show hosts that Christ has been taken out of Christmas because of phrases like “Happy Holidays” and “Winter Vacation.”

My guess is that Christ the King is watching us and agreeing that he is missing in many of our lives. No nation has gotten it right in the 2,000+ years since Christ rose from the dead. But that doesn’t mean that we should stop trying. Perhaps we should start with the words from the Psalm that was appointed for today: “The Lord is King; Ever since the world began, your throne has been established; you are from everlasting.”

And then, taking a cue from the Revelation to John, “’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Indeed, Christ is King. Let’s make him our King.