Christ the King Sunday

Jeremiah 23:1-6; Luke 1:68-79; Colossians 1:11-20; Luke 23:33-43

We have reached the end of the Christian Year. We might even consider it the height of the Christian year. The Christian calendar follows the story of Christ. It begins in Advent with the expectation of the Messiah, and then birth of Christ at Christmas. Epiphany is about the revealing of Christ’s identity. In Lent, we follow Christ into the wilderness in preparation for the cross on Good Friday. And from that deep sadness we enter into the joy of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. But the story doesn’t end there. At Ascension, Christ ascends into heaven, and remains present to the Church through The Holy Spirit, which is what we celebrate at Pentecost. The same Spirit that came to Mary to constitute the Body of Christ in her womb, would now constitute his body through his disciples. We learn to live as his disciples, following his teachings, throughout the season after Pentecost, until we arrive at today- The Reign of Christ, or Christ the King Sunday.

This is where the Bible tells us all of history is heading. We are heading to the time when Christ will be recognized as the King of all. Which is what he already is (of course), but God has allowed time for humanity to choose to obey or rebel. Christ wants us to choose him as our king. He wants us to trust him, and willingly submit all areas of our lives to him. We are asked to trust to him as our king.

This is a process. We all have parts of our lives we are more comfortable turning over to him, and other parts we would rather keep to ourselves. … In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis Imagines Jesus saying, 

“‘Make no mistake, … if you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect— until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said He was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.’” 

 This is what it means for Christ to fully reign in our lives. It means the Holy Spirit dwells within us and binds us to Christ, and we are transformed over time into what a human being is meant to be. … Christ is patient, but the time for rebellion will end, and every knee will bow to recognize him as King of all (Is 45:23; Phil 2:10-11).

It's hard to imagine how the early Christians could have spoken of Jesus in any higher terms. Our reading from the letter to the Colossians is a good example. Many scholars believe that versus 15-20 of chapter 1 was an early Christian hymn that Paul incorporated into his letter to the people of Colossae. The letter is believed to have been written in the early 60's AD. So, we're talking 30 years after Jesus had died and was resurrected. That means this hymn is dated even earlier than that. Listen to this hymn again and ask yourself if they could describe Jesus in any higher terms?

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn [a position of status and authority] over all creation. 16 For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. 19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

I would Like to spend a bit of time walking through what this means.

He is "the image of the invisible God". God is invisible, but if you want to see God, then look at Jesus. That is what they are saying. If you want to know what God is like, watch Jesus. …

"by him all things were created".  According to this hymn, all the atoms and energies of this universe were created by him, in some amazing and mysterious way. Everything you see, even what you don’t see, everything that exists has its origins with him.

But, not only did he create everything, everything was created FOR him. It's hard to even imagine what that means. … Stones, and ducks, and flowers, and stars, and people … were made for Jesus.

And then we read that "in him all things hold together". … Jesus is the reason we don’t all just stop existing, or disintegrate into chaos.

All things were created by him. Go back to the beginning and Christ is there. Go to the end where all creation is heading, and Jesus is there. And right now, everything is being held together by him. …

"God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in [Jesus]". All God's fullness is in Jesus. It is mind-boggling to think about what it means to say that about a human being. If you want to see God, look at Jesus. If you want to know what God is like, watch Jesus.

This early Christian hymn describes Jesus as God. …

The New Testament letters were passed around in the churches, where they would have heard stories about Jesus from witnesses. Some of them may have met Jesus. Things couldn’t have been said that were completely alien to the community’s understanding of Jesus. If we trust that these people want to tell us the truth about Jesus, then this is an extraordinary claim. He is the King of creation. …

But he is also a different kind of King. He is not like the power-mad, and greedy kings of history. … No, this king was willing to die to serve his subjects. He was willing to allow himself to be killed by those he came to serve. And when they killed him on the cross, this most humiliating and painful form of execution, he spoke words of forgiveness, “Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing”. He was grouped among criminals. He was mocked. And yet, the inscription over his head, meant to mock him, and meant to warn the Jewish people to not hope for a messiah to rescue them, unknowingly pointed to this king who is unlike any other king. ‘This is the King of the Jews.’

This King, who the early Christians understood as being at the beginning of creation, and is the one to whom all of creation is aiming, and is also sustaining all things in existence- this King, who offered forgiveness from the cross, and heard the plea of the criminal on the cross next to him- “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” And Jesus accepts this man and claims to have the authority to accept him into Paradise- “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

This King has power beyond the imaginings of the most power-hungry, greedy, grasping Tyrant. His power is linked with the creation, sustaining, and ultimate end of reality. God is identified with this King. … And yet, he is so incredibly humble that when he comes to us- he is willing to endure our mocking and rejection. And he is so loving, he will receive anyone who will come to him as his willing subject to be a part of his glorious kingdom.

As we celebrate The Reign of Christ today, let’s remember that this is not just the culmination of the Christian year, but a renewed invitation to make Christ the true King of our lives. May we respond to this King not out of fear, but with joyful surrender, confident that in him, all things find their true purpose and peace. AMEN