Luke 23:33-43, Colossians 1:11-20
It was 1925. Less than ten years had passed since the end of World War I and most of the world was still reeling from the devastation and loss. It was an incredibly unsettled time. Fascism was on the rise. Stalin, Mussolini, and Hitler were all coming into power. So, why the history lesson? Because it was also in 1925 that a new feast day was created in the Roman Catholic Church, the Feast of Christ the King. Pope Pius XI was concerned by all the ways power was being abused in the world of his day and he sought to highlight to the faithful that above all earthly powers it was Christ who deserved the highest devotion and loyalty. And that ultimately at the end of time, Christ would reign over all.
It took a while, but eventually the Episcopal Church incorporated the feast of Christ the King into its own liturgical tradition. So here we are today on this last Sunday in our Church year joining with Christians across the globe in celebrating Christ the King. Which may, quite honestly, make us cringe because the idea of a king and being subject to one doesn’t sound very appealing. Throughout the ages kings have been tyrants wielding their power in self-serving ways using the tools of fear, manipulation, and violence to dominate their subjects. Who wants that? Let alone celebrate it?
In the face of the grim reality of earthly kings and all the ways that earthly power is often destructively expressed - by king and commoner alike - we have Jesus. As our reading from Colossians puts it, he is the image of the invisible God. A God who truly is all powerful. Powerful enough to create all things in heaven and on earth. Powerful enough to hold all of it together. More powerful than anyone or anything we can imagine. And yet the power of God revealed in Jesus the Christ stands in stark contrast from the powers of this world. We certainly see that in our reading from the gospel of Luke. For on this Christ the King Sunday we do not have a reading of Jesus coming into his glorious Kingdom, at least not in any traditional way. We don’t hear about the times where Jesus is large and in charge, calming the sea, healing the sick, or sticking it to the Pharisees in some way. Instead Christ our King is hanging on the cross. He is being mocked and ridiculed. Suffering at the hands of those whom he loves, those whom he came to save. Yet does he strike back? No. He uses his power to forgive them - he forgives them without them even asking. Then finally, when one criminal asks simple to be remembered, Jesus goes beyond that and offers him Paradise.
God’s way of exercising power is so fundamentally different from ours. That’s clear from the very beginning of Jesus’ story. For as we enter into our new church year next Sunday, we will begin by anticipating the coming of God with us in the birth of a baby. One who reveals to us an all-powerful God who is willing to be vulnerable, weak, and dependent upon others. Then, as Jesus grows into adulthood, his life continues to show us the wonders of our God who demonstrates that ultimate power is found not in domination, but rather in self-giving love. For in God’s kingdom there is no place for coercion, only and always love. Not the mushy, sentimental kind, but the fierce and powerful kind of love that voluntarily gives oneself over for the sake of the other. That is why on this Christ the King Sunday we see Jesus on the cross because it is there that the ultimate power of God is most fully on display.
If we seek to be faithful to Christ then we must embrace this radical view of power - not just by recognizing it and seeing it on the cross, but by exercising it, this type of power, in our own lives. For no matter who we are, we all have access to this power. We all have the ability, with God’s help, to give of ourselves for the good of others - our families, our neighbors, our communities, our workplaces, our world. That is the hope. That is God’s dream.
And then there is reality - the world in which we live. A world that is all too often marred by various forms of power gone amuck. Power that abuses and hurts and inflicts harm on so many. Just last week our community was rocked by the terrible misuse of power by one individual wielding a gun. The results, as we know, were tragic. Three innocent lives lost, two wounded, and countless others left to live in the wake of severe trauma and unimaginable grief. Yet in the aftermath of such tragedy people, both near and far, have responded with love. And although such love cannot turn back time nor bring back those who were lost, it is not powerless. Such love does have the power to comfort, to support, and to begin the long process of healing.
And in addition to all of that, love also bears the power of a promise - God’s promise in Christ - that it won’t always be this way. That there will come a time when the ultimate power of love, God’s self-giving love, will prevail. God’s kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. And each time we use our power for love a little we bring a little more of that kingdom here to earth. But when the fullness of God’s kingdom comes it will not be by force but by the willing surrender of all hearts and minds and souls to the sheer wonder and glorious goodness of Christ the King. For in the end, love wins.
The good news of that end is what we glimpse today and celebrate in the power of Christ our King.
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