Christ Church Riverdale

Last Pentecost/Christ the King                                                  November 23, 2003

Today is the last Sunday of the Church Year, named also “The Feast of Christ the King.”  Next Sunday, the Advent season begins….  Christ the King was introduced by Pope Pius XI in 1925 on the 1600th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea.  It then fell on the last Sunday of October as a preparation for All Saints’ Day.  When the ecumenical 3 year cycle of readings was adopted in the 1970’s, Christ the King was placed on the last Sunday of the Christian Year, as an appropriate marking of the end, and as a preparation for the Advent season when we wait for the birth and the second coming of Jesus.

Kingship is on the wane these days.  The current Royals are having quite a time of it.  A few years ago, the Princess Royal, Anne of England, was convicted of a misdemeanor in the supervision of her dog, who nipped two boys near Windsor Palace.  This would never have happened in the old days.  The power of Kings was absolute.  Recently, even more egregious behavior has been rumored, behavior not so new for royals, but behavior never before allowed such publicity.

Reviewing the history of kingship, what could it possibly mean for Christ to be King?  Early on, there was no king.  God was king.  Later the history of Kingship in Israel was based on the King serving under God.  The king was subservient to God.  So the prophets held the King in Israel to a high standard of justice.

When King David committed adultery with Bathsheeba, and hoped to escape being found out by sending her husband into battle to be killed, the prophet Nathan was ruthless in his condemnation of the king.  When King Ahab, spurred on by his wife Jezebel, stole the vineyard adjacent to his palace from Naboth, Ahab’s reign was at risk and God’s judgment severe.  The prophet Ezekiel pronounced judgment, and had to flee from Queen Jezebel’s wrath.  When the rich of the nation abused the poor, and the leaders were faithless, Amos called for justice to roll down like waters, and righteousness like an everflowing stream.

What kind of king is King Jesus?  Countless hymns describe him as king:  “King of Glory, King of Peace;” “The King shall come when morning dawns;” “O Worship the King.”   We sing the hymns.  But we need to dig deeper.  In many churches, and usually over the door or bed of every room in a monastery, you will find a crucifix.  On the cross beams in some churches, Jesus hangs in various degrees of death or agony.  Or he hangs on a cross dressed in kingly robes.  The first is a crucifix; the second a Christus Rex.

The two crosses illustrate Jesus as both sacrifice for sin and judge, as humble humanity at its most self-giving, and as almighty God.  I take comfort in a judge who died for me, for I see in him a merciful judge.  The juxtaposition of the images clarifies the paradox of Jesus: divine and human; exalted and suffering.  The paradox is resolved in Pauline thought when Jesus’ suffering is described as his glory.  To Paul, Jesus is made perfect through suffering.  His faith, though sorely tested, remains firm in its ultimate devotion to a loving Father. 

Today’s gospel reading is from Mark.  We are in Year B, the second year of a three year cycle of readings.  Today, we find the story of Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem.  He is hailed as king as he travels the road to suffering and death.  His kingship is a kingship defined not by earthly glory, but by redemptive suffering.  Only by attempting to see this story afresh can we reclaim the shock implied by the king who suffers.  Mark’s story is appropriate for the Feast of Christ the King.  The focus is on his glory as we anticipate his sacrifice.  But what is the meaning for our lives.

For this, we have to go to another gospel, the gospel of Matthew.  In Matthew’s gospel, in a string of stories about the Kingdom of God, we find the story of the King separating the sheep from the goats.  It goes like this:

            “When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.  Before him will be gathered all nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separated the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left.  Then the King will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me , I was naked and you clothdr me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’  Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?  And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?  And when did we see thee sic or in prison and visit thee?’  And the King will answer them ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.’”

Then, the King condemns the others for not ministering to him.  They say, “When did we see THEE sick, or in prison, or naked?”  To which, of course, he answers, “When you failed to minister to the lost, you failed to minister to me.”

This is what the king demands.  Not homage to prestige and power, but care and love or the world, and especially for the marginalized of society.

How do we minister effectiverly?  By being aware.  Was it Socrates who spoke of living the examined life?  The sheep in the story who went to eternal  bliss were aware of the suffering around them.  They fed the hungry, clothed the naked, they visited those in prison.  Clearly, from this story, this is the ministry of Christian believers.  The great thing is that the sheep were strangely unaware of their righteousness.  They weren’t seeking a reward.  “When did we feed you, or clothe you, or visit you in prison?” they ask the King.  “When you minister to them, you minister to me,” the righteous King replies.

It’s kind of funny sometimes when we get special praise for something we do.  Now, mind you, I’m as fond of praise as the next person.  And, often, it lifts me up, and makes the effort seem worthwhile.  But how really wonderful not to need the praise.  To say to yourself, “I am only doing what is required.”  Or, perhaps, simply, “This is what I really want to do.  Goodness is its own reward”

I worked in a church once where the warden was a former career Army man and then worked for the Boy Scouts.  He frequently repeated, “Keep it simple, make it fun,” – often not a bad idea.  But he was also endlessly thinking up some new way to honor people for what they were doing.  It began to seem a bit tiresome to me.  At some point, we have to fall back and realize for whom it is we minister, and that the doing of the work is joy enough.  And then, when the time comes, graciously enjoy whatever heartfelt thanks we may get, not expecting it but seeing the grace in it.

My father was briefly chairman of a tennis committee.  One of the members was named Helen Mayer.  She was a good player, and a handsome woman, and rather opinionated.  I remember my father telling me, laughing, that he had thanked Helen at the end of his term for the work she had done.  “I didn’t do it for you!” she said emphatically.  It was a lesson to be learned.

Are we thankful for the privilege of serving?  For the joy of giving?  Even though we are limited in what we can do for the needs of the world, do we see the face of Christ in the faces of everyone we meet, loving our neighbor as ourself?  When you pass by someone you cannot help, say a prayer for them.  God has given us work to do, but all of creation is ultimately in God’s hands.

As Thanksgiving approaches, remember that Christian worship is an act of thanksgiving: thanksgiving for creation, for redemption in Christ, and for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  To life our live in thanksgiving is to be blessed with happiness.

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