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| Mosaic in Hagia Sophia |
Rev. Molly F. James, PhD
Christ Church Cathedral, Hartford, CT
Christ the King, November 25, 2018
May God’s Word be spoken. May God’s Word be heard. May that point us to the living Word who is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Our Collect for today prays that we “may be freed and brought together under [the] most gracious rule” of Jesus, who is “king of kings and lord of lords.” It is a beautiful image to think of all humanity unified under one gracious and benevolent ruler. An image that seems impossible and like a fairy tale in our current reality where we are more profoundly aware of all that divides us. It seems naive to talk of unity. And what does it mean for us as Americans, who prize our democracy to talk of having a king?
I think we Americans have an interesting relationship with monarchy. On the one hand we are fascinated by it. Note how much news coverage the British Royal family gets on our TV networks and in our magazines, even when our Presiding Bishop isn’t preaching. Or even note how he is still referred to by the news media as the Royal Wedding Preacher. We are fascinated by royalty. And yet we are adamant in maintaining our democratic and republican principles in our government. We have not forgotten the words of the Declaration of Independence, that long list of grievances written to a far off king who, the founding fathers believed, had overstepped his bounds and abused his power. To be an American is to believe in the principle of self-governance, to believe that “We the people” have a right to have a say in how we are governed and by whom.
So, how do we reconcile our identity as Americans and our identity as followers of Jesus? Well the easy way out would be to say that all this talk about Jesus as King is not about the here and now, so we can just chalk it up to dreams for the future. This would be easy to do. Our reading today is from the book of Revelation, a book that is all about the end times, If Jesus is only going to become our king in the Eschaton (big, fancy, Christian word for the end of the world as we know it), then we don’t have anything to worry about. The American Nation and the Eschaton won’t exist at the same time, so there is really no conflict.
We could do that, but I think that doing so keeps us from doing some important reflecting on the role Jesus has in our lives now. Given the political realities of our world, it does not make sense to think of Jesus becoming a literal “king,” at least not in the way we understand monarchy here on earth. Although, from what we know of Jesus, our loving, merciful Lord, it is tempting to wish he would hurry up and become King of the World. Clearly he would do a far better job of governing us than we seem to do for ourselves.
So, what does it mean on a personal level for each of us to speak of Jesus as our King, as Lord of our lives? And yes, that is what we all agreed to do at our baptisms. We agreed to accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.
Now, we could easily spend a whole semester on the person of Jesus, his identity as the Christ and the Son of God and what that means for us. Much ink has been spilled and will continue to be spilled by Christian writers over the centuries. But I know that one of the things many of you appreciate about me is the brevity of my sermons, so I will just focus on two aspects of Christ as King of our lives. The first is priorities and the second is trust.
I believe that setting Christ as the center, as the king of our lives means that we will have our priorities straight. If our focus is on Christ, on what it means to be a follower of Jesus, then everything else falls into place. It means that we keep our focus on what really matters in life. We keep our focus on the central Commandments of loving God and loving our neighbor. Jesus reminds us that living and acting with love is who we are called to be.
I had the privilege of hearing our Presiding Bishop preach the week before last at a meeting of various Commissions and Task Forces of The Episcopal Church. He reminded us that if it is not about Love, it is not about Jesus. Indeed. Walking the Way of Love, having Jesus as the center of our lives, means that Love becomes the lens through which we view everything. Whenever we are trying to make a decision, whenever we are wondering how to respond to someone else’s action, we have a simple question to ask: “What is the most loving thing we can do in this situation?” If it is not about Love, it is not about Jesus. Love must be the guiding principle of our lives.
If Love is central to our lives. If that is what guides us. If we can keep our focus there, then we will not be sidetracked by all the temptations of this world that would like us to put our focus elsewhere. This is an especially important reminder as we enter the holiday season, a time when we are inundated by messages about how our lives will be complete if only we buy a new gadget or a new car. At this time of year especially, it is so very easy to be tempted to think that the focus of our lives ought to be the acquisition or the giving of lots of material goods. We can be tempted to let our lives be governed by our to do lists or our internal list of “shoulds” to create a perfect holiday. That is a futile road to go down that will no doubt lead to disappointment and failure. Again we come back to the reality that Jesus is and must be the King, the Lord, the Ruler of our lives.
And this brings us to our second aspect of having Jesus as our King: Trust. And this can be trickier than it sounds. On the surface, it might be easy to say, of course we trust Jesus. I mean, he is Jesus after all. But even here, human temptations can get in our way. Having Jesus as our King means a rather significant power differential and that can make us wary. We are far too used to stories of how secular and religious leaders have abused their power. We are quick to list off leaders who have treated their subjects harshly. We point to our own Declaration of Indepence. As Americans and students of history, it is very easy to come up with a list of why monarchy is bad, and we would be wrong to trust in the leadership of a king. And this is where we must make a very important distinction. Jesus is not like any other king. Jesus is Jesus. He is not interested in earthly power or dealing with some internal sense of inadequacy that prompts him to belittle others, so that he can build himself up. Jesus is Jesus. His way is the way of Love. And the only way it will work for us to be true followers is for us to trust his leadership in our lives. We have to be willing to give up our own egos, our own desire for power or accolades. We have to remember where our priorities are. We have to remember who is the center, who is the leader of our lives.
Living with Jesus as the King of our hearts and Lord of our lives is not easy. I fall short of it on a regular basis, and yet I am continually inspired to keep striving toward that goal. To keep focusing on the Way of Love and to trust in his leading. I am inspired because I have experienced the freedom and the joy that come in those moments when I am able to get it right. It may seem counter-intuitive to say that freedom comes from submission, but indeed it does. For in submitting ourselves to Christ we are putting aside all that does not serve us. We are getting out of our own way. We are removing the stumbling blocks to our own flourishing.
So as we move into Advent, I invite you to think about where your priorities are and how you might be able to more fully trust Jesus as the Lord of your Life. Prepare a space for him in your heart and in your life, for living a life with Christ at the center is a blessing beyond our imagining. AMEN.
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