Is He a King?

Luke 23:33-41; Colossians 1:19-20

 

        Today can be a confusing Sunday. We all know it is the Sunday before Thanksgiving. We have celebrated this through our hymn and prayer. But the scripture we heard sounds strangely out of place for a service of Thanksgiving. Wouldn’t such a text be more appropriate on Good Friday? Long after the first Thanksgiving was celebrated at Jamestown in 1607, or Myles Standish and his hearty crew landed at Plymouth Rock, or George Washington suggested a day of Thanksgiving in 1789, or Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a Federal Holiday, Pope Pius Xl in 1925, declared on the Sunday before Advent we celebrate Christ the King. Pope Pius feared that the world was retreating from the reign of Christ and becoming more dependent on the forces of nationalism and secularism.

        The starting point for the celebration surprises me. I always thought Christ the King Sunday had its origins back in some ancient festival created in Medieval Europe. But 1925? In church history that is like yesterday. Historically, this declaration by Pope Pius has legitimacy. 1925 falls squarely between the end of the War to end all Wars and the economic depression that would soon ravage Europe and the United States. Between those two catastrophic events existed the Roaring 20’s. Attendance in churches was at an all time low.  Nationalism was once again on the rise. The Weimar Republic in Germany was collapsing and Fascism was dismantling the political system in Italy. Pius could envision what lay ahead. Nine years later a small group of German pastors wrote the Theological Declaration of Barmen as a warning to Germans who saw no contradiction between Christianity and Hitler’s National Socialism. The declaration rejected the “False doctrines being proposed by the German government and claimed freedom in Jesus Christ who was Lord in every area of life.”

        Well, that’s ancient history. It is not 1925 or 1934. It is four days before Thanksgiving and Christ the King Sunday just seems a bit out of place. Even the idea of Jesus as King feels awkward. We prefer to think of Jesus as the good shepherd, the savior, or our eternal friend. In our songs we claim Jesus as Lord but do we really mean it? I suspect there are a lot of other things such as family, or country, or even our favorite football team that we give equal status. The idea of Jesus as King makes us just a little uncomfortable. After all, we live in the home of the free where no one, except perhaps Elvis, wears a crown.

        We prefer Jesus in a manager. There he is a sweet babe among the shepherds and Wise Men.    The picture is not only endearing it keeps us from examining Christmas as anything deeper than a family celebration.

        We like Jesus in the tomb. There Jesus is fully appreciated as the one who will “Prepare a place for us.”

But between his birth and death lived a man who turned over more than a few tables outside the temple. Sometimes he was a bit esoteric. “Why are you so anxious about tomorrow? Remember the lilies of the fields.” Sometimes he was pastoral. “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd will lay down his life for his sheep.” Sometimes he argued with religious leaders. “Woe to you hypocrites. You are filled with greed and self-indulgence.” Sometimes he spoke out against injustice. “I have come to release the prisoner and set the oppressed free.” Sometimes he was weary. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you are the city that stones the prophets. How often have I wanted to gather your children but you are not willing.” Sometimes he was a voice of hope. “I am the resurrection and the life.” We are no better at figuring out who Jesus was then that confused and outraged mob that asked if he was king of the Jews. The truth is any conversation concerning kingship still makes us uncomfortable. But need it be beyond our comprehension? 

The title king is always preceded by an adjective. “He was a benevolent king; he was a wrathful king; he was a deranged king; he was a triumphant king; he was a faithful king; he was a cruel king.” No matter how the picture is painted, there is always an underlying fear that claiming a king undermines our  quest for freedom.

If I claim Jesus as the Good Shepherd, do I become sheep-like? If I believe Jesus is the resurrection and the life do I lose my free will? If I claim Jesus as Lord, can that challenge the autonomy of my nation?

Those are hard questions which only you can answer. When I was younger and great deal more foolish I became enamored with a statement written by Dietrich Bonhoeffer as he awaited his execution in 1945.

If you set out to seek freedom, then learn above all what governs your soul and senses. If not, your passions and longings may lead you away from the path you should follow. Dare to do what is right, not what fancy my tell you, valiantly grasping occasions, not cravenly doubting. Freedom comes only through deeds, not through thoughts taking wing. Faint not nor fear but go out into the storm and the action, trusting God who you faithfully follow. Freedom, exultant, will welcome your spirit with joy.

Christ the King Sunday is awkward. It doesn’t quite fit in our transition from pumpkin pies to candy canes. But it does remind me who is Lord.               Amen.