Readings:
Sermon:
There’s been a weird debate going on in some academic circles recently – especially those researching psychology and psychiatry. Weird, in this case, means not only unusual, but is an acronym for Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic. The point that was being made is that, according to one writer, 96% of all published psychological research is done in countries which make up only 12% of the world’s population. What if we – living in one of those over-researched countries – are completely atypical examples of human society?
I was mulling that question over the other day when having a conversation with someone who thought the church should stop using the language of the Kingdom of God, and replace it either with Kin-dom (as in kith and kin) of God, or perhaps using language Paul uses on one occasion “the Commonwealth of Heaven”. For them, language of King and Kingdom, was too much about power, and masculine power at that. That’s not very helpful to us in this diocese who have a vision for being Kingdom People, and it would have made no sense to most generations of Christians in most of the world.
In terms of our psychological debate, it’s a WEIRD attitude. For most of history, for good or ill, most societies have lived under single rulers, most commonly kings and emperors, with a sprinkling of queens. That didn’t stop them recognising that there were good and bad ways in which those people ruled. In the thirteenth century, St Thomas Aquinas was quite happy to distinguish between king (a good thing) and tyrant (a bad thing). Society ought to band together to remove a tyrant.
He says that in a book addressed to the King of Cyprus, saying that he does so relying “on the help of him who is King of kings and Lord of lords.” Jesus is the model for kings, as he is for all humans. How Jesus exercises power should be an example for all who hold power. It’s one reason why mediaeval monarchs washed the feet of poor subjects on Maundy Thursday – nowadays performed by bishops and clergy as a religious ritual, it used to be much more clearly political – a performance that showcased power as service, with a special concern to be protector of the poor.
Today’s readings for this feast of Christ the King begin there. Jeremiah, speaking in God’s name lambasts those who rule badly. The Old Testament regularly uses shepherd as an image for ruler, whether for God or the King. In place of these bad shepherds, God will raise up a good king, whose job is to bring about justice and righteousness. One of the key roles of the good king as portrayed in psalms and prophets is to get justice for those who have no power to get it for themselves.
Christians see that prophecy of Jeremiah reaching its fulfilment in Jesus, and we need to hold today’s New Testament and Gospel readings side by side in creative tension. In Colossians, St Paul celebrates Christ’s glorious status, only slipping in a mention of the cross at the end, and framing it as a work of his power. Luke’s account of the crucifixion allows us to see that power exercised through weakness, through suffering. If Jesus was any old person, his suffering might have been exemplary, noble, even admirable. It is because he is, as Paul says, “the image of the invisible God” that his suffering can reconcile all things to God. His entering into death marks the defeat of death. His accepting the injustice of a false conviction rescues all victims of injustice. His accepting the consequences of sin empties sin of its power.
Colossians is a celebration of the full original name of this feast as “Christ the Universal King”. Today is the hundredth anniversary of the establishment of this as a special feast day. In a world that is becoming increasingly uncertain, where new wars are breaking out, and old democratic countries breaking down, we need to renew our understanding of Christ as King, of power as service, of life lived in the service of reconciliation, peace and the common good.
Martin Luther King is often quoted as saying “the arc of the universe bends towards justice”. I don’t think he was right: there’s no inevitability about that process. God in Christ will bring the universe to justice, including our own unjust and sinful hearts. Christ crucified has become king, and in doing so offers all with power a model of how to use it, and a judgement on those who misuse it.
To celebrate this feast of Christ the universal king is to commit ourselves to live our lives differently, as subjects of his kingdom, and citizens of heaven.
Questions:
- How important is the image of Christ as King for you?
- What do you mean when you pray in the Lord’s Prayer “your kingdom come”?
- Where do you see power being exercised in a Christlike way?