The Solemnity of Christ the King (B); 11-25-18

Dn 7:13-14   Ps 93   Rv 1:5-8   Jn 18:33-37

Deacon Jim McFadden; (New) Folsom Prison

 

On the last Sunday of the liturgical year, we are celebrating the Solemnity of Christ the King. For us Americans, it’s not easy to comfortably ease into this feast because we don’t particularly like kings nor do we like it when people rule over us. There’s a bit of a rebel in each one of us.

But, kingship is a central symbol throughout the Bible and one of the ways the Gospel authors referred to Jesus. So, we have to do some cultural “bracketing”, so that we can listen to these readings and to understand the time of Jesus when ancient peoples took kingship for granted.

What did a king do? He is sovereign: he rules and has dominion over us. And, that’s not a bad thing. Indeed, the first king in the Bible was actually Adam, who was given a kingly mission—one of governing, ruling, and subduing: “Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and all living things that move on the earth” (Gn 1:28).

This is the great commission that’s been given to Adam, which is kingly in mission.   Don’t think of this as an invitation to aggression, exploitation, and domination which is how many persons of authority and institutions exert power. Rather, see this kingly mission as stewardship over the earth and oneself—who you are and what you have. Mind you, Adam is made in the image of God just as you are. Who is God? God is love; God is a community of love. Therefore, this governance, this dominion over the world is meant to be an expression of love.

            Adam and you and I are at our best, when we turn our world into a Garden of Eden: a beautiful place of communion with God, fellowship with each other, and harmony with creation. How do we do that? By exerting kingly power—by having dominion over the world, so as it to make it a place of love, justice, and peace. We are called to allow God’s way of being to obtain in our here and now circumstances. That’s the kingly task given to Adam and, by extension, to all of us.

Unfortunately, Adam became a bad king. As king, he should have had dominion over every creature in the Garden, including the serpent. But, he didn’t. Rather than give his absolute allegiance to God, he allowed the serpent to have dominion over him. As a result, Eden is compromised and the world we live in becomes anything but a Garden of Eden. As descendants of Adam we are stuck in a world of moral compromise, violence, corruption, hatred, and fear.

O.K. , there’s the first king and his great failure, which sets up the momentum of the biblical narrative. God does not leave us to stew in our sin but he forms a rescue operation, in which he will form a people who will be ruled by a new King, who was anointed, sent by God, on a mission of salvation.

Jesus is this King, first the King of Israel and, by extension, the universal King. His mission is to save us—to re-Create the Garden of Eden so that we may participate in a shared life with God now and forever, to be in authentic fellowship with our brothers and sisters now and forever, and to be in harmony with Creation now and forever.

Now, the question is, do we want Jesus to be our King? Do we want him to rule over our hearts and mind or do we want to give our allegiance to someone else. We’ve got to make a choice. As Bob Dylan sang in Slow Train Coming:

            “Yes, you’re goin’ to have to serve somebody.

            Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord,

                        But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.”

 

            Over the years, I’ve had several conversations with our brothers in this facility, who say that if they are asked to do something wrong—say inflict harm on someone who owes a debt, they fill conflicted. Do they follow Jesus, who is our sovereign king, or do they follow the coercive demands of a belligerent group. Do they choose Jesus or the serpent? But, If they resist the serpent and do God’s will, they risk incurring harm themselves.

Brothers, I don’t know what I’d do in this situation. I hope I would give my absolute allegiance to Christ the King. But, at the same time, I know that I am a sinner, a person whose faith is not as firm as I’d like it to be. There is, however, a passage in the Liturgy of the Hours that I cling to; the Psalmist says, “O God, you are my God—for you I long…For your love is better than life” (Ps 63).  If we can stay grounded in God’s love, if we keep our gaze on Christ the King, then we know that a very deep level of soul that we will be protected and we will do what is right. And, as Saint Paul reassures us: “I am convinced that nothing can separate us from God’s love” (Rom 8:38).

            So, brothers, on this last day of the liturgical year, we ask ourselves: Who is our King? Who are we going to serve?