Reign of Christ
This weekend, we gather for worship for the last time this liturgical year. Simply put, we are knocking on the door of Advent, that time of preparation before our Christmas celebrations. But first, we must recognize the day called The Reign of Christ.
Historically, this day has been called Christ the King Sunday, but for good reason, we have joined other church bodies in re-framing into the reign of Christ.
This day isn’t like other church holidays and celebrations. It doesn’t mark a specific thing that Jesus did or a significant moment in the history of the church. This year is only the 100th anniversary of this celebration.
In 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted this day to respond to the rise of secularism and atheism in the world. More specifically, it was a tumultuous time in the western world. The Nazi party was growing, powers like Hitler and Mussolini were rising; ideals like nationalism were becoming normalized.
And the church? It was put in the back seat. As people’s allegiances moved to their governments, the church struggled to maintain itself as a center, let alone relevant.
In short, this day we now call Reign of Christ is set as a way of seeing that the power and authority of Jesus should be front and center in our lives rather than the powers of the world and governments which are temporary.
In Luke’s gospel, which we will hear from on Sunday, Jesus is hanging on a cross with the title “King of the Jews” written above him. There is some irony here. The word translated as king in this case has four other occurrences in the Bible, none of them good. Two of them are Herods, one who murdered babies and one who sentenced Jesus to death. One is King Nebuchadnezzar who threw people into fiery pits, and one is Pharoah who enslaved people.
These “kings” and many similar powers even of our time cause people to suffer so they can create paradise for themselves. Jesus is a different kind of king. He suffered so that humanity could have paradise.
The Reign of Christ we see from Jesus is one where love and forgiveness flow freely, where mercy is doled out even as Jesus suffered, where even criminals are promised the kingdom of God.
It is an amazingly counter cultural kind of reign, but one we need to take notice of.
As much has changed over the last one hundred years, the more we see that our broken and fallen humanity wants to re-make systems of oppression and stark power contrasts. We would be wise to heed the advice of our ancestors of faith who brought us not to human power and might, but to a cross; where humility and generosity abound.
Deborah Dayman
“The Reign of Christ we see from Jesus is one where love and forgiveness flow freely, where mercy is doled out even as Jesus suffered, where even criminals are promised the kingdom of God”
YES. Let mercy reign.