St. Paul of
the Cross Monastery
A Sermon on the Feast of
Christ the King
Homilist: Fr. Don Ware, C.P.
Updated November
2003
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Today is the feast of Christ the King… The Scripture
readings describe Jesus as King who “receives dominion, glory, and
kingship over all peoples and nations… a kingship which will not be destroyed.”
(1st reading from Daniel). The 2nd reading describes Jesus as the
“firstborn of the dead and ruler of the kings of the earth.” The
Gospel has Pilate proclaim, “Aha, you are a king” after Jesus tells Pilate
that his kingdom “Is not of this world.”
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So, Jesus is a king, but in no sense this world
understands. And the question arises: What does Jesus’ Kingship mean
to us 21st century, sophisticated, democratic people who have probably
never even seen a king, and who no longer use the language of kingship
and kingdom?
I What is Jesus’ Kingship About?
For one thing, even if we have never seen a king,
we know that kingship is about power and authority. And we know what power
and authority are about…
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being in charge,
ruling,
having things done the way we want them done,
having influence….
having it our way.
Think of it… what would it be like having all
of that power – if we were ‘king for a day.’
Cancel our debts.
Take care of our family and friends.
New car and new home…
sort of like dreaming what would we do if we
hit PowerBall.
.
But Jesus’ power is not like that. His
authority is not like that. If he won the PowerBall he would not behave
like our world would expect a PowerBall winner to behave.
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When he walked among us Jesus took special care
of the disenfranchised, the suffering, the marginalized, the needy.
He didn’t solve these problems in his society but he did show a special
love and care for the outcasts, the sick, the needy, the lepers, the prostitutes,
and those with other handicaps. Jesus used his authority and power
to help care for these, and to instruct his followers regarding how they
were to care for these types of folks. If Jesus is king, his kingship
is an awfully strange one in the eyes of the world. Jesus would seem
to be king of the wounded and the outcast. And that’s not how our
society would exercise kingship if we were to be “King for a Day.”
II Jesus Is King
In his own time it seems that Jesus did not proclaim
himself a king – he knew how this would be misunderstood. He did
proclaim that he had come to usher in the Kingdom of God. What is this
Kingdom of God? This is wherever God’s care and compassion and healing
comes about.
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The story is told that one time Mother Theresa,
now Blessed Mother Theresa, was sitting in one of the gutters of Calcutta,
holding an old homeless man, dirty, disheveled and dying. She was
holding him in her arms, wiping his face with her hands, and just cooing
gently to him. Two well dressed businessmen happened by and saw Blessed
Theresa, and one of them walked over to her and said, “I wouldn’t do that
for a million dollars.” Mother Theresa looked up into his face, and
with a twinkle in her eye replied, “Neither would I!”
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It’s not about money. But on that day in
Calcutta, God’s kingdom was present right there where Mother Theresa sat,
tending to that homeless, dying man. God’s Kingdom is not about power and
influence – it’s about care and compassion. If you have power and influence,
and are following Jesus, use that power and influence as Jesus would want
you to and not just to get ahead and help “your own”. Or maybe better to
say, realize that “your own” are the street people, the marginalized, the
needy, the suffering.
III Christ The Good Shepherd
Jesus never referred to himself as a king. He did
refer to himself as the Good Shepherd, who would lay down his life for
his sheep. In the early Church the earliest depiction of Jesus was as the
Good Shepherd, not as the triumphant king. The feast of Christ the
King came only later into the Church’s understanding of Jesus her Lord.
And so on this feast day of Christ the King, we recognize that Jesus’ kingship
is one of compassion and caring, healing and doing his best to help people
to flourish and this is what Jesus’ kingship is all about, and what God’s
Kingdom is about.
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And those of us who follow Jesus should understand
this. Like Blessed Mother Theresa we are challenged to bring God’s
Kingdom into our world – Thy Kingdom come, we pray, On earth as it is in
heaven. We who celebrate the feast of Christ the King realize that he rules
as the Good Shepherd who gave us his life for his sheep. And we are
invited and challenged to be other Christ’s in our world, not concerned
about just being entertained consumers, and having it our way, but concerned
and caring for others, especially the unimportant ones, the marginalized
and needy, the shut-in and the sick. If there is anyone like that you haven’t
called in a while, or you haven’t visited, call them when you get home,
visit them in the near future, celebrate the feast of Christ the King as
he would want you to.
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My Shepherd Is the Lord…
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