Feast of Christ the King

Saturday November 20, 2004

The End of his Life was the Just the Beginning of Our Life

We started out with him Bethlehem. Along with shepherds, we ‘ow’d and aah’d’ at him. We didn’t mind the aroma of sheep and cows and even the sweet fragrance of mown hay didn’t filter out the stale odor of unkempt herdsmen. We didn’t mind it—not for a minute. It was an artist’s dream, an apt subject for a poet’s reflection, a living Christmas Carol.

This was the new born king of Israel, of David’s line, the long awaited messiah, “destined for the rise and fall of many in Israel,” sent to set captives free and to establish a new dominion, the Dominion of God.

Within one month and a few days, we will go back again to the place of his birth—to the manger and sing carols at his side: “Glory to God in the highest and peace to his people on earth!” I already received my first Christmas card!

However, today we are not celebrating the birth of a king but commemorating the death of the Savior. Was this child of promise a myth, a flagrant deception, a concoction of story-writers and poets to appease prophets and the longsuffering people of Israel awaiting liberation from the tyranny of Roman rule?

Indeed, an increasing number of people—”believers” among them—no longer relate to the death of a messianic king than to the myth of a baby born to a virgin in a manger. It all seems so unreal, out of touch with the times and the politics of technocracy and the technology of democracies. Even the recent resurgence of religion in response to election promos has given way to patriotic religion rather than to religion of the soul.

This is not to suggest that true patriotism is unrelated to or not rooted in religious belief. However, what sometimes appears the expression of religious fervor is more often the seductive temptation to power, or the desire for selective control than the defense of human freedom and the pursuit of equality and justice for all before God.

It is still politically correct among many to celebrate or shall we say, recognize the birth of Jesus. Indeed, it is expedient for some to do so in order to keep the economy going. The nomenclature for the feast is changing. “Merry Christmas” has given way to “Happy Holidays.” I read recently about a woman n England who went to the jewelry store to purchase a gold cross. The young salesman asked her if she wanted a plain cross or the one with the little man on it. She didn’t have a clue.

Take care not to become judgmental. Many of us know little about the symbols of other religious traditions.

But lest we sink into unnecessary cynicism or sarcasm unbecoming a preacher and unfair to legitimate entrepreneurs and hardworking retailers, suffice it to say that true religion remains as much a challenge today as it did in the time of Jesus who came to authenticate true religion in the face of legalism and the human will to dominate.

As long ago as 1971, Frank Sheed, author of the book, “What Difference Does Jesus Make” put it this way, “Christ is in eclipse for many Christians in many Churches.” He is a name, a word, an echo from long ago past. Contemporary believers do not deny Christ, but he is not truly alive to them. Life, as they live it, presses in on them but from Christ, they feel no pressure. Life attracts them, frightens them; delights them…. Too often, however, Christ is ‘learned’ as just another item in a religious syllabus, wherein pupils are exposed to him as part of a package deal, i.e., Christ, his teachings, the sacraments, offered as a whole, and increasingly in our day, rejected as a whole.” (Patricia Sanchez, Commentary on the Feast of Christ the King, Celebration, 2001)

True religion was at the core of Jesus’ teaching, the heart and soul of his mission and ministry not only to the people of Israel but also to all humanity. However, he was not into kingdom building nor was it his mission to impose a political system. Time and time again, he resisted attempts even by observers to crown him king. He insisted over and over again that his “kingdom was not of this world.” Ultimately, the thorn bush became his crown; the cross became his throne.

The Scriptures this weekend provide a lens through which we are invited to draw conclusions about why Jesus lived so faithfully and died so shamefully.

We are invited to go back center stage to the Book of Samuel for the early portrait or prototype of the Christ yet to come. It is a prophetic view of his mission and ministry. “All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, and said: ‘Look, we are your bond and flesh… it was you who led out Israel and brought it in.’ The Lord said to you: It is you who shall be shepherd of my people Israel, you who shall be ruler over Israel.’ ”

David was the ‘sacramental’ expression of God’s kingship over Israel—his vice-regent, as it were, a man of God who identified strongly with his people, the perfect combination for an almost perfect king.

Jesus was born in the line of David, but this man born among shepherds was himself destined to be a shepherd not of sheep or of royal subjects but of souls and of not a few fools. The distinction is significant. He was concerned with the inner life of humans that connected with the inner life with God as he himself was connected.

He knew that one cannot be linked to God and it not be reflected in the outer life. He was a servant shepherd, not lording it over the sheep but leading with the gentle wisdom that comes from above. “A bruised reed he shall not break.” [Isaiah 42:3] His father was not a warrior God but a God of compassion. This was a bone of contention at Jesus’ birth and a bone of contention to this day.

We are invited to refocus on the true identity of the Jesus of Nazareth through the lens of Luke’s Gospel, the Jesus who preached not from a bully pulpit but from a pulpit of pain and suffering—not that suffering was his call and ultimate destiny. It was not, but it was inextricably connected to his commitment to righteousness, which is another word for justice. Jews and gentiles alike could not fathom his style; could not accept his message or his method. Indeed, he became a threat to their way of life.

In order to grasp the full significance of Jesus’ life, we need to turn to the beautiful baptismal hymn of Paul addressed to the Colossians.

“For in Christ all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through Christ to reconcile to God’s own self all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.”

In other words, Jesus was and remains the image of God in human form. To live a fully human life is not opposed to living a full life in God. On the contrary, to live the life of God is to live a full human life. For us who call ourselves “Christians,” Jesus is the exemplar and remains the paradigm. It is our destiny to live as Jesus lived.

The celebration of this feast at the conclusion of the liturgical year is not capricious but a suitable preparation for the celebration of the Bethlehem event on December 25th. The cross was not the end of the road for Jesus—not for him and not for us. It was for him and can be for us a transforming experience.

This feast is meant to be provocative, to get us to think about the implications of our relationship with Jesus. It is meant to be corrective of false notions of Jesus, plastic images that may have crept into our spirituality. Jesus as a knight in shining armor or as a warm fuzzie.

This feast challenges us to get to know the Jesus of the four gospels, not just know “about” him. We need to pray the gospels, not just study them. We need to live the gospel, not just listen to them.

During this time of violence and war, when one decision can mean the death of thousands or more, we need to make sure that we on the same page as Jesus so that we do not lose our heads but more important that we no lose heart or allow fear to rule our lives.

As we engage in war, we need to be reminded that war is never an end it itself and in many respects, it is the implementation of one evil against another—temporary madness in the face of absolute madness. A close relationship with Jesus will guarantee our safety against those who would destroy not just the body but who would destroy the soul as well.

We need true believers who know not just about the shepherd but who knows the Shepherd. We need people who know the servant-shepherd who in the prophecy of Isaiah: “will not crush a bruised reed or quench a smoldering wick” until justice is established on the earth. [Isaiah 42:3-4]

No, we are not at the end of the road or at the end of our rope. The story is still unfolding and it will not conclude until all God’s children are safely home at the banquet table in eternity.

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