...The scripture verses give praise to God, recounting the glory and promise of Jesus, and putting humanity in its place as witnesses and recipients of divine power and might. The overarching theme is of the greatness of Christ, ruling over all and our part is to simply obey. This is the tradition and heritage of Christ the King.
It is a difficult translation for us to make in a democratic society where our leaders are elected by the populace, where merit and ability determines who governs, not family lineage or military power. We live in a society where church and state are separate and distinct – where one is considered strictly private and personal and the other most decidedly public. So we trip over the words and images of Christ the King because it comes across as elitist, classist, sexist and medievally-historic and therefore inapplicable.
But the fact remains that Christ continues, and completes, the line of kingship that began with Saul and David and Solomon. Not only is there a legacy and legitimacy to this image of Christ the King, there is value in the Saviour’s use of personal power and privilege to uplift the status of those on the outside, of sacrificing and serving others. ...
Now if we’re looking at metaphors and definitions of kingship, we should also examine the theme of our past few weeks: discipleship. We’ve discovered that being a disciple is not about magic and miracles, that we’d still be limited in what we can do when, and that in spite of our missteps and excuses, we have a message to share. But we have not discussed what a disciple is.
The word “disciple” comes from the Latin verb discere which is connected to discernment, to discipline and means “to learn”. So in essence, all anyone needs to be a disciple is a willingness to learn. That’s it, that’s all; a disciple is a learner. We admit that we all that we don’t know and commit to discovering more, about life, faith, Christ, God, the spirit…
Surely, we can do that much, can’t we? The message from Jesus, King or otherwise, is the timelessness of God’s presence, that even on the cusp of utter destruction, the holy calls us to worship, work, and learn in faith. I, for one, would like to find out what the world could be like if its leaders, kings or otherwise, all worked for a cause bigger and longer-lasting than their own reputations and legacies. That would be a revelation worth waiting for.
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