Good Amurricans that we are, we pay little attention to Kings–unless it’s Elvis; or Benny Goodman, the King of Swing; or Nat “King” Cole… Yet here we are at Christ the King Sunday, democritized in some congregations to “the Reign of Christ”. Call it as you will, readings for the upcoming weekend deal with a Mighty God who should be beyond all knowing who personally comes to call back the people who’ve wandered away. Words of comfort at the end of the Church Year prepare us for the tip-toe anticipation of Advent.
“For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.” (Ezekiel 34:11-12) Is this a King or what! The Prophet looked for a restoration of a David-like kingdom, whereas later Believers wait for a universal King to establish an enduring realm of Justice, Peace and Righteousness.
Paul speaks of the reign of Christ as if it were already in place: “And (God) has put all things under (Christ’s) feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body…” (Ephesians 1:22) Salvation becomes an invitation to accept a role in Christ’s ongoing work of refining the once-perfect Garden that human caretakers have allowed to fray about the edges.
Matthew’s remembrance of the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats (25:31-46) can be problematical if we interpret this to be about Works Alone. The Shepherd/Son of Man commends the Good Sheep for their charitable works because those fed, clothed and nurtured were members of his family. Thus our loving outreach and relief is done because we believe that “the least of these” are still created in Christ, AND that we’ve seen a holy image in them!
Worship for Christ the King affirms that we’re part of a greater family, united and loved by a compassionate Monarch whose Creation runs the spectrum from a seven-age Big Bang to kneeling in the dust and breathing Life into a muddy molding. With the Psalmist we shall shout, “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.”
God Bless Us, Every One. Horace Brown King
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